Full Text of SR0654 102nd General Assembly
SR0654 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | 3 | | to learn of the death of David Samuel Bechtel of Savoy, who | 4 | | passed away on November 9, 2021; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel was born to Sam and Elsie Nixon | 6 | | Bechtel on October 6, 1945; he spent his childhood around the | 7 | | house and on the farm in Eureka; his best friend was his older | 8 | | sister, Doris "Sis" Bechtel Houser, who eventually made him a | 9 | | proud uncle to Woody and Brad Houser; he was actively involved | 10 | | in a number of activities and organizations, including 4-H, | 11 | | FFA, baseball, football, basketball, and church; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel was a platoon sergeant/sergeant | 13 | | first class in the Army National Guard; he served in infantry, | 14 | | transportation, and supply companies in Ft. Polk, Louisiana, | 15 | | Peoria, and Urbana; he served with honor and had a great | 16 | | respect for all those in military service; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel married Ann Davidson in 1970, and | 18 | | they had Daniel David in 1975 and Katherine Ann in 1978; every | 19 | | day of the last 46 years, he worked hard to be sure his | 20 | | children felt unconditionally loved; whether he was teaching | 21 | | his adult son to play baseball, writing letters to his | 22 | | daughter to stop getting into fender benders, or guiding them |
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| 1 | | through their missteps and accolades, he handled his children | 2 | | like he handled everyone else in his life, with respect, love, | 3 | | and compassion; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel began studying agricultural | 5 | | economics at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in | 6 | | 1963; he was proud to say he held season tickets for 58 | 7 | | straight years to both Illinois football and basketball; while | 8 | | there, he pledged the Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR) fraternity; in | 9 | | 2004, on the centennial anniversary of AGR, he received the | 10 | | honor of being named a Brother of the Century on the national | 11 | | level; during his alumni life before social media flourished, | 12 | | he created a mass email list with hundreds of names from around | 13 | | the country and updated this group with news weekly; his | 14 | | connection to Greek life led him to his first job as dean of | 15 | | fraternity men at the University of Illinois; later in life, | 16 | | he served as his son's fraternity faculty adviser, eventually | 17 | | being awarded the Theta Chi National Fraternity Distinguished | 18 | | Service Award, the highest award given to a non-member; he | 19 | | also guided his daughter and her sisters through Greek life in | 20 | | Zeta Tau Alpha fraternity; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel served the students of his alma | 22 | | mater in a 36-year career, as director of The Career Center and | 23 | | also in roles as acting dean of students and associate and | 24 | | assistant dean of students; he was admitted to his |
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| 1 | | profession's Academy of Fellows Hall of Fame, which recognized | 2 | | his 30-year career as a national leader in the field of college | 3 | | career services and corporate college recruiting; he founded | 4 | | the consortium of Big Ten college career service | 5 | | professionals; his Big Ten colleagues named its annual award | 6 | | the David S. Bechtel Career Educator of the Year in his honor; | 7 | | he also co-founded the national Management Leadership | 8 | | Institute, which has become a frequent stepping stone for | 9 | | professional opportunities and advancement in the field; he | 10 | | was a prolific researcher on college graduate career outcomes | 11 | | and received national awards and grants accordingly; he made | 12 | | numerous professional presentations, authored articles and | 13 | | book chapters, and consulted with businesses and other | 14 | | universities; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel counseled thousands of U of I | 16 | | students and alumni and directed an innovative and | 17 | | comprehensive campus career center that was highly regarded by | 18 | | national peers and was a credit to the university; he | 19 | | initiated the concept of career development for | 20 | | undergraduates, and Illinois was the first in the nation to | 21 | | provide this resource in 1972, now an accepted practice in all | 22 | | 4000-plus colleges and universities in the U.S.; in his later | 23 | | years, he authored The History of Career Services at the | 24 | | University of Illinois; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel felt that grandparenthood was the | 2 | | epitome of a life well lived; after Katie and Brian had Alaric | 3 | | Arthur and Amara Christine and when Dan and Jennifer had | 4 | | Veronica Harper and Jack Rollins, he relished being a | 5 | | grandfather; when Dan and Melissa got married, Owen Daniel | 6 | | came into Dave's life, and his grandchild number went from | 7 | | four to five; his greatest joy was attending anything | 8 | | involving his grandchildren; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel was devoted to the McKinley | 10 | | Presbyterian Church and Foundation, serving as an elder and | 11 | | its longest tenured foundation board member; he was the church | 12 | | centennial's co-chair and then the church's historian and | 13 | | archivist; he helped oversee the building of the new Presby | 14 | | Hall, a state-of-the-art residence hall next to the church; | 15 | | and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel served on the State University | 17 | | Annuitants Association of the U of I as a board member and | 18 | | program chair; he was on the Windsor of Savoy's Resident | 19 | | Advisory Committee and wrote the history of the Windsor of | 20 | | Savoy and served as master of ceremony at its 30th anniversary | 21 | | celebration; his social calendar was filled with lunches and | 22 | | dinners with friends, family events to attend, church | 23 | | activities, and current events club; he played weekly trivia | 24 | | at Windsor for years and joined a Zoom trivia night during the |
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| 1 | | pandemic that introduced him to new lifelong friends; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel's weekly calls with his sister in | 3 | | Iowa were a priority, and he greatly anticipated family | 4 | | gatherings in Iowa City; Woody and Mindy gave him great-nieces | 5 | | and great-nephews, Samantha (Michael), Alinia (Joe), Benjamin, | 6 | | Taylor, and Matthew; Brad and Becky gave him Madison and | 7 | | Brady; being able to be with his family and bask in the glow of | 8 | | their love for each other was the time he treasured most; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, David Bechtel led with love; a firm handshake, | 10 | | eye contact, and a smile were the most important life skills he | 11 | | taught; he never met a stranger, and people were drawn to him; | 12 | | he will be remembered as a man of loyalty, fairness, and | 13 | | integrity; therefore, be it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 15 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 16 | | David Samuel Bechtel and extend our sincere condolences to his | 17 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 18 | | further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 20 | | presented to the family of David Bechtel as an expression of | 21 | | our deepest sympathy.
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