SR0355 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0355 LRB093 14772 KEF 40326 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois were saddened to learn of the death of Clarence E. Willis Sr. of Alton on November 29, 2003; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Willis was born October 17, 1920, in Lebanon to Clarence A. and Carrie B. (Burns) Willis; and

WHEREAS, He married the former Mary L. Greene October 17, 1942 in St. Louis; she preceded him in death; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Willis grew up in Lebanon, and served with the United States Navy during World War II; he was a wire mill laborer and shop steward with Laclede Steel for 33 years, where he was the chairman of the Ladle Club, Joint Safety Committee, Joint Civil Rights Committee, and the Community Services Committee; and

WHEREAS, He was President of the Alton Branch of the NAACP, a board member and first black president of Alton Community Unit School District No. 11, President and Scholarship Chairman of the Lewis and Clark Community College Foundation Board, St. Joseph's Hospital Advisory Board, Commissioner and Chairman of the Alton Housing Authority, Commander of Alton VFW Post No. 3899, and Chairman of the Administrative Advisory Committee for J.B. Johnson Career Development Center; and

WHEREAS, For the American Heart Association, he served on the Illinois Affiliate board of directors, chairman of the Administration Council and the Upper Madison County Heart Association, Illinois Affiliate of the American Heart Association; he was appointed by former Governor James Thompson as a commisssioner of the Southwestern Illinois Metropolitan and Regional Planning Commission; and

WHEREAS, He was a member of the Boy Scouts Awareness Exploration Program, the Southwestern Illinois Area Wide Business Development Finance Corporation, the Madison County Economic Opportunity Commission Board of Directors, and the Disabled American Veterans; and

WHEREAS, He was also a member, Sunday School teacher, and Sunday School superintendent, first at the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Lebanon and later at the New Bethel A.M.E. Church in Godfrey; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Willis's passing will be deeply felt by many, especially his two daughters and their husbands, Joanne and Sanford McMurray and Anita and Carl Woodard; his four sons and three daughters-in-law, Gregory and Mary Willis, Clarence E. and April Willis Jr., Paul L. and Sharon Willis, and Brian K. Willis; his 23 grandchildren; his 20 great-grandchildren; 2 great-great-grandchildren; his six sisters and two brothers-in-law, Magdalena Howard, Pauline Rhea, Earline Jackson, Carolyn McBride, Aletha and William Watkins, and Sharon and Joe Cannon; his four brothers and two sisters-in-law, Charles Willis, Ralph and Minnie Willis, Kenneth Willis, and Dwight and LaVern Willis; and

WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents; his granddaughter; two sisters; and three brothers; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of Clarence E. Willis Sr. along with all who knew and loved him and extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Clarence E. Willis Sr. as an expression of our deepest sympathy.