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1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives wish to honor four individuals that will be
4 inducted into the Centralia Historical Hall of Fame at a
5 dinner on September 16, 1997 at the Centralia V.F.W. Hall;
6 and
7 WHEREAS, The first individual is J. Faye Wham; Ms. Wham
8 has owned and operated The Smart Shop in downtown Centralia
9 since 1935; she was the first female board member of the
10 Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Southern
11 Illinois Foundation Board; she was also the first woman
12 chosen for the Centralia Junior Chamber Service Award in
13 1953; Ms. Wham is a 55 year member of the Centralia Business
14 and Professional Women's Club, a member of the Kaskaskia
15 College Foundation, a supporter of the Centralia Cultural
16 Society, BPW Outstanding Woman of the Year in 1986, a member
17 of the St. Mary's Hospital Development Council, former
18 Saleswoman of the Year for the Illinois Retail Merchants
19 Association, 1982 Senior Citizen of the Year of the Illinois
20 Retail Merchants Association, and 1997 winner of an award
21 from the Greater Centralia Chamber of Commerce for her
22 contributions to the community; and
23 WHEREAS, Former White House Press Secretary James Brady
24 is the second inductee; James Brady will be remembered for
25 surviving an assassination attempt on President Reagan in
26 March of 1981; as a result of his injuries, Mr. Brady was
27 unable to continue in his role as press secretary, but he
28 continued to work on several projects of importance; in 1994
29 James Brady saw the passage of the Brady Bill, which required
30 a waiting period before a person was allowed to purchase a
31 handgun; James Brady is working on a second version of the
32 bill, which involves licensing and registration for the
33 purchase of only one gun a month and mandatory gun safety
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1 training; Brady is the national spokesman for Handgun Control
2 Inc.; James Brady is also affiliated with the National
3 Organization on Disability; Brady's story has been published
4 in the book "Thumbs Up" and was later told in a movie of the
5 same name; and
6 WHEREAS, LeRoy H. Fischer will be the third inductee into
7 the Hall of Fame; Mr. Fischer was a professor at Oklahoma
8 State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma; he is a well known
9 historian, and has written several books on the Civil War and
10 Oklahoma history; one book "Lincoln's Gadfly: Adam Gurowski",
11 won the Literary Award of the Loyal Legion of the United
12 States; Fischer, a graduate of Centralia Township High
13 School, was instrumental in several fund raising projects for
14 Oklahoma State University, aiding in the restoration of
15 historic buildings on the campus; and
16 WHEREAS, Captain Robert H. Beaver of the U.S. Navy
17 (Retired) is the fourth inductee into the Historical Hall of
18 Fame; Captain Beaver passed away in 1993; after graduating
19 from Centralia Township High School in 1938, he joined the
20 U.S. Navy; while serving in the Navy, he specialized in
21 electronics and armament control equipment and air-to-ground
22 armament control; Captain Beaver also served as a project
23 test pilot; Captain Beaver received a medal from the
24 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) stating that
25 he received the highest grades of any Naval officer in
26 graduate school at M.I.T.; after his career in the military,
27 he worked on the eastern shore of Maryland, where he was
28 involved in land and building developments; therefore, be it
29 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
30 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
31 honor, along with the Centralia Historical Hall of Fame, J.
32 Faye Wham, James Brady, LeRoy H. Fischer, and Captain Robert
33 H. Beaver upon their inductions; and be it further
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1 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
2 presented to the four new inductees of the Centralia
3 Historical Hall of Fame.
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