The Gene Roman Family Foundation

Gene Roman was born in Evergreen Park, Illinois on April 23, 1947 to Raymond and Angeline Roman. He grew up in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago. Gene attended Fenger High School, received his B.S. at the University of Illinois and his M.B.A. at DePaul University. He was the founder and owner of Systems Design, Inc., a software company in South Holland, Illinois. He was a member of Christ Community Church in Palos Heights, a member of TEC 306, and served on the board of directors of Family Bank and Trust in Palos Hills.

He was the beloved husband of Sandie (Karr) Roman, loving father of Adam Roman, dear stepfather of Rob (Lisa) Slovin and Cindy (Jay) Hill, proud and loving grandpa of Jake and Sarah Slovin and Nick and Emily Hill, fond brother of Michele Roman, dearest uncle of Jimmy (Sandy) Wolframski, and Angela (Mike) Isbell, devoted son-in-law of Eleanor Karr, fond brother-in-law of Gerry (Alex) Berzins and Lori (Sean) Greene.

In March of 2003, Gene was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Although his prognosis was grim, his attitude was positive and he was determined to fight his disease. Shortly after beginning his chemotherapy treatments, he realized what a financial burden a life-threatening illness could be on persons and families with limited incomes. In keeping with the kind of person he was, he decided that there had to be a way to provide some kind of help directly to these people.

As his birthday, April 23, approached, he gave the project serious consideration. He said to Sandie, "I think I will throw a big birthday party for myself and instead of presents, we can ask people to bring donations to help other people." Thus began Gene's dream and his final legacy - The Gene Roman Family Foundation.