Full Text of SR0773 96th General Assembly
SR0773 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
Dr. Thomas W. Nielsen Sr., who passed | 4 |
| away on April 7, 2010; and
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| WHEREAS, Thomas Nielsen Sr. was born on August 15, 1922, in | 6 |
| Chicago; he was the son of Thorwald Peter and Nettie (Fladlien) | 7 |
| Nielsen; he married his loving wife, Lorraine, on January 30, | 8 |
| 1949, in Chicago; and
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| WHEREAS, Thomas Nielsen Sr. enlisted in the United States | 10 |
| Army on October 2, 1942, and served as a Platoon Sergeant in | 11 |
| Company C, 342nd Infantry of the 86th "Blackhawk" Division | 12 |
| during combat operations in France, Germany, and Austria; after | 13 |
| the German surrender, he served in the Philippines until his | 14 |
| honorable discharge on April 22, 1946; he was awarded the | 15 |
| American, European-African-Middle Eastern, and Asiatic-Pacific | 16 |
| Theater Service medals, among other service awards; and
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| WHEREAS, Upon his return to the United States after World | 18 |
| War II, Thomas Nielsen Sr. resumed his studies at the | 19 |
| University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where he earned his | 20 |
| bachelor's degree in zoology, his master's degree in | 21 |
| physiology, and his doctorate in physiology; and
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| WHEREAS, Thomas Nielsen Sr. began his scientific and | 2 |
| academic career by joining the faculty of the University of | 3 |
| Colorado Medical School in Denver; he was later appointed to | 4 |
| the faculty of the University of North Dakota Medical School as | 5 |
| a Hill Research professor, where he continued his research and | 6 |
| taught at the medical school; in the early 1970s, he was | 7 |
| recruited by Southern Illinois University and appointed as a | 8 |
| professor at the School of Dental Medicine, which brought him | 9 |
| and his family to Alton; he finished his professional career at | 10 |
| the National Institutes of Health, where he worked for more | 11 |
| than a decade until his retirement in 1989 as Chief of the | 12 |
| Cardiac Functions Branch; and
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| WHEREAS, Thomas Nielsen Sr. was a member of several | 14 |
| professional, scientific, and social associations, including | 15 |
| the American Society of Nephrology, the International Society | 16 |
| of Nephrology, the American Association for the Advancement of | 17 |
| Science, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the | 18 |
| American Society of Zoologists, the American Association of | 19 |
| University Professors, the Association of American Medical | 20 |
| Colleges, the American Physiological Society, the National | 21 |
| Veterans of Foreign Wars Association, the Sigma Xi Scientific | 22 |
| Research Society, Zeta Psi Fraternity, and SCORE; he also | 23 |
| served as an elder of the First Presbyterian Church, where he | 24 |
| also enjoyed organizing and participating in events hosted by | 25 |
| its Over Fifty-Five Club; and |
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| WHEREAS, Thomas Nielsen Sr. enjoyed oil painting, fishing, | 2 |
| music, American Indian art, biblical archaeology, and | 3 |
| collegiate and Rams football; most of all, he enjoyed traveling | 4 |
| and dancing with his wife, fishing with his son, spending time | 5 |
| with his daughters, and being thoroughly entertained by all his | 6 |
| grandchildren; and
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| WHEREAS, Thomas Nielsen Sr. is survived by his wife; his | 8 |
| children, Dr. Mary Nielsen, Dr. Joanne Graham, Thomas W. | 9 |
| Nielsen Jr., and Lisa Nielsen; his daughters' spouses, Dr. | 10 |
| James Shoemaker, Dr. Mike Graham, and Michael Moehn; his | 11 |
| grandchildren, Kate, Laura, and Joanna Shoemaker, Eric and | 12 |
| Matthew Graham, and Patrick and Anna Moehn; his brother, John | 13 |
| B. Nielsen; his niece, Kathleen Nielsen; and his nephews, Dr. | 14 |
| Mark Grauer and Dr. John Grauer; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 16 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 17 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Dr. Thomas W. Nielsen | 18 |
| Sr.; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 20 |
| presented to the family of Thomas Nielsen Sr. as an expression | 21 |
| of our sympathy.
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