Bill Text: IL SR0982 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Mourns the death of Louis L. Mervis of Danville.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2017-10-25 - Resolution Adopted [SR0982 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-SR0982-Introduced.html


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1
SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Louis L. Mervis of Danville, who passed
4away on October 8, 2017; and
5 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was born in Danville to Isadore and
6Martha Ann Friedman Mervis on August 26, 1934; he graduated
7from Roselawn Grade School and became a standout at Danville
8High School, where he was an honor student, excelled at
9football, baseball, and wrestling, sang in the a cappella
10choir, and edited sports news for the Maroon and White
11newspaper; he married Sybil Stern in Bloomington on August 10,
121958; and
13 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis attended Indiana University, where
14he joined the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and rose to president
15during his sophomore year; he served on the Board of Aeons and
16helped integrate the Bloomington barbershops; he also served as
17vice president of his junior class and ran for student body
18president; he graduated magna cum laude in 1956 with an
19accounting degree; he immediately joined the military as a
20second lieutenant in the tank division at Fort Campbell,
21Kentucky; and
22 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis returned to Danville to join his

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1father in their family scrap business; he expanded the business
2by purchasing several other scrap yards; today, Mervis
3Industries is still based in Danville and is one of the largest
4family-owned scrap processing companies in the United States;
5he served as president of the Chicago chapter of the Institute
6of Scrap Iron and Steel; and
7 WHEREAS, At just 29 years of age, Louis Mervis won a seat
8on the local school board, one of the youngest people ever
9elected to the Danville District 118 Board of Education; he
10served two terms and was president of the board when the
11district went to half-day sessions to force passage of a
12much-needed school referendum; he helped settle a potential
13teacher's strike in 1976; at the request of Governors James
14Thompson and Jim Edgar, he served 17 years on the Illinois
15State Board of Education, several as chairman; he later served
16as education task force chair for the Illinois Business
17Roundtable; he was recognized by the National Association of
18State School Boards as one of three outstanding school board
19members in the United States; and
20 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis served as a Director of the Old
21National Bank from 1985 until 2004; he served as chair of the
22city zoning board, President and Campaign Chair of the Danville
23United Way, Vice President of Lakeview Hospital, and chair of
24the regional board for Provena Hospitals in central Illinois;

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1he was a member of the building committee for the Mervis unit
2of the local Boys and Girls Club; and
3 WHEREAS, One of the proudest achievement's of Louis Mervis
4was the Danville Area Economic Development Corporation, now
5known as Vermilion Advantage; he was a founding member and
6served as president and adviser; he played a significant role
7in bringing numerous businesses to the area; he re-purposed
8many of the area's abandoned buildings; he aided in the
9construction of the Danville library; and
10 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis endowed chairs at his collegiate alma
11mater; he made the initial gift to fund Illinois Promise, a
12program to help minority and first-in-the-family college
13students graduate from the University of Illinois without debt;
14he funded four scholarships in the Borns program; a scholarship
15at the Kelley School of Business was funded in his name, as a
16gift from his children; his family has provided 92 scholarships
17to Danville Area Community College students over the years; he
18and his wife funded several initiatives at Indiana University;
19they established the chair in Jewish Culture and the Arts in
20the Robert and Sandra Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana
21University; and
22 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was awarded many honors over the
23years, including being chosen Danville's First Citizen in 1978

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1at the age of 44; he and his wife were honored by the Danville
2District 118 School Foundation in 2002; as a couple, they were
3inducted into the first Vermilion County Business Hall of Fame
4in 2012; they were recognized at the Danville Area Community
5College Founders Day in 2013 and were awarded the Indiana
6University Foundation President's Medallion in May of 2013; in
7May of 2017, Lou was one of two leaders to be awarded the first
8honorary associate degree from Danville Area Community
9College; and
10 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was a member of Congregation Anshe
11Knesset Israel in Danville for 80 years until it closed; he
12then joined Congregation Shaarey Tefila in Carmel, Indiana; he
13was also a member of the Standard Club in Chicago and the
14Jaycees, who awarded him their Distinguished Service Award; and
15 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis coached his sons' ball teams; in
161995, he purchased the local ice hockey team, renaming it the
17Danville Wings; he established it as a Junior A youth hockey
18team and helped develop it into the most outstanding Junior A
19hockey program in America; the Wings sent more than 260 young
20men to colleges and universities on scholarships as Division I
21players; the team won the North American Hockey League
22community service award for four consecutive years - more than
23any other team; and

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1 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was active on the political scene for
2years, always supporting the best candidates regardless of
3political affiliation; and
4 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis enjoyed following the Chicago Bears,
5the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Chicago Blackhawks, listening
6to classical music, and relaxing at Riverbend, his home in the
7countryside; he also enjoyed tennis with his favorite partners,
8Coach Paul Shebby and Bill Stuebe; and
9 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was preceded in death by his parents
10and his sister, Selma Young; and
11 WHEREAS, Louis Mervis is survived by his wife of 59 years,
12Sybil; his children, Adam (Laurel Kroack), Phillip (Sheryl
13Facktor), Michael (Julie Weisfeld), Joshua (Lynn Eicken), and
14Ellen (Liam Tully), and those he raised as if they were his
15children, Jeffrey Cohodes, Pavel Nejezchleb, and Carla
16DuChene; his grandchildren, Alec, Devon, and Audra, Isaac,
17Joseph, Sam, and Gabriel, and Zoe, Gideon, Solomon, Meira, and
18Camille; and his sister, Jacqueline (Dr. Ted Silberstein) Mack;
19therefore, be it
20 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
21ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
22Louis L. Mervis, and extend our sincere condolences to his

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1family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
2further
3 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4presented to the family of Louis Mervis as an expression of our
5deepest sympathy.
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