EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Dr. Don LoConte, Class Of 1986

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Don LoConte’s ability to adapt and succeed across vastly different fields has been evident since he starred as a three-sport athlete at Evergreen Park Community High School during the 1980s.

That ability was first noticed while he was still a student here.

As senior year began in the fall of 1985, LoConte and a few friends decided to try out for the school play, which was “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” that year. They had no theater experience, but still decided to give it a whirl.

“I laughed about it at first,” LoConte remembers. “It was Andy and David Sherman, who I played basketball with, it was their idea. But eventually I went along with it, and Andy actually got the lead part, Joseph, and I was the Pharaoh, which is considered the second lead.”

“And it was probably the most fun I had throughout high school.”

LoConte did have a lot of fun through his years at EPCHS. The third of five siblings who all attended the school, he’s proud of the decision he made as an 8th grader to become a Mustang.

“I thought about going to a Catholic school, but thought about the importance of being around friends and family,” he said. “So I decided to stay at Evergreen, and loved every minute of it. The sense of community, and opportunity to play sports all year, made it that way. I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to play 3 sports had I gone to another school in the area.”

LoConte played football, basketball and baseball at EPCHS. He was captain of the baseball squad his senior year, when the Mustangs won 17 games and took home the conference championship.

“We had some pretty good success,” LoConte said. “I probably had the most fun playing football, but basketball was my favorite.”

But it was his high school experience on stage, not on the court or field, that led to his original college major. He majored in theatre at Eastern Illinois University as a freshman, although he did switch to speech communication due to his desire to become a sportscaster.

“I wanted to be on ESPN,” said LoConte, who worked as a DJ for the Eastern Illinois radio station.

So what did he become?

A doctor.

Dr. LoConte is an optometrist (eye doctor) working with Advanced Eye Care out of Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. He’s the head of the dry eye clinic there, treats eye diseases and performs general eye care.

LoConte’s road from communications to optometry pivoted while he was working in sales and marketing for a pharmaceutical company.

“I quit my job at 27, went back to school at UIC for 2 more years, then was accepted into the Illinois College of Optometry,” he said. “I knew from my time at the pharmaceutical company that I wanted to become a doctor, was always fascinated with the eye and wanted to specialize in something instead of just general practice.”

After earning a degree, LoConte opened his own practice, Primary Eye Care Professionals in Frankfort, in 2005. After 12 years, he sold the practice to his business partner who still runs it.

LoConte lives in Mokena with his wife, and the couple have two adult daughters and one in college.