Full Text of SR0738 95th General Assembly
SR0738 95TH 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 Donald Wilson of Downers Grove, who | 4 |
| passed away on April 10, 2008; and
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| WHEREAS, The Wilson family came from Sweden to Illinois | 6 |
| when Donald's Uncle August (a wagon maker) was asked to | 7 |
| participate as a tradesman at the Swedish Pavilion in the | 8 |
| Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) in Chicago in 1893; after | 9 |
| the Exposition ended, he settled in Geneva with a group of | 10 |
| other Swedes, and he wrote Donald's father (Oscar) in Sweden | 11 |
| and encouraged him to join August in America; and
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| WHEREAS, Oscar joined his brother in Geneva in 1899 and | 13 |
| they soon started a building business, known as Wilson | 14 |
| Brothers, which was responsible for designing and building a | 15 |
| significant number of homes in Geneva and Batavia and also many | 16 |
| buildings still standing on Main Street in Geneva; two of their | 17 |
| first residential houses (the Hoyt house in Geneva and the | 18 |
| Gridley-Snow house in Batavia) were designed by Frank Lloyd | 19 |
| Wright, and they also worked on other Wright projects including | 20 |
| the Unity Temple in Oak Park and the Avery Coonley house in | 21 |
| Riverside; and
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| WHEREAS, Donald Wilson was the youngest of six children; |
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| his siblings included, Marion, Kenneth, Norman, George, and | 2 |
| Leonard; they were born to Oscar and Frida Wilson (Frida also | 3 |
| being a Swedish immigrant); Donald was born in 1919, he | 4 |
| attended Geneva public schools, and was the quarterback on the | 5 |
| Geneva High School football team; and
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| WHEREAS, Donald and his wife began dating while they were | 7 |
| both students at Geneva High School; after high school, Donald | 8 |
| worked for two years before starting at Cornell College in Mt. | 9 |
| Vernon, Iowa, but his college experience was interrupted when | 10 |
| World War II broke out in 1941; and
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| WHEREAS, He enlisted in the United States Navy and became a | 12 |
| Pilot and Section Leader in Bombing Squadron Three in the USS | 13 |
| Yorktown; he piloted an SBD Dauntless Divebomber on numerous | 14 |
| carrier-based missions over the Philippines, Formosa, French | 15 |
| Indo-China, Chichi Jim, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and he | 16 |
| participated in the first Navy carrier-based plane strikes | 17 |
| against Tokyo; for his service, he was awarded the Navy Air | 18 |
| Medal and four Navy Gold Stars; he sent an engagement ring to | 19 |
| his future wife, Lucille Stokes, by mail while he was aboard an | 20 |
| aircraft carrier, and they were married on August 30, 1943 | 21 |
| while he was on leave; and
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| WHEREAS, After the war, he graduated from Cornell College | 23 |
| and left business school in 1947 to enter the management |
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| training program at Bell Telephone, where he worked for | 2 |
| approximately 35 years; Bell Telephone's practice was to move | 3 |
| their management people among different offices, so he worked | 4 |
| in Chicago, Elgin, Rockford, Chicago (again), Joliet, and then | 5 |
| Chicago one more time during his career; in Joliet, he was | 6 |
| active in the United Way and served as President of the West | 7 |
| Side Kiwanis Club of Joliet; he also sang as a baritone in two | 8 |
| barbershop quartets that competed in state-wide competitions; | 9 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, After retiring in 1981, he participated as a | 11 |
| volunteer in several community activities, including teaching | 12 |
| English as a second language to immigrants from over 30 | 13 |
| countries in the Downers Grove area; he was also an active | 14 |
| member of the First United Methodist Church in Downers Grove; | 15 |
| and | 16 |
| WHEREAS, Donald Wilson is survived by his wife of over 64 | 17 |
| years, Lucille; his two daughters, Louise Wilson and Mary | 18 |
| Ambrose; his son, John Wilson; and his five grandchildren; | 19 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 21 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 22 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Donald Wilson; and be it | 23 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 |
| presented to the family of Donald Wilson as a symbol of our | 3 |
| sincere sympathy.
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