Full Text of SR0659 102nd General Assembly
SR0659 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 C. Dirk McGinnis, who passed away on | 4 | | November 23, 2021; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis was born in Winnetka to Clifford | 6 | | "Doc" and Francsis (Jackson) McGinnis on May 4, 1936; he | 7 | | graduated from Peoria High School in 1954 and attended Kansas | 8 | | State University; he graduated from Bradley University with a | 9 | | degree in accounting, where he was a member of the Sigma Nu | 10 | | fraternity and cultivated a love of singing; he married Martha | 11 | | E. Pfeffinger at First Federated Church in Peoria on October | 12 | | 24, 1958; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis worked as an accountant and then as | 14 | | a Peoria realtor with Commercial National Realty; he joined | 15 | | the Downtown Rotary Club and eventually started Dirk McGinnis | 16 | | Realty, where he developed a subdivision in Mossville and | 17 | | Brimfield; he then bought a Century 21 franchise; in the 70s, | 18 | | he turned to acting and singing in Chicago and was soon | 19 | | appearing in commercials for many businesses, including | 20 | | McDonald's, Lipton Tea, and Amway; he was featured in | 21 | | industrial films and had a long run as Andrew McClaren in the | 22 | | Lincolnshire production of Brigadoon; he returned to Peoria | 23 | | and started teaching; he taught computers at Woodruff High |
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| 1 | | School and also taught accounting, bookkeeping, and real | 2 | | estate at Illinois Central College in the evenings; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis ran for a Peoria County Board seat | 4 | | to represent his neighborhood, Columbia Terrace North, which | 5 | | began a long career in local politics; he was also elected the | 6 | | Peoria County Recorder of Deeds for 12 years and attended | 7 | | state conferences, where he was known as the Singing Recorder; | 8 | | and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis was a long-time member of the | 10 | | Illinois Valley Yacht and Canoe Club; in college, he had been | 11 | | taught to sail and soon got a small sailboat of his own; he | 12 | | sailed various boats on Upper Peoria Lake for decades and | 13 | | taught sailing to adults through the Peoria Park District; | 14 | | being on the water was his greatest joy, and he got his | 15 | | captain's license and skippered charter sailing cruises to the | 16 | | U.S. and British Virgin Islands; he also crewed on a sailboat | 17 | | in The Mac, the dangerous Chicago to Mackinac Race; he helped | 18 | | friends do long sails from the Caribbean to Florida and up the | 19 | | New England coast; he was a great swimmer from an early time | 20 | | and encouraged his children to swim as well; he was well known | 21 | | through the swimming community for his personal and | 22 | | enthusiastic swim meet announcing; and | 23 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis and his wife retired for a time on |
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| 1 | | their boat with the intent to circumnavigate the eastern half | 2 | | of the U.S.; they left on the Illinois River and went down the | 3 | | Mississippi River to the Gulf and around to Florida; they | 4 | | stayed several years in the Bahamas, living aboard their | 5 | | sailboat; they eventually retired in North Fort Myers, | 6 | | Florida; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis was known to sing at many different | 8 | | churches in town; he directed choirs at First Presbyterian | 9 | | Church, First United Congregational Church, and Northminster | 10 | | Presbyterian Church and even named his first boat the | 11 | | Hallelujah; he was often a guest soloist, and he sang at too | 12 | | many weddings to count; he was a life-long member of First | 13 | | Federated Church from his boyhood to participating in the | 14 | | choir into his 70s; he was recruited by his voice teacher to | 15 | | help fill out the canon at Temple Anshai Emeth, singing in | 16 | | Hebrew; he performed there for years on Friday nights, at | 17 | | weddings at many churches on Saturdays, and in church choir on | 18 | | Sundays; he said he was a "Community Christian" when asked | 19 | | about his faith; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis performed with numerous | 21 | | organizations, most notably the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, the | 22 | | Peoria Civic Opera Company, the Peoria Municipal Band, the | 23 | | Orpheus Club, and the Morton Civic Chorus; he also served on | 24 | | the board of directors for the Central Illinois Memorial |
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| 1 | | Kidney Fund; he was able to be a major fundraiser with his | 2 | | musical revues from 1990 to 1999 and raised over $100,000 for | 3 | | the local Alzheimer's Association; for many holidays, he led | 4 | | the Peoria Courthouse Plaza singalong; he led his McGinnis | 5 | | Family Singers at the Yule Like Peoria celebration for years | 6 | | as they performed at different downtown venues; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis co-organized a folk group composed | 8 | | of local high school students called The Young Folk, and they | 9 | | primarily performed every year at the Heart of Illinois Fair | 10 | | in the afternoons but were asked to perform at other locales, | 11 | | including an event in Peoria where President-elect Richard | 12 | | Nixon appeared; he received a personal thank you note from | 13 | | Nixon after the rally; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis had a long running Irish revue with | 15 | | good friends, Denise Adams, Helen Wade, Tom Joyce, and others | 16 | | over the years; they performed sold out evenings at Pekin's | 17 | | Chateau restaurant; with his love of Irish music, beer, and | 18 | | culture, he briefly owned the Limerick Pub on the Illinois | 19 | | River; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis performed at the Corn Stock | 21 | | Theatre, the second generation of four McGinnises to perform | 22 | | there; he was seen on stage in Brigadoon, 1776, South Pacific, | 23 | | Fanny, Finian's Rainbow, Kismet, and The Man Who Came To |
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| 1 | | Dinner; he music directed Flower Drum Song, Guys and Dolls, | 2 | | Little Shop of Horrors, and Chicago; he served on the board of | 3 | | directors for the Corn Stock Theatre and was seen in a Corn | 4 | | Stock ad campaign; he strongly believed in the importance of | 5 | | community theater and had season tickets there and at the | 6 | | Peoria Symphony Orchestra and the Heartland Festival | 7 | | Orchestra; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis was asked to sing the National | 9 | | Anthem for many years at the Illinois State Fair, the Peoria | 10 | | Motorcycle Club races, Bradley basketball games, Rivermen | 11 | | Hockey games, Peoria Chiefs games, and many other events; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis and his wife moved to Lutheran | 13 | | Hillside Village after a serious illness; he enjoyed his years | 14 | | there participating in the many activities, which still | 15 | | included entertaining; he strolled the hallways on Christmas | 16 | | Eve singing carols to the shut-in residents; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis was preceded in death by his wife | 18 | | of 60 years, Martha; his parents; his brother, Alex; and his | 19 | | son, Arran McGinnis; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Dirk McGinnis is survived by his daughters, Roz | 21 | | (Ron) Helms, Polly (Mike) McNally, and Meghan (Arnel) Tejero; | 22 | | his grandchildren, Keegan McNally, Colleen McNally, Lilianna |
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| 1 | | Tejero, Shannon Helms, Benjamin Helms, Samantha Helms, Bevin | 2 | | Helms, and Meredith Rager; his brother, Michael McGinnis; his | 3 | | sister-in-law, Mary Lou McGinnis; and numerous nieces and | 4 | | nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews; therefore, be it
| 5 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 6 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 7 | | C. Dirk McGinnis and extend our sincere condolences to his | 8 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 9 | | further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 | | presented to the family of Dirk McGinnis as an expression of | 12 | | our deepest sympathy.
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