John Merlo (September 9, 1912 – August 9, 1992) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

politician, who served for seven terms as an Illinois State Representative, for three years as an Illinois state senator, as well as for two years as a

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...

alderman for Chicago's 44th Ward.

Biography

John Merlo was born September 9, 1912, in Chicago to

Mike Merlo Michele "Mike" Merlo (January 4, 1880 – November 9, 1924) was a Chicago political figure and "fixer" associated in his later years with the Torrio-Capone organization. As head of the Unione Siciliana fraternal group, Merlo wielded conside ...

, a leader of

Unione Siciliana The Italian-American National Union (formerly known as Unione Siciliana) was a Sicilian-American organization, which controlled much of the Italian vote within the United States during the early twentieth century. It was based in Chicago, Illinois ...

. In 1922, he moved from the south side to Lake View where he resided for the rest of his life. He joined the

Chicago Park District The Chicago Park District is one of the oldest and the largest park districts in the United States. As of 2016, there are over 600 parks included in the Chicago Park District as well as 27 beaches, 10 boat docking harbors, two botanic conservat ...

in 1933, where he worked for decades. For a period of time, he was also the Secretary Edward J. Barrett's 44th Ward Regular Democratic Organization.Illinois Blue Book 1963-1964
page 224 He was appointed to the Chicago City Council in 1981 after the resignation of Bruce Young. He won a special election to win served for two years before he stepped down. He was succeeded by

Bernie Hansen Bernie Hansen (November 26, 1944 – July 18, 2021) was a longtime Chicago alderman, serving on the Chicago City Council from 1983 to 2002, when he retired as alderman of the 44th Ward citing health reasons. He was a Democrat. Hansen was electe ...

. He died August 9, 1992, at

Northwestern Memorial Hospital Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located on Northwestern University's Campus of Northwestern University, Chicago campus in Streeterville, Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship campus for Nort ...

. He was survived by his wife, Meryle, and three children.

References

1912 births 1992 deaths Chicago City Council members Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Democratic Party Illinois state senators 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly {{Illinois-Ilrepresentative-Democratic-stub