SR2256 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR2256 LRB100 24399 ALS 43745 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Paul Luty Obis Jr., who passed away on June 25, 2018 at the age of 66; and

WHEREAS, Paul Obis was born to Elizabeth "Betty" and Paul Luty Obis Sr., a pharmacist, on August 13, 1951; his parents owned and operated pharmacies together, and he grew up in Melrose Park; he attended Proviso East High School in Maywood and then the University of Illinois at Chicago; during college, he worked in a kitchen, and one day a can of beans fell from a shelf and hit him on the head; he woke up in a hospital under the care of a male nurse and was inspired to pursue a nursing career; later, while eating at a Burger King on Broadway in Chicago, he was inspired to become a vegetarian; after his epiphany, he left without finishing his burger; and

WHEREAS, While studying and working, Paul Obis founded a short-lived political newsletter called Truth and also submitted several freelance articles for other publications; when he was unsuccessful in finding someone to publish his articled title, "Being a Vegetarian is Never Having to Say You're Sorry - to a Cow," he set out to launch his own publication; he founded the Vegetarian Times in 1974, a newsletter that he hand-delivered on his bicycle before it grew into an influential magazine with a readership of approximately 1.7 million; for many years, the magazine was housed in Oak Park; and

WHEREAS, In the Vegetarian Times, Paul Obis featured cover stories about famous vegetarians, including Michael Jackson, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Linda McCartney, Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson, River Phoenix, Richard Simmons, and Dr. Henry Heimlich, the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver; he befriended another famous vegetarian, Fred "Mister" Rogers, who at one point was a major investor in the magazine; Yoko Ono and John Lennon were subscribers; and

WHEREAS, Paul Obis raised six sons with his first wife, Mariclaire Barrett, who also served as the food editor and book reviewer for the Vegetarian Times; while their children were raised on a mostly vegetarian diet, they were allowed to decide their own dietary lifestyles as they grew up; and

WHEREAS, Paul Obis sold his magazine in 1992 and concluded that vegetarianism could live without him; he said, "I've come to understand that it's so much bigger than whatever I eat," and, after experiencing a change of heart while attending the Taste of Chicago with his sons, he returned to occasionally eating meat; his magazine's legacy lives on as an online source for the vegetarian community; and

WHEREAS, Paul Obis met his second wife, Janeen, in 2012, and they married at the Arts Club of Chicago in 2014; the couple initially moved to Oak Park, but they later settled in Los Angeles, California; Janeen said she was attracted to Paul's kindness, empathy, and spontaneity and remembered an instance when he bought $400 worth of groceries for a family in need; and

WHEREAS, Paul Obis is remembered as an innovative, creative, brilliant, eccentric, sweet, and gentle soul, as well as "a provider and force for humanity"; he loved the nooks and crannies of Chicago and introduced his children to "ethnic grocery stores, charming barber shops, and off-the-beaten-path oddities"; and

WHEREAS, Paul Obis was preceded in death by his first wife, Mariclaire, and his parents, whom he nursed into old age; and

WHEREAS, Paul Obis is survived by his second wife, Janeen; his sons, Nick (Jess), Quentin (Maryam), Paul W., Kevin (Beth), Timothy (Anastasia), and Gregory, to whom he passed on his legacy of "making the world a better place"; and his grandson; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Paul Luty Obis Jr. and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Paul Obis as an expression of our deepest sympathy.