093_SR0338

 
                                     LRB093 13296 HSS 18571 r

 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members  of  the  Senate  of  the  State  of
 3    Illinois  learned  with  regret  of the death of their former
 4    colleague,  the  Honorable  Robert  J.  Egan,  former   State
 5    Senator, of Edgebrook on Monday, September 15, 2003; and

 6        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Egan  was  born  in  Chicago  in  1931; he
 7    attended St. Ita Elementary School, earned  his  high  school
 8    diploma  from St. Norbert Academy in West De Pere, Wisconsin,
 9    and earned a B.A. in English from St. Norbert College in  the
10    same town; and

11        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Egan  valiantly  served  his  country as a
12    lieutenant in the U.S. Army infantry in Korea; he then worked
13    his way through law school at Loyola University with jobs  as
14    a  house  painter; he met and married Marie Therese Gillespie
15    while he was in law school, and he became a lawyer  in  1959;
16    and

17        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Egan  and his family settled in Edgebrook,
18    where he  became  a  precinct  captain  in  Roman  Pucinski's
19    Northwest  Side  political  organization; he was an assistant
20    trial judge in the old Municipal Court system, where  he  was
21    involved  in  the  city's  fight  against  installment credit
22    racketeering; he was  an  Assistant  State  Attorney  General
23    under  William  G.  Clark  from  1964  to  1968,  working  as
24    legislative  counsel  and  as  chief  of  the  newly  created
25    anti-trust division; and

26        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Egan was elected to the Illinois Senate in
27    1970, lost the 1972 race, then was elected in 1974 and served
28    through 1984; in 1971 he backed 7 "law and order" bills,  one
29    of  them  requiring  doctors  and  nurses  to report treating
30    victims of  gunshot  wounds,  poisoning,  and  other  crimes;
31    later,  he sponsored bills to provide tax exemptions for home
32    improvements, to ban phosphates in detergents, and  to  limit
 
                            -2-      LRB093 13296 HSS 18571 r
 1    abortions; and

 2        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Egan was deputy treasurer of Illinois from
 3    1985 until 1986, and was appointed a  judge  of  the  Circuit
 4    Court of Cook County 1987-88, when he retired and returned to
 5    private  practice; he served throughout the 1990s as a member
 6    of the Illinois Supreme Court's review board of the  Attorney
 7    Registration and Disciplinary Commission; and

 8        WHEREAS,  The passing of the Honorable Robert J. Egan has
 9    been deeply felt by many, especially his wife, Marie Therese;
10    his three daughters, Beth Egan, Margie  Benjamin,  and  Sarah
11    Melaniphy;  his  two sons, Robert J. Egan Jr. and Frank Egan;
12    his   brother,  James  Egan;  and  his  four   grandchildren;
13    therefore, be it

14        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
15    ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the  passing
16    of  our  colleague,  the  Honorable Robert J. Egan, a man who
17    served the people of the State of  Illinois  with  honor  and
18    distinction; and be it further

19        RESOLVED,  That  a  suitable  copy  of this resolution be
20    presented to the family of Mr. Egan as an expression  of  our
21    sincerest condolences during their time of bereavement.