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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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9 | WHEREAS, Louis Mervis was preceded in death by his parents | ||||||
10 | and his sister, Selma Young; and
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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
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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
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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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