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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Homer L. | ||||||
| 4 | Ward, Sr. of Robbins, who passed away on December 30, 2010; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, He was born in New Boston, Texas, on June 5, 1919, | ||||||
| 6 | to Annie McFarland and Bloxie Wade; the family moved north to | ||||||
| 7 | Evanston when he was only two or three years old; he attended | ||||||
| 8 | both the Evanston and later the Chicago Public Schools; he met | ||||||
| 9 | his future wife, Mary Elizabeth Riddick, while attending public | ||||||
| 10 | school in Chicago; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, His mother sent him back to Texas to live with her | ||||||
| 12 | sister, Della, and her family; while there, he developed his | ||||||
| 13 | lifelong passion for hunting and fishing and a love and | ||||||
| 14 | appreciation for nature and the environment; he later returned | ||||||
| 15 | to Chicago and renewed his pursuit of Mary Riddick, as well as | ||||||
| 16 | working with the Illinois Conservation Corps Camp and the WPA; | ||||||
| 17 | he and his wife were married in 1940; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, He enlisted in the United States Army in 1944; he | ||||||
| 19 | was chosen for the special pilot training program for | ||||||
| 20 | "Coloreds" in the Air Corps division in Tuskegee, Alabama; the | ||||||
| 21 | men in the program became the Tuskegee Airmen; he served in the | ||||||
| 22 | military until the end of World War II and returned to Chicago; | ||||||
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| 1 | in 1949, he moved to Robbins; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, He designed, with the help of a few good friends, | ||||||
| 3 | and built his Robbins home;
he became a Master Mason in 1954 | ||||||
| 4 | and is a lifetime member of the Alpha & Omega Lodge #121 Free & | ||||||
| 5 | Accepted Masons, Prince Hall Affiliation;
he was an early | ||||||
| 6 | member of the Robbins Rod & Gun Club; he was a Hunter Safety | ||||||
| 7 | Instructor for the Illinois Wildlife Federation, Law | ||||||
| 8 | Enforcement Division;
He was a Range Master and Trainer for, | ||||||
| 9 | and member of, the Robbins Police Department;
he was an elected | ||||||
| 10 | Commissioner of the Robbins Park District;
and for many years | ||||||
| 11 | he was the maintenance superintendent for the Housing Authority | ||||||
| 12 | of the County of Cook in Robbins; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Homer Ward, Sr. is survived by his children, Mary, | ||||||
| 14 | June, and Homer, Jr.; his grandchildren; his | ||||||
| 15 | great-grandchildren; and his great-great-grandchildren; | ||||||
| 16 | therefore, be it
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| 17 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 18 | NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 19 | mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Homer | ||||||
| 20 | Ward, Sr.; and be it further
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| 21 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 22 | presented to the family of Homer Ward, Sr. as a symbol of our | ||||||
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| 1 | sincere sympathy.
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