Early life lessons selling eggs serve local senator well

A brief visit with Sen. Larry Bomke

[October 31, 2008]  Having a quiet cup of coffee in a Lincoln cafe with state Sen. Larry Bomke is anything but private. Even though the Republican senator lives in Springfield and represents a large territory, he is well-recognized and readily welcomed here.

On several occasions he had to halt the conversation to have a brief chat with local coffee-drinkers who wanted to stop by his table and wish him well. The conversations were on a first-name basis, and it was obvious the senator knew the individual he was speaking to quite well.

The 50th District comprises the southwest section of Logan County, including Lincoln, as well as Menard and the heavily populated Sangamon County. With all this area to cover, the senator has still been able to keep a consistent and visible presence in our community over the years. It is this visibility, this face to face, as well as his accessibility for voters, that has allowed him to remain in office 14 years.

This ease with the public wasn't always the case with the 58-year-old lifelong Springfield area resident. Bomke recalls his early years as a more timid youngster: "I grew up on a tenant farm just about a half-mile outside of Springfield. We owned the house but rented the farmland. We had all the things a farm family would have back then. We had diary cows and pork and chickens."

Rural homes having good distances between them meant Bomke's early years of communication skills were with family, but there was little opportunity to develop social skills with larger groups of peers that would have been afforded in an urban environment.

The senator recalled his rural roots fondly. "Every morning the milkman would come to our house," Bomke said. "But he wasn't there to deliver milk. He was there to pick it up."

New regulations in the farm industry in the '50s ended the family business in milk, as well as being able to send eggs to market. Thus the senator's first encounter with going door-to-door began. He recalls how terrifying it was as an 8-year-old to go up to a farmhouse to see if the owner wanted to buy any eggs from him. "I remember hoping that no one would answer the door," he admitted.

Still another important lesson learned in those early days was negotiation. "Sometimes I would have to cut the price or throw in an extra dozen eggs to make the sale," he recalled.

Politics was a frequent topic in the Bomke household. His father was a precinct committeeman, and an uncle was a member of the Illinois House. Still, a young Larry Bomke didn't have any set plans at the time to make politics a career choice. "At 13, I played the trumpet and I thought of maybe being a musician," he said.

The senator went to school in the Pleasant Plains district and then went to Lincoln Land Community College.

When he was 19, his father died, and Bomke dropped out of school and began working for the state in highway maintenance.

At 20, he first tried his hand at insurance, but that didn't work out. "I couldn't sell a single policy," he recalled.

By the age of 23, Bomke decided to enter the world of politics by running for the Sangamon County Board. He was green, and he was running in an area that had a strong Democratic voting record. The senator reflects now that he can see why no one gave him a chance of winning. "Here was an extremely conservative area that had previously voted Democratic, and here I am a 23-year-old single guy driving around in a Corvette."

Still, his previous experience with coming face to face, knocking on doors and talking with people, served him well, and he won the election. He does admit with a smile that he did leave off his fliers back then that he was a Republican.

Bomke held the post on the Sangamon County Board for 19 1/2 years, the last two as finance chairman. "I was always interested in fiscal operations, and I went to all the finance committee meetings even before I was appointed finance chairman. I think I had a better attendance record than some of the members who were on the committee," he said.

Bomke also returned to the insurance industry, and now, with more confidence and maturity under his belt, it became a successful career for him.

It was during this time that he met his wife, Sally Jo. "I met her when I sold her roommate an insurance policy." He smiled and added, "A short time later, I ran into her again, and we dated for several years and then got married."

The senator and Sally Jo have two children: Natalie, who is in broadcast news on the West Coast, and a son, Wulf, who intends to continue his education in police science at UIS next year.

Over the years, Bomke started his own successful insurance business and was an active member of the Sangamon County Board, culminating in the important role as finance chairman, which gave him recognition in capital politics.

On July 1, 1995, Bomke was appointed to the Senate to replace Karen Hasara, who had resigned to work full time as mayor of Springfield. The next year, Bomke won his first senatorial race, defeating Tom Londrigan.

The senator is on record as stating his three most important post election goals are to: (1) work to fix the budget problems Gov. Blagojevich has created; (2) work to solve the education funding issue; and (3) create a climate in Illinois that is friendly to creating and retaining jobs.

In this election, the senator is facing off against Democratic newcomer John Devine of Athens.

[By MIKE FAK]