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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Melvin Ernest Kamholz of Crystal Lake,
4who passed away on January 23, 2017 at the age of 96; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Melvin Kamholz was born in Rockford and raised in
6Marengo; he attended Marengo High School and excelled at track
7and basketball; not long after graduating in 1938, he was
8drafted into the United States Army and served four years in
9the Pacific theater, becoming proficient with the Browning
10Automatic Rifle and advancing to the rank of Sergeant; slated
11to be part of the first wave of the invasion of Japan at the end
12of the war, he and thousands of his fellow soldiers were spared
13almost certain death by the dropping of the atomic bombs and
14surrender of Japan in 1945; he met his wife, Mildred Fiepke,
15when he first spotted her singing in the church choir and then
16started buying his cigarettes from the grocery store where she
17worked as a checker; they were married at Zion Lutheran Church
18in Marengo in 1950; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Melvin Kamholz returned to Marengo after the war
20and began working as a meter reader at Northern Illinois Gas
21Company in Crystal Lake; he and his wife started their family
22soon after and in 1955, moved to their newly-purchased home in
23Crystal Lake to be closer to his job; he continued at the gas

 

 

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1company until he retired at the age of 62, having worked his
2way up from meter reader to service representative; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Melvin Kamholz was always competitive; he
4excelled at basketball as a young man, and his skills on the
5court saved him from more than one battle in the Philippines as
6his commanding officers recruited him to play in tournaments
7against Navy and Air Force teams; after the war, his skill at
8softball led him to be a popular player; his greatest claim to
9fame was hitting a home run off the nationally famous, "King",
10who pitched for the semi-professional King and his Court; his
11love and knowledge of baseball led to years of coaching Little
12League in Crystal Lake; in his later years, he was an avid
13fisherman, golfer, and bowler; he remained actively pursuing
14these passions late into life; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Melvin Kamholz volunteered at the Crystal Lake
16Food Pantry and helped with PADS and other church-related
17charity work after his retirement; he kept himself busy working
18part-time at Bethesda Thrift Shop, and was an invaluable driver
19and delivery man for many years at his daughter-in-law's coffee
20shop, Two-a-T; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Melvin Kamholz enjoyed Westerns, reading, playing
22cards, and he loved watching the Cubs and college basketball;
23he was an unrepentant jokester and loved embarrassing his

 

 

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1family at restaurants every chance he could; when he was not
2enjoying a beer, he enjoyed the occasional Brandy Old Fashioned
3Sweet; his massive collection of beer cans and bottles covered
4two walls of his basement man-cave; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Melvin Kamholz was preceded in death by his
6parents, Ernest and Ida (Albrecht) Kamholz; and his siblings,
7Howard Kamholz and Phyllis (Kamholz) Kunde; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Melvin Kamholz is survived by his wife of 66
9years, Mildred (Fiepke) Kamholz; his eldest daughter, Karen
10Kamholz; his son, Kurt (Debra) Kamholz; his youngest daughter,
11Kim (Christopher) Archie; four grandchildren, Josh (Carly)
12Kamholz, Jenna (Wesley) Janson, Jack Archie, and Kathryn
13Dziewior; four great-grandchildren, Everett Kamholz, Brittany
14Fatzinger, and James and Jonathan Janson; one
15great-great-grandson, Mason Fatzinger; and many close friends;
16therefore, be it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
18ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
19Melvin Ernest Kamholz, and extend our sincere condolences to
20his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
21further
 
22    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

 

 

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1presented to the family of Melvin Kamholz as an expression of
2our deepest sympathy.