SR0305 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0305 LRB098 12059 MST 45750 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Mark Keane of Sedona, Arizona, Oak Park's first village manager, who passed away on April 12, 2013; and

WHEREAS, Mark Keane was born in Chicago and graduated from Purdue University with a degree in public service engineering; he married Carolyn Mims at Camp Shelby, Mississippi; he served in the U.S. Army in World War II, achieving the rank of captain; he was deployed in both Italy and north Africa; and

WHEREAS, Mark Keane began his time as Oak Park village manager in 1953 when the village switched governmental formats; and

WHEREAS, Mark Keane played a vital role in establishing professional city management both in his work in his community and as a deputy assistant secretary in the Federal Housing and Urban Development Department under President Lyndon Johnson; he served as executive director of the International City Management Association for 15 years; he left Oak Park in 1962 to become the city manager of the rapidly growing city of Tucson, Arizona; and

WHEREAS, Mark Keane felt his greatest accomplishment as Oak Park village manager was saving the trees of Oak Park by hiring a professional village forester just as Dutch Elm Disease was beginning to take its massive toll on Oak Park's urban forest; and

WHEREAS, Mark Keane last visited Oak Park in 2003 when the village celebrated a half-century of the village manager form of government; he served as the grand marshal of the 4th of July parade; and

WHEREAS, Mark Keane was preceded in death by his first wife, Carolyn, who died in 1977, and his children, Paul and Mark Jr.; and

WHEREAS, Mark Keane is survived by his second wife, Judith (nee Mohr), whom he married in 1981; his children, Dan, Dennis, Brian, Peter, Mary, Barry, Nancy, Mark, and Monty; his 19 grandchildren; and 9 great-grandchildren; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Mark Keane, 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 Village of Oak Park and to the family of Mark Keane as an expression of our deepest sympathy.