Clyde Bunch, who was first elected to the Sangamon County Board in 1978 and was recognized as the longest-serving county board member in Illinois, died at Bridge Care Suites in Springfield on Dec. 3.
He was 88.
Bunch was one of eight Democrats to serve on the 29-member board. He represented District 21, which encompasses the south-central part of Springfield.
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Bunch ran unopposed in the Nov. 5 election.
Board chairman A.D. “Andy” Van Meter, in a statement via text, noted Bunch worked on virtually every major county project from road construction to citizens’ assistance with utility bills.
Clyde Bunch
Van Meter said Bunch’s single favorite project might have been construction of the county’s juvenile detention center “which he championed and daily supervised.” The facility has been closed since Sept. 30, 2023.
Bunch also assisted with the opening of Helping Hands homeless shelter. The agency, which held a ribbon cutting earlier this year, is adjacent to the juvenile detention facility and the Regional Office of Education.
Van Meter said Bunch had “a heart of gold.”
“Clyde’s hallmark was his consistent focus on getting good work done without partisan rancor,” Van Meter said. “He was the board’s living link to its past who never lost his focus on providing for the future.”
Fellow Democrat county board member Tony DelGiorno was born the same year Bunch ascended the board. DelGiorno said he knew Bunch his entire life and last saw him a couple of weeks before he died.
Sangamon County Board member Clyde Bunch, third from left, helps cut the ribbon for Helping Hands’ new homeless shelter at 2200 Shale Street on January 17, 2024.
“Clyde was a character, but he definitely loved being on the board, loved doing what he could for Sangamon County and for the folks in his district,” DelGiorno said.
Bunch, DelGiorno recalled, would sometimes caucus with Republicans “more to try to work with them because (the Democratic caucus) was so small. I know he tried to bridge that gap to some degree. Oftentimes, it led to disagreement and frustration with fellow Democrats, including myself.”
Bunch retired as a superintendent with the Springfield Department of Public Health, which is now part of the county’s health department.
He volunteered for causes like Walk Through the Park for St. Martin de Porres, The State Journal-Register’s Friend-In-Deed, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the American Cancer Society’s Walk for Life.
Bunch’s wife, Ruth, died on Aug. 7. He is survived by a daughter, Catherine Bunch DeFreitas; four grandchildren; six great-grandchildren and 10 great-great-grandchildren.
Bunch’s funeral service is at Vancil-Murphy Funeral Home, 437 S. Grand Ave. W., at 10 a.m. on Dec. 13, followed by a graveside service.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Longtime Sangamon County Board member Clyde Bunch dies at 88