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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of
former | ||||||
| 4 | Illinois State Representative Thomas B. "Tom" Berns, who passed | ||||||
| 5 | away on February 19, 2018 at the age of 72; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns was born to Henry E. and Phyllis R. | ||||||
| 7 | (Berglin) Berns on April 8, 1945 and raised
in the Illinois | ||||||
| 8 | communities of Atlanta and Plano; he married his high school | ||||||
| 9 | sweetheart Jeannie Galvin on August 28, 1965 in Plano and the | ||||||
| 10 | two enjoyed 52 years of marriage; together they raised two | ||||||
| 11 | lovely children, Rebecca and
Michael; and
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| 12 | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns graduated from the University of | ||||||
| 13 | Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in
1968 with a bachelor's degree | ||||||
| 14 | in civil and environmental engineering and began working as an | ||||||
| 15 | engineer at Danner and Associates, Inc.; in 1975, he and his | ||||||
| 16 | colleague and friend, Ed Clancy, formed their own business, | ||||||
| 17 | Berns,
Clancy and Associates; in 1979, the firm incorporated | ||||||
| 18 | and moved to its current location on Main Street in
Urbana; | ||||||
| 19 | today, Berns, Clancy and Associates Inc. is regarded as one of | ||||||
| 20 | the premier engineering firms
in East Central Illinois; and | ||||||
| 21 | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns taught surveying for the University of | ||||||
| 22 | Illinois as an adjunct
instructor and around the State for the | ||||||
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| 1 | Engineering Extension Service; he also taught many continuing
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| 2 | education classes for the Illinois Professional Land | ||||||
| 3 | Surveyor's Association, where he served as president in 1976; | ||||||
| 4 | and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, In 2000, Rep. Berns was appointed to the Illinois | ||||||
| 6 | House of Representatives to fulfill the
unexpired term of | ||||||
| 7 | former State Rep. Tim Johnson; after completing Rep. Johnson's | ||||||
| 8 | term, Rep. Berns was
re-elected and served one full term; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, During his time in the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 10 | Representatives, Rep. Berns sponsored or cosponsored
64 House | ||||||
| 11 | Bills, 20 Senate Bills, and 27 Resolutions; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, Throughout his career, Rep. Berns received many | ||||||
| 13 | awards, including the Young Engineer of the Year
award in 1975 | ||||||
| 14 | from the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, the | ||||||
| 15 | Distinguished Service Award from
the Illinois Professional | ||||||
| 16 | Land Surveyors Association in 1990, the Chi Epsilon Civil | ||||||
| 17 | Engineering Honor
Society and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor | ||||||
| 18 | Society Awards from the University of Illinois, the Urbana
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| 19 | Rotary Vocational Achievement Award in 2007, and the | ||||||
| 20 | Outstanding Civil Engineer Award from the
American Society of | ||||||
| 21 | Civil Engineers in 2009; and | ||||||
| 22 | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns was also a dedicated volunteer and | ||||||
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| 1 | community servant; he was a longtime
member of the Urbana | ||||||
| 2 | Rotary Club and served as the club's president in 1987-1988; he | ||||||
| 3 | served as
president of the Urbana Country Club; he was a team | ||||||
| 4 | manager and president of the Prairie Little League
for four | ||||||
| 5 | years; he served on the boards of the Champaign County Chamber | ||||||
| 6 | of Commerce and the Illinois
Chamber of Commerce; he was on the | ||||||
| 7 | board of the Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation from | ||||||
| 8 | 2005-2011, a member of the Champaign County Bell Tower | ||||||
| 9 | Committee, and served on the boards of the
Champaign County | ||||||
| 10 | Forest Preserve District Foundation and the Urbana Park | ||||||
| 11 | District Foundation; he was
a member of the board of trustees | ||||||
| 12 | of the Champaign Urbana Mass Transit district for 11 years and
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| 13 | served as its chairman for one term; he was on the board of | ||||||
| 14 | Clark Lindsey Village in Urbana for 38 years, 35
of those years | ||||||
| 15 | as chairman; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns was a member of St. Patrick's Roman | ||||||
| 17 | Catholic Congregation in Urbana for over 50
years; he was a | ||||||
| 18 | lifelong Illini sports fan and enjoyed playing golf and tennis, | ||||||
| 19 | fly fishing, and
spending time with his family and | ||||||
| 20 | grandchildren; and
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| 21 | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns is survived by his wife, Jeannie; his | ||||||
| 22 | daughter, Rebecca Berns; his son, Michael (Kelly) Berns; his | ||||||
| 23 | grandchildren, Brenna,
Braden, Breccan, and Briley; and his | ||||||
| 24 | sister, Mary Ellen Smith; therefore, be it
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| 1 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 2 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 3 | mourn the passing of former Illinois State Representative | ||||||
| 4 | Thomas B. "Tom" Berns, and extend our sincere condolences to | ||||||
| 5 | his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | ||||||
| 6 | further
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| 7 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 8 | presented to the family of Rep. Berns as an expression of our | ||||||
| 9 | deepest sympathy.
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