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
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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.