Full Text of HR1072 093rd General Assembly
HR1072 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the | 3 |
| State of Illinois learned with deep regret of the untimely | 4 |
| death of Launa T. Thompson on Sunday, June 20, 2004; and
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| WHEREAS, Mrs. Thompson was a native of Detroit; she earned | 6 |
| a bachelor's degree in sociology and vocational rehabilitation | 7 |
| from Wilberforce University in Ohio and a master's degree in | 8 |
| guidance and counseling from the University of Cincinnati; | 9 |
| after several years as a social worker, she began her career in | 10 |
| sales for Dun & Bradstreet in Glen Ellyn; in 1980, she moved to | 11 |
| WVON/WGCI Radio, where she quickly established herself as a | 12 |
| broadcast professional by maintaining budgets, showing a | 13 |
| strong billing performance, and creatively generating retail | 14 |
| and agency accounts; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1985, she left the station and worked briefly | 16 |
| as a newspaper marketing manager for Gannett Corporation before | 17 |
| becoming a local sales manager for WBBM-FM; a year later, she | 18 |
| and her husband, Abe, a broadcaster, moved to work as a team | 19 |
| for WRIF in Southfield, Michigan; when that station was sold, | 20 |
| she returned to WBBM-FM as national sales manager; she also | 21 |
| worked as local sales manager for WFYR and senior account | 22 |
| manager with Black Entertainment Television; she returned to | 23 |
| WGCI in 1994 as national account manager and became general | 24 |
| sales manager in 1996; and
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| WHEREAS, In eight years, Mrs. Thompson and her staff | 26 |
| generated more than $200 million in sales revenue; her unique | 27 |
| ability to lead an aggressive professional sales staff earned | 28 |
| WGCI-AM/FM the distinction of being the number one billing | 29 |
| radio station in Chicago for advertising sales revenue in 1999 | 30 |
| and the number one billing urban station in the nation; last | 31 |
| November, she was named manager of three Clear Channel Chicago | 32 |
| stations, WGCI-AM (now WGRB), WGCI-FM, and WVAZ-FM; and
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| WHEREAS, The Chicago Sun-Times named her one of the ten | 2 |
| most powerful women in Chicago media; the trade publication | 3 |
| Radio Ink named her one of the most influential African | 4 |
| Americans in radio; she received the Kizzy Image and | 5 |
| Achievement Award from the Black Women's Hall of Fame | 6 |
| Foundation and honors from Radio & Records and the Broadcast | 7 |
| Advertising Club of Chicago; and
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| WHEREAS, She led numerous community outreach efforts, | 9 |
| providing hundreds of hours of volunteer work; she served on a | 10 |
| number of boards, including the Wilberforce Alumni | 11 |
| Association, the League of Black Women, Black Ensemble Theatre, | 12 |
| American Women in Radio and Television, Friends of LaRabida | 13 |
| Hospital, Midwest Women's Center and ETA; she was an active | 14 |
| member of Apostolic Church of God; and
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| WHEREAS, Mrs. Thompson is remembered as an easygoing boss | 16 |
| who inspired loyalty; she was an accomplished public speaker | 17 |
| and she served as a mentor for individuals aspiring to enter | 18 |
| the broadcast sales profession; and
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| WHEREAS, Her passing has been deeply felt by many, | 20 |
| especially her husband, the noted author and broadcaster, Abe | 21 |
| Thompson; her mother, Daisy Gaines; and her son, Phoenix | 22 |
| Gaines; therefore, be it | 23 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 24 |
| NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 25 |
| mourn the passing of Launa T. Thompson, and we extend our | 26 |
| deepest sympathy to her family, friends, colleagues, and all | 27 |
| who knew and loved her; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 29 |
| presented to the family of Launa T. Thompson as an expression | 30 |
| of our sincerest condolences.
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