January 28, 2015

Sam Lilly, a 1958 graduate of Sullivan High School and now a resident of Downers Grove, is the 2014 recipient of the Hall of Fame award presented by the Sullivan Alumni Association. Johnny Bill Durbin of Sullivan, a 1959 graduate, received the Who’s Who award.
A graduate of Eastern Illinois University, Lilly was a high school teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and community college and university instructor before earning his Ph.D. During that time he was active in the organization and passage of the Illinois Community College Act which established the system we have today.
Lilly co-chaired a large suburban school district committee that set the groundwork for the total reorganization of a school system that today has more than 17,000 students, and he was a charter member of Sullivan Community Education Foundation.
He has written four books on Early American history and is the youngest person ever elected president of the Illinois State Historical Society. Former Governor Jim Edgar appointed him to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Board of Trustees, and he worked for many years on the development of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.