Full Text of SR0982 100th General Assembly
SR0982 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Louis L. Mervis of Danville, who passed | 4 | | away on October 8, 2017; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was born in Danville to Isadore and | 6 | | Martha Ann Friedman Mervis on August 26, 1934; he graduated | 7 | | from Roselawn Grade School and became a standout at Danville | 8 | | High School, where he was an honor student, excelled at | 9 | | football, baseball, and wrestling, sang in the a cappella | 10 | | choir, and edited sports news for the Maroon and White | 11 | | newspaper; he married Sybil Stern in Bloomington on August 10, | 12 | | 1958; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis attended Indiana University, where | 14 | | he joined the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and rose to president | 15 | | during his sophomore year; he served on the Board of Aeons and | 16 | | helped integrate the Bloomington barbershops; he also served as | 17 | | vice president of his junior class and ran for student body | 18 | | president; he graduated magna cum laude in 1956 with an | 19 | | accounting degree; he immediately joined the military as a | 20 | | second lieutenant in the tank division at Fort Campbell, | 21 | | Kentucky; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis returned to Danville to join his |
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| 1 | | father in their family scrap business; he expanded the business | 2 | | by purchasing several other scrap yards; today, Mervis | 3 | | Industries is still based in Danville and is one of the largest | 4 | | family-owned scrap processing companies in the United States; | 5 | | he served as president of the Chicago chapter of the Institute | 6 | | of Scrap Iron and Steel; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, At just 29 years of age, Louis Mervis won a seat | 8 | | on the local school board, one of the youngest people ever | 9 | | elected to the Danville District 118 Board of Education; he | 10 | | served two terms and was president of the board when the | 11 | | district went to half-day sessions to force passage of a | 12 | | much-needed school referendum; he helped settle a potential | 13 | | teacher's strike in 1976; at the request of Governors James | 14 | | Thompson and Jim Edgar, he served 17 years on the Illinois | 15 | | State Board of Education, several as chairman; he later served | 16 | | as education task force chair for the Illinois Business | 17 | | Roundtable; he was recognized by the National Association of | 18 | | State School Boards as one of three outstanding school board | 19 | | members in the United States; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis served as a Director of the Old | 21 | | National Bank from 1985 until 2004; he served as chair of the | 22 | | city zoning board, President and Campaign Chair of the Danville | 23 | | United Way, Vice President of Lakeview Hospital, and chair of | 24 | | the regional board for Provena Hospitals in central Illinois; |
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| 1 | | he was a member of the building committee for the Mervis unit | 2 | | of the local Boys and Girls Club; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, One of the proudest achievement's of Louis Mervis | 4 | | was the Danville Area Economic Development Corporation, now | 5 | | known as Vermilion Advantage; he was a founding member and | 6 | | served as president and adviser; he played a significant role | 7 | | in bringing numerous businesses to the area; he re-purposed | 8 | | many of the area's abandoned buildings; he aided in the | 9 | | construction of the Danville library; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis endowed chairs at his collegiate alma | 11 | | mater; he made the initial gift to fund Illinois Promise, a | 12 | | program to help minority and first-in-the-family college | 13 | | students graduate from the University of Illinois without debt; | 14 | | he funded four scholarships in the Borns program; a scholarship | 15 | | at the Kelley School of Business was funded in his name, as a | 16 | | gift from his children; his family has provided 92 scholarships | 17 | | to Danville Area Community College students over the years; he | 18 | | and his wife funded several initiatives at Indiana University; | 19 | | they established the chair in Jewish Culture and the Arts in | 20 | | the Robert and Sandra Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana | 21 | | University; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was awarded many honors over the | 23 | | years, including being chosen Danville's First Citizen in 1978 |
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| 1 | | at the age of 44; he and his wife were honored by the Danville | 2 | | District 118 School Foundation in 2002; as a couple, they were | 3 | | inducted into the first Vermilion County Business Hall of Fame | 4 | | in 2012; they were recognized at the Danville Area Community | 5 | | College Founders Day in 2013 and were awarded the Indiana | 6 | | University Foundation President's Medallion in May of 2013; in | 7 | | May of 2017, Lou was one of two leaders to be awarded the first | 8 | | honorary associate degree from Danville Area Community | 9 | | College; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was a member of Congregation Anshe | 11 | | Knesset Israel in Danville for 80 years until it closed; he | 12 | | then joined Congregation Shaarey Tefila in Carmel, Indiana; he | 13 | | was also a member of the Standard Club in Chicago and the | 14 | | Jaycees, who awarded him their Distinguished Service Award; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis coached his sons' ball teams; in | 16 | | 1995, he purchased the local ice hockey team, renaming it the | 17 | | Danville Wings; he established it as a Junior A youth hockey | 18 | | team and helped develop it into the most outstanding Junior A | 19 | | hockey program in America; the Wings sent more than 260 young | 20 | | men to colleges and universities on scholarships as Division I | 21 | | players; the team won the North American Hockey League | 22 | | community service award for four consecutive years - more than | 23 | | any other team; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was active on the political scene for | 2 | | years, always supporting the best candidates regardless of | 3 | | political affiliation; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis enjoyed following the Chicago Bears, | 5 | | the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Chicago Blackhawks, listening | 6 | | to classical music, and relaxing at Riverbend, his home in the | 7 | | countryside; he also enjoyed tennis with his favorite partners, | 8 | | Coach Paul Shebby and Bill Stuebe; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was preceded in death by his parents | 10 | | and his sister, Selma Young; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis is survived by his wife of 59 years, | 12 | | Sybil; his children, Adam (Laurel Kroack), Phillip (Sheryl | 13 | | Facktor), Michael (Julie Weisfeld), Joshua (Lynn Eicken), and | 14 | | Ellen (Liam Tully), and those he raised as if they were his | 15 | | children, Jeffrey Cohodes, Pavel Nejezchleb, and Carla | 16 | | DuChene; his grandchildren, Alec, Devon, and Audra, Isaac, | 17 | | Joseph, Sam, and Gabriel, and Zoe, Gideon, Solomon, Meira, and | 18 | | Camille; and his sister, Jacqueline (Dr. Ted Silberstein) Mack; | 19 | | therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | 21 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 22 | | Louis L. Mervis, and extend our sincere condolences to his |
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| 1 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 2 | | further
| 3 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 4 | | presented to the family of Louis Mervis as an expression of our | 5 | | deepest sympathy.
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