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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 Richard | ||||||
4 | C. "Dick" "The Big Kahuna" Weis, former Mayor of Freeport, who | ||||||
5 | passed away on April 2, 2017; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to | ||||||
7 | Richard Albert and Dorothy (Hammer) Weis on April 27, 1936; he | ||||||
8 | attended the Clark Street School and then the Gehnslen | ||||||
9 | Orthopedic School through 1949; he then attended Craig School | ||||||
10 | for seventh and eighth grades and graduated from Wauwatosa High | ||||||
11 | School in 1955; he married Carolyn Mitton on November 24, 1956; | ||||||
12 | he received his Bachelor of Science from the University of | ||||||
13 | Wisconsin in 1976; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis began a career in broadcasting at WRIT | ||||||
15 | Radio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; he was a reporter for the | ||||||
16 | Northwest Reporter in Milwaukee from 1956 to 1959; he was | ||||||
17 | publisher of Teen Beat from 1959 to 1961 and served as an | ||||||
18 | account executive at W-Rochester Institute of Technology Radio | ||||||
19 | from 1961 to 1963; he went onto become the sales manager at | ||||||
20 | WYLO Radio from 1963 to 1965, WUTU Channel 18 in Milwaukee from | ||||||
21 | 1965 to 1970,; from 1970 to 1978 he was the General Manager at | ||||||
22 | the Schlitz Broadcast Division of the Jos. Schlitz Brewing | ||||||
23 | Company, which owned the radio and television broadcast rights |
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1 | for the Milwaukee Brewers, Marquette University, the | ||||||
2 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee Bucks; he | ||||||
3 | hired Bob Uecker, Tom Collins, Eddie Doucette, and Merle | ||||||
4 | Harmon; from 1978 to 1981, he built Channel 24 WCGV-TV in | ||||||
5 | Milwaukee from the ground up and began the country's first | ||||||
6 | pay-per-view service in 1979; in 1981, he bought the radio | ||||||
7 | station WFPS and was the owner of Weis Inc. in Freeport from | ||||||
8 | 1981 to 1989; and | ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis coached Concordia Jr. High and High | ||||||
10 | School basketball from 1966 to 1970; he also coached the | ||||||
11 | Concordia Jr. College basketball teams from 1973 to 1978, where | ||||||
12 | he won the State Championship in the 1973-74 and 1977-78 | ||||||
13 | seasons; he began Concordia's four-year basketball program for | ||||||
14 | the 1978-79 season, and in his last year of coaching, the | ||||||
15 | 1979-80 season, the Falcons had their second trip to the | ||||||
16 | National Little College Tournament; he also assisted Concordia | ||||||
17 | football coach Andy Luptak as receivers, defense backs, and | ||||||
18 | special teams coach; many of his former players retained | ||||||
19 | cherished friendships with him throughout his life; he also | ||||||
20 | played on and managed Raabe Paint fast pitch softball teams | ||||||
21 | through the 1979 season; and | ||||||
22 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis is a member of the Concordia/Wisconsin | ||||||
23 | Athletic Hall of Fame, and is a member of the Major League | ||||||
24 | Baseball Players Alumni Association; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis is listed in Who's Who in American | ||||||
2 | Broadcasting, Coaching, and Politics; he was a Paul Harris | ||||||
3 | Fellow with the Freeport Noon Rotary Club; he was awarded the | ||||||
4 | Rotary Club's Community Image Award and was named the Junior | ||||||
5 | Chamber of Commerce Boss of the Year; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis served as Mayor of Freeport from 1989 | ||||||
7 | to 1997; he worked with the National League of Cities and the | ||||||
8 | United States Conference of Mayors; and | ||||||
9 | WHEREAS, After the passing of his first wife, Mayor Weis | ||||||
10 | married Sandra Wallmo at Krape Park in Freeport on October 11, | ||||||
11 | 2003; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis was named Volunteer of the Year by | ||||||
13 | Martin Luther King Jr. Community Services in 1990 and | ||||||
14 | Outstanding Citizen by Freeport International Fellowship in
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15 | 1992; he helped with Muscular Dystrophy causes in Milwaukee, | ||||||
16 | Wisconsin in 1974, served as President of Crime Stoppers in | ||||||
17 | Freeport in 1984, and worked with Greater Downtown Freeport in | ||||||
18 | 1985; he was President of the Freeport Chamber of Commerce in | ||||||
19 | 1986 and also served as President of the Noon Rotary Club; he | ||||||
20 | was a volunteer for VietNow in 1990, served as a board member | ||||||
21 | for the Illinois
Municipal League from 1989 to 1990, and served | ||||||
22 | as a board member of the American Leadership in 1994; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis spent 17 years soliciting mittens and | ||||||
2 | caps for children, and one year filled two semis of food for | ||||||
3 | the food pantry while sitting in an outdoor toilet; in 2011, he | ||||||
4 | and his wife, Sandy, raised funds and established the Coach | ||||||
5 | Weis Endowment Fund at Concordia University/Wisconsin, giving | ||||||
6 | students with disabilities yearly financial aide at Concordia; | ||||||
7 | and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis was preceded in death by his parents; | ||||||
9 | his first wife, Carolyn; his daughter, Dawn Lenzke; and his | ||||||
10 | sister, Joan Dieringer; and | ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, Mayor Weis is survived by his wife, Sandy; his | ||||||
12 | daughters, Sandra (Scott) Summers, Debbie (Ken) Moore, Sherrie | ||||||
13 | Larson, and Lorie (Conor) Arendt; his stepdaughter, Elizabeth | ||||||
14 | Wallmo; his son-in-law, Jim Lenzke; 15 grandchildren; 21 | ||||||
15 | great-grandchildren; and many good friends; therefore, be it
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16 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
17 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
18 | mourn the passing of Richard C. Weis, former Mayor of Freeport, | ||||||
19 | and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and | ||||||
20 | all who knew and loved him; and be it further
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21 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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1 | presented to the family of Mayor Weis as an expression of our | ||||||
2 | deepest sympathy.
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