Shapiro, Samuel H. (Samuel Harvey), 1907-1987

SAMUEL H. SHAPIRO was born Israel Shapiro in Estonia and immigrated to the United States at a young age. After graduating from the University of Illinois College of Law, he practiced in Kankakee. He went on to win election as state’s attorney (county prosecutor) of Kankakee County. He was also a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1947 to 1961.Shapiro was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1960 and reelected in 1964. He became governor when Otto Kerner Jr. resigned to accept appointment to the federal appellate court. In 1968, Shapiro ran for election to a full term of his own but was narrowly defeated by his Republican opponent, Richard Ogilvie. An alumnus of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, Shapiro led the effort to establish a permanent headquarters for the fraternity’s national offices. He died in Kankakee and is buried in Jewish Waldheim Cemetery in Forest Park.

<p>Samuel Harvey Shapiro (born Israel Shapiro; April 25, 1907 – March 16, 1987) was the 34th Governor of Illinois, serving from 1968 to 1969. He was a member of the Democratic Party.</p>

<p>Born in 1907 in the Governorate of Estonia of the Russian Empire, he emigrated to the United States at an early age. He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law. As a lawyer, Shapiro practiced in Kankakee, Illinois. Turning to public service, he was elected state's attorney (county prosecutor) of Kankakee County in 1936. From 1947–61 he served in the Illinois State House of Representatives, where he took a special interest in mental health issues.</p>

<p>Shapiro was elected the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 1960 and again in 1964, and took office as governor when the previous governor Otto Kerner, Jr. resigned to accept appointment to the federal appellate court. Shapiro thus became the second Jewish governor of Illinois (Henry Horner being the first). Illinois thereby became the first state to have had two Jewish governors; New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have each since elected at least a second governor of the faith.</p>

<p>No history of Temple B'Nai Israel would be complete without an account of its most famous member.</p>

<p>Samuel H. Shapiro, the 34th governor of Illinois, was president of the membership when the Temple was built in 1958. When he died, his instructions were that memorials in his name would be made to the Temple.</p>

<p>And on March 27, 1987, 11 days after he died, the Temple hosted a local memorial service honoring Shapiro.</p>