Full Text of SR0029 96th General Assembly
SR0029 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of
James Webb Wagner, who passed away on | 4 |
| January 10, 2009; and
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| WHEREAS, James W. Wagner received his high school diploma | 6 |
| from DuSable High School, his B.S. from Northwestern | 7 |
| University, his M.A. from the University of Chicago, and his | 8 |
| Ph.D. from Western Colorado University; and
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| WHEREAS, James W. Wagner served as a Chicago Public School | 10 |
| (CPS) teacher, Education Director at the Chicago Urban League, | 11 |
| and positions in health planning and public health; afterwards, | 12 |
| he served as Dean of Students at the School of Public Health at | 13 |
| the University of Illinois for nearly 20 years; after his | 14 |
| retirement, he worked as a consultant to non-profit | 15 |
| organizations, but gave much of his time to his deep commitment | 16 |
| to community and civic interests; and
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| WHEREAS, James W. Wagner headed three organizations for | 18 |
| many years, to which he was deeply devoted; due to his strong | 19 |
| leadership, the DuSable Alumni Coalition successfully fought | 20 |
| to keep DuSable High School open when CPS had plans to close | 21 |
| it; he was the founding chair of the Mary Herrick Scholarship | 22 |
| Fund, which has raised over $200,000 for scholarships for more |
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| than 200 DuSable graduates; he also founded an organization | 2 |
| twelve years ago that was focused on bringing jazz back to Hyde | 3 |
| Park, which had been the center of jazz in the Midwest decades | 4 |
| ago; with the support of the University of Chicago, Mr. Wagner | 5 |
| and the Hyde Park Jazz Society succeeded in bringing the | 6 |
| Checkerboard Lounge to Hyde Park and establishing the highly | 7 |
| successful Sunday night jazz series; in September of 2008, the | 8 |
| second annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival, co-sponsored by the Hyde | 9 |
| Park Jazz Society, the Hyde Park Cultural Alliance, and the | 10 |
| University of Chicago, dedicated the festival's Main Stage as | 11 |
| the James W. Wagner Center Stage in honor of his work; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, One of James W. Wagner's greatest joys was the | 13 |
| election of Barack Obama as President-Elect, having been a | 14 |
| strong supporter of his from the beginning of his political | 15 |
| career and often saying that he never expected to see the | 16 |
| election of an African-American in his lifetime; Mr. Wagner was | 17 |
| a long-time civil rights activist and served as Captain of the | 18 |
| "Green Train", which transported hundreds of Chicagoans to Dr. | 19 |
| King's 1963 March on Washington; and
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| WHEREAS, James W. Wagner was a long time member and leader | 21 |
| at University Church in Hyde Park; and
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| WHEREAS, Despite his great love for his many causes, James | 23 |
| W. Wagner's greatest love was his family, which includes his |
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| wife of 36 years, Almarie, and his daughters, Cecily and | 2 |
| Cynthia; Mr. Wagner and his wife traveled extensively, | 3 |
| including trips to Africa, Egypt, China, Peru, the Galapagos | 4 |
| Islands, and the Caribbean; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 6 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 7 |
| his family and friends, the passing of James Webb Wagner; and | 8 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 10 |
| presented to the family of James W. Wagner as an expression of | 11 |
| our sympathy.
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