HR0498

LRB094 12496 HSS 47003 r






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HOUSE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, Jerry O. Branson, Business Manager and Financial 
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Secretary of IBEW Local 461, is retiring on July 5, 2005; a 
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retirement party honoring his years of dedication and service 
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will be held on Friday, June 17, 2005; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Mr. Branson is a lifelong resident of Illinois; he 
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attended Batavia High School, where he was quite the athlete 
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and was captain of the football team, played basketball, and 
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was a member of the track team; during his sophomore year, he 
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began dating the love of his life, Marge, whom he married in 
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1963, and is still happily married to today; and
 
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    WHEREAS, After high school, Mr. Branson attended Barber 
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College in Chicago and then worked as a barber until 1972; at 
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that time, he and Marge were raising their three young boys, 
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and he realized he needed to switch careers; he chose to follow 
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in the footsteps of his father, an IBEW Local 461 electrician; 
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after a stint working with concrete to get a feel for 
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construction work, he started working as an electrician in the 
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Local; it took six years to become a journeyman wireman, and he 
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was initiated as such
into IBEW Local 461 on July 1, 1978; and
 

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    WHEREAS, Mr. Branson was appointed to the IBEW Local 461 
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Executive Board in 1986; in 1987, he was elected to the seat of 
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Vice President of the Local, and in the same year, he was 
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appointed to Assistant Business Manager; he served as both for 
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the next nine years; in 1996, he ran for and won the position 
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of Business Manager; he ran and won again in 1999 and 2002; and
 
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    WHEREAS, While serving as Business Manager, Mr. Branson was 
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also a delegate to the IBEW International Convention in 1996 
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and 2001; he has attended nearly every conference the IBEW has 
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scheduled in his 9 years as Business Manager, and several while 
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he was Assistant Business Manager, including the semiannual 
 


 






HR0498
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LRB094 12496 HSS 47003 r




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IBEW State conferences, IBEW 6th District conferences, and 
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those involving the issues of Training, Organizing, 
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Telecommunications, Construction, and Employee Benefits; and
 

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    WHEREAS, Mr. Branson serves on numerous boards of IBEW 
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Local 461, including the Health & Welfare and Pension Trust 
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Funds on which he is the Administrator and Secretary, the Joint 
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Apprenticeship Training Committee, and the Audit Committee; he 
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also regularly attends meetings of the Fox Valley Building 
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Trades and in 1999 and 2000 was its Treasurer; and
 

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    WHEREAS, Mr. Branson has served with dignity and grace 
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under pressure and has always done his best to improve the 
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working conditions and the lives of the members he so dutifully 
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serves; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Mr. Branson has been a member of the United 
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Methodist Church for over 40 years and is a longtime member of 
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the Batavia Moose; in his free time, he enjoys bowling, 
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fishing, gardening, traveling, and driving his convertible, 
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but his family will always be his top priority; and
 
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    WHEREAS, In addition to his dear wife and three sons, he 
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has three daughters-in-law and eight beloved grandchildren; he 
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is a dedicated family man and an outstanding individual; 
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therefore, be it
 

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    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
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NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 
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we congratulate Jerry Branson on the occasion of his retirement 
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and wish him all the best in the years ahead; and be it further
 

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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to Mr. Branson as an expression of our respect and 
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esteem.