Dick Nardini loved to play golf. Whether attending the annual Chicago Sun-Times golf outing to gain new advertisers for the newspaper to which he devoted his career or getting together to play 18 holes with a group of friends, it wasn’t uncommon to find Mr. Nardini out on the course.

Mr. Nardini and some of his newspaper co-workers would frequent a driving range in Des Plaines, said Vincent DeJulio, a longtime friend who worked in the production and sales departments at the Sun-Times with Mr. Nardini. When they’d take a break for lunch, DeJulio said Nardini often would order an Italian beef sandwich for lunch.