Over the course of a 28-year career as an administrator for the Air Force, Ernest “Skip” Dalle Molle came to realize the key role that helping people played in so many of his job descriptions.

One of five children, Ernest “Skip” Dalle Molle was born in Evergreen Park to Ernest and Mary (Bertoletti) Dalle Molle. He grew up in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago surrounded by his large, extended family: Some were down the block, his maternal grandparents were four blocks away and others lived within eight miles. Dalle Molle’s paternal grandparents emigrated from Lugo di Vincenza, and his maternal side was from Bergamo.