For Peter Talarico, business was business, in ventures that included a tavern, gas station, haulage company and an amusement concessions firm. Mr. Talarico, 85, of Lynwood, who never finished high school but spent 60 years as a dauntless entrepreneur, died Monday, Jan. 26, of congestive heart failure in St. James Hospital and Health Centers, Chicago Heights. Most of his earliest ventures were short lived, but Mr. Talarico made his name as proprietor of the Royal Music Co., which he founded in the mid-1940s. As with all of Mr. Talarico’s business exploits, the firm began as a dabbling fancy. While running Royal Trucking Co., a Chicago Heights hauler, Mr. Talarico bought a jukebox for $15 and got permission to put it in a local filling station’s diner. It paid off and Royal Music Co. was born, leasing bar amusements, including pinball machines and video games. Another interest of Mr. Talarico’s was horse racing. He stabled as many as 15 thoroughbreds in Chicago Heights, his family said. “He was always a hustler,” said his sister Helen Schindler. “He never worked for anyone in his life, never had to.” Survivors also include his wife, Lois; twin sons, Peter Jr. and John; another sister, Mary Howard; and four grandchildren. Visitation will be from 1 to 9 p.m. Friday in Kerr-Parzygnot Funeral Home, 540 Dixon Highway, Chicago Heights. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in the funeral home.
