SR0671 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0671 LRB096 21407 KXB 37707 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Michael Francis Sweeney of Bloomington, who passed away on February 22, 2010; and

WHEREAS, He was born August 14, 1941, in Bloomington, the son of James "Tug" and Louise Rebmann Sweeney; he married Twyla Balf on December 14, 1968; and

WHEREAS, He graduated from Trinity High School in 1959, attended Illinois State Normal University for one year, and graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1964; he was drafted into the United States Army in 1964, and served for two years; and

WHEREAS, Upon returning to Bloomington, he was employed at State Farm Insurance Company until 1970, when he began working for Bloomington Federal Savings & Loan as an appraiser, later becoming vice president; he served on the board of directors for the Appraisal Institute and served as vice president; he also served as governor of the International Society of Real Estate Appraisers, and he received the MAI and SRA designations from the Appraisal Institute; and

WHEREAS, In 1986, he was elected to the McLean County board where he served for more than 20 years; during his time he served as the chairman of the finance committee and was a member of the legislative, property, and human services committee; from 1992 to 2000, he served as the county vice chairman, then moved on to serve as county chairman from 2000 to 2008, when he retired from the board; and

WHEREAS, His additional civic and community accomplishments include being a member of the Economic Development Council of Bloomington-Normal (1996-2008), the Lincoln board of directors, the Crestwicke Homeowners Association, and the Crestwicke board of directors; and

WHEREAS, Fulfilling a lifelong dream, he started his own commercial appraisal business, Sweenz Inc.; he was employed there until he retired in 2007, when his son, Jason Sweeney, assumed ownership of the business; and

WHEREAS, In addition to his family, he loved the game of golf; he believed that if you could master the game of golf, you could master life; he was a two-time champion of the Bloomington-Normal two-man Best Position Tournament and a two-time champion of the Father-Son Golf Tournament in Bloomington-Normal; in addition, he also won the Crestwicke Country Club championship in 1975; and

WHEREAS, Throughout all his years of playing golf, he achieved six holes-in-one; his love for the game of golf provided him the opportunity to serve as a Golf Digest selection panelist for more than 30 years, as well as his accomplishment of playing 136 courses which were or are currently on the Golf Digest list of America's 100 greatest golf courses; in addition, he loved McLean County and the city of Bloomington, where he was proud to live, work, and raise his family; and

WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, James "Pork" Sweeney; and

WHEREAS, Michael Sweeney is survived by his wife, Twyla; his children, Tammy (Rob) Fish, Mic (Susan) Sweeney, and Jason (Leah) Sweeney; and his five grandchildren, Tristin (Ken) Duffy, Luc and Mitchell Sweeney, and Michael Francis III and Sophia Sweeney; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Michael Sweeney; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Michael Sweeney as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.