093_HR0462
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1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives were saddened to learn of the death of
4 General Frank Chandler Bacon, Jr. of Chicago on August 27,
5 2003; and
6 WHEREAS, He was born on August 29, 1929 in Lexington,
7 Mississippi to the late Frank and Mary Adams Bacon; and
8 WHEREAS, He married Marie Baker and to this union three
9 sons were born, Phillip, Geoffrey, and Stuart Bacon; they
10 were later divorced; and
11 WHEREAS, He moved to Chicago and matriculated at several
12 public schools including DuSable; in 1945, near the end of
13 World War II, he advanced his age and enlisted in the war; he
14 was honorably discharged from the United States Army Air
15 Force and returned to Chicago; he joined a friend, Melvin
16 Clark, and enrolled in West Virginia State College; he was
17 commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army
18 and served for three years; and
19 WHEREAS, General Bacon began a lifetime of service in the
20 United States Army Reserves; he also served diligently as a
21 member of the Chicago Police Department for twelve years; he
22 worked for the Chicago Committee on Urban Opportunity and
23 became Director of Manpower; and
24 WHEREAS, General Bacon received the honor and challenge
25 to develop a military high school within the Chicago Public
26 School System in a facility in Bronzeville that had served as
27 the Eighth Regiment Armory; he raised funding and pursued the
28 completion of building, staffing and operating the Chicago
29 Military Academy, the first military school in the Chicago
30 Public School System; he served the school as the first
31 Superintendent Commandant overseeing its first graduation of
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1 seniors on June 16, 2003 with approximately 85% of its
2 graduates accepted to college with scholarships; and
3 WHEREAS, General Bacon was an outstanding leader who
4 helped bridge the gap between the corporate world and the
5 community; as a community representative for Sears, he worked
6 to develop and provide funding to enhance programs and
7 services to agencies within the community; and
8 WHEREAS, General Bacon later ventured into
9 entrepreneurship with the ownership of Nutrition Plus,
10 Incorporated, a food distribution center; he then accepted a
11 position to return to teaching at Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
12 Paideia Community Academy; he thrived in this endeavor and
13 later became assistant principal; and
14 WHEREAS, General Bacon had always had a strong belief in
15 the power of higher education and had demonstrated that
16 belief by educating three sons, two stepdaughters, a niece
17 and nephew, and numerous young people who had come under his
18 direction; and
19 WHEREAS, General Bacon's passing will be deeply felt by
20 many, especially his loving wife of twenty-three years, Dr.
21 Gloria Jackson-Bacon; his three sons, Phillip, Geoffrey
22 (Donna), and Stuart (Barbara); his two stepdaughters,
23 Constance Jackson and Judith Jackson Fossett (Clayton); his
24 sister, Aniece Bacon; his stepmother, Inez Miller; his two
25 stepsisters; his grandchildren, Jennifer, Christopher,
26 Patrick, and Jacqueline Bacon, Malikh and Shashu Franklin,
27 D'Andrea "Angel" Harris, and Alden Olivia Fossett; therefore,
28 be it
29 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
30 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
31 we mourn the passing of General Frank Chandler Bacon, Jr.
32 along with all who knew and loved him and extend our sincere
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1 condolences to his family and friends; and be it further
2 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
3 presented to the family of General Frank Chandler Bacon, Jr.
4 as an expression of our deepest sympathy.