093_SR0297

 
                                     LRB093 13993 KEF 19404 r

 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members  of  the  Senate  of  the  State  of
 3    Illinois  were  saddened  to learn of the death of former St.
 4    Louis County Executive  George  R.  "Buzz"  Westfall  of  St.
 5    Louis; and

 6        WHEREAS,   Mr.  Westfall  was  born  March  19,  1944  in
 7    Portland, Oregon; his parents dubbed him "Buzz" in honor of a
 8    great white buzzard in Indian folklore; a  Nez  Perce  Indian
 9    who  worked with his father in Oregon said the nickname would
10    guarantee good luck for his son; and

11        WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall was a city kid  who  grew  up  near
12    Fairground  Park; he attended Catholic schools, including St.
13    Louis University High School, where he played goalie  on  the
14    soccer  team;  he  went  on  to St. Louis University for both
15    undergraduate work and  law  school;  he  married  his  wife,
16    Laurie, in 1968; and

17        WHEREAS,  Like  many  of  his generation, he moved to St.
18    Louis County because that's where the jobs were; in his case,
19    it was an assistant prosecutor's job  at  the  courthouse  in
20    Clayton;  with  the  exception  of  a  year  in  private  law
21    practice, he never drew another paycheck that didn't have St.
22    Louis County printed on it; and

23        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Westfall  was  the  father  of  the modern
24    Democratic Party in St. Louis  County;  when  the  St.  Louis
25    Post-Dispatch  endorsed  him  for  a fourth term as St. Louis
26    County Executive last year, they noted that a lot  of  county
27    voters  were not old enough to remember when his name did not
28    appear on a county ballot; he was only 34 when he was elected
29    to the first of three terms as St. Louis County Prosecutor in
30    1978; and

31        WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall was admittedly shy by  nature,  but
 
                            -2-      LRB093 13993 KEF 19404 r
 1    found his voice as a prosecutor and was considered one of the
 2    best in the State; and

 3        WHEREAS,  In  1990,  he  was  elected as St. Louis County
 4    Executive; in his years as head of the most  populous  county
 5    in  the  State, he won the approval of a bond issue for a new
 6    jail, revamped the sales  tax  system,  expanded  the  police
 7    department,  helped  bring  MetroLink  to  Clayton and took a
 8    leading role in the effort to bring the Rams football team to
 9    St. Louis; and

10        WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall  firmly  believed  that  St.  Louis
11    County,  and  the region as a whole, could not prosper if the
12    city of St. Louis failed; he worked with four city mayors  on
13    projects  ranging from new sports stadiums to regional health
14    care, mass transit, and economic development; and

15        WHEREAS, Mr. Westfall's death  will  be  deeply  felt  by
16    many,  especially  his  wife, Laurie Westfall; his sons, Mark
17    Westfall and Steven Westfall; his daughter, Kristin Rea;  his
18    mother; and three grandchildren; therefore, be it

19        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
20    ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of
21    George R. "Buzz" Westfall and extend our sincere  condolences
22    to his family, friends, and community; and be it further

23        RESOLVED,  That  a  suitable  copy  of this resolution be
24    presented to the family of George R. "Buzz"  Westfall  as  an
25    expression of our deepest sympathy.