Memorial Honors the “Father of Facilities” and His Fight to Save Campus Trees

This past fall, family, staff, and friends gathered under a cover of golden leaves on a quiet block of East 58th Street in Hyde Park to remember Tony Gac, ’96 (XP-65).

Gac was the director of facilities at Chicago Booth from 2008 to when he passed away in fall 2017. As a graduate and a passionate employee, he was dedicated to Booth. His coworkers fondly referred to him as the Father of Facilities.

In 2016, because of construction, the University of Chicago was going to dig up the gingkos that line the street along the north side of Harper Center, with a plan to get rid of them. But Gac saw the trees every day from his office window, and when he realized they were going to be destroyed, he protested. Gingko trees are increasingly rare, and take a long time to grow: the beautiful, decade-old trees would have been replaced with new saplings.

He argued to save the trees—and won. The trees were carefully moved to the other side of the Midway. And when the construction was done, the trees were replanted.

Gac’s drive to save the trees spoke to the kind of man he was. “It says something about his humanity, his caring about nature and beauty,” said Linda E. Ginzel, clinical professor of managerial psychology, who taught Gac in the classroom more than once when he was an Executive MBA student.

At Gac’s memorial, staff members including chief financial officer Jeremy Guthrie, assistant director of building services Loretta Brown-Singleton, and director of facilities Kari McDonough attended, as well as other facilities staff, Professor Ginzel, and Michael Waechter and Charlie Friedlander of Waechter Architects. All were inspired by the story of the gingkos. After an 18-month community effort, there is now a dedication plaque surrounding one of the trees on 58th Street. The plaque is designed to mirror the simplicity of Harper Center, and surrounds the base of a gingko tree while leaving room for its roots to grow.

The plaque was dedicated on October 24, 2019, with a toast and reception. Gac’s family and Booth staff gathered by “Tony’s tree,” whose leaves had turned a rich autumn yellow. Professor Ginzel presented Gac’s wife, Patricia, with a gold-plated gingko leaf pin.

“They were literally going to dig them up and throw them away,” said McDonough. “It angered him—and he fought for them, and they saved them. He was a very passionate and spirited person, and this is a beautiful tribute to him.