Longtime Naperville attorney and community leader Brien Nagle got a surprise recently with a mayoral proclamation in his honor, recognizing him for 50 years of dedicated service.
Nagle has worked as an attorney in Naperville and DuPage County for five decades, and those who know him thought he deserved a bit of recognition.
Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli agreed, and he read a proclamation in Nagle’s honor during a surprise event last week at White Eagle Golf Club — with 80 of Nagle’s clients, friends, relatives and fellow community leaders on hand.
Nagle’s background leads to law career in Naperville
Nagle grew up in Ottawa, Illinois, on a family farm. He began his legal career in Naperville in 1976, after graduating from law school at the University of Notre Dame, where he also earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting five years earlier.
After his initial degree, Nagle worked in accounting in California, for the firm now known as Deloitte. But he truly found his calling in law — and in Naperville — in the years to come.
Nagle’s decades in practice spanned much work on business transactions, including complex sales of companies to publicly traded firms and “other sophisticated buyers,” Nagle’s supporters wrote in a news release. He took on leadership roles at several Naperville-based firms over the years, including Nagle & Higgins, Nagle Obarski, and Nagle, Obarski & Holzhauer.
“He mentored next-generation leaders, including partner Ian Holzhauer, who now leads the firm he built,” the release said.
Recognition for years of ‘work in the community’
Wehrli’s proclamation also honored Nagle for his philanthropic, charitable and community contributions.
The proclamation noted Nagle’s pro bono legal work for organizations including the DuPage Community Foundation, Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee, Naperville Development Partnership, Wheatland Plow Match Association and Ecumenical Adult Day Care.
He has also served as a member or leader of the Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission, Naperville Jaycees, Rotary Club of Naperville, Millennium Carillon Foundation and St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church.
Nagle’s whole career has been “built not only on professional excellence, but on relationships, mentorship, integrity and community impact,” those honoring him wrote in the news release.
“It was a great event, and it’s really nice when you can honor someone for their work in the community,” said retired Naperville banking executive Tom Miers, who helped organize the proclamation in Nagle’s honor. “Practicing law for 50 years in Naperville, he’s impacted a lot of businesses and individuals in the community as well.”
Stay in the know – sign up for our daily news update!
