Full Text of SR0355 93rd General Assembly
SR0355 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois | 3 |
| were saddened to learn of the death of Clarence E. Willis Sr. | 4 |
| of Alton on November 29, 2003; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Willis was born October 17, 1920, in Lebanon | 6 |
| to Clarence A. and Carrie B. (Burns) Willis; and
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| WHEREAS, He married the former Mary L. Greene October 17, | 8 |
| 1942 in St. Louis; she preceded him in death; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Willis grew up in Lebanon, and served with the | 10 |
| United States Navy during World War II; he was a wire mill | 11 |
| laborer and shop steward with Laclede Steel for 33 years, where | 12 |
| he was the chairman of the Ladle Club, Joint Safety Committee, | 13 |
| Joint Civil Rights Committee, and the Community Services | 14 |
| Committee; and
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| WHEREAS, He was President of the Alton Branch of the NAACP, | 16 |
| a board member and first black president of Alton Community | 17 |
| Unit School District No. 11, President and Scholarship Chairman | 18 |
| of the Lewis and Clark Community College Foundation Board, St. | 19 |
| Joseph's Hospital Advisory Board, Commissioner and Chairman of | 20 |
| the Alton Housing Authority, Commander of Alton VFW Post No. | 21 |
| 3899, and Chairman of the Administrative Advisory Committee for | 22 |
| J.B. Johnson Career Development Center; and
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| WHEREAS, For the American Heart Association, he served on | 24 |
| the Illinois Affiliate board of directors, chairman of the | 25 |
| Administration Council and the Upper Madison County Heart | 26 |
| Association, Illinois Affiliate of the American Heart | 27 |
| Association; he was appointed by former Governor James Thompson | 28 |
| as a commisssioner of the Southwestern Illinois Metropolitan | 29 |
| and Regional Planning Commission; and
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| WHEREAS, He was a member of the Boy Scouts Awareness | 2 |
| Exploration Program, the Southwestern Illinois Area Wide | 3 |
| Business Development Finance Corporation, the Madison County | 4 |
| Economic Opportunity Commission Board of Directors, and the | 5 |
| Disabled American Veterans; and
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| WHEREAS, He was also a member, Sunday School teacher, and | 7 |
| Sunday School superintendent, first at the Mount Olive Baptist | 8 |
| Church in Lebanon and later at the New Bethel A.M.E. Church in | 9 |
| Godfrey; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, Mr. Willis's passing will be deeply felt by many, | 11 |
| especially his two daughters and their husbands, Joanne and | 12 |
| Sanford McMurray and Anita and Carl Woodard; his four sons and | 13 |
| three daughters-in-law, Gregory and Mary Willis, Clarence E. | 14 |
| and April Willis Jr., Paul L. and Sharon Willis, and Brian K. | 15 |
| Willis; his 23 grandchildren; his 20 great-grandchildren; 2 | 16 |
| great-great-grandchildren; his six sisters and two | 17 |
| brothers-in-law, Magdalena Howard, Pauline Rhea, Earline | 18 |
| Jackson, Carolyn McBride, Aletha and William Watkins, and | 19 |
| Sharon and Joe Cannon; his four brothers and two | 20 |
| sisters-in-law, Charles Willis, Ralph and Minnie Willis, | 21 |
| Kenneth Willis, and Dwight and LaVern Willis; and
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| WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents; his | 23 |
| granddaughter; two sisters; and three brothers; therefore, be | 24 |
| it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL | 26 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of | 27 |
| Clarence E. Willis Sr. along with all who knew and loved him | 28 |
| and extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends; | 29 |
| and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 31 |
| presented to the family of Clarence E. Willis Sr. as an |
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| expression of our deepest sympathy.
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