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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
former | ||||||
4 | United States Ambassador to Norway and Quaker Oats Chief | ||||||
5 | Executive Officer Robert D. Stuart, Jr., who passed away on May | ||||||
6 | 8, 2014 at the age of 98; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Robert Stuart, Jr. was born in 1916 in Hubbard | ||||||
8 | Woods and grew up just north of there in Lake
Forest; he | ||||||
9 | graduated from the Los Alamos Ranch School in New Mexico and | ||||||
10 | then Princeton
University in 1937; and
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11 | WHEREAS, In 1940, while attending Yale Law School, Robert | ||||||
12 | Stuart, Jr. began to become politically active by
joining a | ||||||
13 | group of classmates that included future President Gerald Ford | ||||||
14 | and future Supreme Court Justice Potter
Stewart, which became | ||||||
15 | the founding of the America First Committee; the America First | ||||||
16 | Committee disbanded shortly after the attacks on Pearl Harbor | ||||||
17 | in 1941, and
he joined the Army as a field artillery officer, | ||||||
18 | serving 2 years overseas; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Robert Stuart, Jr. was discharged in 1946
with the | ||||||
20 | rank of Major and returned to law school at Yale; shortly after | ||||||
21 | graduating, he joined Quaker Oats,
which was founded by his | ||||||
22 | grandfather, and led at the time by his father, R. Douglas |
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1 | Stuart, and uncle, John
Stuart; and | ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, Robert Stuart, Jr. stayed at Quaker Oats for 38 | ||||||
3 | years, the last 15 serving as Chief Executive Officer; in 1984, | ||||||
4 | he stepped down from Quaker Oats, and was appointed by | ||||||
5 | President Ronald
Reagan as the ambassador to Norway and served | ||||||
6 | from 1984 to 1989, during the declining years of the Cold War; | ||||||
7 | and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, In the years following his time as U.S. | ||||||
9 | ambassador, Robert Stuart, Jr. served on the defense Base
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10 | Closure and Realignment Committee under Presidents George H.W. | ||||||
11 | Bush and Bill Clinton; he continued to stay active in local | ||||||
12 | politics, including his involvement with the Lake
County | ||||||
13 | Republican Federation, which he co-founded in 1962; he was an | ||||||
14 | Illinois Republican Party committeeman from 1964 to 1972; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Robert Stuart Jr. is survived by his wife, | ||||||
16 | Lillian; sister, Margaret; son, James M. (Dianne) Stuart; | ||||||
17 | daughter, Marian S. Pillsbury; son, Alexander D. (Robin) | ||||||
18 | Stuart; daughter-in-law,
Nancy M. Stuart; 8 grandchildren; 6 | ||||||
19 | great-grandchildren; and numerous Norwegian stepchildren,
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20 | grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
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21 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
22 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
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1 | we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of | ||||||
2 | Robert D. Stuart, Jr.; and be it further | ||||||
3 | RESOLVED, That we honor the memory of Robert D. Stuart, Jr. | ||||||
4 | and remember his service as a U.S. ambassador,
philanthropy, | ||||||
5 | business acumen, and political activism; and be it further
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6 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
7 | presented to the family of Robert Stuart as a
symbol of our | ||||||
8 | sincere sympathy and gratitude for his service.
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