Former Ald. Bernard L. "Berny" Stone, who long represented the city's 50th Ward, passed away Dec. 22. He was 87.
Stone's health deteriorated quickly after he sustained a fall in his home Dec. 20, according to reports.
"He was the most honest, most wonderful, caring, loving [and] giving man. He lived for his community," daughter Ilana Feketitsch told ABC 7. "He was loved by so many people, the outpouring has been wonderful. He gave everything to people. They should just give back to him the way he did to everybody."
He was in office from 1973 through 2011, and, throughout the 1980's was a prominent player in the "Council Wars" against Mayor Harold Washington, which saw a group of council members led by Stone's mentor, Ald. Ed Vrdolyak, uniformly oppose proposals supported by Washington. Stone switched parties for a time in the late 1980's as well, running on the Republican ticket for the office of Cook County Recorder of Deeds against Carol Moseley Braun, to whom he lost. He returned to the Democratic Party in 1990.
Stone's final campaign saw him lose to Debra Silverstein, the wife of state Sen. Ira Silverstein. Silverstein was one of only two candidates Rahm Emanuel publicly backed in that general election. Stone's supporters nevertheless posted "Emanuel/Stone" placards throughout the ward.
Stone said at the time that he was not worried by Emanuel's lack of support. In March 2011, he told NBC 5, "I don't think it's going to affect my race… When I'm re-elected, I'll work with him as a partner, as he indicates—that really is my intent in running rather than retiring."
Silverstein defeated Stone with 62 percent of the vote.
He said that he was supportive of LGBT concerns in a 2007 Windy City Times interview, but did not think they faced systemic discrimination. He also said that many of his constituents had little sympathy for those concerns.
"I've had problems that concern different nationalities," Stone said. "I've never had a problem concerning gender problems. I don't think there's any particular prejudice against gays and lesbians. I have a large segment of Orthodox Jews who have an in-built prejudice against gays and lesbians. It's part of their religious training. But on the other hand, Jews are, by nature, extremely liberal."
Stone added that a discussion with a rabbi opened his eyes to the plight of the LGBT community. Stone asked the rabbi about the biblical interpretation that homosexuality is an abomination, to which the rabbi replied, "While I do not condone this lifestyle, it is absolutely unacceptable that everybody isn't entitled to have a right to be whatever they feel like being."
Stone called the discussion a "moving point" before voting for the 1988 Human Rights Ordinance that called for protections against anti-gay discrimination. He noted in the interview that he supported gay marriage as well.
"I have no reservation on that," Stone said. "I have no reservation even on raising children. I certainly have no reservation as to time off, and things of that nature. I voted for all of those pieces of legislation. I'm certainly not homophobic. [We are] way beyond the point at which we thought [homosexuality] was a disease, or things of that nature. I don't have to do this for political reasons. I do not have a large gay population. I don't need to play to the population for votes. It's just a question of how do you feel as a matter of right."
