Friendship was more important than a commission to Bill Galante. In a 52-year career, that was the secret of his success. He sold Chicago Sun-Times ads to car dealers, counting among his friends Chicago household names like Max Madsen, Frank Mancari and Joe Rizza. Mr. Galante greeted them with a smile, a joke and a handshake. “It was a very honorable thing,” he once said. “And if someone cups their other hand over the handshake, that was a good sign, you lock in a friendship, and that friendship grew.”

As the Sun-Times auto advertising manager, he closed deals at sports events and meals at Rosebud, the Como Inn, Capital Grille and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, where he liked to enjoy an Absolut on the rocks with a twist of lemon. He cemented friendships with car dealers by attending their birthday parties and their kids’ bat mitzvahs and weddings. Sometimes, he vacationed with them.