SR0853 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0853 LRB096 22424 KXB 41613 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Gilbert Ellman "Mr. Music" of Naperville, who passed away on April 30, 2010; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Ellman played alto and tenor sax, flute, and clarinet in Chicago ballrooms such as the Trianon on the South Side and the Melody Mill in North Riverside; he played in orchestras backing performers including Patti Page, Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, and future President Ronald Reagan; he opened Ellman's Music Store at 218 S. Wabash in 1958, moved it to Van Buren Street and then, in 1963, to Main Street in Naperville, where Ellman's Music Center became a fixture; and

WHEREAS, He was born to a German father and an Austrian mother in Chicago's Gage Park neighborhood in 1925; Mr. Ellman fell in love with music when his parents scraped together the money to buy him a horn; Mr. Ellman became a concert master at Tilden High School, graduating in 1943 and starting his first business at age 18: a Berwyn shop that serviced radios and other electronic equipment; and

WHEREAS, During World War II, he was a member of the Coast Guard Band; then, he apprenticed as a repairman with Leo Cooper in Chicago and worked as a repair technician for Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman when they brought their big bands to Chicago; he also managed the Band Instrument Department for Carl Fischer Music in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, He started the Aristocraft Bongo Factory, with business partner Jim Tadra, and sold thousands of bongos internationally; he invented and patented musical accessories, as well as Volksboat lightweight speed boats and Hiker walking sticks; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Ellman taught musical instrument repair at DePaul University, what was then called Illinois State College and Vandercook University; he met his wife on a trip he arranged for DePaul music students in 1956; she was a student who liked to play the baritone horn and the French horn; they married in 1959 and they kept making music together, playing in the Naperville Municipal Band; and

WHEREAS, He faithfully attended his son Peter's Tuesday night performances at Jilly's in Naperville and kept up his membership of the Chicago Musicians Union Local No. 10208 for more than 60 years; Mr. Ellman served as vice president of the Naperville Chamber of Commerce for three terms, as well as co-chairman of the town's Last Fling celebration; and

WHEREAS, Gilbert Ellman is survived by his wife, Joan; his children, Susan, Michael, and Peter; and by his eight grandchildren; therefore, be it

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

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