Record #: R2022-924   
Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Intro date: 9/21/2022 Current Controlling Legislative Body:
Final action: 9/21/2022
Title: Tribute to late Thomas P. Coffey
Sponsors: Burke, Edward M.
Attachments: 1. R2022-924.pdf

RESOLUTION

 

WHEREAS, Thomas P. Coffey has been called to eternal life by the wisdom of God at the age of 77; and

 

WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of his passing by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and

 

WHEREAS, Tom is survived by his wife Alice, sons Matt and Tom Jr., a daughter Catherine Callahan, 10 grandchildren, brothers Kevin, Barry and Phil Coffey, and a sister Judy Coffey-Hedquist; and

 

WHEREAS, Tom was born on September 11,1944, the first child of John and Billie Coffey; and

 

WHEREAS, Growing up in St. Thomas More Parish, he graduated from Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary; and

 

WHEREAS, In 1966, he earned an English degree from Loras College, a Catholic, liberal arts school in Dubuque, Iowa where he met his wife Mary Alice Butler of Oak Park and married in 1968; and

 

WHEREAS, Tom studied law at DePaul University getting his law degree in 1968, then enlisted in the Marines serving as a JAG lawyer stationed in Okinawa; and

 

WHEREAS, Captain Coffey returned to civilian life in 1974, and joined the Law Firm of Kirkland & Ellis, where he specialized in antitrust law; and

 

WHEREAS, Tom also did work for the African-American Patrolmen's League, which brought him into contact with U.S. Representative Harold Washington, influential attorney and political insider Wayne Whalen, and Al Raby, former point man for Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago; and

 

WHEREAS, Tom, Al, and Wayne were key masterminds in Mayor Washington's 1983 historic mayoral campaign; and

 

WHEREAS, After mayoral election in 1983, Mayor Washington appointed Tom as his point man to the City Council, Springfield, and the federal government, and became the architect of some ofthe administration's most notable accomplishments; and

 

WHEREAS, In 1986, Tom focused on creating a consulting firm, Haymarket Public Strategies which connects its clients to the stakeholders they need to achieve their goals; and

 

 

WHEREAS, To his beloved family, Tom imparls a legacy of generosity, compassion, devotion to family and unwavering faith in God; now, therefore

 

BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor.and the members .of the Chicago City Council, assembled this twenty-first day of September, 2022,. do hereby commemorate Tom for his grace-filled life and do hereby express our condolences to his family; and .

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Thomas P. Coffey.

Edward M. Burke Alderman, 14th Ward