Harris Fawell: An appreciation

In a red brick building in downtown Naperville is a photograph of Congressman Harris Fawell sitting in the Oval Office with President Ronald Reagan and other notables.

But if you visit "Harris Fawell obituary," that's not the photo you will see. Rather, you will see a young man with a great smile in an old-fashioned baseball uniform.

That's a good call by the Fawell family, because his baseball career influenced a difficult decision he made years later.

Fawell was elected to the State Senate when Chicago Democrats were pushing legislation that would prohibit racial housing discrimination. Then in his first term, Sen. Fawell was one of just two Republicans who supported the bill.

Years later, Fawell said that he was advised to not get too comfortable in Springfield, because he surely would not be re-elected. But he surely was. His west suburban constituents weren't overly concerned about Chicago's racial issues.

Why take the risk? Fawell said that while playing baseball he saw several black players who he felt belonged in the major leagues but never got a chance because of skin color.

"That just didn't seem right," Fawell said later, having voted for what was right.

That's not the only time he bucked party politics. Although he knew and admired John McCain, in 2008 he supported Barack Obama for president. Criticism ensued but Fawell once again followed his conscience.

All elected officials make compromises, but Fawell stood by his core values. Both in the Illinois Senate and the United States House of Representatives, he treated opponents with respect, mastering the art of disagreeing without being disagreeable.

Congressman Fawell passed away recently at age 92, but today's elected officials in Springfield and Washington, D.C., could learn something from the example set by this fine man.

Joe McElroy

Naperville