Full Text of SR0713 96th General Assembly
SR0713 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
Robert Byers Wilcox of Chicago, who | 4 |
| passed away on March 5, 2010; and
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| WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox was born on April 5, 1922, in | 6 |
| Chicago; his parents were Edward Byers and Mary Amanda (Gore) | 7 |
| Wilcox; in 1941, he met Laura Janet Winstonthe, who he married | 8 |
| in 1944 in Evanston; she preceded him in death in 1995; in July | 9 |
| of 2006, he married a long-time and cherished family friend, | 10 |
| Susanne Bush; and
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| WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox was raised in Winnetka, where he | 12 |
| attended North Shore Country Day School; he then attended | 13 |
| Harvard College, where he graduated AB cum laude with the class | 14 |
| of 1944; and
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| WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox served his country with pride and | 16 |
| distinction as a member of the United States Navy during World | 17 |
| War II; during the war, he served on the USS Petrof Bay in the | 18 |
| Pacific Ocean and narrowly survived an injury sustained in the | 19 |
| midst of a typhoon; he was awarded the Purple Heart for his | 20 |
| service; and | 21 |
| WHEREAS, After his discharge from the military, Robert |
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| Wilcox attended the University of Michigan Law School, earning | 2 |
| his Juris Doctor degree in 1949; and
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| WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox had a long and distinguished career | 4 |
| in law; he began his career by joining the Chicago law firm of | 5 |
| Isham, Lincoln and Beale, where he was a partner from 1956 to | 6 |
| 1971; during that time, he served as an advocate in | 7 |
| groundbreaking and successful newspaper/libel cases and he | 8 |
| played a key role in the research and preparation of the Report | 9 |
| of the Chicago Riot Study Committee to the Honorable Richard J. | 10 |
| Daley, investigating the causes of the riots in April of 1968 | 11 |
| following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1971, Robert Wilcox was hired by the Marlennan | 13 |
| Corporation, the holding company of Marsh & McLennan Companies, | 14 |
| Inc., where he served as General Counsel; he served as General | 15 |
| Counsel until 1974, when he accepted the position of Director | 16 |
| of Insurance for the State of Illinois under Governor Dan | 17 |
| Walker; and
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| WHEREAS, Following his retirement, Robert Wilcox helped | 19 |
| found 2 groups that continue to pursue issues of great | 20 |
| importance to him; in 1993, he became the Founding Chairman of | 21 |
| the Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest; he also | 22 |
| helped found Protestants for the Common Good, a group that | 23 |
| educates and mobilizes people of faith to participate in |
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| political democracy for the sake of social justice and the | 2 |
| beloved community; and
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| WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox believed fervently in the power of | 4 |
| community to ameliorate poverty and suffering and that the | 5 |
| religious right should not have a monopoly on the | 6 |
| representation of people of faith in the political sphere; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox is survived by his wife, Susanne | 8 |
| Bush Wilcox; his children, Robert B. Wilcox, Jr. (Barbara | 9 |
| Hermansen), Steven W. Wilcox (Kathleen), Katherine Wilcox | 10 |
| Lambert (Ian), David W. Wilcox (Melynda), and Brian W. Wilcox | 11 |
| (Amy); his grandchildren, Elisabeth Lambert Thompson (John | 12 |
| Neil), William W. Lambert, Benjamin B. H. Wilcox, James R. | 13 |
| Wilcox, Katharine H. Wilcox, Samuel J. Wilcox, Amanda F. | 14 |
| Wilcox, and Laura F. Wilcox; his sisters, Lee Kneerim and Ann | 15 |
| Jones; and his many nieces and nephews; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 17 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 18 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Robert Byers Wilcox; and | 19 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 21 |
| presented to the family of Robert Wilcox as an expression of | 22 |
| our sympathy.
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