Philip J. Rock (May 4, 1937 – January 29, 2016) was an American politician, and a long time Democratic member of the Illinois Senate who represented parts of the West Side of Chicago and Oak Park. During his time in the Senate, he became the longest serving

President of the Illinois Senate The President of the Illinois Senate is the presiding officer of the Illinois Senate, the upper house of the Illinois General Assembly. The post dates from the General Assembly's 32nd session, in 1881. From 1881 to 1973, the lieutenant governor ...

with a fourteen-year tenure serving from 1979 to 1993.

Early life

Rock was born on May 4, 1937, and raised in

Logan Square, Chicago Logan Square is an official community area, historical neighborhood, and public square on the northwest side of the City of Chicago. The Logan Square community area is one of the 77 city-designated community areas established for planning purpo ...

. He received both his bachelor's degree in philosophy and his master's degree in theology from the University of Saint Mary of the Lake, and in 1964 graduated from Loyola University School of Law. He served as an Assistant Attorney General under William G. Clark from 1965 until 1969 when he went to work for the

Cook County State's Attorney The Cook County State's Attorney functions as the state of Illinois's district attorney for Cook County, Illinois, and heads the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States. The office has over 700 attorneys and 1,100 employees. In ad ...

Senate

Rock was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1970 to succeed Thomas A. McGloon, who ran for and won a judgeship. After one term, he was named assistant minority leader and after the Democrats won back the Senate during a Democratic wave year in 1974, assistant majority leader. During his time in the Senate, the Illinois Deaf-Blind Service Center and School was established and the Regional Transportation Authority was created. In 1979, Rock became President of the Illinois State Senate. After the 1991 decennial redistricting, the district that numerically was the 8th was represented by north side legislator Howard W. Carroll while his district was divided between several other districts.

After politics

In 1996, Rock was appointed to the

Illinois Board of Higher Education The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) is a state government agency that oversees higher education in the U.S. state of Illinois. The IBHE was created in 1961. Since 2012 the IBHE also permits and oversees business schools and other vocati ...

and became its chair in April 1999. He stepped down from the board in April 2002. In 2012, Rock published his autobiography, ''Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello'', co-authored with Ed Wojcicki. On January 29, 2016, he died at the age of 78. At the time of his death, he had

Lewy body dementia Lewy body dementias are two similar and common subtypes of dementia—dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Both are characterized by changes in thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. The two conditions have si ...

References

* 1937 births 2016 deaths Presidents of the Illinois Senate Democratic Party Illinois state senators Politicians from Cook County, Illinois University of Saint Mary of the Lake alumni Loyola University Chicago School of Law alumni Illinois lawyers Writers from Chicago Deaths from dementia in Illinois Deaths from Lewy body dementia 20th-century American lawyers Illinois Democratic Party chairs {{Illinois-statesenator-stub