WILLIAM ALOYSIUS REDMOND
(From Bill Redmond Day, October 1995, DuPage County Democratic Party)
The man whose memory we honor tonight, William A. Redmond, brought much honor and attention to the DuPage Democratic Party, at a time when both were sorely needed.
Born and raised in Chicago, Bill brought his family to Wood Dale in 1945, after his discharge from the Navy, and soon had a thriving private law practice. He became the attorney for several municipalities and school boards. Bill's first run for office came in 1948, when Sen. Paul Douglas and Gov. Adlai Stevenson encouraged him to run for DuPage state's attorney. Even though he received the highest Democratic vote ever cast for county office, he lost to the Republican. The supreme irony is that he lost to Lee Daniels, whose grandson is also Lee Daniels, the current Speaker of the House.
Mr. Redmond is an inspiration to those of us who get discouraged as DuPage Democrats after many defeats. He ran and lost for county judge, and then lost a Democratic primary in 1958 for state representative. Rather than giving up, he persisted, ran in the 1958 fall election and was elected. He remained in the House for 24 years, until his retirement in 1982. The high point of his career was his election to the Speaker's position in 1975. It was a dramatic moment in history, for it took a record 93 ballots. Bill was the compromise candidate, because all factions of the Democratic party could trust him. He served until 1980, when Republicans took control of the House, and retired from office in 1982.
Bill modestly said of his tenure as Speaker, "I don't know what kind of speaker I'll be remembered as,...I thought the speaker was primarily the presiding officer of a bipartisan group and that everyone out there was elected by the people and they were entitled to be heard." Others described him as "fair and easy to reach". How refreshing to have a statewide leader who was fair and considerate of other viewpoints! But, he did not shrink from the leading edge solutions to DuPage and state problems. Among many achievements, he introduced the first bill that would have placed limits on the growth of O'Hare. And, many years before the Republican tax cap, he introduced bills that would have limited increases in tax rates to 6 percent without referendum. As early as the 1970's, he pushed to have a minimum amount set for state aid to schools, giving schools dollars they could rely on.
Speaker Redmond also served as the DuPage Democratic Chairman from 1968 until 1988, unifying the sometimes contentious factions under his conciliatory, skillful leadership. He often said that "sometimes Democrats get more joy from infighting than anything else". However, local Democrats were all proud to be led by a statewide leader and respected legislator. Even after his "retirement", he served on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, traveling the state to review prisoner's parole requests until the time of his death in December of 1992.
His funeral service was a wonderful affirmation of the esteem he held from both sides of the aisle. One of the most moving, eloquent tributes to Bill was delivered by - Lee Daniels.