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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to 
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learn of the death of Donald E. Drake of Woodstock, who passed 
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away on February 6, 2009; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He was born September 28, 1942, in Biloxi, 
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Mississippi, to Ernest and Doris (Kobel) Drake; he graduated 
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from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, earning both 
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his bachelor's and master's degrees; he took pride in being the 
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first in his family to graduate from college; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He taught at Mattoon High School in Mattoon in the 
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early 1960s; he later moved to Antioch, where he taught 
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economics and managed media services at Antioch High School 
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from 1966 to 1971; the longest span of his professional career 
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was spent at College of Lake County in Grayslake, where he 
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directed the college's audio-visual and instructional media 
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programs from 1971 to 1989 and was heavily involved in 
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development of the college's distance learning programs; and

 
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    WHEREAS, In 1989 he left the college to accept the position 
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of executive director at the Northern Illinois Learning' 
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Resources Cooperative (NILRC), a statewide cooperative that 
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negotiated development and purchase of telecourses and other 
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media products and services for community colleges; he took 
 


 






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early retirement from education in 1996; and
 
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    WHEREAS, For several years, he worked as a professional 
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photographer, photographing weddings, athletic teams, and 
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families; he also was co-owner of Horizon Travel in Twin Lakes, 
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Wisconsin, and was involved in planning and organizing group 
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cruises; and
 
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    WHEREAS, In 1991 he married Dorothy Regan of Woodstock, 
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also an administrator at College of Lake County; they lived in 
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Woodstock from 1991 to 1995, then relocated to LaCrosse, 
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Wisconsin; they returned to McHenry County in 1998 when Dorothy 
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took the position of vice president for development and 
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director of the college foundation at McHenry County College in 
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Crystal Lake; they lived in Harvard until returning to 
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Woodstock in 2006; and
 
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    WHEREAS, He was a past member of the Woodstock Public 
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Library Board of Directors, a regular volunteer at Illinois 
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State wrestling tournaments, a knowledgeable movie buff, a fan 
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of HO model trains, and an avid traveler; he and his wife 
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returned only three weeks before his death from a vacation in 
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Australia and New Zealand; he took pride in having traveled 
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through 19 countries; he loved all dogs but had a special 
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affection for his basset hound, Morgan; and

 
 


 






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    WHEREAS, He and his wife were members of Resurrection 
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Catholic Church in Woodstock; he took pride in his involvement 
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in the RCIA program in 1991-92, which marked his entry into the 
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Catholic faith; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He was the loving husband of Dorothy (Regan) 
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Drake; the cherished son of Doris (Kobel) Drake; the brother of 
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Karl (Mary) Drake and David (Lynn) Drake; the loving 
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brother-in-law of Barbara (Regan) Pokorny, Michael (Karen) 
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Regan, and John Regan; and the proud uncle of Matthew Drake, 
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Nicholas Drake, Kathleen (John) Slade, Diane (James) 
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Pokorny-Wilson, John J. (Maria) Pokorny, Craig Drake, Missy 
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(John) Bryant, and Jeramy Drake; therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL 
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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with 
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his family and friends, the passing of Donald Drake; and be it 
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further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the family of Donald Drake as a symbol of our 
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sincere sympathy.