03/09/2026
BON VOYAGE, SUNIL PURI
When Sunil arrived in Rockford from Bombay in 1979 with $150 in his pocket, nobody knew that he carried with him an indomitable spirit and scintillating vision that would take decades to fully reveal themselves.
By the time he left us this past weekend at just 65 years of age, he had reshaped our city in many ways – its skyline, its economy and even its soul.
At GrahamSpencer, we were proud to have partnered with Sunil on projects over the years, including the branding of First Midwest Gropu and helping him and Jim Keeling launch the PerryVille Path project. That wonderful project, in and of itself, proves that Sunil was a man of great vision who truly cared about other travelers on this mortal coil.
As founder and CEO of First Midwest Group, he built shopping centers, lofts, sports complexes and gathering places that became part of the fabric of our daily life here. He gave millions – to Rockford University, to the YMCA, to schools and shelters and organizations that needed a champion. He gave quietly, the way people do when the giving itself is the point. He did these things with faith and respect.
But statistics and dollar signs can't capture the man. They can't measure the warmth in the room when he would join you for a meeting – the way he made you feel, in a deep conversation or a text or an email – that your work and your opinions mattered and your friendship was valued. He had a gift for that; for seeing people and letting them know he saw them.
He also had a gift for laughter. Fifteen years ago, I was invited to help roast Sunil at his 50th birthday party. I joked that, as a man of Hindu faith, he had the gift and reassurance of reincarnation – which would be amazing, unless he came back as Ronald Reagan. (Sunil was a devoted member of the Democratic party and friends with luminaries like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Richard Durbin.) Sunil laughed hard. His Pujari, standing right next to him when I cracked that joke, did not – which suggested I had crossed a line. Sunil never held it against me.
The last words he wrote to me, typed a short time before his planned departure for one final trip to India this winter, were characteristically Sunil: playful and warm and hopeful. He said he was looking forward to our meeting in February and hearing what "The Master" had to say. Calling me "Master" was not just a compliment. It was a reminder that he expected to learn something when we met. Sunil expected people to stand and deliver, just as he always did.
If he gave you his time, THAT was a compliment.
I recently found this 12-year-old "In Good Company" video. In it, Sunil and Jim Keeling – his frequent partner in doing good things – discuss the challenges they met in the arena of youth sports tourism in their long philanthropic quest to make Rockford a better place to visit and live.
The video encapsulates Sunil's spirit and his partnership with others (also among my favorite people) like Wendy Perks Fisher and Webbs Norman. I hope you enjoy it, and that you have a warm thought for our friend along the way.
By the way, Sunil and I did not have that meeting in February. That makes me sad, but the gift of his friendship and what he did for our city will stay with all of us forever.
"The soul is never born nor dies at any time. It has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, and primeval." — Bhagavad Gita 2:20
Respectfully, Jay Graham
This is "RACVB - Sportscore - Sunil & Jim" by GrahamSpencer on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
