Full Text of SR0261 95th General Assembly
SR0261 95TH 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 William S. Abbott of Godfrey, who passed | 4 |
| away on May 8, 2007; and
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| WHEREAS, William S. Abbott was born September 21, 1917, in | 6 |
| Wood River to Sidney and Della (Hunter) Abbott; he married | 7 |
| Frances L. Shankland on June 4, 1955, in St. Louis; and
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| WHEREAS, William Abbott was a 1936 graduate of Alton High | 9 |
| School; he began his long career in the tool and die field at | 10 |
| Olin Corporation; during World War II he worked as a toolmaker | 11 |
| at the Navy Pier in San Francisco, Curtis Wright (Boeing) in | 12 |
| St. Louis, and the Small Arms Ammunition Plant (Olin), also in | 13 |
| St. Louis; after the war, he started a small machine shop in | 14 |
| the basement of his home in Alton, which later grew into Piasa | 15 |
| Tool and Die; in the late 1950s it was the largest machine shop | 16 |
| in the area, at one time employing over 100 people; Piasa | 17 |
| Sports Car Company was also housed in the same facility, where | 18 |
| he was a dealer for Jaguar, MG, Morris Minor, and Riley cars; | 19 |
| today the company continues as Abbott Machine Company in the | 20 |
| same location, under the ownership of his sons, Robert and | 21 |
| Rick; and
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| WHEREAS, William Abbott was well known, both locally and |
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| worldwide, for his collection of antique cars and motorcycles; | 2 |
| he started an antique car museum in Grafton in the 1950s but it | 3 |
| did not continue, though he still amassed more vehicles for his | 4 |
| collection; he kept his collection at Homeridge Farm in | 5 |
| Jerseyville for many years and later moved to the former | 6 |
| Mercedes dealership building in North Alton; he donated many | 7 |
| cars to museums, including the National Museum of Transport in | 8 |
| St. Louis, the Auburn, Cord, Duesenburg Museum in Fort Wayne, | 9 |
| Indiana, and the Classic Car Club Museum in Hickory Corners, | 10 |
| Michigan; and
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| WHEREAS, William Abbott was preceded in death by his | 12 |
| parents; a daughter in infancy; a granddaughter, Michelle | 13 |
| Abbott Brose; and two brothers in infancy; and
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| WHEREAS, William Abbott is survived by his wife, Frances; | 15 |
| his sons and a daughter-in-law, Robert and Sonia Abbott and | 16 |
| Richard "Rick" Abbott; his grandchildren and their spouses, | 17 |
| Teresa and Michael St. Peters, Andrea and Aaron Webb, Jason | 18 |
| "J.B." Abbott and Eric Abbott, and Jody and Joe Poletti; and | 19 |
| his four great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 21 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 22 |
| his family and friends, the passing of William S. Abbott; and | 23 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 |
| presented to the family of William S. Abbott as a symbol of our | 3 |
| sympathy.
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