Louis John Gill''The Record/Herald News'', April 3, 2020
/ref> (January 19, 1940 – April 2, 2020) was an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician who served on the

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...

city council and in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

Early life and education

Gill was born in

in 1940. He attended

Passaic High School Passaic High School is a four-year community public high school, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the ...

and then attended Fairleigh Dickinson College where he graduated with a degree in accounting in 1961. He then continued his education at

Montclair State College Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...

William Paterson College William Paterson University, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Founded in 1855 and was named after American ju ...

, and

Jersey City State College New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, and known as Jersey City State College for 40 years of its history, New Jersey City University consists of the School of Business, ...

where he earned a master's degree in urban education.

Career

Gill worked as a special education teacher in the Paterson school district. Gill was appointed to the Passaic Alcoholic Beverage Commission in 1968 and eventually served as chairman. In 1977, he was elected to the Passaic city council eventually becoming president of the council. In 1987, with Democratic running mate

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...

mayor Thomas J. Duch, Gill defeated

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candidates Frank B. Calandriello and Andrew E. Bertone for two seats in the

from the 36th district after the two incumbent Republicans chose not to run for reelection. The two were reelected in 1989. In 1990, Gill cast one of the final votes in favor of Governor

James Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 19 ...

's unpopular income tax increases. As a result of this and redistricting that removed more Democratic towns like Garfield and Ridgefield and added more Republican towns like Nutley and Belleville, Gill and running mate Alfred R. Restaino were defeated by incumbent Republican Assemblyman John V. Kelly and former Republican Assemblyman

Paul DiGaetano Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

. During his time in the Assembly, Gill continued to be re-elected to his Passaic city council seat. Following his defeat from the Assembly, he continued to serve on the Passaic council until he lost his seat there in 1995.

Personal life

In 1963, Gill married the former Mary Hutchison and had four children together. He died on April 2, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Louis J. 1940 births 2020 deaths Politicians from Passaic, New Jersey Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni Montclair State University alumni William Paterson University alumni New Jersey City University alumni New Jersey city council members Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly 20th-century American politicians