Full Text of HR0777 95th General Assembly
HR0777 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR0777 |
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LRB095 13989 GRL 39813 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are pleased to congratulate David E. Elder on | 4 |
| the occasion of his 80th birthday on October 28, 2007; and
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| WHEREAS, David Edward Elder was born to David Samuel Edgar | 6 |
| Elder and Clara
Alice Robertson Elder in East St. Louis on | 7 |
| October 28, 1927, one
of six children; and
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| WHEREAS, David Elder grew up in the hills of southern | 9 |
| Illinois near Cobden, 16 miles south of Carbondale; he received | 10 |
| his elementary education in
a one room country school in Union | 11 |
| County; and
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| WHEREAS, David Elder worked hard as a child during the | 13 |
| Great Depression on
the family farm, learning early to handle a | 14 |
| plow and mule; he worked in the
family's 12-acre asparagus | 15 |
| field, where he planted, plowed, picked, and processed food
for | 16 |
| shipping in the family's truck garden and learned how to hunt | 17 |
| for food by
the age of eleven; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder graduated from Cobden High School in | 19 |
| 1945 with a 4.0 grade point average
in a non-weighted system; | 20 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, David Elder served during the occupation of Japan | 2 |
| when he was drafted into the
Army upon turning 18; he was | 3 |
| turned down for service before the Second World War
concluded | 4 |
| because of blindness in one eye, which was due to a farm | 5 |
| accident; and
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| WHEREAS, After David Elder returned from his military | 7 |
| service, he entered Southern
Illinois University on the G.I. | 8 |
| bill, excelling academically and receiving a
B.A. in Zoology | 9 |
| with a 3.9 plus GPA and his first M.A. in Zoology with a 4.0 | 10 |
| GPA,
studying fish and wildlife management; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder was a zoology research and teaching | 12 |
| assistant at SIU
while performing graduate work from 1950 to | 13 |
| 1952; and
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| WHEREAS, David Elder married Elsie Irene Wheetley on | 15 |
| December 26, 1948; to
them were born a daughter, Claudia Lynn, | 16 |
| who died shortly after birth, followed by four wonderful | 17 |
| children, Vicki, Dave, Patti, and Steve; and
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| WHEREAS, David Elder moved his family to St. David and | 19 |
| Canton from 1952 to 1955, in order to work in land reclamation | 20 |
| as a marine
biologist for the Truax Trayer Coal Mine Company; | 21 |
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| WHEREAS, David Elder taught math, science, and first aid at | 2 |
| Canton Junior High
School from 1955 to 1959; and
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| WHEREAS, David Elder subsequently moved his family to | 4 |
| Springfield
in 1959 to work for the Illinois Education | 5 |
| Association, where he worked for 13
years in educational | 6 |
| research, professional development, legislation, and
political | 7 |
| education and action; and
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| WHEREAS, David Elder excelled academically, while | 9 |
| receiving a M.S. Ed in Public
School Administration with a 4.0 | 10 |
| GPA from Western Illinois University and
did post graduate work | 11 |
| at Bradley University in Economic Education; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder was widowed in March of 1971; he then | 13 |
| met Tana Lorraine Horine, whom he married
on July 1, 1972; | 14 |
| together, they had another wonderful
daughter, Katherine; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder moved his family to a 21 acre home in | 16 |
| rural Menard County,
where they have resided for the past 33 | 17 |
| years; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder supervised and worked in the | 19 |
| construction of a real log
house, which the family moved into | 20 |
| in 1981; and |
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| WHEREAS, David Elder has been an avid and successful | 2 |
| lifelong gardener, having
maintained the same asparagus bed for | 3 |
| 33 years; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder has been a lifelong avid hunter and | 5 |
| has enjoyed the
sports of golf and bowling; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder has enjoyed the nicknames of "Debbard | 7 |
| Debbard" and
"Mutt" and, in the southern tradition, is often | 8 |
| referred to by family members
as "David Edward"; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder worked as a legislative assistant to | 10 |
| Representative Gene
L. Hoffman; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder was employed by the Illinois State | 12 |
| Senate as an
educational finance consultant; and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder was employed as Executive Director of | 14 |
| the Illinois
School Problems Commission in 1978; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder returned to the Illinois State Senate | 16 |
| staff upon the
abolishment of the Commission System; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder participated in and wrote legislation | 18 |
| for many important
school laws, which have greatly benefited | 19 |
| the children of Illinois at large; and |
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| WHEREAS, David Elder retired from his long working life of | 2 |
| public service in
1992; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder wrote legislation in 1985 to establish | 4 |
| The Community and
Residential Services Authority; he continues | 5 |
| to serve in an active guiding
role in retirement on the | 6 |
| authority which benefits the most disadvantaged
children of | 7 |
| Illinois; and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder has been a lifelong Christian and | 9 |
| church member, having
taught Sunday School and served as church | 10 |
| moderator, deacon, choir member, greeter,
and all around church | 11 |
| volunteer; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder has been an active community | 13 |
| volunteer, contributing his
time and expertise to the Cub and | 14 |
| Boy Scout troops, Brownie and Girl Scout
troops, the Enos Grade | 15 |
| School PTA, as a founding organizer of PATT, a new
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| parent/teacher group in Petersburg, and to teaching AARP
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| courses on safe driving habits to senior citizens; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder is well known as a all around | 19 |
| wonderful person and is very much loved and
adored by his wife, | 20 |
| children, children-in-law, 8 grandchildren, 8 | 21 |
| great-grandchildren, brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, |
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| nephews, and in-laws, as well as his many
friends; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, David Elder is deserving of all honor that is due | 3 |
| to him; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 6 |
| congratulate David E. Elder on the occasion of his 80th | 7 |
| birthday and wish him many more happy and healthy years to | 8 |
| come; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 10 |
| presented to David E. Elder as a symbol of our esteem and | 11 |
| respect.
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