History · The Noel Center · Staff · Board
Tony Noel and The Tony Noel Center
Tony Noel lived a short 37 years. During that time he fought a valiant battle with kidney disease. Even with the difficulties he endured with years of dialysis and 3 kidney transplants, Tony did wonderful things with his life. Tony's third transplant came from a family who respected their young adult's wish to become an organ donor upon his death. This gift of life gave Tony the best ten years he was to know.
During that time, he married and fathered his two children. For 15 years, Tony and his wife Deena hosted a golf tournament to fund medical research for the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. Over the course of that time, more than $100,000 was raised for research in areas of kidney disease prevention and improving organ transplantation.
Tony also reached out in a quiet way when he heard of someone who was suffering with a personal problem. He had an irreverent sense of humor and an irresistible love of life, which endeared him to his large cadre of friends. Many of those friends have continued organizing that golf tournament in his memory.
Tony died in September 1997. After the services, friends gathered at the family home to celebrate his life and remember his favorite holiday, the 4th of July. As a barrage of skyrockets and Roman candles boomed into the blue autumn sky, Tony's brothers lit a long rope of firecrackers that they had entwined in a nearby apple tree. The twenty minutes of deafening explosions were a not-so-gentle knock on the gates of heaven.
The tree wrapped in firecrackers became the idea behind the plaque and the tree sculpture created by Miklos P. Simon for the Tony Noel Center at the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois.
The tree means many things to those who come here. To some, the branches may symbolize the reaching out by the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois to help patients and their family members with educational seminars and up-to-date resources on how they can live better lives with kidney disease.
Others may find the firelight of the branches a reminder of the gift of life that continues on through organ donation and transplantation. Donor families and their great generosity are the inspiration for the flames burning brightly for their loved ones, and the potential inside each one of us to become organ donors.
To those who are waiting for an organ transplant and a better way to live with kidney disease, the light may give them hope. The branches of the tree may signify the many research grants provided by the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois to medical investigators seeking new cures and improved treatments for kidney patients.
You may find your own symbols among the branches of our tree, but it will always stand as a warm welcome to all who come here.
In 2001, Dick and Rosann Noel purchased the River North Loft that is the home office of the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. It is called the Tony Noel Center to remember and honor Tony. For their gift and continued generosity we are ever grateful.
Contact Us
National Kidney Foundation of Illinois
215 W. Illinois, Suite 1C
Chicago, Illinois 60610
(312) 321-1500
(312) 321-1505 fax