MEMORIAL-SHERWIN A. SWARTZ

Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0873

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Full Text of HR0873

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HR0873 - 104th General Assembly

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HR0873
LRB104 21707 MST 37315 r
1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

2

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3
Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Sherwin
4
A. Swartz, who passed away on April 11, 2026; and

5

WHEREAS, Sherwin Swartz was born in Chicago on April 18,
6
1929, the son of a north side small-business family, and
7
attended Chicago public schools; and

8

WHEREAS, After graduating from Roosevelt University with a
9
history degree, Sherwin Swartz joined the Independent Voters
10
of Illinois (IVI) in 1953 and developed legendary skills in
11
the face-to-face teaching and tutoring of pre-election
12
campaign tactics, including political organizing, grassroots
13
campaigning, and door-to-door work; and

14

WHEREAS, After moving to Springfield in 1978, Sherwin
15
Swartz joined the Republican staff for the House of
16
Representatives, becoming a key internal Illinois General
17
Assembly staff expert for both sides of the aisle on issues
18
including Chicago government, local government, election law,
19
and the recital of any U.S. Census-related or governmental
20
statistic that any of his colleagues needed to know during the
21
final years before this knowledge was accessible online; and

HR0873
- 2 -
LRB104 21707 MST 37315 r
1

WHEREAS, Sherwin Swartz was a passionate Major League
2
Baseball fan, preserver of a wide variety of baseball lore,
3
and played a key role in preventing the Chicago White Sox from
4
moving to Tampa Bay, Florida in June 1988 by working with the
5
General Assembly to enact language within the authorization
6
law for the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (IFSA), a
7
newly-created independent entity within the public sector,
8
which gave the IFSA the financial means and authority to
9
oversee the construction and completion of a new ball park for
10
the White Sox; and

11

WHEREAS, Although Sherwin Swartz grew up on Chicago's
12
north side, he was not a fan of the North Side MLB team; for
13
more than a decade before his passing, he transferred much of
14
his baseball allegiance from the Chicago White Sox to a MLB
15
team based in St. Louis, explaining to friends that the
16
Missouri team played the North Side team more often; and

17

WHEREAS, After Sherwin Swartz left General Assembly
18
service in 1991, he was a fixture of the Springfield mentoring
19
scene for decades, continuing to share his knowledge of
20
political organization work, baseball appreciation, and United
21
States history; with the help of friends, he visited all 50
22
states and every major battlefield of the American Civil War
23
and could tell listeners how each battle had been won and lost;
24
and

HR0873
- 3 -
LRB104 21707 MST 37315 r
1

WHEREAS, By the time of Sherwin Swartz's passing, the St.
2
Louis Cardinals had beaten the other team 1,234 times in
3
regular season and postseason play; and

4

WHEREAS, In his final years, Sherwin Swartz attended many
5
Cardinal games with his mentees, Joe Vespa and John Webb, and
6
also enjoyed the company of many other friends who had
7
enduring memories of his advice and encouragement over the
8
years; therefore, be it

9

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
10
HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11
we mourn the passing of Sherwin A. Swartz and extend our
12
sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew
13
and loved him; and be it further

14

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15
presented to the family of Sherwin Swartz as a symbol of our
16
deepest sympathy.

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