Casey Laskowski

Casimir "Casey" Laskowski (November 23, 1918 – August 15, 2003) was an American politician and mortician who served on the Chicago City Council for 24 years.

Early life and education Laskowski was born to immigrants from Białystok, Poland.

City Council career Laskowski was elected to the Chicago City Council in 1955. In his first campaign, he tied himself to Ben Adamowski. Adamowski ran an outsider campaign for the Democratic nomination in the 1955 Chicago mayoral election, ultimately losing to Richard J. Daley. His decision to side with Adamowski over Daley, the establishment candidate, earned Laskowski the nickname "The Rebel".

After winning election to the City Council, Laskowski made an unsuccessful attempt to take control of Democratic Party power in the 35th ward from City Clerk John Marcin. After this, however, Laskowski became largely aligned with the city's Democratic machine. Laskowski and Marcin had previously, for a long time, been political allies. Laskowski was blindsided by Marcin's move to run against him. He attempted to hurt Marcin's candidacy by disclosing that Marcin's functional primary residence was not his humble apartment in the ward, but rather, was a mansion in the Lake County suburb of Antioch, Illinois.

Personal life and other activities Laskowski was a licensed mortician. in the Kelvyn Park neighborhood. He and his family lived above the funeral home. He and his wife, Virginia, had three children.

He served as the president of the Polish American Businessmen's Club. He also served on the John Barry School Board. He was also a member of the American Legion, AMVETS, Knights of Columbus, LaFourths Association, Lafayette Council #361, Funeral Directors Service Association, I.F.D.A., N.F.D.A., Chicago Society P.N.A., and P.L.A.V.

Laskowski died of complications from a heart surgery on August 15, 2003, at the age of 84.