[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3609-S3610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING JAMES S. CROWN

 Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I recently traveled to Vilnius, 
Lithuania, for this year's NATO Summit. It was a fitting location; 
Lithuania has had an extraordinary journey breaking free from the 
tyranny of the Soviet Union and becoming a thriving democracy. The 
visit also had a deep significance for me personally. One hundred and 
twelve years ago, my mother came to the United States from Lithuania. 
Although she never saw her homeland again, she always carried it in her 
heart.
  Just a few decades before my mother arrived in the United States, a 
Lithuanian Jewish couple, Ida and Arie Krinsky, immigrated to the 
United States. They settled in Chicago, where Arie toiled in a 
sweatshop to make a living and support his wife and seven children. 
Eventually, the Krinsky family changed their surname to Crown. Three of 
the Crown sons, Henry and his brothers Irving and Sol, established a 
sand and gravel company, the Material Service Corporation, that would 
grow into a business empire before merging with General Dynamics.
  When Henry Crown passed away in 1990, his obituary in the New York 
Times referred to him as ``the billionaire whose life exemplified the 
Horatio Alger rags-to-riches story of American industrialists.'' It is 
a legacy that has been preserved and expanded by his children. To this 
day, the Crown family

[[Page S3610]]

is widely known for its socially conscious investment and philanthropic 
efforts, and as a pillar of the Jewish community from Chicago to 
Israel.
  Tragically, late last month, James ``Jim'' Crown, Henry's grandson, 
passed away in a car accident on his 70th birthday. Born to Renee and 
Lester Crown, Jim went to high school in Winnetka, attended Hampshire 
College in Amherst, MA, for his undergraduate studies, and graduated 
from Stanford Law School. He began his career at Salomon Brothers, 
eventually becoming vice president of the Capital Markets Service 
Group. It was during his time on Wall Street that Jim met and fell in 
love with Paula Hannaway, an investment banker. In 1985, the two 
married and returned to Chicago to join the family business.
  Jim was chair and CEO of Henry Crown and Company, a privately held 
company dealing in securities, real estate, and other investments. He 
also was a member of the board of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Jim was one of 
Chicago's most prominent philanthropists and a longtime member of the 
board of trustees for the University of Chicago, serving as chair from 
2003 to 2009.
  In early 2003, Jim had breakfast with a young Illinois State senator 
who was gearing up to make a run for the U.S. Senate. Some might have 
seen an inexperienced newcomer with almost no chance of success. But 
Jim saw what others did not. In Jim's words, ``I was just taken with 
his sensibility, his intelligence, his values, and how he conducted 
himself during that campaign.'' That young State senator, Barack Obama, 
would not only win that seat but go on to become our Nation's first 
Black President. And Jim was one of his earliest supporters.
  Jim represented the best of finance and business; he knew that 
success went well beyond profits and bull markets. He understood the 
importance of giving back. In 2021, Jim and Paula made history with a 
$75 million donation to the University of Chicago's School of Social 
Work, reportedly the largest ever private donation to a school of 
social work. Today, the school has been renamed the Crown Family School 
of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Jim's father Lester Crown said, 
``[Jim] was the leader of our family both intellectually and 
emotionally, and he looked out for everybody.'' I would add that 
``everybody'' stretched far beyond Jim's own family.
  And just before his passing, as the head of the Civic Committee and 
Commercial Club of Chicago, Jim was working to convene Chicago business 
leaders to focus on ways to address violent crime, to make Chicago 
``the Safest Big City in America.'' The strategy centered on investing 
in the communities most impacted by violent crime, expanding community 
violence intervention programs, and committing to expand economic 
opportunity, all with the goal of breaking the cycle of trauma and 
ending generational poverty. While Jim may be gone, I hope his work 
will be continued to make this a reality.
  Jim is survived by his loving wife of 38 years, Paula; their 
children, Torie, Hayley, Summer, and W. Andrew; and two grandchildren; 
as well as his parents Renee and Lester; four sisters Patricia, Susan, 
Sara, and Janet; two brothers Steve and Daniel. To the entire Crown 
family and all of those who knew and loved Jim, Loretta and I send our 
deepest condolences.
  Thank you, Jim, for all that you did for the city of Chicago; it will 
not be the same without you.
       (At the request of Mr. Schumer, the following statement was 
     ordered to be printed in the Record.)

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