Full Text of SR0547 103rd General Assembly
SR0547 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | SR0547 | | LRB103 34734 MST 64582 r |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION | 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | 3 | | to learn of the death of John Alan Woodruff, who passed away on | 4 | | September 10, 2023; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff was born in Carlinville to William | 6 | | Verness and Mary (Parker) Woodruff on February 1, 1939; he | 7 | | grew up in Carlinville, where he enjoyed the outdoors; he was a | 8 | | High School All-American in football, threw the discus and | 9 | | shot put, and participated in band and chorus activities; he | 10 | | played football for one year at the University of Illinois in | 11 | | Urbana-Champaign and graduated as a field biology major from | 12 | | Southern Illinois University at Alton in 1963; he married | 13 | | Judith Colleen VanPelt on November 9, 1963; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff started his career as a textbook | 15 | | editor/writer for a high school publishing company; he later | 16 | | became a mainframe computer specialist and, after years of | 17 | | programming and system design, went into management and | 18 | | consulting; he worked in both the public and private sectors | 19 | | for over 40 years; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff oversaw many of the early efforts | 21 | | to consolidate computers while working for the State of | 22 | | Illinois, including the establishment of the data processing |
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| 1 | | department of the new Department of Alcoholism and Substance | 2 | | Abuse and development of several PC-based systems for the | 3 | | Illinois State Board of Education; in addition, he was an | 4 | | assistant professor in the business school at Sangamon State | 5 | | University (now UIS) and an adjunct professor at Lincoln Land | 6 | | Community College, specializing in system development and | 7 | | business management; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff was actively involved in the | 9 | | Springfield theater scene; he was on stage at Springfield's | 10 | | Muni 15 times in 14 years; he played Amos Hart in Springfield's | 11 | | original production of Chicago and was known as Mr. | 12 | | Cellophane; after he and Judy built their dream log home in | 13 | | rural New Berlin in 1993, he concentrated more on Theater in | 14 | | the Park and venues in Jacksonville; ultimately, he got into | 15 | | directing local productions, including Carousel, Seven Brides | 16 | | for Seven Brothers, and others; he restaged the epic poem John | 17 | | Brown's Body for the modern theater and wrote and directed | 18 | | three successful plays, Civil War Journeys, Drummer Girl, and | 19 | | Baltimore Plot; he was a member of a local storytellers group, | 20 | | loved to write short, two-person plays, and was fascinated by | 21 | | history and family ancestry; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff was an avid hunter and fisherman, a | 23 | | competitive bass fisherman, and a proud member of Ducks | 24 | | Unlimited, the NRA, and the Capitol City Men's Chorus; he |
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| 1 | | enjoyed golfing and had great respect for the environment and | 2 | | the conservation of natural resources; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff is survived by his wife, Judith; | 4 | | his son, Jim Woodruff; his daughter, Beth (Bob) Paton; and his | 5 | | grandchildren, Tim Paton, Andy (Lydia) Paton, Bailey Woodruff, | 6 | | Parker Woodruff, and Riley Woodruff; therefore, be it | 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL | 8 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 9 | | John Alan Woodruff and extend our sincere condolences to his | 10 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 11 | | further | 12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 13 | | presented to the family of John Woodruff as an expression of | 14 | | our deepest sympathy. |
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