HR0349 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0349 LRB096 12610 KXB 25998 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Anthony A. Antoniou of Oak Brook, who passed away on April 14, 2009; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Antoniou was chairman and chief executive officer of Anvan Companies and Abbey Group and owned and operated six Holiday Inns; he co-developed the Drury Lane in Oak Brook; formerly owned the Knickerbocker Hotel and Barclay Hotel in downtown Chicago; and developed The Abbey, Interlaken, and the Inns of Geneva National Resorts in Wisconsin; and

WHEREAS, A civil engineer by trade, Mr. Antoniou went into the construction business when he started Anvan Companies in 1954 and built homes, and commercial and municipal buildings; in 1973, Mr. Antoniou bought The Abbey and doubled the size; that same year, he built the Interlaken Lodge, which is now the Lodge at Geneva Ridge; he also developed the Geneva Lakes Kennel Club and the Geneva National Golf Course with three golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Lee Trevino; and

WHEREAS, In addition to the area hotels Mr. Antoniou built and owned, he also developed 2 million square feet of office space in the western suburbs; he was born and raised in Hyde Park, graduated from Hyde Park High School, and enlisted in the United States Navy in World War II; after his discharge in 1945, he worked part time as a draftsman and also attended Kent Law School before he transferred to the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he studied civil engineering; he finished his last year of schooling at the Urbana-Champaign campus, where he met his future wife, Irene Theodore; and

WHEREAS, He graduated in 1950 and went to work for the City of Chicago as a civil engineer and helped design the overpasses and entrances to O'Hare International Airport; a self-professed workaholic, Mr. Antoniou would often work 16-hour days sometimes seven days a week; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Antoniou served on the board of trustees of Lewis University in Romeoville and Anatolia College, a secondary school in Greece, and was on the board of directors of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for more than 25 years; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Antoniou is survived by his wife, Irene; his sons, Vance and Andreas; his sisters, Georgia Stamat, Ann Farmans, and Celestine Maroulakis; and his seven grandchildren; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Anthony Antoniou; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Anthony Antoniou as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.