Full Text of HR0415 101st General Assembly
HR0415 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn
of the death of Oren | 4 | | "Lou" Lowder of Springfield, who passed away on May 8, 2019; | 5 | | and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder was born on March 18, 1925 in Virden; | 7 | | he always liked to
say he came in with a bang, as the date of | 8 | | his birth was also the date of the most devastating tornado in | 9 | | the history of
Illinois; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder was born in the heart of coal country | 11 | | into a generational coal family; he
was also born on the eve of | 12 | | the Great Depression, when life was a struggle, work was hard, | 13 | | and
wages were meek, at best; at the age of 3, life got even | 14 | | harder for his family when his father was
killed in a coal mine | 15 | | accident; left widowed with three children to raise, his mother | 16 | | moved the
family to Springfield, where she found work and | 17 | | shelter managing boarding houses; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Although Lou Lowder never remembered living in the | 19 | | Virden area, he was proud of his
Virden roots; he would tell | 20 | | stories of the many times he would take the train to visit his
| 21 | | family who remained there; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder's mother worked in boardinghouses in | 2 | | downtown Springfield, where she
cooked and cleaned in exchange | 3 | | for a meager salary and room and board for her and her family;
| 4 | | his family believes that living among so many different people | 5 | | coming in and out of the
boardinghouses helped to instill in | 6 | | him a sense of inclusion and hospitality that remained with him | 7 | | throughout his life; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder attended St. Agnes Grade School and | 9 | | Cathedral Boys High School, where
he made deep friendships and | 10 | | developed a lifelong love of sports; he loved to say that his | 11 | | most
memorable athletic achievement was being knocked | 12 | | unconscious for over 24 hours by a 300-pound tackle from | 13 | | Spaulding; his teammates always blamed him for losing the game, | 14 | | even
though they won it 43-0; he also boasted that he was back | 15 | | on the field the very next week to help
beat their archnemesis, | 16 | | Springfield High, 13-6; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder graduated from high school in 1943; two | 18 | | weeks after graduation, driven
by his sense of honor and duty, | 19 | | he boarded a train with his best friend, Joe Knox, and entered
| 20 | | World War II; there was not a time in his life that he was | 21 | | prouder of nor more guarded about
than the 32 months he spent | 22 | | in the Navy during World War II; he spent most of his tour as a
| 23 | | Gunner's Mate First Class aboard the USS Walter C. Wann, a | 24 | | destroyer escort; after assignments
along the Eastern |
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| 1 | | Seaboard, the North Atlantic, and the Caribbean Sea, they | 2 | | entered the South
Pacific War Zone, where he earned six Battle | 3 | | Stars; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder fought in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, | 5 | | considered to be the greatest naval
battle in history, where | 6 | | the Walter C. Wann's sister ship was sunk by a 16 foot Japanese | 7 | | battery;
he later fought in the Battle of Okinawa, the | 8 | | costliest naval battle in American history, and,
although his | 9 | | ship was heavily damaged by a Japanese kamikaze pilot, it did | 10 | | not sink; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, After the war ended, Lou Lowder stayed with the | 12 | | Walter C. Wann as "Gun Boss" until
it was mothballed in Long | 13 | | Beach, California; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder re-enlisted in the Navy during the | 15 | | Korean Conflict, serving nearly a year
supplying the main air | 16 | | transportation supply base in Tulle, Greenland, north of the | 17 | | Arctic Circle; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Serving in war during his formative years had a | 19 | | lasting impact on Lou Lowder; his
commitment to duty and | 20 | | country was unimpeachable; he was a man of honor, a loyal | 21 | | patriot,
and a fierce proponent and defender of our armed | 22 | | forces; until the end, he was a military man
and proud of it; |
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| 1 | | and | 2 | | WHEREAS, After returning home from World War II, Lou | 3 | | Lowder's commitment to community and
his sense of duty drew him | 4 | | to a career in the Illinois State Police; over the next 28 | 5 | | years, he served in a variety of roles, including as a road | 6 | | trooper, a member of the Executive Security for Governor | 7 | | Stevenson, a Shift Sergeant, a
member of the first statewide | 8 | | Staff Inspection Team, a member of the Academy staff, an Area
| 9 | | Commander, a First Executive Officer, and, finally, as first | 10 | | Deputy Superintendent of the entire Illinois
State Police, the | 11 | | first to achieve the rank of Lt. Colonel; he also served as the | 12 | | first Illinois State
Police Legislative Liaison Officer; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, As proud as Lou Lowder was of his military | 14 | | service, he was equally proud of his beloved
State Police; he | 15 | | had immense pride in being a law enforcement officer and a | 16 | | graduate of the FBI
National Academy; he never stopped being a | 17 | | trooper and spent his life committed to helping
