[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 70 (Friday, May 9, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING MICHAEL HEISLEY, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PETER J. ROSKAM

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 9, 2014

  Mr. ROSKAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the passing of a great 
Illinois businessman and philanthropist, Michael Heisley, Sr. who 
passed last Saturday at the age of 77. He was a classic American 
success story. In 1979, he mortgaged his house and took out a loan to 
buy a bankrupt industrial equipment company which he then turned around 
to become profitable. He purchased other Rust Belt manufacturing 
companies, including some in the 6th District of Illinois, and in the 
process turned his Heico Companies into one of the largest private 
companies in the Chicagoland area. He did not buy businesses to flip 
them, but to fix them and make them thriving enterprises once again.
   Mr. Heisley not only kept manufacturing jobs in the United States, 
he also brought jobs back to the United States. He was able to move the 
NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies to Memphis, Tennessee. Like the companies he 
fixed, he left the Grizzlies in far better shape than he found them. 
Mr. Heisley was a philanthropist who donated to numerous charities 
including: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, St. 
Patrick's Catholic School in St. Charles, his alma mater Georgetown 
University, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, in honor of his 
brother Joseph who served and his best friend Rocky who died in 
Vietnam.
   Mr. Heisley never lost track of his ties to St. Charles, IL his home 
of 35 years. He served on the St. Charles School Board and was a 
longtime parishioner at St. Patrick's in St. Charles. He is survived by 
his wife of more than fifty years Agnes, five children and 12 
grandchildren. Mr. Speaker and my distinguished colleagues in the 
House, please join me in honoring Michael Heisley, his family, and his 
legacy of service and achievement.

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