Gerald W. Shea (July 25, 1931 – December 13, 2015) was a politician from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Biography

Shea was born July 25, 1931, in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

. He dropped out of high school to support his family during the printer's strike against the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

. He returned to school and completed degrees at the University of Illinois School of Commerce and the

DePaul University College of Law DePaul University College of Law is the law school of DePaul University, a private Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 125 full- and part-time faculty members and enrolls more than 500 students in its Juri ...

. Shea took a two-year hiatus from his education to join the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He served in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. In 1958, Shea received a sponsorship from John S. Boyle, the Democratic Committeeman from Oak Park Township, to work as a caseworker in the Cook County Department of Public Aid. A year later, he became a department investigator. Boyle promoted Shea to assistant state's attorney, and later Director of Research, Planning & Development for the

Cook County Circuit Court The Circuit Court of Cook County is the largest of the 25 Illinois circuit courts, circuit courts (trial courts of original jurisdiction, original and general jurisdiction) in the judiciary of Illinois as well as one of the largest unified cour ...

. By 1966, he was married to Joanne (née Sevcik), the niece of Representative

Joseph G. Sevcik Joseph G. Sevcik (November 24, 1916 – September 29, 1977) was an American lawyer and politician. Sevcik was born in Chicago, Illinois and went to the Chicago public schools. He served in the United States Military during World War II. He we ...

, with whom he had one daughter.''Illinois Blue Book 1967-1968''
page 204 He was elected to the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

in 1966. During his legislative career, he served as Assistant Minority Leader during the 77th and 78th General Assemblies and as Majority Leader during the 79th. His committee assignments included Judiciary, Insurance, Water Resources and Constitutional Convention committees. He was also chairman of Judicial Administration Section of Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Judicial Advisory Council, Legislative Reference Bureau, Local Government Tax Study Commission, Illinois Legislative Investigating Commission. He was a member of the Illinois Transportation Study Commission, the Fiscal and Economic Commission and as one of the Illinois Secretary of State's appointees to the Advisory Commission for the Securities Division.''Illinois Blue Book 1975-1976''
page 85 He abruptly retired after serving five terms. He was succeeded as the Cook County floor leader by

Michael Madigan Michael Joseph Madigan (born April 19, 1942) is an American politician and convicted felon who is the former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the longes ...

. After his retirement from the House, Shea became a lobbyist.

George Ryan George Homer Ryan (February 24, 1934 – May 2, 2025) was an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Secretary of State of Illinois from 1991 ...

appointed Shea the Chair of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. He served from 1999 until 2002. Shea died in

La Grange, Illinois La Grange ( ; often spelled LaGrange) is a village (United States)#Illinois, village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. The population was 16,321 at the 2020 census. History The area around La Grange was first s ...

on December 13, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Gerald W. 1931 births 2015 deaths DePaul University College of Law alumni Illinois lawyers Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Military personnel from Illinois People from Burr Ridge, Illinois People from Oak Park, Illinois People from Riverside, Illinois University of Illinois Chicago alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly