John J. Leadroot

John J. "Jack" Leadroot, 86, of Wood Dale, formerly of Itasca, passed away suddenly Friday, December 26, 2025. Jack enjoyed cooking and early on was the chef/owner of Jack's Cafe in Minneapolis, MN. After his father's early death in 1968, he and his wife Patricia returned home to the Chicago area. They eventually found their home in Itasca, IL, near Wood Dale, IL where his widowed mother Henrietta "Hank" lived. Jack was a realtor in the Bensenville area in the early 1970s. About 1975, he then worked as a courier for Seko Air Freight. He eventually operated a courier business called Red Rabbit Express for close friends of his he met at Seko Air Freight. Around 1986, while reading an ad in the back of the National Enquirer, Jack responded to an ad highlighting a chemical process to clean acoustical ceiling tiles. This was a first at the time because then, the only way to fix stained acoustical ceiling tiles was to either paint or replace them. This chemical also was known to be able to clean and polish marble/granite surfaces. In 1986, he and his wife Pat founded Jen-Tech Restorations, which focused on cleaning and restoring marble and granite surfaces. Jack operated his business solely by word of mouth. He never had an ad in the phone book, just business cards. He became highly regarded in the marble/granite industry devising a particular way to polish granite using chemicals and diamond patches. Jack had a literal waiting list for his services. He continued operating Jen-Tech even after his wife Patricia's sudden death in 1996. After successfully battling Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2005, Jack sold his business and retired. Sitting still wasn't for him he found. In 2007, he joined the SCI group of funeral homes in the Chicago area where his son worked worked. Jack was a runner, and ran errands for the company throughout the Chicago area. He was a natural, given his experience as a courier earlier in life. And he loved his job and the people he worked with and assisted. Jack's fellow co-workers nominated him and he earned SCI's Funeral Associate of the Quarter in the Chicago Market for the 2nd Quarter of 2010. He was extremely proud of this achievement.

Throughout his life Jack was a devout Chicago Bears fan. He enjoyed motorcycling with his son John in earlier years. He enjoyed golf and loved riding on trains and especially parking at O'Hare Airport and watching the planes take off and land. He was always happy and joyful. He cherished his daughter and grand daughters' daily phone calls from their home in Texas. Jack traveled to Texas multiple times each year where he got to see his grand daughters play soccer both in high school and college. He loved to cook with his family when visiting, and playing card games for hours. But the true highlight for him was always going to the rodeo. Jack became actively involved in the Itasca Senior Citizen's Club. His long tenured friendships from Itasca were a true joy to him to be spending together and sharing where Jack was famous for his loud, enthusiastic laugh. The whole club knew every time he had a Bingo!

Jack was the beloved husband of the late Patricia (nee Novak); loving father of John Leadroot and Jenifer (Michael) Porter; proud grandfather of Olivia and Raina Porter; cherished son of the late John and the late Henrietta (nee Mack) Leadroot; devoted brother in law of Susan (Richard) Malkowski and the late Mark Przieneslo; dear uncle of Scott (Anna) Malkowski; fond cousin of many.

Visitation Friday, January 2, 2026 from 3:00pm to 9:00pm at Countryside Funeral Home and Crematory 950 South Bartlett Rd. (at Stearns Rd.), Bartlett. Funeral Saturday 10:00am at the funeral home to St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church. Mass 11:00am. Interment St. Michael the Archangel. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Jack's name to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at www.stjude.org are appreciated. Info (630)289-7575