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SENATE RESOLUTION

  
 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to  
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learn of the death of
Robert Byers Wilcox of Chicago, who 
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passed away on March 5, 2010; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox was born on April 5, 1922, in 
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Chicago; his parents were Edward Byers and Mary Amanda (Gore) 
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Wilcox; in 1941, he met Laura Janet Winstonthe, who he married 
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in 1944 in Evanston; she preceded him in death in 1995; in July 
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of 2006, he married a long-time and cherished family friend, 
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Susanne Bush; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox was raised in Winnetka, where he 
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attended North Shore Country Day School; he then attended 
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Harvard College, where he graduated AB cum laude with the class 
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of 1944; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox served his country with pride and 
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distinction as a member of the United States Navy during World 
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War II; during the war, he served on the USS Petrof Bay in the 
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Pacific Ocean and narrowly survived an injury sustained in the 
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midst of a typhoon; he was awarded the Purple Heart for his 
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service; and
 
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    WHEREAS, After his discharge from the military, Robert 
 


 






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Wilcox attended the University of Michigan Law School, earning 
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his Juris Doctor degree in 1949; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox had a long and distinguished career 
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in law; he began his career by joining the Chicago law firm of 
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Isham, Lincoln and Beale, where he was a partner from 1956 to 
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1971; during that time, he served as an advocate in 
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groundbreaking and successful newspaper/libel cases and he 
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played a key role in the research and preparation of the Report 
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of the Chicago Riot Study Committee to the Honorable Richard J. 
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Daley, investigating the causes of the riots in April of 1968 
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following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, In 1971, Robert Wilcox was hired by the Marlennan 
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Corporation, the holding company of Marsh & McLennan Companies, 
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Inc., where he served as General Counsel; he served as General 
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Counsel until 1974, when he accepted the position of Director 
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of Insurance for the State of Illinois under Governor Dan 
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Walker; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, Following his retirement, Robert Wilcox helped 
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found 2 groups that continue to pursue issues of great 
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importance to him; in 1993, he became the Founding Chairman of 
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the Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest; he also 
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helped found Protestants for the Common Good, a group that 
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educates and mobilizes people of faith to participate in 
 


 






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political democracy for the sake of social justice and the 
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beloved community; and
  
 
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    WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox believed fervently in the power of 
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community to ameliorate poverty and suffering and that the 
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religious right should not have a monopoly on the 
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representation of people of faith in the political sphere; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox is survived by his wife, Susanne 
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Bush Wilcox; his children, Robert B. Wilcox, Jr. (Barbara 
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Hermansen), Steven W. Wilcox (Kathleen), Katherine Wilcox 
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Lambert (Ian), David W. Wilcox (Melynda), and Brian W. Wilcox 
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(Amy); his grandchildren, Elisabeth Lambert Thompson (John 
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Neil), William W. Lambert, Benjamin B. H. Wilcox, James R. 
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Wilcox, Katharine H. Wilcox, Samuel J. Wilcox, Amanda F. 
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Wilcox, and Laura F. Wilcox; his sisters, Lee Kneerim and Ann 
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Jones; and his many nieces and nephews; therefore, be it
  
 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL 
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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with 
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his family and friends, the passing of Robert Byers Wilcox; and 
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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 Robert Wilcox as an expression of 
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our sympathy.