Full Text of SR0059 94th General Assembly
SR0059 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois | 3 |
| learned with sadness of the death of Frank K. Burgess of | 4 |
| Batavia, formerly of Geneva, on January 23, 2005; and
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| WHEREAS, He was born on January 31, 1920, in Aurora, to Mr. | 6 |
| and Mrs. Charles M. Burgess of Aurora; as a boy, Mr. Burgess | 7 |
| was active in Boy Scouts, where he earned the distinguished | 8 |
| rank of Eagle Scout; he graduated from West Aurora High School | 9 |
| in 1938, where he was a member of the National Honor Society, | 10 |
| Captain of the basketball team, and active in football, track, | 11 |
| drama, and numerous other activities; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1939, he matriculated to Cornell University in | 13 |
| Ithaca, New York, where he was a member of Army ROTC, a member | 14 |
| of Chi Psi Fraternity, and Captain of the varsity basketball | 15 |
| team; his honors included selection to Red Key, Junior and | 16 |
| Senior Honorary Society, Sphinx Head, L'Ogive (architectural | 17 |
| honorary society), Beth'L Amed, and Cornell Officers' Club; he | 18 |
| earned an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1959; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1942, Mr. Burgess was commissioned 2nd | 20 |
| Lieutenant, Field Artillery, and was assigned to the U.S. | 21 |
| Army's last active horse artillery unit stationed at Fort Sill, | 22 |
| Oklahoma; four years of active duty ensued with assignments | 23 |
| including mechanized and armored artillery, tank destroyer | 24 |
| duty, gunnery instructor at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, and finally | 25 |
| duty in the South Pacific Theater preparing for the invasion of | 26 |
| Japan; his active duty culminated with an occupation unit in | 27 |
| Japan in September of 1945, when he was discharged as a Captain | 28 |
| in the U.S. Army; and
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| WHEREAS, Upon release from active duty, Mr. Burgess joined | 30 |
| his family's business, Burgess-Norton Mfg. Co., in Geneva, and | 31 |
| by 1968, he had worked his way up to Executive Vice President |
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| of Sales and Marketing; during a business career which spanned | 2 |
| 36 years, he was active in several industrial organizations, | 3 |
| chief among which was the Farm and Industrial Equipment | 4 |
| Institute (FIEI), comprised of all the leading manufacturers of | 5 |
| agricultural and construction equipment worldwide; he served | 6 |
| as President and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the | 7 |
| Auxiliary of the Institute and was made an Honorary Member of | 8 |
| the Institute, thereafter; and
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| WHEREAS, He married Mary Lou Cooper in May, 1942; they | 10 |
| first met in 1934 in dancing school; she was a brave and caring | 11 |
| "Army wife" for four years; the couple celebrated 62 years of | 12 |
| marriage in May of 2004; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. and Mrs. Burgess resided in Geneva from 1946 | 14 |
| to 2000, living first on River Street, then at the corner of | 15 |
| South and Seventh Streets, and finally in "The Mews" on Seventh | 16 |
| Street, which Mr. Burgess developed and built in the early | 17 |
| 1980s; in 2000, Mr. Burgess and his wife moved to "The | 18 |
| Holmstad" in Batavia; and
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| WHEREAS, During those 54 years, they were active | 20 |
| participants in many Geneva activities and organizations; Mr. | 21 |
| Burgess was a Precinct Committeeman, President and a Trustee of | 22 |
| Community Hospital of Geneva, and a director of | 23 |
| Delnor-Community Hospital; he was twice President of Geneva | 24 |
| Golf Club, where he won many golf competitions; he was | 25 |
| President of Geneva Community Chest, member of First | 26 |
| Congregational Church, and President and board member of Geneva | 27 |
| Park District for 27 years, during which time the Park District | 28 |
| was founded; his service to the Park District was honored in | 29 |
| May of 2002, when Geneva's newest park was named for him; he | 30 |
| received the first "William Barth Award" from the Tri-City | 31 |
| Family Services for community service in 1988, and in 1997, the | 32 |
| "Howell Worth Murray Award" from his fraternity for community | 33 |
| service; when it came time to celebrate the 200th anniversary |
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| of the founding of the United States, Mr. Burgess assumed the | 2 |
| Chairmanship of Geneva's Bicentennial Commission, and was | 3 |
| later Chairman of the Fund Development Committee for Geneva's | 4 |
| Sesquicentennial Commission; and
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| WHEREAS, He was a member of Fox River Geneva Post 75 of the | 6 |
| American Legion for 59 years, Veterans of Foreign Wars for 44 | 7 |
| years, the 40 & 8, Lions Club for 58 years, life member of | 8 |
| Geneva Chamber of Commerce, and Third Street Merchants | 9 |
| Association, during ownership of Robins Bookshop; and
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| WHEREAS, The passing of Frank K. Burgess has been deeply | 11 |
| felt by many, especially his dear wife of 63 years, Mary Lou; | 12 |
| his daughter, Nancy Burgess True (John); his sons, Peter | 13 |
| Kendall (Nancy), Bradford Cooper (Claudia), and Craig | 14 |
| McFetridge (Debra); his ten grandchildren; his four | 15 |
| great-grandchildren; his brother, Robert Charles and his wife, | 16 |
| Marirose; his nephew; his two nieces; and their five children; | 17 |
| his cousin, John E. Burgess and his wife, Christl, and their | 18 |
| two children and four grandchildren; he was preceded in death | 19 |
| by his father and mother, Charles M. and Ruth K. Burgess, and | 20 |
| by his in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Cooper; therefore, be it | 21 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL | 22 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 23 |
| Frank K. Burgess, and we extend our sincere condolences to his | 24 |
| family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 25 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 27 |
| presented to his family as an expression of our deepest | 28 |
| sympathy for their loss.
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