SR0644 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0644 LRB104 21040 RMO 34980 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of James "Jim" L. Dooley, of River Forest, who passed away on August 8, 2025, at the age of 76; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley was born in River Forest to Tom and Avis (McMullin) Dooley in 1948; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley attended St. Luke School, Fenwick High School, Loyola University and Roosevelt University; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley, a talented musician, vocalist, guitarist, arranger, and prolific songwriter, poet, artist, and nature photographer, formed the original Dooley musical group with his brothers in 1966, and the band has given thousands of performances, enduring as a Chicago-area institution for six decades; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley came from a very musical and artistic family, with his maternal grandfather performing Irish music hall ballads on Lake Michigan cruise ships and at Strening's Saloon on the near Southwest Side of Chicago and his paternal grandfather being a popular fiddler from County Clare, Ireland, who settled in the Chicago area; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley started singing at home with his brothers, harmonizing and recording the popular doo-wop songs of the 1950s on a Webcor reel-to-reel tape recorder that their father had given them for Christmas in 1956, and in their appreciation of all kinds of music, they transitioned to harmonizing barbershop quartet music and the songs of the Kingston Trio and other folk music artists of the day; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley, during his high school days, fronted a rock band with some friends called The Group Incorporated, playing popular songs of the 1960s at local high school dances in the Oak Park area; and

WHEREAS, When Jim Dooley and his brothers Joe and Bill founded The Dooley Boys in 1966, they started playing at colleges and various coffeehouses and nightclubs, especially in the Old Town and Rush Street areas; a few years later, their youngest brother Mike joined the group, and the four became known as The Dooley Brothers; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley and the band performed regularly at music clubs in the 1970s and 1980s on Chicago's North Side, including The Roxy, The Barbarossa, The Bulls, Wise Fools Pub, Orphans, Ratso's, Holsteins, The Earl of Old Town, Somebody Else's Troubles, and The Kilkenny Castle Inn, one of their favorites, with another of their regular spots being the Irish American Heritage Center since the center opened in 1985; and

WHEREAS, This past March marked the Dooley Band's 40th time performing at the St. Patrick's Day Celebration in Berwyn, and they also played at Healy's, Molly Malone's, and Goldyburgers in Forest Park; the band held many concert appearances at Oak Park's Scoville Park, various River Forest park venues, and the River Forest Public Library; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley and his brothers were featured on the television show Nightclubbing on PBS Channel 11, at the King Richard's Renaissance Faire in the 1970s, and as the house band for Marshall Field's State Street store at Christmas, and they spent summers performing in the pubs of County Clare, Ireland while staying at their cousin's farm; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley and the band were joined in recent years by some "next generation" Dooley family members, including Jim's late son, Jimmy, who played with the band from 2015 through 2018, Mike's son, Mick, who joined in 2015 and Jim's daughter, Claire, who started singing with the band in 2020; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley and the band recorded critically acclaimed albums and CDs, including A Place in My Heart (1983), which features his original compositions; subsequent CD albums were titled The Road to Lisdoonvarna, Glad Magic, and Black Sunshine, and a new album that Jim and the band just completed recording will be released in the coming months; and

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley, besides his passion for music, enjoyed Thatcher Woods, taking nature photos that were even featured in the book Trailside Museum: The Legend of Virginia Moe by Jane Morocco, and working on a short book called The Hidden Passageways of River Forest, which mostly highlighted his favorite hidden walking and biking paths, special places, and stories of the village that he so loved; and

WHEREAS, WHEREAS, Jim Dooley was preceded in death by his parents, Tom and Avis Dooley; his son, Jimmy; and his brothers, Bill and Joe; and

WHEREAS, At the time of his passing, Jim Dooley was survived by his wife, Anna; his daughter, Claire; his brothers, Mike, Dennis, and Tom; his sisters-in-law; his aunts and uncles; and his nieces and nephews; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of James "Jim" L. Dooley 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 Jim Dooley as an expression of our deepest sympathy.