Full Text of SR0805 101st General Assembly
SR0805 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | SR0805 | | LRB101 15261 MST 64558 r |
|
| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Steven F. "Steve" Graceffa of Roscoe, who | 4 | | passed away on October 31, 2019; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa was born in Rockford to Benjamin | 6 | | and Delores (Eastman) Graceffa on May 31, 1951; he graduated | 7 | | from Boylan Catholic High School in 1969 and married Linda | 8 | | Heisler on May 23, 1970; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa began work in 1970 as a truck | 10 | | driver; driving a brand new
truck, he promptly got stuck in | 11 | | sludge, was pulled out, and tore off the front
bumper in the | 12 | | process, thus began his career at Rock River Water
Reclamation | 13 | | District; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, As the district grew, Steve Graceffa's | 15 | | responsibilities grew; he became Supervisor of the Supporting | 16 | | Services Department in 1976,
Supporting Services Manager in | 17 | | 1985, and District Director in
2005; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa was instrumental in moving the | 19 | | district from a small
collection system with regional trucks to | 20 | | a collection system estimated to be the
second largest in the | 21 | | State; this was accomplished with the assimilation of
Loves |
| | | SR0805 | - 2 - | LRB101 15261 MST 64558 r |
|
| 1 | | Park, Cherry Valley, Roscoe, the City of Rockford, and the
| 2 | | Village of Winnebago; the collection system now includes over | 3 | | 1,128
miles of pipe; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa established a five-year cleaning | 5 | | plan for the
district, which has been in place for over 35 | 6 | | years and is now used by many
communities throughout the United | 7 | | States as the standard in collection system
management; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa moved the district through the | 9 | | modernization of cleaning
equipment, including the addition of | 10 | | computers for use in collecting
data, televising, and | 11 | | inspection of the collection system; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa was always first in implementing | 13 | | new technologies in
the field of rehabilitation of the | 14 | | collection system; this included the lining of sewer
mains and | 15 | | services, manhole rehabilitation, and a number of other | 16 | | technologies
and methods, all in the pursuit of improving the | 17 | | collection system and reducing
costs to the district's users; | 18 | | and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa retired as a district director; he | 20 | | was honored by having the new administration building named | 21 | | after him in 2017; he served as the vice president of the | 22 | | J.U.L.I.E. board, and, after retirement, worked for Paper |
| | | SR0805 | - 3 - | LRB101 15261 MST 64558 r |
|
| 1 | | Recovery as a consultant; he was known for his incredible work | 2 | | ethic; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa dedicated his 46-year career to | 4 | | demonstrating an
exemplary sense of duty to improve his | 5 | | community by protecting public
health and the environment | 6 | | through innovative and cost-effective wastewater
management; | 7 | | and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa's community involvement and | 9 | | contributions included serving
as president of IAWA and as a | 10 | | 16-year JULIE Board member and participation in RAEDC
| 11 | | initiatives and Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa spent years with the Rockford | 13 | | Speedway and the Derry family; he enjoyed boating, time by the | 14 | | pool, traveling, his cherished Mustang, and his four-legged | 15 | | fury buddy Nicky; most of all, he loved his family and will be | 16 | | forever remembered as a great husband, dad, papa, son, uncle, | 17 | | cousin, and friend; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa was preceded in death by his | 19 | | mother, Delores Graceffa; his mother-in-law and father-in-law, | 20 | | Donald and Patricia Heisler; his sister-in-law, Susan (Mike) | 21 | | Welter; his brother-in-law, James Heisler; and his best friend, | 22 | | Brian Wahl; and
|
| | | SR0805 | - 4 - | LRB101 15261 MST 64558 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, Steve Graceffa is survived by his wife, Linda; his | 2 | | sons, Scott (Amy) and Brian (Jackie) Graceffa; his | 3 | | grandchildren, Kayla (Tom) Zeimet, Matt Best, Baily Graceffa, | 4 | | Hannah Graceffa, and Braden Graceffa; his father, Ben Graceffa; | 5 | | his siblings, Ben (Doris) Graceffa, Dan (Pat) Graceffa, Phillip | 6 | | (Beth) Graceffa, Robert (JoMarie) Graceffa, Jeff (Sherry) | 7 | | Graceffa, and Sue (Dan) Habben; his in-laws, Michael (Doreen) | 8 | | Heisler, Steven (Sherry) Heisler, David (Mary) Heisler, and | 9 | | Debra McGuire; his goddaughters, Jennifer Betts and Justine | 10 | | Graceffa; his aunt, Jackie Fenelon; his longtime friends, | 11 | | Theresa Wahl, Mark and Denise VanVleck, and Frank Graceffa; and | 12 | | numerous nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends; therefore, be | 13 | | it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 15 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 16 | | Steven F. "Steve" Graceffa and extend our sincere condolences | 17 | | to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be | 18 | | it further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 20 | | presented to the family of Steve Graceffa as an expression of | 21 | | our deepest sympathy.
|
|