Paul E. Rink, 83, a former six-term member of the Illinois House of Representatives and the retired chief judge of northwestern Illinois’ 14th Judicial Circuit, died Thursday, June 15, in his Rock Island home. He had a long political career in the pocket of Democratic support near the Quad Cities, a narrow strip hemmed in by the staunch Republicanism of rural northern and western Illinois. He was an able campaigner for the Democrats when it was called for and the sort of dependable regular who chauffeured popular politicians in local parades. First elected to the General Assembly in 1956, he was re-elected five more times. “He used to say that he was never defeated in any election,” said his daughter Nancy Carter. The youngest of 10 children, he was raised on his parents’ farm near Prophetstown, Ill. He attended rural elementary schools there, much of the time in a single-room schoolhouse, and went to college in the biggest city nearby at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa. He graduated from DePaul University law school in 1941. After his tenure in the House, he became a judge in 1968, and retired from the bench a dozen years later. For the five or so years before his retirement, Judge Rink was chief judge for the judicial circuit surrounding his hometown of Rock Island. He was as dependable on the bench as he had once been in politics, said his son-in-law Robert Carter, himself chief judge in the neighboring 13th Judicial Circuit. “He was decisive and expeditious,” Carter said. “You could always depend that he was going to do his homework.” In retirement, Judge Rink wintered in Florida. He also is survived by two other daughters, Patricia and Ellen; a son, Thomas; a sister, Lucille Paulson; and four grandchildren. Visitation for Judge Rink will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday in the St. Pius Catholic Church, 24th Street and 31st Avenue in Rock Island. A memorial mass will follow immediately in the church.
