Full Text of SR1095 102nd General Assembly
SR1095 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 Wadell Brooks Sr., who passed away on | 4 | | July 4, 2022; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks was born to Willie and Canary | 6 | | Brooks in Lexington, Mississippi on January 20, 1933; he was | 7 | | the first Black student to graduate from East St. Louis Senior | 8 | | High School and a centennial graduate of Illinois State Normal | 9 | | University; he earned his Bachelor of Science in Business | 10 | | Education, with a minor in Physical Education; he received two | 11 | | honorary doctoral degrees from Faith Grant College in | 12 | | Birmingham, Alabama; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks accepted his first position in | 14 | | federal civil service as an educational therapist under | 15 | | Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service in charge of | 16 | | Commercial Studies at the VA Medical Center, where he remained | 17 | | for 11 years; he then held several positions at the Great Lakes | 18 | | Naval Training Center, serving as educational specialist for | 19 | | two years, director of Housing Assignments/Referral Service | 20 | | for nine years, and deputy of the Equal Employment Opportunity | 21 | | Office for 11 years; he retired after completing 35 years of | 22 | | federal civil service on November 30, 1990, which included two | 23 | | years serving in the U.S. Army and 16 months in Korea, from |
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| 1 | | which he received the Korean Service Medal; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks started a business alongside his | 3 | | wife in the human services field, creating a day care, infant | 4 | | care, and group home for girls by securing financing | 5 | | assistance from the Small Business Administration; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks was deeply involved in community | 7 | | activities; he initiated and hosted NAACP Focus, a weekly | 8 | | radio talk show on WKRS-AM 1220 that aired every Sunday | 9 | | morning; he also hosted the weekly local Comcast Community | 10 | | Access talk show Community Forum on Channel 17, and he | 11 | | received the Best of Lake County First Production by a | 12 | | Producer Award for his show in 1994; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks belonged to several organizations, | 14 | | including District 64's Board of Education, the non-profit | 15 | | Dads Are Doing Something, Inc., and the North Chicago District | 16 | | 187 Schools' Dads for Education; he was a past president of the | 17 | | North Chicago Rotary Club, the North Chicago Branch of the | 18 | | NAACP, and the North Chicago Chamber of Commerce; he served as | 19 | | chairman and on the board of directors of the Lake County Race | 20 | | Unity Task Force; he was a past master of Rufus Mitchell | 21 | | Masonic Lodge #107, and he was named 1998 Prince Hall Mason of | 22 | | the Year for the State of Illinois and earned the honorary 33rd | 23 | | degree of masonry in 1988; he was also a past patron of Emblem |
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| 1 | | Chapter #140 of the Order of the Eastern Star; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks committed to his faith at the | 3 | | Southern Mission Baptist Church in East St. Louis at the age of | 4 | | 13; he later served as deacon of the Shiloh Baptist Church and | 5 | | as trustee of the Mt. Sinai Institutional Baptist Church; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks received a number of accolades, | 7 | | including being named the 1984 Lake County Urban League | 8 | | Business Person of the Year and the Most Influential African | 9 | | American of Lake County; he received the 1996 Charles E. | 10 | | DeRivera Memorial Award, the 1999 Life Models Award from the | 11 | | Omni Society, and the 2002 David Kellum Award from the | 12 | | National Spiritual Assembly of Baha'is of the United States of | 13 | | America; therefore, be it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 15 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 16 | | Wadell Brooks Sr. and extend our sincere condolences to his | 17 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 18 | | further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 20 | | presented to the family of Wadell Brooks as an expression of | 21 | | our deepest sympathy.
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