He attended St. Ignatius College Prep[12] high school and The University of Notre Dame, where he was also a football player from 1969–70.
Schivarelli had stated that he drove his own car and had used the vehicle to keep open access routes to hospitals in the 43rd ward.
[16] Schivarelli has been a supporter of the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, the Hannah & Friends charity[17] and he founded a residential community for people with special needs and disabilities.
[20] Schivarelli sued CBS, WBBM-TV, and Pam Zekman for "...defamation, false light invasion of privacy, commercial misappropriation, and commercial disparagement" over an ad campaign that was aired on WBBM in the 1990s [21][22] that referenced a news report depicting Schivarelli conducting personal business while employed by the City of Chicago.
[24] In 2005, he sued the Chicago Transit Authority[25] over the lease for the space to his restaurant, Demon Dogs.