Full Text of HR0888 100th General Assembly
HR0888 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of
former | 4 | | Illinois State Representative Thomas B. "Tom" Berns, who passed | 5 | | away on February 19, 2018 at the age of 72; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns was born to Henry E. and Phyllis R. | 7 | | (Berglin) Berns on April 8, 1945 and raised
in the Illinois | 8 | | communities of Atlanta and Plano; he married his high school | 9 | | sweetheart Jeannie Galvin on August 28, 1965 in Plano and the | 10 | | two enjoyed 52 years of marriage; together they raised two | 11 | | lovely children, Rebecca and
Michael; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns graduated from the University of | 13 | | Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in
1968 with a bachelor's degree | 14 | | in civil and environmental engineering and began working as an | 15 | | engineer at Danner and Associates, Inc.; in 1975, he and his | 16 | | colleague and friend, Ed Clancy, formed their own business, | 17 | | Berns,
Clancy and Associates; in 1979, the firm incorporated | 18 | | and moved to its current location on Main Street in
Urbana; | 19 | | today, Berns, Clancy and Associates Inc. is regarded as one of | 20 | | the premier engineering firms
in East Central Illinois; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns taught surveying for the University of | 22 | | Illinois as an adjunct
instructor and around the State for the |
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| 1 | | Engineering Extension Service; he also taught many continuing
| 2 | | education classes for the Illinois Professional Land | 3 | | Surveyor's Association, where he served as president in 1976; | 4 | | and | 5 | | WHEREAS, In 2000, Rep. Berns was appointed to the Illinois | 6 | | House of Representatives to fulfill the
unexpired term of | 7 | | former State Rep. Tim Johnson; after completing Rep. Johnson's | 8 | | term, Rep. Berns was
re-elected and served one full term; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, During his time in the Illinois House of | 10 | | Representatives, Rep. Berns sponsored or cosponsored
64 House | 11 | | Bills, 20 Senate Bills, and 27 Resolutions; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Throughout his career, Rep. Berns received many | 13 | | awards, including the Young Engineer of the Year
award in 1975 | 14 | | from the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, the | 15 | | Distinguished Service Award from
the Illinois Professional | 16 | | Land Surveyors Association in 1990, the Chi Epsilon Civil | 17 | | Engineering Honor
Society and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor | 18 | | Society Awards from the University of Illinois, the Urbana
| 19 | | Rotary Vocational Achievement Award in 2007, and the | 20 | | Outstanding Civil Engineer Award from the
American Society of | 21 | | Civil Engineers in 2009; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns was also a dedicated volunteer and |
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| 1 | | community servant; he was a longtime
member of the Urbana | 2 | | Rotary Club and served as the club's president in 1987-1988; he | 3 | | served as
president of the Urbana Country Club; he was a team | 4 | | manager and president of the Prairie Little League
for four | 5 | | years; he served on the boards of the Champaign County Chamber | 6 | | of Commerce and the Illinois
Chamber of Commerce; he was on the | 7 | | board of the Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation from | 8 | | 2005-2011, a member of the Champaign County Bell Tower | 9 | | Committee, and served on the boards of the
Champaign County | 10 | | Forest Preserve District Foundation and the Urbana Park | 11 | | District Foundation; he was
a member of the board of trustees | 12 | | of the Champaign Urbana Mass Transit district for 11 years and
| 13 | | served as its chairman for one term; he was on the board of | 14 | | Clark Lindsey Village in Urbana for 38 years, 35
of those years | 15 | | as chairman; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns was a member of St. Patrick's Roman | 17 | | Catholic Congregation in Urbana for over 50
years; he was a | 18 | | lifelong Illini sports fan and enjoyed playing golf and tennis, | 19 | | fly fishing, and
spending time with his family and | 20 | | grandchildren; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Rep. Berns is survived by his wife, Jeannie; his | 22 | | daughter, Rebecca Berns; his son, Michael (Kelly) Berns; his | 23 | | grandchildren, Brenna,
Braden, Breccan, and Briley; and his | 24 | | sister, Mary Ellen Smith; therefore, be it
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 2 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 3 | | mourn the passing of former Illinois State Representative | 4 | | Thomas B. "Tom" Berns, and extend our sincere condolences to | 5 | | his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 6 | | further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 8 | | presented to the family of Rep. Berns as an expression of our | 9 | | deepest sympathy.
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