Stanley B. Weaver (May 23, 1925 – November 11, 2003) was an American funeral director and Republican politician active in

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 ...

. Weaver was born May 23, 1925, in

Harrisburg, Illinois Harrisburg () is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Illinois, United States. It is located about southwest of Evansville, Indiana, and southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Its 2020 population was 8,219, and the surrounding Harris ...

. He graduated from Urbana High School in

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents i ...

. He served in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He attended

Michigan State College Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the c ...

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, and graduated from the Indiana College of Mortuary Science. He was elected Mayor of Urbana in 1957 and served until 1969. During his tenure as mayor, he served as President of the Illinois Municipal League. He then served in 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 ...

from 1969 to 1971. From 1971 until 2003, Weaver served in the

Illinois State Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

. In 1977, Weaver joined Republican leadership in the Illinois Senate and would continue to serve in various leadership positions for the remainder of his time in office. In 1997, he was elevated to the newly created post of Senate Majority Leader. Weaver died of cancer in Urbana, Illinois. The portion of

U.S. Route 45 in Illinois U.S. Route 45 (US 45) in the state of Illinois is a major north–south U.S. Highway that runs from the Brookport Bridge over the Ohio River at Brookport north through rural sections of eastern Illinois and then through the suburbs of Chic ...

that goes through Urbana-Champaign is named in his honor.

Notes

1925 births 2003 deaths People from Harrisburg, Illinois People from Urbana, Illinois Military personnel from Illinois United States Army Air Forces soldiers Michigan State University alumni University of Illinois alumni American funeral directors Mayors of places in Illinois Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Republican Party Illinois state senators Deaths from cancer in Illinois 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly {{Illinois-Ilrepresentative-Republican-stub