Anthony J. “Tony” Fornelli, who became one of the most prominent Italian-Americans in the Chicago area, drove a meat truck to put himself through law school. He went on to be a civic leader and a partner in a chain of currency exchanges that grew to 50 locations in three states by the mid-1980s, said Paul Basile, editor of Fra Noi, a Chicago magazine covering the Italian-American community.

Mr. Fornelli died Wednesday at 83. He organized Festa Italiana, a forerunner of Taste of Chicago that used to draw 100,000 to Navy Pier and Olive Park, with entertainers like Frankie Valli and Helen Reddy. It donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Villa Scalabrini in Northlake, established as an Italian-American home for the elderly.