093_SR0297
LRB093 13993 KEF 19404 r
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of
3 Illinois were saddened to learn of the death of former St.
4 Louis County Executive George R. "Buzz" Westfall of St.
5 Louis; and
6 WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall was born March 19, 1944 in
7 Portland, Oregon; his parents dubbed him "Buzz" in honor of a
8 great white buzzard in Indian folklore; a Nez Perce Indian
9 who worked with his father in Oregon said the nickname would
10 guarantee good luck for his son; and
11 WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall was a city kid who grew up near
12 Fairground Park; he attended Catholic schools, including St.
13 Louis University High School, where he played goalie on the
14 soccer team; he went on to St. Louis University for both
15 undergraduate work and law school; he married his wife,
16 Laurie, in 1968; and
17 WHEREAS, Like many of his generation, he moved to St.
18 Louis County because that's where the jobs were; in his case,
19 it was an assistant prosecutor's job at the courthouse in
20 Clayton; with the exception of a year in private law
21 practice, he never drew another paycheck that didn't have St.
22 Louis County printed on it; and
23 WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall was the father of the modern
24 Democratic Party in St. Louis County; when the St. Louis
25 Post-Dispatch endorsed him for a fourth term as St. Louis
26 County Executive last year, they noted that a lot of county
27 voters were not old enough to remember when his name did not
28 appear on a county ballot; he was only 34 when he was elected
29 to the first of three terms as St. Louis County Prosecutor in
30 1978; and
31 WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall was admittedly shy by nature, but
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1 found his voice as a prosecutor and was considered one of the
2 best in the State; and
3 WHEREAS, In 1990, he was elected as St. Louis County
4 Executive; in his years as head of the most populous county
5 in the State, he won the approval of a bond issue for a new
6 jail, revamped the sales tax system, expanded the police
7 department, helped bring MetroLink to Clayton and took a
8 leading role in the effort to bring the Rams football team to
9 St. Louis; and
10 WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall firmly believed that St. Louis
11 County, and the region as a whole, could not prosper if the
12 city of St. Louis failed; he worked with four city mayors on
13 projects ranging from new sports stadiums to regional health
14 care, mass transit, and economic development; and
15 WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall's death will be deeply felt by
16 many, especially his wife, Laurie Westfall; his sons, Mark
17 Westfall and Steven Westfall; his daughter, Kristin Rea; his
18 mother; and three grandchildren; therefore, be it
19 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
20 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of
21 George R. "Buzz" Westfall and extend our sincere condolences
22 to his family, friends, and community; and be it further
23 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
24 presented to the family of George R. "Buzz" Westfall as an
25 expression of our deepest sympathy.