Alvaro Gurdian Obituary

PEORIA - Alvaro M. Gurdian, 72, of Peoria passed away at 5:58 a.m. on Monday, March 5, 2007, at his residence.

Born on March 21, 1934, in Granada, Nicaragua, to Luis and L. Amanda Bissio Gurdian, he married Maria Lewin on Sept. 14, 1956, in Managua, Nicaragua. She survives.

Also surviving are seven children, Maria (Steve) McCrea of Chillicothe, Alvaro (Dawn) Gurdian Jr. of Boca Raton, Fla., Anna (Kevin) Lewis of Grays Lake, Ill., Tony (Karin) Gurdian of Morton, Robert (Tracy) Gurdian of Naples, Fla., Cynthia (Jim) Mense of St. Louis, Mo., and Eric (Tracy) Gurdian of Oak Park, Ill.; 16 grandchildren; three brothers, Silvio Gurdian and Julio Gurdian, both of Managua, and Guillermo Gurdian of San Francisco, Calif.; and one sister, Auxiliadora Gonzales of Managua.

He was preceded in death by two brothers.

He was a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

He was a self-employed architect and was known for his distinctive Prairie Style Architecture. He first worked for Gordon Burns and Associates in Peoria for 15 years. He designed several buildings in the Peoria area including Hult Education Center, Bradley University Heuser Art Center and Janssen Law Center.

He was a member of University of Notre Dame Club, Peoria Chapter.

He also was a member of St. Thomas Catholic Church in Peoria Heights, where a funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. on Thursday with the Rev. Thomas Taylor officiating. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Wright & Salmon Mortuary, with recitation of the rosary at 7:45 p.m. Additional visitation will be 30 minutes before the Mass at church. Entombment will be in Resurrection Mausoleum.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Thomas Church Building Fund.

Tributes and condolences may be submitted to www.wrightandsalmon.com.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Peoria Journal Star on Mar. 6, 2007.

Memories and Condolences
for Alvaro Gurdian

Sponsored by the Eric Gurdian Family.

3 Entries

Eric Gurdian

March 11, 2007

My father was a man of great passion or humor. A topic was either too serious (religion/politics) to joke about or not serious enough to not be able to laugh about it, there was no grey area with him. This approach to life had a dramatic impact on the lives of his children, as we all learned to laugh about ourselves, or be laughed at. With humor and passion, life can be wonderful.

My father lived his life that way, with great passion about anything worth doing. He would tinker with his designs for days after saying he was finished, looking for something, some detail he might have missed, that would make it better. Our family home was never finished. Every time I would come back home, some detail was changed, a new fireplace today, a new built in shelf tomorrow. His passion for perfection was undying. When I would ask him “why” he added this or changed that, his simple answer always seemed the same, “it was better this way”.

Our lives were filled with his humor as he saw life differently than the rest of us. From “Dr. Venture” to “the hot seat”, “a little bit of both baby” to “are you going to the kitchen?”, our lives had humor. My father could diagnose and treat any ailment for me. He could find a cure for anything (you) he needed at a Venture store from a broken thumb to cracked ribs, to prescription glasses. “Dr. Venture” was born. He would ask each and every girlfriend or boyfriend his children brought home questions that would make us squirm while making them sit in the "hot seat", the seat on his right side during dinner. No single dessert was every enough, coining the phrase “a little bit of both, baby”. And if you and he were comfortable sitting on the couch together, you can be sure he would wonder out loud if “you were going to the kitchen?” just to get you to ask him what he wanted to eat. He filled our lives with this passion and humor.

In death, he taught us one more lesson, a lesson about faith. My father suffered the last several years of his life, but never complained. He did not complain when his disease took away his ability to play the guitar, drive a car, walk on his own, eat on his own, brush his teeth, or go to the bathroom. He simply must have had faith that God had a plan for him and this faith gave him strength to cope with whatever “freedom” this disease would take away from him next.

I will miss the humor my father always brought with him wherever he went. I personally teased my father simply to hear him laugh, in these last years; his laugh was the only thing that had not changed about him. I so wanted him to be ok and my hope was always riased by his unchanging laughter. With the laughter finally silenced, I focus on his faith that God will heal his pain, give him back some dignity, and allow him to rest in peace knowing he taught his children all that he could that matters in life. Have passion for all you do, live life with laughter and find time for faith in God. We all should learn from what my father has taught.

Jim McKenna

March 8, 2007

It was a pleasure to be able to work with Al at Gordon Burns and Assoc. Al was, and will always be, the most gifted design architect I shall ever meet. With his unigue style, he constantly challenged those around him to express their own creative process. Al was even fun to argue with. For all of us in Peoria, it is very diffuclt to drive through town and not see Al's design work and be reminded of his accomplishments. My sympathy to all of the Gurdian family and those who were touched by Al.

Ed Becker Jr

March 6, 2007

My condolances to the family and friends; I worked with Al when he was at Gordon Burns, he was very talanted and gifted and a pleasure to work with, I learned alot from him

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