Full Text of SR0785 095th General Assembly
SR0785 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
Roy Osbourne Carroll, Jr. of Morgan Park; | 4 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Roy Osbourne Carroll, Jr. was born on October 9, | 6 |
| 1931; his parents were Roy O. and Artie Mae Carroll; and
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| WHEREAS, Roy Osbourne Carroll, Jr. grew up in Morgan Park, | 8 |
| where he completed his primary and secondary education in the | 9 |
| public school system; he accepted Christ at an early age, | 10 |
| attending Arnett Chapel AME Church with his family; and
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| WHEREAS, Roy Osbourne Carroll, Jr. ran track during his | 12 |
| years at Morgan Park High School; he met his future wife, | 13 |
| Theresa Bell, while in school, but she wasn't interested in him | 14 |
| because of his rough associates; after high school, he began | 15 |
| attending Wilson Jr. College and was taking a pre-med course to | 16 |
| be a doctor when he quit school and went into the U.S. Army | 17 |
| instead, serving in Korea for 12 months after attending jump | 18 |
| school in Ft. Benning, Georgia; after returning to the U.S., he | 19 |
| was assigned to a chemical unit in Ft. Ord, California, where | 20 |
| his job was to fly over ground zero in the desert in a | 21 |
| helicopter holding a Geiger counter to determine the amount of | 22 |
| radiation present; and
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| WHEREAS, After Roy Osbourne Carroll, Jr. was discharged | 2 |
| from the U.S. Army, he attended a television school under the | 3 |
| GI Bill; impressed by his new-found drive to succeed, Roy and | 4 |
| Theresa married in 1955; together, they had three children, | 5 |
| Cynthia (Asabi), Roy III (Rocki), and Kimberly; after his | 6 |
| marriage, he and his father-in-law opened a radio and | 7 |
| television repair shop, dealing in Philco products; the shop | 8 |
| then evolved into a record shop, subsequently becoming a video | 9 |
| rental store; in the late 1980s, the family shop changed again | 10 |
| as their eldest daughter became interested in black awareness; | 11 |
| inspired by this new awareness, the store began selling | 12 |
| black-authored books and African goods; and
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| WHEREAS, Upon his departure from the U.S. Army, Roy | 14 |
| Osbourne Carroll, Jr. took the exams for both the Park District | 15 |
| Police and the Fire Department while employed at the Board of | 16 |
| Education's maintenance department; after passing both exams, | 17 |
| he decided to work at the Fire Department, becoming one of the | 18 |
| first African-Americans hired for the Fire Department in April | 19 |
| of 1962; his first assignment was E16; he then worked at E66 | 20 |
| from August of 1965 until it went out of service, when he went | 21 |
| to E45 at 46th and Cottage Grove; he then went back to E16, | 22 |
| where he served as a recruiter, going to churches trying to get | 23 |
| African-Americans to join the Fire Department; at one time, he | 24 |
| served as the physical education instructor, going to different |
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| houses in the Battalion; in 1982, he was promoted to the rank | 2 |
| of Lieutenant and relocated to the Fire Prevention Bureau; | 3 |
| while serving at the Bureau, he met Francisco de La Cerna, who | 4 |
| promoted him to the position of Public Assembly Inspector, | 5 |
| where he inspected any place that held over 300 people; upon | 6 |
| making the Captain's list in 1991, he was assigned to the West | 7 |
| Side Fire Prevention Bureau, where he served as the Assistant | 8 |
| Bureau Commander until his retirement in 1996; and
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| WHEREAS, Roy Osbourne Carroll, Jr. was honored by the | 10 |
| Honorable Jesse Jackson Jr. by being placed in the | 11 |
| Congressional Record on October 31, 1997; in addition to being | 12 |
| involved in both Million Man Marches, Mr. Carroll has served as | 13 |
| the Chairman of the 111th St. Business Association; he was the | 14 |
| founder of the 'Reclaiming the Drum' Festival in Morgan Park; | 15 |
| he was a member of Morgan Park Community Roots Organization, a | 16 |
| founding member of the Old Tymers Organization of retired | 17 |
| firefighters and paramedics, a member of the Tuesday Morning | 18 |
| Breakfast Club, a founding member of Umoja Business Alliance, | 19 |
| and an organizer of the satellite distribution market for the | 20 |
| Southern Black Farmers' Network; he served as Senior | 21 |
| Vice-Commander of Captain John Daniel's VFW Post #111 and as | 22 |
| griot of Safari Marketplace's empowerment group of | 23 |
| manufacturers, designers, and distributors; and | 24 |
| WHEREAS, Roy Osbourne Carroll, Jr. considered his yard to |
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| be his pride and joy; he could often be found in the yard, | 2 |
| playing jazz music while tinkering with his koi fish pond or | 3 |
| cutting the grass, yet always ready to take a break and impart | 4 |
| some history and knowledge to all who would listen; he was the | 5 |
| surrogate brother, father, and uncle to many in the community; | 6 |
| his incredible grasp of Morgan Park facts, notables, and | 7 |
| folklore earned him the nickname of "Mayor of Morgan Park"; and
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| WHEREAS, Roy Osbourne Carroll, Jr. will be greatly missed | 9 |
| by all who knew and loved him, including his loving wife of 52 | 10 |
| years, Theresa; his children, Asabi (Larry Station, Jr.), Roy | 11 |
| III, and Kimberly (Roger Sowell); his grandchildren, Imani | 12 |
| Station, Larry Station III, Nia Station, Jon Powell, and Brandi | 13 |
| Powell; his great-grandchildren, Lashanti Powell and Olivia | 14 |
| Powell; his sister, Marilyn Haynes; his three nieces and two | 15 |
| nephews; and his many other relatives, extended family members, | 16 |
| and friends; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 18 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 19 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Roy Osbourne Carroll, | 20 |
| Jr.; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 22 |
| presented to the family of Roy Osbourne Carroll, Jr. as an | 23 |
| expression of our sympathy.
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