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92_SR0384
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1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to
3 express their sincere condolences to the family and friends
4 of the Honorable John A. Oremus, who passed away on April 4,
5 2002; and
6 WHEREAS, Mayor Oremus was known as "Mr. Bridgeview", the
7 man who, like an artist with a blank canvas, took a tiny
8 suburb with few paved streets and painted it into a
9 prosperous community; and
10 WHEREAS, For more than 40 years, Mayor Oremus led the
11 village of Bridgeview and for a long time was the only mayor
12 many residents ever knew; in some ways, his mark on the
13 village is obvious, there is John A. Oremus Drive, the Oremus
14 Community Center and Prairie Material Sales Inc., the
15 multimillion-dollar construction materials supplier he built
16 from scratch; and
17 WHEREAS, Born in Chicago on December 29, 1913, Mayor
18 Oremus emigrated to Europe two years later with his mother,
19 who died of diphtheria only months later; he and his sister
20 returned to the United States a few years later to live with
21 their father, moving to an area of unincorporated Cook County
22 that is now Bridgeview; when he was a sophomore at Argo High
23 School, his stepmother urged him to find a job to help
24 support the family; and
25 WHEREAS, Mayor Oremus held several jobs, and in the
26 mid-1940s bought 16 acres in the 7600 block of West 79th
27 Street; there he founded Prairie Material Sales, one of the
28 Midwest's largest suppliers of construction materials and
29 ready-mix products; and
30 WHEREAS, Mayor Oremus was first elected mayor in 1955,
31 but lost the 1959 election; he then won the 1963 race and
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1 stayed in office until 1999; and
2 WHEREAS, Mayor Oremus had a dream to make Bridgeview into
3 a well-balanced community - a motto that defines the village
4 to this day; he sought out industry and businesses to balance
5 the village's tax base and wanted to ensure that residents
6 had a nice place to live; he paved streets that were mudholes
7 and installed sewers where there were none; during his
8 tenure, he recognized that Harlem Avenue, which once was a
9 two-lane road, would become a busy commercial thoroughfare
10 and began annexing land along the road into the village; in
11 addition, he started free Christmas parties for children and
12 senior citizens, and he began the Needy Families Fund that
13 bought groceries and Christmas presents for families in
14 financial trouble; and
15 WHEREAS, Mayor Oremus was also a director of the Illinois
16 Municipal League, a trustee of Lewis University in
17 Romeoville, and founder of Prairie Bank and Trust; and
18 WHEREAS, In 1999, more than 20 south suburbs recognized
19 Mayor Oremus' dedication to community service and declared a
20 week "John A. Oremus Week."; and
21 WHEREAS, Of all Mayor Oremus' accomplishments, honors,
22 awards, professional or political, the thing he was proud of
23 most was his family; and
24 WHEREAS, Mayor Oremus was the beloved husband of the
25 late Angeline (nee Mularski), loving father of Dorothy Oremus
26 (John) Lindauer, Robert J. Oremus and the late Jack and
27 Thomas Oremus, devoted grandfather of Kim (Bill) Hanson, J.
28 Alan (Susan) Oremus, Sheri (David) Braun, Michael Oremus,
29 James Oremus, Gary (Rose) and John Christopher Oremus, dear
30 great-grandfather of Justin, Jordon, Taylor, Sara, Chloe,
31 Alexandra, Abbey, Evan, Austin, Emma, Cooper, Jack,
32 Eisabella, J.R. and Joe, and dearest brother of the late Mary
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1 Butcher; and
2 WHEREAS, For more than four decades, Mayor Oremus led
3 Bridgeview and embraced the village and its residents like
4 they were his family; his memory will live on as the father
5 of Bridgeview; therefore, be it
6 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SECOND GENERAL
7 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
8 all who knew him, the death of John A. Oremus of Bridgeview,
9 Illinois; and be it further
10 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
11 presented to the family of the Honorable John A. Oremus with
12 our sincere condolences.