Thomas E. Keane (September 29, 1905 - September 9, 1996) was an American politician. He served as a member of the

Illinois 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 the ...

from the 23rd district from 1935 to 1945, and as an alderman of the

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 ...

from the 31st ward.

Early life

Thomas Keane was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

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 ...

to a

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. The language is standardized and officiall ...

family. He received his law degree from

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

and practiced law in Chicago. He served in the

from 1935 to 1945.

Chicago City Council

Mr. Keane served as the

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the 31st Ward of the City of Chicago. The son of alderman Thomas P. Keane and a member of the Democratic Party, he took his father's seat in the

in 1945, and represented part of the city's Northwest Side. Keane was once considered the second-most powerful politician in the city, exceeded only by his close personal ally Mayor

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Chicago from 1955, and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party from 1953, until his death. He has been called "the last of ...

. Keane chaired the Council's Finance Committee for many years. Mr. Keane's political career ended in 1974 with a federal conviction on mail-fraud and conspiracy charges related to real estate deals. The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

subsequently held unconstitutional the portion of the mail-fraud law under which Mr. Keane was found guilty. On October 2, 1996, the former alderman was posthumously honored for his "long distinguished career in the service of his community" by the full city council led by Mayor Richard M. Daley, the son of his late ally.

Death

Mr. Keane died, on September 9, 1996, at Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center, in Chicago, from heart failure, aged 90.

References

, - Chicago City Council members Politicians from Chicago Lawyers from Chicago Loyola University Chicago alumni Democratic Party Illinois state senators 1905 births 1996 deaths Illinois politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly {{Illinois-statesenator-stub