Full Text of HR0645 96th General Assembly
HR0645 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are pleased to honor Dick Dechert on the | 4 |
| occasion of his lifetime of dedicated service to his community; | 5 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Dick Dechert was born and raised in Stonington, | 7 |
| where he spent his summers playing baseball and his winters | 8 |
| playing basketball; when Stonington went to the basketball | 9 |
| sectionals in 1949 and lost to Taylorville, he scored 14 points | 10 |
| during the 66-42 game; and
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| WHEREAS, After high school, Dick Dechert attended Millikin | 12 |
| University; he graduated in 1957 after two years in the | 13 |
| service; during his tenure at Millikin, he played baseball and | 14 |
| basketball and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, where he | 15 |
| met many life-long friends; and
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| WHEREAS, After college, Dick Dechert took a job with Leader | 17 |
| Iron Works, a pressure vessel manufacturer in Decatur; he | 18 |
| quickly became one of the top salespeople at Leader and was | 19 |
| placed in charge of numerous national sales responsibilities; | 20 |
| he also worked for Bankers Life and Hydrotex; and
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| WHEREAS, Dick Dechert is well-known throughout his |
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| community as a successful businessman; he started his career as | 2 |
| a venture capitalist when he joined with Larry Hamm and Jim | 3 |
| Ploeger to create a sales agency for Hydrotex, which became | 4 |
| very successful and was then sold; he then joined Max Greenberg | 5 |
| and Dave Cooper to start About Time Coffee, which became | 6 |
| Marquis Beverage; he later operated his own restaurant on the | 7 |
| first floor of 363 South Main in Decatur; he was recruited by | 8 |
| Larry van Alstine, Harry Cook, Phil Jones, and others to help | 9 |
| rescue the nearly-bankrupt Decatur Sports Foundation and the | 10 |
| Decatur Pride; he also bought Decatur Electronics with Lyle | 11 |
| Rausch and Cortland Moody and quickly sold it, but not before | 12 |
| he personally sold and delivered the first radar gun the St. | 13 |
| Louis Cardinals ever bought; and
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| WHEREAS, Dick Dechert has dedicated a great amount of time | 15 |
| and effort to volunteering; he worked for the Decatur Mental | 16 |
| Health Center and the RCC; he has operated DUI Services, which | 17 |
| provides classes and counseling for those convicted of drunk | 18 |
| driving, with Joan Lewis since 1984; he has served as a | 19 |
| volunteer and as membership director at the YMCA; he was also | 20 |
| instrumental in the creation of Big Brothers Big Sisters of | 21 |
| Macon County, which has provided caring adult mentors for | 22 |
| thousands of kids since 1987, and is greatly responsible for | 23 |
| the organization’s talented staff and various social spaces; | 24 |
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| WHEREAS, Dick Dechert enjoys golfing, particularly at | 2 |
| Scovill Golf Course, where his big smile welcomes golfers on | 3 |
| Tuesdays and Thursdays; he also runs Scovill’s Friday evening | 4 |
| couples league and serves as his wife’s recruiter for the | 5 |
| Millikin Women’s Golf team; he also continues his work at Big | 6 |
| Brothers Big Sisters, where he serves as president of the Board | 7 |
| of Directors; and
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| WHEREAS, Dick Dechert is a member of First United Methodist | 9 |
| Church, where he has taught an adult Sunday school for over 40 | 10 |
| years; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, Dick Dechert and his loving wife, Marilyn, have 5 | 12 |
| children in their loving blended family; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 14 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 15 |
| honor Dick Dechert on the occasion of his lifetime of dedicated | 16 |
| service to his community and wish him continued success and | 17 |
| happiness in the future; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 |
| presented to Dick Dechert as a symbol of our esteem and | 20 |
| respect.
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