SR1115 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1115 LRB101 20943 LAW 70946 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of former Illinois State Representative and State Senator Harber Homer Hall of Bloomington and Longboat Key, Florida, who passed away on February 22, 2020; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Hall was born in Chicago to Harry Homer Hall and Dorothy Harber on September 24, 1920; he worked on his grandfather Judge Homer William Hall's three successful campaigns as a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1927, 1929, and 1931; he developed a lifelong love of politics from his grandfather; he initially attended high school at Bloomington High School before moving with his family to the south side of Chicago, where he attended Hyde Park High School; one year later, he moved to Moline and attended Moline High School; he ultimately graduated from Rock Island High School in 1938; he attended the University of Miami in Miami, Florida, majoring in business administration; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Hall enlisted in the armed services one day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941; he worked at the Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island and then the War Department in Washington, D.C.; he enrolled in the U.S. Army Air Corps in September 1943; he served his basic training at Santa Ana Army Air Base in Santa Ana, California; during World War II, he was stationed primarily in Guam, where he became a radar bombardier with one of two B-29 squadrons located on the island; he flew 23 bombing missions over Japan; and

WHEREAS, After WWII, Sen. Hall re-enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps; he attended pilot training at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas and advanced pilot training at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1947 and 1948; he was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base outside Denver, Colorado in 1949; he was later stationed at Lindsey Air Station in Wiesbaden, Germany and Rhein-Main Rhein Air Base near Frankfurt, Germany; while there, he flew mercy missions as part of the Berlin Airlift; he was released from active duty from the U.S. Air Force in September 1954 with the rank of lieutenant colonel; and

WHEREAS, Upon his return to Bloomington, Sen. Hall worked as the general services manager for the Union Automobile Indemnity Association; he also owned and operated a real estate brokerage firm; alongside his brother Bud Hall, he developed the Crestwicke Country Club in Bloomington; and

WHEREAS, A Republican, Sen. Hall was elected the McLean County treasurer in 1962, a position he held for four years; he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1966 and was re-elected in 1968 and 1970; he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Miami in 1972; he was elected to the Illinois State Senate for the 44th District in 1972; he was re-elected to the State Senate in 1976; he retired from the Senate in 1979; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Hall was regarded as a true gentleman, treating everyone he met with kindness and respect; he was known for his quick wit and clever sense of humor; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Hall was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Janice Hall Badillo; and

WHEREAS, Sen. Hall is survived by his son, John S. (Julie) Hall; his daughter, Heather (Greg) Shepard; his brother, Harry H. "Bud" (Janie) Hall; his nephew, Hudson Harber Hall; his niece, Holly Hall Rickert; his grandchildren, Jennifer (Chris) Edwards, Harrison Harber Shepard, and Gregory M. Shepard Jr.; and his great-granddaughters, Emily and Abigail Edwards; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of former Illinois State Representative and State Senator Harber Homer Hall and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Sen. Hall as an expression of our deepest sympathy.