Full Text of SR1057 098th General Assembly
SR1057 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Richard H. Parsons of Peoria, who passed | 4 | | away on March 26, 2014; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons was born in McAlester, Oklahoma on | 6 | | June 9, 1936 to Alfred Richard and Veronica Cecilia Parsons; he | 7 | | graduated from Taylorville High School in 1954, where he | 8 | | participated in football, basketball, baseball, track & field, | 9 | | and tennis, for which he was elected captain of the first | 10 | | Taylorville High School varsity tennis team; he earned his | 11 | | Bachelor of Science from Bradley University in 1958 and married | 12 | | Catherine Logan on August 9 of that same year; he served in the | 13 | | United States Marine Corps PLC Program; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Tennis always played an important role in Richard | 15 | | Parsons's life; after graduating from Bradley University, | 16 | | where he continued to play tennis, he continued to play and win | 17 | | the Club and Bar Association mixed and men's doubles | 18 | | tournaments, including championships at the Mount Hawley | 19 | | Country Club, the Peoria Tennis Association, the Peoria Country | 20 | | Bar Association, and the Racquet Club of Peoria; he was 3-time | 21 | | winner of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers | 22 | | Tournament and his home and office were filled with dozens of | 23 | | tennis and golf trophies; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons graduated from Washington & Lee | 2 | | College of Law in 1961, where he was business editor of the | 3 | | Washington & Lee Law Review and worked nearly a full-time | 4 | | schedule for The Lexington Gazette; he completed his | 5 | | post-graduate studies in constitutional law at Harvard Law | 6 | | School under its judges' program in the 1980s; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Upon graduating from law school, Richard Parsons | 8 | | worked for Chicago Title and Trust Company for 7 years, | 9 | | ultimately becoming the company's youngest officer and serving | 10 | | as one of its lobbyists in Springfield; in 1968, he moved to | 11 | | Peoria and entered private practice and shortly thereafter | 12 | | formed and owned the Bankers Title Company, an issuing agent | 13 | | for Pioneer National Title Insurance Corporation; during this | 14 | | time, he also served on the board of directors for the Peoria | 15 | | Heights Bank, the Illinois Crown Insurance Corporation, the | 16 | | Rock Island Title and Abstract Company, the Fairway Life | 17 | | Insurance Corporation, the Peacock Engineering Company, and | 18 | | Another Chicago Press Company; in the 1970s, he began to focus | 19 | | his private practice toward criminal defense work and often | 20 | | represented people without the funds to hire an attorney, and | 21 | | in 1995, he became the first federal public defender for the | 22 | | Central District of Illinois; he created the department from | 23 | | the ground up, retiring in August of 2011; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons was active in the Democratic | 2 | | Party; he was appointed by the Governor to the Illinois Capital | 3 | | Development Board, where he was instrumental in obtaining | 4 | | lights for Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois; he | 5 | | served as precinct committeeman and delegate to the 1972 | 6 | | Democratic National Convention, and in 1975, he was appointed | 7 | | by the Governor to the position of commissioner/trial judge for | 8 | | the Illinois Court of Claims, which he held for 20 years; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons continued to serve the law | 10 | | following retirement; in 1999, the Seventh Circuit Court of | 11 | | Appeals requested he take on the role of circuit appellate | 12 | | defender, litigating federal cases on appeal from Illinois, | 13 | | Wisconsin, and Indiana, and in that same year, he appeared | 14 | | before the U.S. Supreme Court in O'Sullivan v. Boerckel; in | 15 | | 2003, he added to his duties by serving as the acting federal | 16 | | public defender for the Southern District of Illinois, while | 17 | | continuing with the Central District of Illinois; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons was involved in numerous legal | 19 | | organizations, including the American Bar Association, the | 20 | | Illinois State Bar Association, the Peoria County Bar | 21 | | Association; he was a life-member of the National Association | 22 | | of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a 3-time chairman of the | 23 | | American Bar Association's Criminal Amicus Curiae Committee; | 24 | | he served for 7 years as director of the Illinois State Bar |
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| 1 | | Association's Criminal Justice Council, as Amicus Curiae | 2 | | Chairman for 4 years, as past-President of the Clarence Darrow | 3 | | Inn of the American Inns of Court, and as past-President of the | 4 | | Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; in 2000, he | 5 | | was awarded the association's Lawyer of the Year Award, the | 6 | | first "downstater" to win; he also served a 2-year term on the | 7 | | Board of Directors of the Peoria County Bar Association and a | 8 | | 3-year term on the Illinois Capital Litigation Trial Screening | 9 | | Committee; he was listed in Marquis Who's Who in America; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Over the years, Richard Parsons taught at numerous | 11 | | seminars for the criminal defense bar; he was on the faculty | 12 | | for attorney training programs hosted by the Seventh Circuit | 13 | | Court of Appeals, the Defender Services Division of the United | 14 | | States Courts, the Federal Defenders in several districts, the | 15 | | Wisconsin State Bar Association, the Wisconsin Association of | 16 | | Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Indiana Association of Criminal | 17 | | Defense Lawyers, and the Illinois Association of Criminal | 18 | | Defense Lawyers; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons authored a number of articles in | 20 | | several publications directed at criminal defense lawyers; | 21 | | additionally, he acted as editor of the nationally acclaimed | 22 | | newsletter "The Back Bencher" and he appeared on the cover of | 23 | | the September 1987 issue of the "National Law Journal", the 3rd | 24 | | quarter cover of the "Criminal Defense Quarterly", and the |
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| 1 | | front page of the Peoria Journal star on at least 2 occasions; | 2 | | and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons co-founded the St. Patrick's Day | 4 | | Parade in Peoria, serving as "parade chairman" for first one in | 5 | | 1981 and receiving the honor of being the grand marshal in | 6 | | 1984; he also helped organize the first Erin Feis Festival in | 7 | | Peoria and was co-founder of the local division of the Ancient | 8 | | Order of Hibernians, which was named the Richard H. Parsons | 9 | | Division in honor of his efforts to foster the growth and | 10 | | awareness of Irish heritage in Central Illinois, for which he | 11 | | served as the chapter's president; he also served as State | 12 | | director, board member, and officer of the State of Illinois's | 13 | | Ancient Order of Hibernians; he was director general of the | 14 | | Puff Club Foundation Trust and President of the Old Rumpolian | 15 | | Society; he was co-founder of the W.C. Fields Golf League and | 16 | | former board member of the Friends of Fatherless Boys and the | 17 | | Knights of Columbus, Spalding Council 427, Third Degree; he was | 18 | | also a member of the IVY Club of Peoria, the Union League Club | 19 | | of Chicago, and the Mount Hawley Country Club, where he scored | 20 | | his 2 holes-in-one, as well as winning the Managers's Cup; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons was a single-to-low digit | 22 | | handicap golfer at Mount Hawley Country Club and a champion at | 23 | | men's and mixed doubles tennis into his mid-60s; he continued | 24 | | to be a bibliophile and master crossword puzzler late in life; |
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| 1 | | and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons was preceded in death by his | 3 | | sisters, Helen Murphy and Mary Ann Caster; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Richard Parsons is survived by his wife, | 5 | | Catherine; his children, Karen Voss, Anne Muren, and A. Richard | 6 | | Parsons, II; and by his 8 grandchildren; therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | 8 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 9 | | Richard H. Parsons, 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 Richard Parsons as an expression of | 14 | | our deepest sympathy.
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