SR2502 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR2502 LRB099 24076 MST 51981 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Jarvis Burdette "Jerry" Cecil, who passed away on November 4, 2016; and

WHEREAS, Jarvis Cecil was born in Wichita, Kansas to Kenneth and Mildred Lewis Cecil on September 22, 1925; he grew up in Knoxville and entered Knox College in Galesburg in 1943; in the winter of 1944, he joined the United States Army Air Forces, serving as a navigator; he returned to Knox College after World War II, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude in the winter of 1948; he received his Master of Business Administration in 1949 from Harvard Business School, where he was named a George F. Baker Scholar, the top scholastic honor, and worked for two years as a research associate; in 1949, he married June Pendarvis, who passed away in 1974; he married Kathleen Nicolette in 1986; and

WHEREAS, Jarvis Cecil joined Continental Oil Co. (Conoco) as a staff accountant in Ponca City, Oklahoma in 1951; after transfers to Houston, Texas and New Canaan, Connecticut with Conoco, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to become Executive Vice-President of Consolidation Coal, a subsidiary of Conoco and later of Du Pont; he retired in 1988; and

WHEREAS, Jarvis Cecil was committed to Knox College; college files contain the letter that accompanied his first gift to the Alumni Fund in 1944, mailed from U.S. Army Air Forces training camp in Florida; he was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1973 to 1999, when he was elected Life Trustee, serving as Chair of the board from 1978 to 1995; he was the longest serving Trustee of the current Board of Trustees, having served for 43 years; and

WHEREAS, Jarvis Cecil was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws in 1995; and

WHEREAS, Jarvis Cecil was a member of the Sesquicentennial Capital Development Program and the Fieldhouse Campaign Team; he chaired the campaign to renovate Seymour Library, where the Cecil Reading Room is named in his honor; and

WHEREAS, Jarvis Cecil was a star donor to Knox College and made a gift every year since he graduated; he and his wife will remain in perpetuity members of the Scripps Society, Knox's highest giving society, recognizing their generosity; and

WHEREAS, Jarvis Cecil was a lifetime member of The Nature Conservancy; he was interested in the environment, including leadership positions with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Fox Chapel Land Conservation Trust, the Phipps Conservatory, the Botanical Gardens, and the Fox Chapel Environmental Advisory Council; he was active with the Pittsburgh Public Theatre and the Pennsylvania State Chamber of Commerce; he was a member of the Fox Chapel Borough Council and Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church; and

WHEREAS, Jarvis Cecil is survived by his wife of 30 years, Kathleen; his children, Ann Brouillette, and John and Scott Cecil; his grandchildren, Sarah, Erin, and Suzanne Brouillette and Rachel and Teddy Cecil; and his sister, Marjorie Burgess; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Jarvis Burdette "Jerry" Cecil, and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Jarvis Cecil as an expression of our deepest sympathy.