Full Text of HR0039 96th General Assembly
HR0039 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of former | 4 |
| Illinois House of Representatives member Carl Soderstrom of | 5 |
| Streator, who passed away on January 13, 2009; and
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| WHEREAS, He was born in Streator on December 14, 1915, and | 7 |
| graduated from Streator High School in 1931; he attended the | 8 |
| University of Illinois, was a member of the marching band, and | 9 |
| graduated from there with a B.S. degree in 1937; he obtained | 10 |
| his law degree from the University of Illinois Law School in | 11 |
| February of 1943; and he was admitted to the Illinois Bar in | 12 |
| March of the same year; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1941, he married the former Virginia Merriner | 14 |
| of Streator and they had five children, who were born and | 15 |
| raised in Streator; Virginia Soderstrom taught German and world | 16 |
| history at Streator High School for many years; during World | 17 |
| War II, he worked in the Seneca shipyards, where the LST's, | 18 |
| Landing Ship Tanks, were built; he worked in the steel | 19 |
| procurement department, ensuring a constant supply of steel | 20 |
| necessary to keep the ship line in constant production for the | 21 |
| 10,000 people who worked there; and
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| WHEREAS, After the war, he opened his general-practice law |
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| office in Streator, specializing in worker's compensation | 2 |
| cases; he first was elected to the Illinois State Legislature | 3 |
| in 1950 and was always proud of the fact that he consistently | 4 |
| received strong endorsements from labor, farmers, and | 5 |
| educators; while in the Legislature, he sponsored numerous | 6 |
| pieces of legislation for the benefit of labor and served as | 7 |
| chairman of the House Education Committee; he retired in 1974; | 8 |
| in 1964, due to reapportionment, Illinois held a statewide | 9 |
| election, and he was the leading Republican with the most votes | 10 |
| of any downstate candidate, tallying over 1 million votes; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, In May of 2003, he received a rare invitation from | 12 |
| House Speaker Michael Madigan to return to Springfield to | 13 |
| address the Illinois House of Representatives; and last fall he | 14 |
| was invited by the AFL-CIO to open ceremonies in Peoria | 15 |
| commemorating the 50th anniversary of the merger of the | 16 |
| American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial | 17 |
| Organizations; and
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| WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his father, Reuben G. | 19 |
| Soderstrom, a former State legislator from Streator and | 20 |
| president of the American Federation of Labor, and then the | 21 |
| AFL-CIO, from 1930 to 1970; his mother, Jeanne Shaw; his | 22 |
| brother, Robert; his sister, Jeanne; and his daughter, Jane; | 23 |
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| WHEREAS, He is survived by his children, Dr. Carl | 2 |
| Soderstrom (Cris), Virginia Pace (Jack), Dr. Robert Soderstrom | 3 |
| (Susan), and William Soderstrom (Lorna); his 14 grandchildren, | 4 |
| Carl Soderstrom, Robert Soderstrom, Steven Soderstrom, Erik | 5 |
| Soderstrom, John Soderstrom, Denise Pace, David Pace, Phillip | 6 |
| Pace, Sara Soderstrom, Paul Soderstrom, Lance Soderstrom, | 7 |
| Nathan Soderstrom, Annie Soderstrom, and Lucas Soderstrom; his | 8 |
| five great-grandchildren, Drew Soderstrom, Mira Soderstrom, | 9 |
| Isaac Soderstrom, Dillon Soderstrom, and Jackson Soderstrom; | 10 |
| and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, His memory was honored by the Fighting Illini | 12 |
| Marching Band, who played three songs in his honor after his | 13 |
| funeral; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 15 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 16 |
| mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of former | 17 |
| State Representative Carl Soderstrom; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 |
| presented to the family of Carl Soderstrom as a symbol of our | 20 |
| sincere sympathy.
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