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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 Bill
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| 4 | | Rucks, former head coach of the Mount Pulaski High School |
| 5 | | basketball team; and
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| 6 | | WHEREAS, Coach Rucks taught grade school in Mount Pulaski |
| 7 | | for more than 30 years and was
involved with the Hilltoppers |
| 8 | | basketball program for many years more as an assistant coach to
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| 9 | | hall of fame head coach Ed Butkovich for 26 years, as head |
| 10 | | coach from 1996 to 2002, and again
as assistant coach under |
| 11 | | coach Ryan Deibert; and
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| 12 | | WHEREAS, Coach Rucks graduated from Waukegan High School in |
| 13 | | 1972 and played basketball at
the University of Illinois |
| 14 | | Urbana-Champaign from 1973 to 1976, where he was the school's |
| 15 | | first
7-foot player; and
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| 16 | | WHEREAS, Coach Rucks went 83 and 77 in the 6 seasons he |
| 17 | | served as head coach for the
Hilltoppers and is remembered by |
| 18 | | those he worked with for having a unique sense of humor that
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| 19 | | was able to teach his students what they needed to learn; and
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| 20 | | WHEREAS, Coach Rucks spent the last years of his life in a |
| 21 | | motorized wheelchair, yet he did
not allow that to prevent him |
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| 1 | | from being as active as possible in the Mount Pulaski |
| 2 | | community; and
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| 3 | | WHEREAS, Coach Rucks was known as a fiercely loyal Illini |
| 4 | | fan and even more loyal and devoted
to his family; and
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| 5 | | WHEREAS, Coach Rucks was seen by many as a role model, |
| 6 | | teacher, coach, and friend whose
impact on the Mount Pulaski |
| 7 | | community will live on for years to come; and
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| 8 | | WHEREAS, Coach Rucks is survived by his wife, Janet Rucks; |
| 9 | | his daughter, Kristin Rucks-Smith, Athletic Director at Mount |
| 10 | | Pulaski Elementary
School; and his siblings, Jim Rucks, Tom |
| 11 | | Rucks, Renee Sams, Richard Rucks, Pete Rucks, Mary Gray,
and |
| 12 | | Becky Belmont; therefore, be it
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| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
| 14 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
| 15 | | mourn the death of Coach
Bill Rucks of Mount Pulaski and extend |
| 16 | | our sincere condolences to his family, friends,
and all those |
| 17 | | in the Mount Pulaski community whose lives were impacted by |
| 18 | | him; and be it further
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| 19 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
| 20 | | presented to the family of Bill Rucks as
an expression of our |
| 21 | | deepest sympathy.
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