Full Text of SR1899 99th General Assembly
SR1899 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of James E. Gast of New Lenox, who passed | 4 | | away on May 9, 2016; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, James Gast was born to Stanton and Clare (Brock) | 6 | | Gast on July 7, 1941; he attended St. Joseph Grade School and | 7 | | graduated from Lincoln-Way High School in 1959, where he was | 8 | | active on the football and baseball teams, serving as Captain | 9 | | of both during his Senior year; he was also a member of the | 10 | | Future Farmers of America, was a representative in Springfield | 11 | | for Boys State, and was on the Student Council; he attended St. | 12 | | Ambrose College and Southern Illinois University, where he | 13 | | majored in Agriculture; he married Mary Lou Cummins in 1965; | 14 | | and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, James Gast began his career as a salesman with the | 16 | | International Harvester Company in 1964; he worked in various | 17 | | management positions for the next ten years in Illinois, | 18 | | Missouri, Kansas, and Minnesota; his last assignment was in | 19 | | Warren, Minnesota, where he managed a company store from 1972 | 20 | | to 1974; in December of 1974, he purchased Moss Equipment in | 21 | | Joliet and created Gast International, an International | 22 | | Harvester Farm Equipment store; after five years in the | 23 | | original facilities, he moved into a new, larger facility; his |
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| 1 | | dealership has been featured in many International Harvester | 2 | | advertising brochures, TV commercials, and company magazines; | 3 | | and | 4 | | WHEREAS, James Gast served as President of the | 5 | | International Harvester North American Agriculture Dealer | 6 | | Council representing U.S. and Canadian agriculture dealers in | 7 | | 1982; he served on various advisory councils at Lincoln-Way | 8 | | High School, Joliet Junior College, and St. Francis Academy and | 9 | | was past Chairman of the Will County Heart Fund Drive; he was | 10 | | always active in the Farm Equipment Association, serving as | 11 | | President in 1983; he was involved in many Illinois Retail | 12 | | Dealer's Association activities and served as President in | 13 | | 1984; he retired in 2000; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, James Gast's proudest accomplishment was being | 15 | | elected to the Board of Education of Lincoln-Way Community High | 16 | | School in 1983; he served on the Board for 33 years from 1983 | 17 | | to 2016; he was a community relations ambassador for the | 18 | | Lincoln-Way High School District 210; he served as President of | 19 | | the Board of Education three times from 1989 to 1991, from 1997 | 20 | | to 1998, and from 2003 to 2005; he served as the Board liaison | 21 | | to the Lincoln-Way District 210 Foundation for Educational | 22 | | Excellence from 1999 to 2001; and | 23 | | WHEREAS, James Gast was a strong supporter of the |
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| 1 | | district's vocational and fine arts programs; his support of a | 2 | | partnership for an Agri-Science Center in conjunction with a | 3 | | neighboring village succeeded in securing an eight-acre | 4 | | Agri-Science Center; he also took a leadership role with the | 5 | | Lincoln-Way Alumni Planning Committee and served on their board | 6 | | of directors for more than six years; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, James Gast was one of the leaders of the | 8 | | district's 10-year reading program, which became a graduation | 9 | | requirement by the Board of Education; he was one of the | 10 | | presenters of the district's reading program, "Ascending the | 11 | | Reading Summit: 10 Step Success Story" as part of the Carousel | 12 | | of Panels at the Illinois Association of School Board's Annual | 13 | | Conference in 2010; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, James Gast was involved with Lincoln-Way's | 15 | | Special Education Joint Agreement Governing Board of District | 16 | | 843 on which he was a member from 2001 to 2015; he served as | 17 | | Secretary from 2003 to 2006, as President from 2007 to 2009, | 18 | | and as Vice-President from 2013 to 2015; he served over 45,000 | 19 | | Lincoln-Way students during his 33 years as a Board of | 20 | | Education member; he dedicated thousands of hours to activities | 21 | | to improve support and understanding of the school district; | 22 | | and
| 23 | | WHEREAS, James Gast twice earned the INSPRA's |
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| 1 | | Distinguished Service Award in the Board of Education category; | 2 | | and | 3 | | WHEREAS, James Gast was a hard-working, self-made man who | 4 | | was dedicated to his family, his business, and his community; | 5 | | he had a strong, quiet exterior and a devoted and generous | 6 | | heart; he and his wife, Mary Lou, always had an open door to | 7 | | welcome friends and enjoyed hosting parties for friends, family | 8 | | and "the kids"; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, James Gast was father to Mark E. (Christy) Gast | 10 | | and Melissa (Alan) Breitbart; brother to Kathleen (Dennis) | 11 | | Galle, Ray (Jo) Gast, and Rita (Charlie) Russella; | 12 | | brother-in-law to Vance Cummins; "Papa" to his grandchildren, | 13 | | Ryan and Alec Gast and James and Mia Breitbart; and "Uncle Jim" | 14 | | to his nieces and nephews, Juli, Galle, Mike (Erin) Galle, Beth | 15 | | (Kameron) deVente, Jeff (Katrina) Galle, Christopher (Melanie) | 16 | | Galle, Andrea (Kieran) Noonan, Nick (Meg) Galle, Kate (Sean) | 17 | | Ramswick, Pete Russella, and Joe Russella, Melissa (Hugh) Rink, | 18 | | David Morgan, and Kristen Gast; therefore, be it
| 19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | 20 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 21 | | James E. Gast, and extend our sincere condolences to his | 22 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 23 | | further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | presented to the family of James Gast as an expression of our | 3 | | deepest sympathy.
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