When Thomas Nolan called friends or business associates, they would be greeted by a cheery, welcoming, Irish “top o’ the morning”-style lilt announcing “Thomas Michael Patrick Nolan” was on the phone before he launched into a story as a preface for his call.

Nolan, 83, spent half a century in government consulting and lobbying to become one of Illinois’ most respected and influential social service and healthcare experts. He died July 11 of complications from pulmonary fibrosis, a disease he’d battled for more than 13 years.

Nolan’s large, red-rimmed glasses provided a visual contrast to his bald scalp, making him easy to spot as he worked the circular brass rail on the third floor of the Illinois State Capitol between the House and Senate chambers — a longtime lobbyist perch — as he sought out lawmakers to discuss his clients’ agendas.

And, reflecting the waiting part of the “hurry up and wait” nature of the legislative process — as well as the symbolism of lawmakers’ indecisiveness — he would occasionally offer up an impromptu tap dance.

“He was a quintessential Irishman, always a twinkle in his eye and a story to tell,” said Judy Erwin, a retired state lawmaker from Chicago who formerly served as a top staffer for the late Senate President Philip J. Rock.

“He was always a welcome sight in Springfield, where there were some people you might want to avoid,” she said. “Tom was one of those people who could put a smile on your face whenever you saw him around the rail.”

A graduate of Leo High School and Loyola University, Nolan spent two years as a supervisor of youth programming for the city of Chicago before launching his lobbying career in 1966 as director of governmental affairs for Catholic Charities of Chicago.

By 1970, Nolan had launched his own firm, Thomas M. Nolan & Associates, later the Nolan Group, where he worked for 41 years on issues such as reforms in the state’s childcare system and in the delivery of healthcare and human services for the poor.

“If I stepped back and asked, ‘Who do I think made some of the biggest impacts, good impacts, on life in Illinois,’ he would be at the top of my list,” said Jimmy Lego, the former chancellor for the Archdiocese of Chicago, who also helped launch the Catholic Conference of Illinois in 1976 and served as executive director of Catholic Charities.

Lego recalled his first trip to Springfield to represent the Catholic Conference and meet with Nolan, “and we hustled all day, and he was showing me the ropes.” Afterward, the two went to a local hotel bar for a couple of beers, where they were greeted by an angry Rock.

It seems, Lego said, that a community group trying to clean up alleys in a neighborhood in Rock’s Senate district had rented space in a building owned by Catholic Charities, who Nolan represented. The group, dissatisfied with Rock’s lack of support, had put some rats they had killed into the state senator’s office to get his attention.

Rock “comes running over to us and says, ‘I’m gonna knock your lights out’ or something like that, to Tom, knowing very well that Tom represented Catholic Charities of Chicago. So Tom kind of turns around, reaches in and pulls a bridge of his teeth out and put it on the bar,” Lego said. “I was saying, ‘Holy cow! Is this what lobbying in Springfield is like?’”

Lego said Nolan’s response to Rock, meant to defuse the situation, symbolized the toughness and dedication that lay beneath Nolan’s cheery demeanor.

“He was a tough guy, and he wasn’t afraid to put his chin out there,” Lego said.

Nolan also was a prolific reader of books — hardcover only — and he had rooms with bookshelves straining under the tomes he read.

In December 1998, Nolan married Cook County Circuit Judge Gloria Coco, the supervising judge in domestic violence court, who has since retired. Coco’s effervescent personality and independent spirit proved an excellent match for Nolan’s own.

In addition to his social services work, Nolan lectured at Columbia College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also published a monograph on government, “You Know It’s Big.”

Nolan is survived by his wife; two sons from an earlier marriage, Matthew and Peter; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Visitation will be from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 30, at Sullivan Funeral Home, 60 S. Grant St., Hinsdale. A funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 31, at St. Isaac Jogues Church, 306 W. Fourth St., Hinsdale.