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| | SR1959 | | LRB099 22139 MST 49499 r |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to |
| 3 | | learn of the death of Pastor Willis Allen Bruce of Alton, who |
| 4 | | passed away on May 26, 2016; and
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| 5 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce was born in St. Louis, Missouri to |
| 6 | | Adelaide Irene (Purcell) and Captain Donald Frances Bruce on |
| 7 | | August 14, 1921; he was educated in St. Louis and Alton public |
| 8 | | schools and enlisted in the United States Army shortly after |
| 9 | | his 19th birthday; he served in World War II with the 3443rd |
| 10 | | Quartermaster Truck Company until his Honorable Discharge as a |
| 11 | | Sergeant in 1945; he fought in battles and campaigns in Papua |
| 12 | | New Guinea, and the East Indies; he was a decorated soldier |
| 13 | | receiving multiple ribbons and badges for his courage and |
| 14 | | bravery, including three Battle Stars and six Oversees Bars; he |
| 15 | | married Juanita Katheryn Merriweather at Campbell Chapel AME |
| 16 | | Church in Alton on June 2, 1946; and
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| 17 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce retired from Laclede Steel in Alton |
| 18 | | after over 30 years; and
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| 19 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce became an ordained minister in the |
| 20 | | early 1970s; he was Pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Alton for |
| 21 | | 39 years; and
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| | SR1959 | - 2 - | LRB099 22139 MST 49499 r |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce was the youngest of nine children: |
| 2 | | Francis, Adelaide, Jane, Donald Jr., Irvin, John, Robert, and |
| 3 | | Melvin; and
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| 4 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce was preceded in death by his wife of |
| 5 | | 64 years, Juanita; and
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| 6 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce is survived by his daughters, Ruth |
| 7 | | Ann Bruce Wilson (William Johnson) and Diane Irene Bruce Ross; |
| 8 | | his sons, Charles Allen (Sandra) Bruce and Donald Madison |
| 9 | | Bruce; his grandchildren, Thomas C. Wilson Jr., Jerome M. |
| 10 | | Wilson, Diane B. Wilson, Delano B. Ross III, Jason B. Ross, |
| 11 | | Lyndsay N. Bruce, Gerad D. Bruce, and India J. M. Bruce; his |
| 12 | | great-grandchildren; and a host of friends, neighbors, |
| 13 | | brothers, and sisters; therefore, be it
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| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL |
| 15 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of |
| 16 | | Pastor Willis Allen Bruce, and extend our sincere condolences |
| 17 | | to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be |
| 18 | | it further
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| 19 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
| 20 | | presented to the family of Pastor Bruce as an expression of our |
| 21 | | deepest sympathy.
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