those who could | 18 | | not help themselves; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, After 28 years with the State Police, Lou Lowder | 20 | | turned to his other passion, Motor
Vehicle Laws; he served as | 21 | | Executive Director of the Motor Vehicle Laws Commission; during | 22 | | his
6 years as Executive Director, the Commission advised both | 23 | | legislative chambers in matters of
traffic safety and motor |
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| 1 | | vehicle licensing and regulation; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, After the commission was abolished in 1983, Lou | 3 | | Lowder served as Traffic Safety
Consultant to Governor | 4 | | Thompson, and, from 1984-1990, he was Highway Safety Advisor to | 5 | | Jim
Edgar; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder became one of the foremost national | 7 | | authorities on motor vehicle law; he
became the National | 8 | | Chairman of the American Association of Motor Vehicle | 9 | | Administrator's
Committee to establish Uniform Standards and | 10 | | Criteria; in that capacity, he traveled extensively
around the | 11 | | country conducting meetings and public hearings, which led to | 12 | | the Uniform Commercial
Driver's License Act; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, In 1990, after a career rooted in duty, honor, and | 14 | | a commitment to community,
Lou Lowder retired; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder always believed we had a duty to each | 16 | | other and an obligation to better
our community; for many | 17 | | years, he was an active member of the Knights of Columbus, | 18 | | always answering the call when help was needed; in 1980, he was | 19 | | named the Knight of the Year at
Council 4175; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder was a man of deep faith; he was a | 21 | | devoted Catholic and a proud member
of the St. Frances Xavier |
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| 1 | | Cabrini Parish; when the church decided to include more lay | 2 | | people in
their service, he volunteered to be one of the first | 3 | | Eucharistic Ministers and lay lectors; he
coached the CYO | 4 | | basketball team for 13 years; he served as chairman of the | 5 | | Parish Council,
chairman of the Men's Club, and chair of the | 6 | | Education Committee; he served with his wife June
as co-chair | 7 | | of the Fall Festival and led two parish fund drives; he was | 8 | | most proud of serving as a ground
maintenance volunteer for 15 | 9 | | years; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder loved the sport of boxing, believing it | 11 | | offered not only an outlet for pent
up aggression but also | 12 | | provided youth with an opportunity and a means to discipline | 13 | | their lives;
he was an active member of the Illinois Golden | 14 | | Gloves for 40 years, serving as director of bouts,
president, | 15 | | and franchise holder; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder was a proud member of many | 17 | | organizations, including the Eagles, the Illinois
Police | 18 | | Association, the VFW, and the Northend Democrats; when asked to | 19 | | serve his community,
he never said no; he believed that we are | 20 | | only as strong as the community in which we live and
that we | 21 | | all must work together to improve that community; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder's military, professional, and | 23 | | volunteer careers were indeed storied ones,
but he will be |
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| 1 | | remembered most for the family that he and his beloved wife | 2 | | June created; he met
June Ruffing in the Spring of 1949 while | 3 | | they were both working for the State of Illinois; it must
have | 4 | | been love at first sight, because they were married on October | 5 | | 22nd of that year; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder and June spent 70 years providing the | 7 | | solid foundation upon which their
family is deeply rooted; they | 8 | | had seven children, losing their first born, John Oren, not | 9 | | long after
birth; they have since seen that family grow by 15 | 10 | | grandchildren (having lost a grandchild,
Shawna, at the age of | 11 | | 5) and 19 great-grandchildren, with another on the way; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, The sense of inclusion and hospitality instilled | 13 | | in Lou Lowder early in life opened his
family to hundreds of | 14 | | others who have merged their lives with those of his family, | 15 | | sharing in joy,
celebrating triumphs, and, as now, helping each | 16 | | other through tragedy; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Lou Lowder taught his family never to turn from | 18 | | open arms or refuse a handshake,
to show respect to those | 19 | | around you, and, most importantly, to love your family above | 20 | | all else; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Though Lou Lowder may be gone, he will live on in | 22 | | the physical embodiment of his
children, grandchildren and |
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| 1 | | great-grandchildren and in the memory of those who have shared
| 2 | | their lives with him and his family; therefore, be it
| 3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 4 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 5 | | we mourn the passing of Oren "Lou" Lowder and extend our | 6 | | sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew | 7 | | and loved him; and be it further
| 8 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 9 | | presented to the family of Lou
Lowder as an expression of our | 10 | | deepest sympathy.
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