HR0462 LRB095 12251 GRL 36721 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to congratulate Niles Township
4 Supervisor Thomas Joseph McElligott on his retirement; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Thomas Joseph McElligott was born on September 11,
6 1925 on the west side of Chicago; he is the fourth of five
7 children; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Thomas Joseph McElligott attended Our Lady of the
9 Angels grammar school and Quigley High School; he joined the
10 Navy in 1943 during World War II; he was sent to Carson Newman
11 College in Tennessee, Midshipman's School at Columbia
12 University in New York, and then to Oklahoma to learn Japanese;
13 he was commissioned in July 1945 and served in the Pacific
14 Theater at a naval base on Okinawa until his discharge in
15 August 1946; he returned to Chicago and graduated from Loyola
16 University in 1948 and then entered law school at Georgetown
17 University; he graduated from Georgetown in the spring of 1951
18 and was admitted to the Illinois bar in November of that year;
19 he practiced law with the firm of McMahon and Plunkett from
20 1951 until he went into solo practice in 1959; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Thomas Joseph McElligott met Kathryn Hester in
22 1951, shortly after he graduated from Georgetown and returned

 

 

HR0462 - 2 - LRB095 12251 GRL 36721 r

1 to Chicago; after a whirlwind courtship of three years, Tom and
2 Kay married on August 14, 1954, in St. Giles Church in Oak
3 Park; they had seven bright, beautiful, fun-loving children:
4 Terence, Mary Jo, Eileen, Michael, Daniel, William, and Thomas
5 Sean; they now have sixteen grandchildren; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Thomas Joseph McElligott and his family moved from
7 Chicago to Skokie in 1960, where they lived in the Fairview
8 area for twelve years; they moved into a bigger house in the
9 Lorel Park area in 1972; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Thomas Joseph McElligott was interested in local
11 government from his first days in Skokie; he joined the South
12 Fairview Home Owners Association and became involved in the hot
13 issues at that time, which were zoning and school board
14 elections; soon after, Tom was appointed to the office of the
15 Corporation Counsel of Skokie, where he remained for four
16 years; his areas of expertise were the Plan Commission and
17 Zoning Board; he was elected a Trustee of Skokie in 1969, where
18 he remained for two terms; in 1977 he was elected a Trustee on
19 the Niles Township Board; he was appointed Supervisor in 1981;
20 he has remained the Supervisor of the Township until the
21 present, having been re-elected many times; and
 
22     WHEREAS, As Niles Township Supervisor, Thomas Joseph
23 McElligott has been responsible for many important

 

 

HR0462 - 3 - LRB095 12251 GRL 36721 r

1 accomplishments; he was a catalyst for the founding of the
2 Niles Township Community Child Care Center; he helped set up a
3 continuing education Adult Computer Education program; he was
4 responsible for enlarging the Niles Township Food Pantry, which
5 now serves over 1,500 individuals per month; and he was
6 instrumental in the modernization of the Township building;
7 therefore, be it
 
8     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
9 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
10 congratulate Thomas Joseph McElligott on his retirement, thank
11 him for his many years of public service, and wish him
12 continued success and happiness in the future; and be it
13 further
 
14     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15 presented to Thomas Joseph McElligott as a symbol of our esteem
16 and respect.