Full Text of SR0702 096th General Assembly
SR0702 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of Jeffrey S. Hawkinson of Peoria, who | 4 |
| passed away on February 26, 2010; and
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| WHEREAS, He was born in Galesburg on Aug. 31, 1946, the son | 6 |
| of Jack and Marcia (Nelson) Hawkinson; he married Cathi Cheney | 7 |
| Cornish in Chicago on May 7, 1987; after graduating from | 8 |
| Galesburg High School in 1964, Jeff began his long list of | 9 |
| "making a difference"; and
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| WHEREAS, As president of the Student Senate at Bradley | 11 |
| University, Jeff marched with NAACP President John Gwynn in | 12 |
| support of civil rights from Bradley to Peoria's City Hall in | 13 |
| 1967 in protest over a city ordinance regarding off-campus | 14 |
| housing for black students; the ordinance was amended; he also | 15 |
| was station and program manager for campus radio station WRBU, | 16 |
| president of Pi Kappa Delta, an honorary speech society, | 17 |
| associate judge of the campus supreme court, junior class | 18 |
| student senate, and a varsity debater; and
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| WHEREAS, He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bradley | 20 |
| University in 1968, where he also received his Master's in | 21 |
| Communications in 1971; his first job out of college was at | 22 |
| WMBD-AM; from there he went on to WXCL-AM as a newscaster; his |
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| radio career included being the only reporter to talk to Eddie | 2 |
| Blakes on the scene of the hostage and shooting incident at St. | 3 |
| Cecilia Grade School in 1973, and he would later testify at his | 4 |
| trial; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1973, Jeff taught broadcast news at Illinois | 6 |
| State University, where he founded the nationally recognized | 7 |
| student news program, TV-10; at its 30th anniversary in 2004, | 8 |
| Illinois State University honored Jeff with its TV-10 Founders | 9 |
| Award, which annually recognizes the top TV-10 senior; from | 10 |
| 1975 to 1986, "Hawk" held positions as assignment editor, news | 11 |
| director, and broadcast manager at WEEK-TV; and
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| WHEREAS, From 1978 to 2002, Jeff was the pronouncer of the | 13 |
| televised Scripps Spelling Bee; from 1986 to 2002, he was | 14 |
| national spokesperson, annual report coordinator, and anchor | 15 |
| of "Background News" at Caterpillar Inc.;
and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, Jeff and Cathi were honored with the United Way's | 17 |
| Hoot Gibson Award for volunteer efforts; it was the first time | 18 |
| the award had been given to a couple; Jeff also was presented | 19 |
| with the Salvation Army's William Booth Award for Community | 20 |
| Service in 2005; the award is the highest civilian award given | 21 |
| by the Salvation Army; and
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| WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents; and
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| WHEREAS, Jeffrey Hawkinson is survived by his wife, Cathi; | 2 |
| his sons, Matt (Kristen) Hawkinson and Brett (Kathy) Cornish; | 3 |
| his daughters, Julie (Andy) McClure and Brigit (Tim) Grunow; | 4 |
| his four adorable grandchildren, Addison and Devan McClure and | 5 |
| Bailey and Beau Grunow; and his brothers, Chris (Linda) | 6 |
| Hawkinson and Joel (Sandy) Hawkinson; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 8 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 9 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Jeffrey Hawkinson; and | 10 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 12 |
| presented to the family of Jeffrey Hawkinson as a symbol of our | 13 |
| sincere sympathy.
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