Jasper Sanfilippo sits beside the centerpiece of his vast musical instrument collection, an ornate theater organ, originally built in 1927 for the Riviera Theatre in Omaha. Once Sanfilippo acquired it, the console was designed after the original theater organ at Chicago’s Paradise Theatre. (Courtesy of Jeffrey Sanfilippo)
Jasper Sanfilippo built his family’s nut business into a publicly traded company that last year had $876 million in sales. However, it is his passion for musical instruments, particularly mechanical music machines, that helped shape his legacy.
His Barrington Hills home grew to include several additions to showcase his vast collection. He and his wife, Marian, helped nonprofit organizations raise millions of dollars through welcoming them to host their fundraisers at their estate. Sanfilippo passed away Tuesday. He was 88.
His son, Jeffrey Sanfilippo, succeeded him as CEO of John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc. in 2006 and guided the company’s move in 2007 from its prior locations in Elk Grove Village, Des Plaines and Arlington Heights to its new corporate headquarters in Elgin.
He dates his father’s interest in vintage music machines to a family vacation to Knott’s Berry Farm in California in the mid-1970s.
“There was a ‘Main Street USA’ section which had vintage nickelodeons,” Jeffrey Sanfilippo says. “My father, who was a mechanical engineer, became fascinated with automated music machines. He started collecting them soon after we returned from vacation.”
Read more from the Daily Herald here.
Visitation will take place from 2:30-9 PM. Tuesday before an 11 AM Mass on Wednesday, both at St. Anne Catholic Community, located at 120 N. Ela St. in Barrington. For more information, visit Davenport Family Funeral Homes in Barrington here.
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