Full Text of SR0747 94th General Assembly
SR0747 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
SR0747 |
|
LRB094 20298 LCT 58320 r |
|
| 1 |
| SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to express | 3 |
| their sincere condolences to the family and friends of Herman | 4 |
| Spertus, who passed away on April 5, 2006, at the age of 105; | 5 |
| and
| 6 |
| WHEREAS, Born in a time of czarist pogroms, Herman Spertus | 7 |
| was lucky to escape with his life when, with his brother, he | 8 |
| walked, hung onto trains, and hid in hay wagons while Soviet | 9 |
| soldiers poked into the straw mounds with bayonets; the goal | 10 |
| was to reach America and it was a journey he never forgot; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, He was the eldest of five children of Meriam and | 12 |
| Harry Spertus and grew up in a village near Kiev in Ukraine; | 13 |
| after the family made their way to Chicago, Mr. Spertus and his | 14 |
| brother found jobs as assembly line workers, studying English | 15 |
| at night; and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, With his brother, Maurice, Mr. Spertus founded | 17 |
| what became Intercraft Industries, the world's largest | 18 |
| manufacturer of inexpensive picture frames; in 1933, betting on | 19 |
| the popularity of Brownie cameras, they launched their company; | 20 |
| and
| 21 |
| WHEREAS, An artist as well as a businessman, Mr. Spertus | 22 |
| would finish off a day of sales calls in New York in the 1950s | 23 |
| by hanging out in Greenwich Village at a tavern favored by many | 24 |
| of the Village's emerging abstract expressionists; other | 25 |
| regulars were Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de | 26 |
| Kooning; and they would talk, argue, and, in summers, all go | 27 |
| off and paint together; and
| 28 |
| WHEREAS, Mr. Spertus was known for his warmth and caring | 29 |
| for people; in 1980, he served as the Jewish United Fund's | 30 |
| chairman and helped to raise a record $36 million for the |
|
|
|
SR0747 |
- 2 - |
LRB094 20298 LCT 58320 r |
|
| 1 |
| organization; and
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, The 82-year old institute in Chicago that offers | 3 |
| master's and doctorate degrees in Jewish studies was renamed | 4 |
| the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies in 1970 in honor of the | 5 |
| contributions of Mr. Spertus and his brother; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his first wife, Sara, | 7 |
| and his brother, Maurice; and
| 8 |
| WHEREAS, The passing of Herman Spertus will be felt by all | 9 |
| who knew and loved him, especially his second wife, Hilda; his | 10 |
| sons, Philip and Robert; his daughter, Anita; his 13 | 11 |
| grandchildren; and his 14 great-grandchildren; therefore, be | 12 |
| it
| 13 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL | 14 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 15 |
| all who knew and loved him, the death of Herman Spertus; and be | 16 |
| it further
| 17 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 18 |
| presented to the family of Herman Spertus with our sincere | 19 |
| condolences.
|
|