Spring Valley CCSD Foundation Honors 2021 Hall of Fame Inductee
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Launch the media gallery 1 player - media #2The Spring Valley C.C.S.D.Foundation is proud to announce that the 2021 inductee is Richard A. Mautino (July 7, 1938 - August 29, 1991). Born in Spring Valley, Mautino was a lifelong resident of Spring Valley. He graduated from Spring Valley Elementary, Hall High School, and Bradley University. His family included his wife Joan, and his children Julie, Rich, and Frank.
Mautino's grandparents immigrated from Italy to Spring Valley, where they founded the Mautino Distributing Company in 1905. After having graduated from Spring Valley Elementary Schools and Hall High School, Mautino received his bachelors degree from Bradley University and returned to work in the family business in Spring Valley.
Mautino began his career in public service as a Spring Valley Alderman, a Spring Valley Library trustee, the Bureau County Democratic Chairman, and as a Bureau County Board member.
Mautino served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1975 until 1991. During his 16-year tenure in the General Assembly, Rich Mautino was an outspoken and effective voice for our area and for rural issues in general. He became the leader of a powerful unofficial caucus of House Democrats from outside of the Chicago area called the Downstate Democrats.
Highly regarded by both Republican and Democratic colleagues in the legislature, Mautino was selected as one of the top ten legislators of the assembly in 1990. He received awards from both business and labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO, Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce, Bureau County Farm Bureau, retired teachers, public health professionals, and social workers.
Among the many honors awarded to Richard Mautino during his lifetime, some local honors were particularly meaningful to his family: This recognition by the Spring Valley C.C.S.D.Foundation, the naming of the Spring Valley library in his honor, and the naming of a portion of Route 6 on the west end of Spring Valley in his honor.
One of the most poignant and accurate statements about Mautino was from his legislative colleague Ted Leverenz, who summed up Mautino's life and character as follows: "He was a guy you could trust with your life. So many people relied on him. He took care of his people and everybody around him."
Upon his death in August 1991, former Governor Jim Edgar ordered flags at the state building to fly at half-staff for two-days and stated that Richard A. Mautino was "An effective, intelligent legislator and a strong advocate for the interests of downstate Illinois." Mautino's son, Frank J. Mautino, was then appointed to succeed him, continuing the tradition of advocating for the people of his district.
