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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 James J. Goodreau, who passed away on | ||||||
| 4 | April 27, 2008; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, He was born in Chicago on August 9, 1921, the son | ||||||
| 6 | of the late Francis and Ethel Goodreau; he was the eldest of 4 | ||||||
| 7 | children; as a young man in Chicago during the depression, he | ||||||
| 8 | delivered telegrams by bicycle for Western Union; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, He attended St. Ignatius High School in Chicago, | ||||||
| 10 | where he excelled in sports; he attended Xavier University in | ||||||
| 11 | Cincinnati, Ohio, on a football scholarship; as a starting | ||||||
| 12 | halfback in 1941, Xavier University went 9 and 1, losing only | ||||||
| 13 | to Kentucky; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, With the onset of World War II, he was drafted | ||||||
| 15 | into the United States Army; he served in the Army Signal Corps | ||||||
| 16 | and Army Air Corps; he was commissioned on April 1, 1942 as an | ||||||
| 17 | April Fools lieutenant; he served in combat in the Pacific | ||||||
| 18 | Theater on Guam, Tinian, Saipan, and Okinawa; he was awarded a | ||||||
| 19 | Bronze Star for heroism; at the end of the war, he chose to | ||||||
| 20 | remain on active duty as one of the first officers in the Air | ||||||
| 21 | Force; and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, He served for 24 years with the Strategic Air | ||||||
| 2 | Command; in his last 4 years of active duty, he served with the | ||||||
| 3 | Military Assistance Advisor Group in China during the Vietnam | ||||||
| 4 | War and finished his 28-year career with the Armed Forces | ||||||
| 5 | Communications Service; during his career, he was awarded many | ||||||
| 6 | medals and citations, including the Air Force Commendation | ||||||
| 7 | Medal and the Joint Chief of Staff Commendation Medal; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the | ||||||
| 9 | University of Pittsburgh while on active duty; he was fluent in | ||||||
| 10 | English and Spanish and had a working knowledge of Mandarin; in | ||||||
| 11 | 1970, he retired from the Air Force and returned to Chicago, | ||||||
| 12 | where he worked for Tropical Radio and Telegraph until he again | ||||||
| 13 | retired in 1985; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, After retiring, he served as a lector at St. Luke | ||||||
| 15 | Church in River Forest and as a Eucharistic minister; he also | ||||||
| 16 | volunteered at West Lake Hospital in Melrose Park; he and his | ||||||
| 17 | beloved wife traveled the world together visiting many | ||||||
| 18 | countries on 6 continents; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents; and his | ||||||
| 20 | sister, Kay Sullivan; his wife, Alice Suzanne Goodreau, passed | ||||||
| 21 | away in 2011; and
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| 22 | WHEREAS, James Goodreau is survived by his 5 children, | ||||||
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| 1 | Alice Suzanne Meyers, (wife of Dr. Stephen), Dr. Joseph Francis | ||||||
| 2 | Goodreau, (husband of Diane), Richard David Goodreau, Mary | ||||||
| 3 | Elizabeth Anderson, (wife of Donald), and Dr. James J. | ||||||
| 4 | Goodreau, (husband of Susan); his 9 grandchildren; and 7 | ||||||
| 5 | great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| 6 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 7 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | ||||||
| 8 | his family and friends, the passing of James Goodreau; and be | ||||||
| 9 | it further
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| 10 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 11 | presented to the family of James Goodreau as a symbol of our | ||||||
| 12 | sincere sympathy.
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