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Wayne Whalen

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Illinois

* I really liked Wayne. He was a fascinating person to talk with because he had so much knowledge and knew so many people and was truly a decent guy. Plus, I lived in Hanover for a time and that’s where he grew up. Here’s Steven Strahler at Crain’s…

Wayne Whalen, a precocious corporate attorney who had his hand in the election of former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, the writing of the Illinois Constitution and numerous other matters, including owning Ronald Reagan’s downstate birthplace and chairing the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, died in his Kenwood home on June 20.

He was 82 and had been diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, according to his widow, Paula Wolff.

Whalen was barely out of law school and into his 30s when he was elected a delegate in 1969 to the state constitutional convention, where he chaired the drafting committee and interacted with other young delegates like Richard M. Daley and Michael Madigan.

Whalen had worked the previous year on credential challenges at the 1968 Democratic National Convention and would reprise the role mightily at the 1972 convention in working on a compromise that would have seated competing slates of delegates led by then-Mayor Richard J. Daley and by Chicago Ald. Bill Singer and The Rev. Jesse Jackson. Daley rejected the compromise, which would have granted each delegate half a vote, and sat out the Miami convention that nominated George McGovern to be the Democratic candidate for that year’s presidential election.

There’s a great line in there from the Tribune, which reported years ago that Wayne had the look of a “solidly built outdoorsman with the face of a friendly homicide lieutenant.” Yep.

* From Wayne’s obituary…

Wayne Walter Whalen was born in Savanna, Illinois on August 22, 1939 to Leo and Esther (Yackley) Whalen. The oldest of five, Wayne grew up in Hanover, Illinois on his family´s mallard duck farm, Whistling Wings. Wayne´s early jobs, beginning at the age of nine, included detasseling corn and shining shoes. He was the first in his family to go to college, graduating as a member of the United States Air Force Academy’s third class in 1961. While serving for three years as a missile launch officer, he would emerge from the silo at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas to teach high school math on his days off. […]

In 1984, Wayne and five partners founded the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He served as the managing partner for 25 years. During that time, he proudly represented an eclectic group of clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to Southside lottery winners providing expert legal advice, strategy, and judgment. In keeping with his commitment to the common good, Wayne also served on numerous boards including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Foundation, the Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy, and the United States Air Force Academy Endowment.

Wayne met the love of his life, Paula Wolff, at the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention. Surprising everyone who knew them, they eloped on the original Earth Day at the Springfield courthouse. Married for over 52 years, they have five spectacular children and eleven even better grandchildren whom Wayne took incredible care of and loved dearly. […]

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Wayne may be made to the University of Chicago Medical Center for Parkinson’s/Progressive Supranuclear Palsy research (http://giving.uchicago.edu/wayne-whalen) or the Lincoln Presidential Foundation (https://www.lincolnpresidential.org/giving/).

My sympathies to Paula and to the rest of Wayne’s family.

* From a 2007 interview with Bethany Jaeger at WUIS…

Q.What would you expect to be the top issues if voters called for a convention in 2008?

There would be an effort to affect the guarantees of public pensions, which are contained in the existing Constitution. I think there would be an effort to roll back the powers of local government that are currently contained in the Constitution. I think there would be an effort to curtail the power of the governor in granting vetoes and pardons. For example, I think there’s some that view the governor’s power to pardon convicted felons [in] capital cases — the death penalty — there would be an effort to roll that back. The current Constitution of Illinois has an Equal Rights Amendment for women. That’s different than in a lot of places, so that will be an issue. There’s the issue of marriage and how that should be defined. That would be a question. The current Constitution is very clear on the separation of church and state as that applies to the funding of education. And I think it’s reasonable to assume that there would be an effort to change that.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 23, 22 @ 1:45 pm

Comments

Condolences to his family and friends.

Can’t help thinking about his comment on the Illinois Constitution’s clear provision for separation of church and state as applied to education funding.

Sadly not so sure how clear that is in light of SCOTUS ruling on Carson v. Makin this week.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Jun 23, 22 @ 2:14 pm
He was a great guy and a truly great lawyer.

Comment by Saul Morse Thursday, Jun 23, 22 @ 5:52 pm
I remember Wayne from the 1972 Democratic successful challenge. He worked tirelessly with other lawyers including Bill Luking, who also passed away, to change the direction of the Democratic Party.
Very smart and decent fellow.
Exceptional lawyer.

Comment by Back to the Future Thursday, Jun 23, 22 @ 9:18 pm
Wayne was a true gentleman, a great attorney and a true civic leader. His wisdom, honesty, evenhanded nature and humility will be greatly missed.

Comment by Midwesterner Thursday, Jun 23, 22 @ 10:07 pm