The ALS Association's Greater Chicago Chapter Recognizes Local Musician and His Wife for Their Efforts in
Battling Lou Gehrig's Disease

A Chicagoland musician who has played on the local music scene for more than two decades, and also worked as a former postmaster, refuses to allow a progressive, neurodegenerative muscular disease to slow down his daily activities.

Eddie Esparza and his Eddie’s Entourage team at The ALS Association Greater Chicago Chapter’s Walk to Defeat ALS event last June

The ALS Association’s Greater Chicago Chapter has proclaimed the Esparzas the family that best exemplifies the spirit of “ALS Across America” for the chapter during ALS Awareness Month in May. The “ALS Across America” national campaign recognizes courageous individuals with ALS and their caregivers who are role models to people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. These special individuals reflect the spirit of the organization as they make a positive difference in their community by expanding awareness of ALS and embodying the spirit of living life to the fullest.

Now retired, Esparza served as union steward for the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) for four years, as a letter carrier for 13 years, then as Postmaster for the United States Postal Service in Park Ridge from November 2004 to March 2007. Park Ridge’s best known resident is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was born and raised in the town. Esparza’s wife, Suzanna, 51, a former Peoples Energy employee, assists her husband as his caregiver with daily living activities as her spouse has just begun experiencing difficulty with moving his legs. Both reside in Schiller Park.

“Eddie is active in advocating for himself and others living with ALS,” said Nicole Sammartino, M.S., the chapter’s patient services coordinator. “He is inspiring because of the courage and strength he shows as an individual living with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He’s not one to sit around and feel sorry for himself.”

Throughout May, The Association and its nationwide network of 42 chapters will reach out to communities across the country to educate the public about Lou Gehrig’s Disease and urge people to join The Association in the fight to make ALS a disease of the past.

Sammartino and other chapter employees and volunteers admire Esparza for his remaining active and his positive attitude. On a daily basis, he openly shares any and all relevant or helpful information about this disease with a growing worldwide patient contact list of more than 175 people via email. According to Sammartino, the goals of using this list are to share information, ask and answer questions, and offer support to those who hunger for knowledge, options, and most of all HOPE.

“Eddie is important to our chapter for so many reasons, but mostly because he is an advocate for change,” Sammartino added. “He has the natural ability to make change happen and to produce results. Eddie has been successful in so many areas, including raising money for our chapter during our 2007 and 2008 Walks. He has been an integral part of our support group community in providing information, advocacy, and hope to those families fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”

Prior to his retirement, Esparza played guitar and sang lead vocals in the bands Rick Elvis Saucedo and Hip Shake. Some of the music styles he and his band mates performed included classic rock, Latin rock, Latin jazz and soul.

The Association’s National ALS Advocacy Day and Public Policy Conference, which has grown to be the single largest gathering of the ALS community, and is part of ALS Awareness Month, will be held this year on May 10-12 in Washington, D.C. The Esparzas plan to participate in this year’s conference on a local level as plane travel affects Esparza’s breathing.