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| | HR0839 | | LRB098 19210 MST 54362 r |
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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 John W. |
| 4 | | Rogers, Sr. of Chicago, who passed away on January 21, 2014; |
| 5 | | and
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| 6 | | WHEREAS, John Rogers, Sr. was born in 1918 in Knoxville, |
| 7 | | Tennessee; he graduated from Tilden Technical High School in |
| 8 | | Chicago and earned his bachelor's degree in education in 1941 |
| 9 | | from what is now Chicago State University; he earned his |
| 10 | | pilot's license and enlisted in the United States Army Air |
| 11 | | Forces; and
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| 12 | | WHEREAS, John Rogers, Sr. was a member of the famed |
| 13 | | Tuskegee Airmen during World War II; he was part of the 99th |
| 14 | | Pursuit Squadron and was one of the original 28 airmen to go |
| 15 | | oversees; he flew 120 missions in Europe and achieved the rank |
| 16 | | of Captain; he was a part of a group of approximately 300 |
| 17 | | Tuskegee Airmen to be honored with the Congressional Gold |
| 18 | | Medal, and in January of 2012, he was part of a group that went |
| 19 | | to the White House as a special guest of President Obama to |
| 20 | | view the movie "Red Tails", which tells their story; and
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| 21 | | WHEREAS, Following the war, John Rogers, Sr. attended the |
| 22 | | University of Chicago Law School on the GI Bill; he married |
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| | HR0839 | - 2 - | LRB098 19210 MST 54362 r |
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| 1 | | Jewel Stradford in 1946 and graduated law school in 1948; |
| 2 | | together he and his wife started a law firm; later he joined |
| 3 | | Earl L. Neal & Associates (now Neal & Leroy) and worked for |
| 4 | | them from 1974 until 1977; in 1968 he met his future wife, |
| 5 | | Gwendolyn; the couple dated for 33 years and married in 2001; |
| 6 | | and
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| 7 | | WHEREAS, John Rogers, Sr. was appointed an associate judge |
| 8 | | for Cook County in May of 1977 and eventually assigned to the |
| 9 | | Juvenile Division; he retired from the bench in 1998; in 2012, |
| 10 | | the University of Chicago Law School named the school's |
| 11 | | Director of Admissions office after Mr. Rogers and his first |
| 12 | | wife; and
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| 13 | | WHEREAS, John Rogers, Sr. was preceded in death by his |
| 14 | | parents and by his first wife, Jewel; and
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| 15 | | WHEREAS, John Rogers, Sr. is survived by his wife, |
| 16 | | Gwendolyn; his son, John W. Rogers, Jr.; and his granddaughter, |
| 17 | | Victoria Rogers; therefore, be it
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| 18 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
| 19 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
| 20 | | we mourn the passing of John W. Rogers, Sr., and extend our |
| 21 | | sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew |
| 22 | | and loved him; and be it further
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