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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Royce Elliott was born on March 29, 1936, in | ||||||
| 3 | Stephenville, Texas; his parents were Earl and Loretta Elliott; | ||||||
| 4 | he married Helen Milford on October 14, 1961; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Royce Elliott graduated from Woodruff High | ||||||
| 6 | School, where he played baseball, basketball, and football and | ||||||
| 7 | participated in choir; he later attended Western Illinois | ||||||
| 8 | University, where he played football and baseball, and Bradley | ||||||
| 9 | University; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Royce Elliott was best known as "America's | ||||||
| 11 | funniest clean comedian"; he traveled all over North America | ||||||
| 12 | performing as an emcee for sports, corporate, and charity | ||||||
| 13 | events; he entertained at numerous venues, such as Bally's Las | ||||||
| 14 | Vegas, the Grand Ole Opry, and Atlantic City; he also performed | ||||||
| 15 | his routine at the Stadium Club in Peoria, Two Brother's Tap, | ||||||
| 16 | and local baseball fields; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, Royce Elliott made dozens of national television | ||||||
| 18 | appearances on "The Ralph Emery Show", "Crook and Chase", | ||||||
| 19 | "Nashville Now", and "The Statler Brothers Show"; he worked | ||||||
| 20 | with many celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Lou Rawls, Rich | ||||||
| 21 | Little, Barbara Mandrell, Vince Gill, and Conway Twitty; he | ||||||
| 22 | also worked sports banquets and fantasy camps with sports stars | ||||||
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| 1 | Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, Terry Bradshaw, Jack | ||||||
| 2 | Buck, Harry Caray, and many others; and | ||||||
| 3 | WHEREAS, After semi-retiring, Royce Elliott worked locally | ||||||
| 4 | as a co-host of "Breakfast With Royce and Roger", where he | ||||||
| 5 | connected with his all-time favorite comedian, Jonathan | ||||||
| 6 | Winters; he spent most Thursday mornings at the Sterling Family | ||||||
| 7 | Restaurant with good friends from the ROMEO club; and | ||||||
| 8 | WHEREAS, Royce Elliott enjoyed sports and coaching and | ||||||
| 9 | sponsoring local teams; he played for several years in the | ||||||
| 10 | Peoria Sunday Morning League and played fast pitch softball for | ||||||
| 11 | about 20 years; Elliott's Jesters sponsored fast pitch teams, | ||||||
| 12 | park district men's basketball teams, and youth track teams; he | ||||||
| 13 | also coached in the Salvation Army Biddy Basketball league and | ||||||
| 14 | West Peoria Little League; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, The City of Peoria has designated the portion of | ||||||
| 16 | Evans Street between Monroe Street and Perry Avenue in Peoria | ||||||
| 17 | as "Royce Elliott Place" in honor of his work; therefore, be it | ||||||
| 18 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 19 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 20 | designate March 26, 2016 as Royce Elliott Day in the State of | ||||||
| 21 | Illinois in honor of Mr. Elliott and his legacy of | ||||||
| 22 | entertainment; and be it further
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 2 | delivered to the family of Royce Elliott as a symbol of our | ||||||
| 3 | respect and esteem.
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