Chester J. "Chet" Rybicki was born March 25, 1916 in Chicago, Illinois. He considered his favorite pastime to be "meeting new people, communicating and exchanging ideas."
He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on March 26, 1942 and served during World War II until he was discharged in 1945, just before Thanksgiving. Shortly after the war, Chet entered the job market and began his marketing career in Chicago in 1947. Chet and his wife Lillian moved their family to Naperville in 1960.
He began his public service in 1962, serving on a number of boards and commissions, both before and after he was mayor, including the Heritage YMCA board and Naperville Public Library Board.
Chet served two terms as Mayor of Naperville from 1975 to 1983. Chet will be remembered as the mayor who served during Naperville's Sesquicentennial celebration in 1981, a time when the city's downtown survival was being challenged by large indoor shopping malls. Under his watch, Naper Settlement established strong roots to educate the community and visitors about "Yesterday's Naperville" today. His special pride and joy was the public/private partnership that he developed with the City Council, business leaders and the citizens of Naperville to establish the Riverwalk that revitalized downtown Naperville.
He took the lead once again becoming the 71st Commander of the American Legion serving two years 1993 to 1995. Chet died March 6th just shy of his 97th birthday. He was still attending Legion meetings and sharing his opinions on the latest city business until shortly before his death.
