Jeanne Hurley Simon

Jeanne Hurley Simon
Born	May 10, 1922 Chicago, Illinois
Died	February 20, 2000 (aged 77) Makanda, Illinois
Known for	advocate of libraries and literacy

Jeanne C. Hurley Simon (May 10, 1922 – February 20, 2000) was the first wife of Senator Paul Simon and the mother of former Illinois Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon, was a state and national public official in her own right.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Simon graduated from Barat College and received her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law. She was admitted to the Illinois bar and practiced law.^[1][2]

A member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1957 to 1961, on April 21, 1960 she married fellow State Assemblyman Paul Simon, thus becoming the first two sitting members of that body that were married to each other. She did not seek reelection, later becoming a mother to Sheila and Martin Simon, a lawyer, an author, and supporting her husband when he served as the state's lieutenant governor from 1969 to 1973, during his failed gubernatorial bid in 1972, and his terms as congressman and United States Senator until 1997.

In recognition of her lifelong advocacy of libraries and literacy, President Bill Clinton appointed her in 1993 and 1997 to two terms as chairperson of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, in which she served until her death from brain cancer on February 20, 2000, at the age of 77, at her home, in Makanda, Illinois.^[3][4] A decade after her death, her daughter Sheila became Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.

References

1. 'Illinois Blue Book 1959-1960, Biographical Sketch of Jeanne C. Hurley, pg. 216
2. 'Jeanne Simon, Wife Of Ex-Senator,' Chicago Tribune, John Chase, February 21, 2000
3. NCLIS Chair Jeanne Simon Dies at 77 ALA
4. Congressional Record – Senate

External links

• Booknotes interview with Jeanne Simon on Codename: Scarlett – Life on the Campaign Trail by the Wife of a Presidential Candidate, July 23, 1989.
• Jeanne C. Hurley Simon at Find a Grave