john redenour was a proud democrat. in fact, he was the former chairman of the illinois democratic party chairs. he rode on air force one with president jimmy carter and he had a good relationship with presidents, including president obama. the politicians whose careers he helped, launch or advanced could have filled a stadium, but he knew there are things that are more important than party politics. he always made it a habit to meet with new decoin city council members and offer the same advice to them. he said do what's good for decoin, do what's right for the people. that's certainly good advice for any officeholder. over the years, my wife and i were fortunate to be visitors at john's home at the annual state fair party at the duquoin state fair. we always appreciated seeing that great crowd for the social event of southern illinois for the year and staying overnight and waking up in the morning as wanda his wife made her famous texas pancakes. we loved them. people gathered from all over the community as wanda just