Full Text of SR0983 102nd General Assembly
SR0983 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 Reverend Dirk Ficca of Oak Park, who | 4 | | passed away on December 21, 2021 at the age of 66; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Dirk Ficca was born to John and Patricia | 6 | | (Hurst) Ficca in Iowa City, Iowa on January 8, 1955; he was | 7 | | raised in Bloomington, Illinois; he earned his undergraduate | 8 | | degree from the University of Iowa and his Master of Divinity | 9 | | from McCormick Theological Seminary; he married Lynda Hoffman | 10 | | in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1984, and they later moved to Oak | 11 | | Park and started their family; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Dirk Ficca was a pioneer in the global | 13 | | interfaith movement; throughout his career, he served as a | 14 | | minister, professor, and interfaith organizer; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Dirk Ficca formerly served as pastor of the | 16 | | First Presbyterian Church of Benton Harbor in Michigan; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Dirk Ficca previously held a number of | 18 | | prominent academic roles, teaching at DePaul University, | 19 | | Garrett Evangelical-Theological Seminary, and the Lutheran | 20 | | School of Theology; he additionally served as an advisor to | 21 | | Dr. Antje Jackelen, the current archbishop of the Church of |
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| 1 | | Sweden and a former colleague of the Lutheran School of | 2 | | Theology; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Dirk Ficca served as the executive director | 4 | | of the Council for the Parliament of the World's Religions for | 5 | | 20 years; during his tenure, he led the creation of three | 6 | | international parliament events in Capetown, South Africa, | 7 | | Barcelona, Spain, and Melbourne, Australia; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, At the time of his passing, Rev. Dirk Ficca was | 9 | | serving as the executive director of the Twin Cities Social | 10 | | Cohesion Initiative and senior advisor to the Church of Sweden | 11 | | and the World of Neighbors Initiative; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Dirk Ficca wrote a September 11th memorial | 13 | | message in 2010, which was printed in the Chicago Tribune, | 14 | | where he offered solace to the individuals and families who | 15 | | were still in mourning; he also affirmed the peaceful tenets | 16 | | of Islam and defended the constitutional right of American | 17 | | Muslims to openly practice their faith; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Dirk Ficca was an avid cinephile and golfer; | 19 | | and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Dirk Ficca was preceded in death by his | 21 | | mother, Patricia Ficca; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Rev. Dirk Ficca is survived by his wife of 37 | 2 | | years, Lynda (Hoffman) Ficca; his sons, Dillon Ficca and | 3 | | Connor Ficca; his father, John Ficca; his sisters, Darby | 4 | | Venerable and Dawn Coursey; his brother, Douglas Ficca; and | 5 | | his several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews; | 6 | | therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 8 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 9 | | Reverend Dirk Ficca 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 Rev. Dirk Ficca as an expression of | 14 | | our deepest sympathy.
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