Pelath pays tribute to late State Rep. Jerry Denbo

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath from Michigan City today paid tribute to former State Rep. Jerry Denbo (D-French Lick), who passed away earlier today at the age of 63. During today’s Indiana House session, Pelath delivered the following remarks:

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker and members of the House. I asked the Speaker if I could deliver some very sad news for members of this chamber. One of my favorite lawmakers of all time, a great man from French Lick, Indiana, passed away this morning, our old friend Jerry Denbo.

“Jerry was 63. He died too young and, as a matter of fact, he left here too soon.

“For those of you who got to know him, he was one of the great characters ever to serve in this chamber and I mean that in the most complimentary way. He gave us a lot of laughs and made it fun to work here.

“But he was also a very serious lawmaker about a couple of things and one was the French Lick casino. There would be no French Lick casino without Jerry Denbo. Period.

“The other thing he was responsible for was posting the Ten Commandments on public buildings. Jerry was very passionate about having the Ten Commandments included amongst other legal documents for the education of the public and for its inclusion in our legal posterity.

“Mr. Speaker, I really wanted to thank you and I tip my hat…he’s looking down on us already…to a great man and a great friend, Jerry Denbo.

“And Mr. Speaker, if we could have a brief moment of silence, I think we’d all be grateful.”