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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois | ||||||
| 3 | learned with regret of the death of former Senate President | ||||||
| 4 | William "Bill" C. Harris of Pontiac on December 30, 2004; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Senator Harris was born May 7, 1921, in Pontiac to | ||||||
| 6 | Raleigh J. and Bernadine (Cullen) Harris; he graduated from | ||||||
| 7 | Pontiac grade and high schools; he entered Michigan State | ||||||
| 8 | University in the fall of 1941, and in December 1941, he | ||||||
| 9 | enlisted in the U.S. Navy; while at Great Lakes, he was named | ||||||
| 10 | honor man out of a class of 750 in the naval program; and | ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, Senator Harris valiantly served his country | ||||||
| 12 | during World War II as aviation chief ordinance man in the | ||||||
| 13 | South Pacific and was honorably discharged in December of 1945; | ||||||
| 14 | after returning to Pontiac, he joined the R.J. Harris Funeral | ||||||
| 15 | Home as a partner; on May 31, 1947, he married Jeanne Turck in | ||||||
| 16 | Pontiac at the original Grace Episcopal Church on the square; | ||||||
| 17 | and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, In May 1948, he became the charter president of | ||||||
| 19 | Pontiac Jaycees; he was also a charter member of the Saint | ||||||
| 20 | James Hospital advisory board, and a member of the Moose, | ||||||
| 21 | Pontiac Elks Lodge, Lions Club, Veterans of Foreign Wars, | ||||||
| 22 | American Legion, and the Voiture 8 et 8 in Pontiac; and
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| 23 | WHEREAS, First elected to the Illinois General Assembly in | ||||||
| 24 | 1954 at the age of 33, he was the House Whip during his six | ||||||
| 25 | years of tenure in that body; in 1960, he was elected to the | ||||||
| 26 | Senate, and during his 16 years of service, he held the | ||||||
| 27 | position of assistant majority leader and was elected the first | ||||||
| 28 | President of the Senate under the new Illinois Constitution; | ||||||
| 29 | during his tenure in the Senate, he was chairman of the | ||||||
| 30 | Budgetary Commission and was the first chairman of the Economic | ||||||
| 31 | and Fiscal Commission, successor to the Budgetary Commission, | ||||||
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| 1 | and he was elected "Most Effective Senator" three consecutive | ||||||
| 2 | years; and | ||||||
| 3 | WHEREAS, In 1977, he was appointed by Governor Jim Thompson | ||||||
| 4 | as Commissioner of Banks and Trust Companies, a position he | ||||||
| 5 | held until he retired in January 1991; while serving as | ||||||
| 6 | commissioner, he also served as chairman of the board of the | ||||||
| 7 | National Conference of State Bank Supervisors and was a board | ||||||
| 8 | member of the C.S.B.S., Washington, D.C., for eight years; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Senator Harris was a delegate to the Republican | ||||||
| 10 | National Convention in Miami in 1968; he served as trustee of | ||||||
| 11 | the Humiston Haven Nursing Home, trustee of the Appolos Camp, | ||||||
| 12 | Bennet Humiston Trust since 1975, and trustee on the Floyd and | ||||||
| 13 | Alta Byrne Trust; he served as a senior vice president of Cole | ||||||
| 14 | Taylor Bank, as a board member of the Community Bank of | ||||||
| 15 | Pittsfield, and as ambassador at-large to the Community Bankers | ||||||
| 16 | of Illinois; he was chairman of the World Trade Association of | ||||||
| 17 | Illinois for two years, a board member of the Cradle in | ||||||
| 18 | Evanston for many years, and then was an Emeritus Member of the | ||||||
| 19 | Cradle Board; he was a member of Grace Episcopal Church in | ||||||
| 20 | Pontiac; and
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| 21 | WHEREAS, A staunch Republican, Senator Harris was widely | ||||||
| 22 | respected regardless of partisan politics, and he will be | ||||||
| 23 | remembered as a great people person and as always having a | ||||||
| 24 | smile and an upbeat attitude; on the statewide scene, the City | ||||||
| 25 | of Pontiac was synonymous with Bill Harris; he was a part of | ||||||
| 26 | the history and depth of Pontiac and of Illinois history; in | ||||||
| 27 | the Senate, he was known to "reach across the political aisle" | ||||||
| 28 | and was supportive of needs across the State; and
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| 29 | WHEREAS, The passing of William C. Harris has been felt by | ||||||
| 30 | many, especially his wife Jeanne; his children, Barbara A. | ||||||
| 31 | Harris and Charles M. (Robin) Harris; and his grandchildren, | ||||||
| 32 | Lindsey J. Schrof and Jenna Harris; he was preceded in death by | ||||||
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| 1 | his mother, Bernadine Harris; his father, Raleigh J. Harris; | ||||||
| 2 | his sister, Helen Elizabeth Harris; and his brother, Raleigh J. | ||||||
| 3 | Harris Jr.; therefore, be it
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| 4 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL | ||||||
| 5 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
| 6 | Senator William C. Harris, a man who will be remembered for his | ||||||
| 7 | integrity and thoroughness in the job, and we extend our | ||||||
| 8 | deepest sympathy to his family, friends, and all who knew and | ||||||
| 9 | loved him; and be it further
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| 10 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 11 | presented to his family as an expression of our deepest | ||||||
| 12 | sympathy.
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