BlairAndCernyFamilie..

JOHN PATRICK O'BRIEN
John was born August l, 1949 in Springfield, Illinois.
In August of 1950 he was stricken with Polio and the
result was paralysis of both legs. However, he walks
with the aid of braces and crutches. He attended the
Stuart School for therapy unti I the thi rd grade.
He attended Little Flower grade school for grades three
through eight and was the first eighth grade class to
graduate in the ne.r church. 0uring the years at Little Flower
he was active in the Boy Scouts, was a patrol boy, manager of
the baseball teen and participated in piano recitats. He
attended Griffin high school in 1963 and graduated from there
in 1967. hltri le attending Gri f fin high school he was active
in the Glee Club all four years, the History Club for one
year, the Key Club for trvo years and atso was Statistician
for the football and basketball team for tuo years. Upon
graduation from Griffin high school he received a four year
scholarship to attend Illinois State University at Normal,
Illinois.
In the fall of 1967 he began classes at ISU and received a
Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in
January of 1972" His four years at the university were most
enjoyable for him as his knowledge expanded beyond the textbooks
and he met people from various states and countries.
Lfiile at the university he lived in a mens co-op and was in
charge of the cooking and buying of the food. During the
sufimers, he worked at a heatth camp in l,larquette, Hichigan
as a counselor for children with speech and hearing probluns"
From 1972 to 1975 he wo.rked as a claims analyst of Northeastern
and Blue Cross/Blue Shield adjudicating c!aims under
the State of Illinois Brployees Group and Health Insurance
Program. At the present time he is employed by the State
of Illinois in the Department of Insurance.
His career started as an accountant in the financial analysis
unit and his duties included statdnent audits of insurance
colpanies to determine their solvency ratio. Due to his
advancdnent in the accounting field, he then transferred to
the tax unit as the supervisor.