John Neal Erlenborn was Lisle's 10-term Republican congressman. He was born in Chicago and grew up in Elmhurst, Illinois. He served in the Navy during World War II and attended the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University, and the University of Illinois. He graduated from law school at Chicago's Loyola University in 1949. After serving as a prosecutor for two years, he established his own law firm from 1952 where he worked until 1971.

He served as a representative in the Illinois General Assembly from 1957 to 1964 before his election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 14th District (which was later realigned as the 13th District). Mr. Erlenborn never lost an election. He went on to won nine more elections from his district.

As a longtime member of the Education and Labor Committee, Mr. Erlenborn consistently took positions that favored the interests of business and management. He opposed bills to increase the minimum wage, fought the creation of a consumer protection agency, and attempted to strip the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of any enforcement authority.

During his tenure in Congress, Mr. Erlenborn became known as ''Mr. ERISA" for his support of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which he guided through Congress for six years before its passage in 1974. The act protected private pensions and required employers to provide information and a grievance process to their pensioners.

His fought against the formation of the Department of Education during the Carter administration by practicing what he called ''filibuster by amendment," Mr. Erlenborn presented dozens of riders and repeatedly ordered roll call votes to kill or delay the creation of the Cabinet department, which he thought would lead to ''more federal domination" of schools.

Mr. Erlenborn never lost an election. He chose not to run for an 11th term in 1984 stating that Republicans were ''too outnumbered" in the House. The Republicans were the minority party throughout Mr. Erlenborn's entire congressional tenure.

Upon his retirement, Congressman Erlenborn donated his papers and memorabilia to our Benedictine University Archives. The documents include photos, speeches, bills sponsored by the Congressman, floor statements, office reports and details about the laws he sponsored. Congressman Erlenborn stated that the housing of a Congressional collection in Lisle is a first, since most Illinois legislators' files are sent to Springfield: "There is a certain satisfaction in knowing that the history of our government for the past 20 years from the vantage point of my service in Congress would be available locally to the people of the area I have represented."

Congressman Erlenborn died on Sunday, October 30, 2005 at his home in Warrenton, Virginia, of Lewy body disease, a progressive neurological disorder. He was 78.