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| | SR1481 | | LRB098 22794 MST 61741 r |
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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 Raymond Eugene "Gene" Suggs of Champaign, |
4 | | who passed away on September 19, 2014; and
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5 | | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs was born on May 22, 1928 in Champaign |
6 | | to Roy Raymond and Claudia
Mae (nee Glover) Suggs; he attended |
7 | | Marquette Elementary School and
Champaign Junior High and High |
8 | | Schools, graduating in 1946; he attended Illinois State
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9 | | University in Normal;
he was active in his community as a Boy |
10 | | Scout and Patrol Leader in Troop 11; in 1945, he was elected by |
11 | | his teammates as captain of the Champaign High
School Maroons |
12 | | football team; he was a member of the Champaign High School |
13 | | basketball team that won the 1946
Illinois State championship, |
14 | | and, in 1990, the team was
entered into the Illinois Basketball |
15 | | Coaches Association Hall of Fame; he married Hester Barbara |
16 | | Nelson in Champaign on June 20, 1948; and
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17 | | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs, as a young man of 16, worked with his |
18 | | uncle, Eddie
Glover, in the roundhouse of the Cleveland, |
19 | | Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway as a fire knocker; |
20 | | in the early 1950s, he began
Suggs Plastering and Contracting |
21 | | and operated the business for over 25 years; he also worked |
22 | | with
Reinhardt and Johnson Realtors as an associate; and |
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| | SR1481 | - 2 - | LRB098 22794 MST 61741 r |
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1 | | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs's interest in photography began as a |
2 | | hobby in the 1940s and blossomed into a lifetime career
that |
3 | | spanned over 50 years; starting out as a freelance |
4 | | photographer, his work drew positive
attention and he was hired |
5 | | by the Champaign-Urbana Courier as a part-time general |
6 | | assignment
photographer in 1960, working there until the |
7 | | publication closed in 1979; he continued his work as a |
8 | | photographer, establishing Suggs Photography; over the years, |
9 | | he
documented the visual history of organizations, clubs, |
10 | | sporting events, weddings, and other social
activities |
11 | | throughout Champaign County and, most particularly, its |
12 | | African-American community; his photos appeared in several |
13 | | publications, including Ebony Magazine; and |
14 | | WHEREAS, In the early 1960s, Gene Suggs was part of a group |
15 | | of individuals committed to improving race
relations and the |
16 | | quality of life for the African-American population in the |
17 | | community, which
resulted in the founding of the Champaign |
18 | | County Urban League; he would go on to serve on its
Board of |
19 | | Directors and as its President for several years; he also |
20 | | served on the boards of the Community Foundation of Champaign |
21 | | County, The Don
Moyers Boys' Club, and was a member of the |
22 | | Zoning Board of Appeals for the City of
Champaign; for over 30 |
23 | | years, he served as a jury commissioner for Champaign County; |
24 | | and
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| | SR1481 | - 3 - | LRB098 22794 MST 61741 r |
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1 | | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs was life-long member of Bethel
African |
2 | | Methodist Episcopal Church, serving in the past on its Board of |
3 | | Trustees and chairing the Building Committee
for the current |
4 | | church, completed in 1959; he was a devoted fan of University |
5 | | of Illinois basketball and a founding member of the Illini
|
6 | | Rebounders, serving as its Vice-President from 1989 to 1992; he |
7 | | was also a member at one time
of the Champaign-Urbana Kiwanis |
8 | | Club and the Thursday Evening Men's Supper Club; and
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9 | | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs was preceded in death by his parents; |
10 | | and
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11 | | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs is survived by his wife, Hester; |
12 | | daughter, Barbara Elaine (Frederick) Mason; son,
Danny Jerome |
13 | | (Catherine); daughter, Ramona Gay (William)
Winrow; 7 |
14 | | grandsons, William Winrow III, Mason James Reinhart-Suggs,
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15 | | Justin Paul Winrow, Raymond Nelson Winrow, Frederick Eugene |
16 | | Kwame Mason, Ryan
Daniel Suggs, and Logan Patrick Suggs; |
17 | | cousins, Marian Barnett Cullers and her sons, Vincent Terry
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18 | | Cullers and Jeffery Bryan Cullers; sisters-in-law, Eleanor |
19 | | Conrad, Estelle Merrifield, and Eunice
Rivers; and a host of |
20 | | nieces and nephews, cousins, and friends; therefore, be it
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21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL |
22 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of |
23 | | Raymond Eugene "Gene" Suggs, and extend our sincere condolences |