SR0921 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0921 LRB102 26202 ECR 35950 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Jerome R. "Jerry" Butler Jr. of Chicago, former City of Chicago Architect and Public Works Commissioner, who passed away on December 2, 2021; and

WHEREAS, Jerome Butler was born on September 6, 1928; he graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1952, studying at the old University of Illinois Navy Pier campus for his first two years of undergraduate education; and

WHEREAS, Jerome Butler joined Chicago city government in 1960; he was appointed as city architect by Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1967; beginning in 1974, he help led the restoration of the Navy Pier auditorium at the east end of Navy Pier, which involved a full restoration of the auditorium and the addition of a promenade on the north side of the pier and a solar energy project to heat the buildings on the pier's east end; he was also involved with the further redevelopment of Navy Pier before it reopened in 1995, which included the addition of the familiar Family Pavilion, Crystal Gardens, carousel, and first Ferris wheel; he was appointed as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Works in 1979 by Mayor Jane Byrne; later, he served a short term as commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation under Mayor Harold Washington; and

WHEREAS, Jerome Butler won the American Institute of Architects Design Excellence Award for the Navy Pier project; and

WHEREAS, Jerome Butler was preceded in death by his wife, Marianne (Falvey) Butler; and

WHEREAS, Jerome Butler is survived by his children, Ellyn (Robert) Berninger, Carolyn Butler, and Mark (Mary) Butler; his grandchildren, Megan (Michael) and Patricia (Joshua); his great-grandchildren, Matthew and Eliza; and his extended family and friends; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Jerome R. "Jerry" Butler Jr. and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Jerome Butler as an expression of our deepest sympathy.