arnold maremont, who died in 1978, involved himself in pursuits other than business. according to his obituary in "the new york times", maremont was both a patron of the arts and a visionary for social justice. a governing life member of the art institute of chicago and a former trustee of the lyric opera and ballet theater, maremont was the first illinois industrialist to back a law ending employment discrimination against african americans. as chairman of the illinois public aid commission in the early 1960s, he campaigned for publicly supported birth control for welfare families.