HR0073LRB102 15921 ECR 21291 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Anthony "Tony" J. Leone Jr. was born on September
31, 1950 and raised in Springfield; after schooling at St.
4Aloysius Grade School and Griffin High School, he attended
5Springfield College, Illinois State University, and Sangamon
6State University, earning degrees in Commerce and in
7Economics; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Developing an early interest in Illinois
9politics, Tony Leone became an officer with the Sangamon
10County Young Republicans and with the Sangamon State
11University College Republicans; he served as an organizer for
12a list of elected Illinois leaders, including key
13Springfield-area organizational roles for former
14Representative Josephine K. Oblinger and former State
15Representative Irv Smith; and
 
16    WHEREAS, With his credentials in recordkeeping and
17political organization work, Tony Leone was chosen as
18Assistant Clerk of the Illinois House for the 81st General
19Assembly, in which capacity he served ex officio on the board
20of the Legislative Information System (LIS), which was then a
21newly-created General Assembly support agency that was
22beginning to move toward pioneer computerization of the
23operations of the Illinois legislature; and
 

 

 

HR0073- 2 -LRB102 15921 ECR 21291 r

1    WHEREAS, As a result of the November 1980 election, the
2Republicans took majority control of the House in the 82nd
3General Assembly; Speaker George Ryan then named Tony Leone to
4be Clerk of the House; as the Clerk of the House during the
5final two years of the 177-member Illinois House of
6Representatives, and with only rudimentary electronic
7machinery to help out, he faced organizational and
8record-keeping challenges that the current 118-member Illinois
9House of Representatives can only imagine; and
 
10    WHEREAS, With the partisan changeover in the November 1982
11election, Tony Leone once again became Assistant Clerk of the
12House, serving in this role from 1983 through 1992; during the
131980s, he also filled many other posts of citizen leadership
14in Springfield, Sangamon County, and statewide Illinois,
15including the chairmanships of the Property Tax Appeals Board
16(PTAB) and the Sangamon County Board of Review; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Long fascinated with the process of campaigning
18and electing women and men to office, Tony Leone served as an
19officer on countless electoral boards and commissions,
20including service as the Supervisor of Public Disclosure for
21the Illinois State Board of Elections, the Chief Clerk of the
22Sangamon County Election Office, and the Assistant Chief Clerk
23of the Springfield Board of Elections; he served as an

 

 

HR0073- 3 -LRB102 15921 ECR 21291 r

1election official on the city, county, and state levels and
2believed that he was the only person in Illinois to have done
3so; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Moving to the private sector, Tony Leone founded
5Leone & Associates in 1995; retaining and intensifying his
6interest in and support of the atmosphere of Springfield's
7Illinois Capitol Complex, he redeveloped the Complex-adjacent
8Pasfield House, a historic (1896) Victorian mansion, into a
9bed and breakfast and Springfield showplace; the Pasfield
10House also served as a place for him to house his legendary
11collection of Illinois and U.S. political memorabilia; and
 
12    WHEREAS, As a champion of Springfield, Illinois heritage
13preservation, Tony Leone was named the 2011 Historic
14Preservationist of the Year by the Illinois Historic Sites
15Commission; in 2019, he co-authored "Springfield's Celebrated
16Horseshoe Sandwich" that is the definitive published history
17of the Illinois delicacy; this book was published as part of
18the American Palate series offered by the History Press; and
 
19    WHEREAS, In 2010, in line with Tony Leone's longtime
20championship of the history of Illinois, former Governor Pat
21Quinn appointed him to the board of the Illinois Historic
22Preservation Agency; and
 

 

 

HR0073- 4 -LRB102 15921 ECR 21291 r

1    WHEREAS, On Wednesday, February 3, 2021, Tony Leone's
2friends were saddened to hear that the longtime political
3organizer, Illinois General Assembly staff member, election
4official, state official, showplace host, and author had
5passed away at age 70 in his home town of Springfield after
6fighting against a cascading series of health challenges;
7therefore, be it
 
8    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
9HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
10we mourn the death of former Clerk of the Illinois House of
11Representatives Anthony "Tony" J. Leone Jr. and remember the
12tireless work that he performed for the election process and
13for the people of Springfield, the people of Sangamon County,
14and the people of central Illinois; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
16presented to Tony Leone's longtime special friend, Cathy
17Cragoe, and to his goddaughter, Karle Giganti Valentino.