Former Ald. Bernard Stone died Monday at the age of 87. View Full Caption Facebook

WEST ROGERS PARK — Bernard "Berny" Stone, the former 50th Ward alderman, died Monday at 87, according to aldermen and reports.

Stone was first elected in 1973. He was unseated in 2011 by Ald. Debra Silverstein.

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) and Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford took to Twitter Monday after hearing of Stone's death.

Former Long-Term Chicago's 50th Ward Ald. Bernard Stone has died at age 87 per his son, Jay Stone. — Scott Waguespack (@ward32chicago) December 22, 2014

My prayers are with the family and friends of former #Chicago Alderman Bernie Stone. Strong public servant. #twill — Dan Rutherford (@RutherfordDan) December 22, 2014

Stone died from complications related to a fall, the Sun-Times reports.

Ald. Edward Burke (14th) said in a written statement Monday Stone was "an outspoken, forthright advocate for the people of his ward, and he embodied a deep sense of sincerity for his mission of public service."

"If you were his friend, you were his friend to the end," Burke said. "I am proud of the close bond that we shared during his many years on the floor of the City Council. Berny will be truly missed by his many colleagues at City Hall and everyone who had the privilege to have known him."

Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th), who like Burke joined Stone among the 29 aldermen who opposed Mayor Harold Washington in "Council Wars" in the mid-'80s, said he'd known Stone since high school at Mather, where he was a classmate of Stone's daughter. O'Connor's father, who was also a city worker, and Stone would sit together at football games.

"Then I had the good fortune of serving with him in the City Council and sharing a border," O'Connor said. "I always found him to be a very engaging and a very welcoming guy ... and he was like that until the day he walked out the door.

"I considered him a friend and I'm sorry that this happened, but I know his wife, Lois, died many years ago, and I'd like to think that they're back together again," O'Connor added.

Asked if he had any favorite Stone stories, O'Connor said, "Probably none you can print," but added, "Berny was a real character and a really nice fella, as far as I was concerned. He was a great parliamentarian in the council, he knew the rules backwards and forwards, and he played by them — in the most contentious of times."

In Gary Rivlin's book on the Washington years, "Fire on the Prairie," he wrote that O'Connor tried to get the 29 to take a less confrontational stance, even as Stone was considered one of the hard-liners who would never budge.

Stone also had a reputation as something of a clubhouse lawyer at City Hall.

"Fred Roti and Bernard Stone regularly held court in the press room," Rivlin wrote. "Strolling from desk to desk reading over shoulders as reporters worked on their articles, they offered comments and arguments." They had "far more influence over the media" than any alderman in Washington's camp.

In 1993, Stone made headlines by having a 2½-foot-tall guardrail erected down the center of Howard Street in protest of a shopping center being built in Evanston on the other side of the street. With "Berny's Wall," Stone intended to block cars from turning into the mall's new parking lot.

The wall was removed in 1994 after a legal battle with Evanston.

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