Jerry Horan - Death

Death

In April 1937, Horan fell seriously ill and was thought to be dying. Scalise contacted Carfano, who agreed to try to have Scalise appointed president of BSEIU if Horan died.

The week before Horan's death, a group of gangsters—which included Mike Carozza, Frank Diamond, Charles Fischetti, and labor racketeer Thomas J. Burke—met with George Scalise at the Café Capri restaurant at 123 North Clark Street in Chicago (a favorite hangout of Chicago Outfit leader Frank Nitti). The meeting had been called to decide who should be the next president of the BSEIU in the event of Horan's death. The conspirators supported Burke, who was the Third Vice President of BSEIU, and a well-known labor racketeer. Burke had the backing of a majority of the mob figures, but the group felt he would be opposed by a majority of the BSEIU Board of Directors due to his public ties with organized crime. William McFetridge, BSEIU First Vice President, was believed to be the choice of the Board. McFetridge was known for his scrupulous honesty, and although he had served on the Board for many years he was a figurehead and not part of the mob's inner circle of decision-makers. The mob, however, felt he was not acceptable because he was not under the control of organized crime. During the meeting, the conspirators settled on Scalise as Horan's successor. Scalise's ties to the Chicago Outfit were not well known to the members of the Board or the public, and this became the reason why he was chosen as the compromise candidate. The mob council told Scalise he would draw a salary of $1,000 a month, and he was told to kick back $500 a month to the Chicago Outfit. Scalise later denied being at the meeting as well as knowing Fischetti or Burke, but union documents proved him wrong.

On April 20, 1937, Jerry Horan was removed by ambulance from his apartment home at the Cornelia Apartments at 3500 N. Lake Shore Drive and taken to Passavant Hospital. Jerry Horan died there on April 27, 1937, of liver failure.

Five thousand people attended his funeral at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Chicago. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery, where more than 30 automobiles were needed to deliver flowers to the grave.

The afternoon of the funeral, the BSEIU board of directors met to elect the next president of the union. Included in the meeting were First Vice President McFetridge; Second Vice President Gus Van Heck; Third Vice President Burke; Fourth Vice President Charles Hardy; Fifth Vice President Scalise; Secretary-Treasurer Paul David; and International Union Trustee Elizabeth Grady. Also in attendance was Oscar Nelson, now a circuit court judge. Nelson put forward Scalise's name, and George Scalise was elected president of the Building Service Employees International Union.