Full Text of HR1182 097th General Assembly
HR1182 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate Francis "Frank" | 4 | | John Kania on the occasion of his 100th birthday on August 2, | 5 | | 2012; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Frank Kania was born on August 2, 1912; he is the | 7 | | first child of Catherine (Swiderski) and Joseph Kania; he has 4 | 8 | | siblings, Johnny, Sophie, Eddie, and Eleanor; he married Anne | 9 | | Smreczak on October 30, 1949, at St. Wenceslaus Church in | 10 | | Chicago; their child, Joette, was born in January of 1952; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Frank Kania spent most of his life in Chicago; he | 12 | | attended 3rd grade at St. Hyacinth Catholic School on West | 13 | | Wolfram Street and served as an altar boy at the associated | 14 | | church; he also attended the first general meeting of the | 15 | | Eucharistic Congress at Soldier Field on June 21, 1926; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, During the 1920s, Frank Kania worked with his | 17 | | uncle, John Swiderski, as a part-time employee at his grocery | 18 | | store/butcher shop; after he graduated from the 8th grade in | 19 | | 1927, he went to work for his uncle full-time in order to help | 20 | | support his family; in 1937, he bought the grocery business | 21 | | from his uncle and renamed it "Kania's Food Shop"; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Frank Kania was inducted into the United States | 2 | | Army on April 29, 1942; he began his service to his country in | 3 | | Rockford, where he served in active duty for one day; he later | 4 | | went to training at the Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis before | 5 | | he was placed with the 5th Army/Air Corps, 46th Service Group | 6 | | at Angel Island, California; soon after his placement, his unit | 7 | | traveled to Australia; drawing on his experience as a butcher, | 8 | | he was soon inducted into the unit's food-preparation unit; | 9 | | after a year in Australia, his unit was moved to the Dobdura | 10 | | base at Port Moresby, New Guinea; while there, he was assigned | 11 | | to work on a crane unloading supplies; he also served as a | 12 | | photographer for various entertainment events on the base, | 13 | | during which he took many photographs of Bob Hope, Gary Cooper, | 14 | | Phyllis Brooks, Una Merkle, Jerry Colonna, dancer Patty Thomas, | 15 | | Frances Langford, and guitarist Tony Romano; he also created an | 16 | | extensive photo documentary of New Guinea native life during | 17 | | his time there; in 1944, his unit was moved to Manila, the | 18 | | Philippines, in anticipation of the massive Allied invasion of | 19 | | Japan; fortunately, the war had ended before any such invasion | 20 | | was to take place; he was honorably discharged from service on | 21 | | October 19, 1945 at Fort Sheridan where he was originally | 22 | | inducted; and
| 23 | | WHEREAS, After the war, Frank Kania returned to the grocery | 24 | | business that his uncle had maintained for him during his Army | 25 | | service; after marrying Anne, they moved into her family's |
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| 1 | | apartment building on Ridgeway Avenue; in 1951, he sold his | 2 | | grocery business and went to work as a butcher for National | 3 | | Tea; he subsequently became a manager of the meat department | 4 | | and later the fish department, where he remained until his | 5 | | retirement in 1979; he remained in his home on Linden Avenue | 6 | | until 2005, when he moved in with his daughter; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Frank Kania has served as a model of hard work, | 8 | | integrity, and dedication for his family, friends, and | 9 | | colleagues throughout his life; therefore, be it
| 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 11 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 12 | | we congratulate Francis "Frank" John Kania on the occasion of | 13 | | his 100th birthday and wish him many happy and healthy years to | 14 | | come; and be it further
| 15 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 16 | | presented to Frank Kania as a symbol of our esteem and respect.
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