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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to extend 
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their sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Gerald S. 
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Gidwitz of Chicago, who passed away on Tuesday, July 11, 2006, 
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just six days before his 100th birthday; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a 
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cotton farmer and general store owner; he moved with his family 
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to Chicago when he was 12 years old; he married Jane Blumenthal 
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in 1944; she preceded him in death in 2001; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He graduated from the University of Chicago, and 
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in 1927, he went to work for National Minerals Co.; his family 
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gained control of the firm and renamed it Helene Curtis 
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Industries; he was chairman of Helene Curtis from 1952 until 
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the family sold the company in 1996; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Besides cosmetics, Gerald Gidwitz found or 
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acquired companies involved in real estate, building 
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materials, farm equipment, oil wells, and uranium, zinc, and 
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copper mines; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Gerald Gidwitz funded literacy programs that he 
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hoped would help people earn their GEDs; he served on the board 
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of Roosevelt University and worked with the National Planning 
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Association, a group working to get economic groups to work 
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together to solve national problems, as well as creating 
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programs to improve education and promote literacy; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He was a staunch conservative and a foe of 
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communism; in 1962, he launched a monthly magazine that 
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digested information on military, political, and technological 
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aspects of the Cold War; he also owned the Armed Forces Journal 
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for a time; and
 
 


 






SR0883
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LRB094 21949 KXB 60428 r




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    WHEREAS, He supported cultural institutions, including the 
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Auditorium Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre; he grew orchids at 
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his greenhouse at his Highland Park home until he moved to the 
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city in the 1970s and was an avid tennis player until his early 
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90s; and

 
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    WHEREAS, The passing of Gerald  S. Gidwitz has been deeply 
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felt by many, especially his sons, Ronald, James, Peter, and 
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Thomas; his daughter, Nancy; and his nine grandchildren; 
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therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL 
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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of 
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Gerald S. Gidwitz, and we extend our sincere condolences to his 
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family and his friends; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the family of Gerald Gidwitz.