Daily News from New York, New York • 96

Love for Liberty runs in her family By ALEX MICIIELIM 4y' jr: "I am a native New Yorker and it is always with pride that I look at that great lady knowing that my parents contributed in their small way, and that they were able to enjoy the good life in our great and beautiful country." An unfinished memoir in French started by her father in the 1950s shortly before his death told in moving detail of his arrival in the New World on April 1, 1901 and the first time he laid eyes on Miss Liberty. He was then 27 years old. "THE WEATHER was favorable," he wrote in longhand. "Most of the passengers were on deck in order to contemplate the spectacle which was unique and which was unfolding before our eyes. "The feeling was one of curiosity and admiration when our ship, the St.

Louis, passed the famous Statue of Liberty, whose existence is legendary in all countries loving liberty. This Statue of Liberty, lighting the world, majestic and lofty on her enormous pedestal, appeared as I had always pictured her. One is so impressed with her greatness, when for the first time, you see her, holding her torch, as if to guide you and encourage you on your arrival to an unknown land. I was happy and proud at the thought that I had contributed my little token of 10 centimes towards the building of this monument "Upon arrival (at Ellis Island), a guard led us to a big building. We had dinner, stew and tea, then spent the night in the dormitory.

I was fortunate to have friends in New York City. I notified them. They came and I was cleared. What a relief it was. At last, I was in America, the land of the free and I was welcome." One hundred years ago, the Loil-lieux family helped to build the Statue of Liberty.

Now, the last Loillieux is helping to save the great lady from decay. It all began in two tiny French villages. As a schoolboy in St Quentin, north of Paris, Arthur Loillieux gave what he could to Frederic Bartholdi's dream of a lasting symbol of liberty. His contribution: 10 centimes (less than a penny nowadays). In the little town of Morez near the Swiss border, Hercilie Cretin, a tender schoolgirl, was doing the same.

She, too, donated 10 centimes, joining 100,000 other French citizens expressing a special kind of love for the country across the ocean that stood for freedom. Later, Arthur and Hercilie would journey across that ocean, stand awestruck at the breathtaking harbor beauty they had helped to create and share with millions of other immigrants the great promise of the great lady. They later met and married in America, and now are deceased. THE OTHER DAY, Judith Loillieux continued the family tradition. A retired corporate executive living in North White Plains, N.Y., she is the daughter and only child of the Loillieux.

And she is among the very first to contribute to the Daily News campaign to save Miss Liberty and become a Citizen for Liberty. Her $25 check will go to the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation which is financing the restoration of these two cherished landmarks. Check out the coupon in today's paper to see how you, too, can join the campaign. In a letter to James VVieghart, editor of The News, she expressed her love of the lady and of America: JOHN PEDIN DAILY NEWS Contributor Judith LoIIIIeux holds up Miss Liberty poster. A century ago, her mother and father contributed toward the statue's construction.

The feeling was one of curiosity and admiration when our ship passed the famous Statue of Liberty whose existence is legendary in all countries loving liberty Arthur Lolllieux Da iEDDfo LOILLIEUX HAD COME to America, his daughter said, seeking adventureand he found it "He loved America and always wanted adventure," she said. "He wanted to 6ee what the country was like. He went to the Far West, the Rockies, south to Florida, way up north to Gaspe in Canada. He went all By OWEN MORITZ Urban Affair Editor part is an international conference center sponsored by a consortium headed by developer William Hubbard. The proposal calls for the conference center, including a 250-room hotel, to be built within the 35 vacant brick and limestone buildings that date from 1890 to 1930.

The exteriors of each building would be preserved. The" center would pay $500,000 a year in rent which would be used to help fund the island's restoration. IN HIS TALK ON FRIDAY, Iacocca said restoration of the Statue of Liberty is on time in meeting its July 4, 1986 target date, that the public fund-raising campaign is picking up steam and that planning for Ellis Island will get increased attention now. "We're having a re-look at Ellis Island," adds Ross Holland, director of restoration and preservation for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Foundation. "We're looking in a master planning way at what is best for those buildings in terms of the immigration theme." Ellis Island operated from 1892 until 1954.

About 100 million Americans can trace their roots to Ellis Island. Says Hubbard: "We have an opportunity to offer life and vitality to a national shrine a shrine that has been abandoned for 25 years to vandals and seagulls." Planners for a reborn Ellis Island are exploring a "Williamsburg (Va.) motif for the 27-acre island, emphasizing its role in immigration and ethnic history, but also providing for an international conference center there. The idea has been advanced by Chrysler Corp. President Lee Iacocca to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Restoration Commission, which he heads. The commission on Friday reaffirmed that the Great Hall will be ready for visitors by 1986, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the nearby Statue of Liberty.

Ellis Island marks its centennial in 1992. THE COMMISSION IS EXPLORING a setup similar to that in Williamsburg, Va. The seven historic buildings on the northern part of Ellis Island would be rebuilt with private money. In the early part of this century, they were the processing point for 17 million immigrants. Ethnic services and festivals would be held at the site when the rebuilding is completed.

Stillon the planning boards for the island's southern over. He loved the outdoors and he loved nature." Her father had learned to speak English during a pre-voyage stay in London, she said. He spent 36 years working for the French steamship line, rising to the post of executive in charge of passengers. In many ways, Miss Loillieux is a chip off the old block. Born on East 58th St, she rose to become corporate secretary of Paul D.

Denton a firm that imported bag and envelope making machinery from England. She also loves adventure. "I love nature and I love to hike," she said. "I go hiking in Switzerland. I travel a lot.

I go to France every year. I love photography and I'm a rock hound. I go digging up in Herkimer for i diajnond'." rmiua 1 b'-e feiro! arm vswc'iirC if 3 2 nmii'X yti' it t-t ytif. UA MCI.