Full Text of SR0961 96th General Assembly
SR0961 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of
Bruce H. Conley of Elburn, who passed | 4 | | away on September 11, 2010; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Conley was born on April 13, 1950, in | 6 | | Elburn; he was the youngest child of Charles and Winifred | 7 | | McMurray Conley; he spent his early years playing in his | 8 | | neighborhood, "hunting tigers", playing cowboys and Indians, | 9 | | and spending many hours swinging in his grandparents' backyard, | 10 | | where sometimes he could be heard singing "O, My Papa"; his | 11 | | outdoors activities were often limited due to hay fever and | 12 | | allergies, leading him to learn to express himself through | 13 | | music and writing; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Conley attended Elburn Grade School and | 15 | | Kaneland High School, where he excelled in music and graduated | 16 | | with the Class of 1968; he began playing cornet in the fifth | 17 | | grade and took private lessons at Dee Palmer's in DeKalb; he | 18 | | played a Bach trumpet in high school and college, at many | 19 | | family "jam sessions" and, until recently, in tribute to many | 20 | | veterans as they were laid to rest; as a teenager, his music | 21 | | took him another direction and he helped create The Uther Days, | 22 | | a rock band later also known as Denver Green; Bruce played lead | 23 | | guitar, with Dave Johnson, Steve Gliddon, and Bob Hamblen |
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| 1 | | making up the rest of the band; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, After graduation, Bruce Conley attended North | 3 | | Central College in Naperville, where he majored in music; | 4 | | during his senior year in high school, he began training as an | 5 | | aid at Delnor Hospital in St. Charles; while at Delnor | 6 | | Hospital, he met Kristine McConnaughay, a junior at St. Charles | 7 | | High School, and the pair soon fell in love; after his freshman | 8 | | year at North Central, he transferred to Southern Illinois | 9 | | University in Carbondale, where he began his studies in | 10 | | mortuary science; he subsequently studied psychology at | 11 | | Wisconsin State University and mass communication at Northern | 12 | | Illinois University before entering the Army Reserve in 1971; | 13 | | after returning home, he became an on-air announcer at WKKD-FM | 14 | | in Aurora; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, On October 7, 1972, Bruce and Kris Conley were | 16 | | united in marriage at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. | 17 | | Charles; the couple settled into their home on South Main | 18 | | Street in Elburn; that same year, he decided to return to his | 19 | | mortuary science studies and began attending Worsham College in | 20 | | Chicago, where he graduated in 1973, and joined his parents in | 21 | | the family business; on October 11, 1976, Bruce and Kris were | 22 | | blessed with the birth of their son, Benjamin Hale; on February | 23 | | 1, 1982, Bruce and Kris were once again blessed with the birth | 24 | | of their daughter, Sarah Louise; in 1983, Bruce and his family |
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| 1 | | moved to their new home on Main Street; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Throughout his life, Bruce Conley was passionate | 3 | | about helping grieving children; in 1975, he penned | 4 | | "Butterflies, Grandpa & Me", a story and coloring book | 5 | | illustrated by his sister, Karen, and written to help explain | 6 | | death, grief, and the funeral to children; thousands of copies | 7 | | of the book were published and used throughout the years by | 8 | | funeral homes, churches, and hospice programs, along with his | 9 | | later books, "Handling the Holidays" and "Plain Paper Poems", | 10 | | which contained poems written by Bruce and Karen; he also wrote | 11 | | a number of bereavement pamphlets, several of which were | 12 | | translated and used in bereavement groups in South Africa; his | 13 | | publications are still used across the country by those who are | 14 | | dedicated to helping grieving families; his writing and | 15 | | speaking on grief also attracted him to a number of self-help | 16 | | programs that began in the early 1980s across the Fox Valley; | 17 | | and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Conley was instrumental in the founding of | 19 | | Compassionate Friends, Survivors of Suicide, the Widowed | 20 | | Persons Service, Fox Valley Hospice, and the DeKalb Hospice, | 21 | | among many other programs; in 1983, he founded Elburn's first | 22 | | counseling center with Dr. Del Hagin of Aurora College, which | 23 | | would grow beyond bereavement to become Conley Outreach | 24 | | Community Services, which was incorporated as a not-for-profit |
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| 1 | | organization in 1995; in the fall of 1985, Bruce took on the | 2 | | challenge of saving the old Elburn Elementary School as a | 3 | | community center; with the help of many others in his | 4 | | community, he succeeded and founded the Elburn and Countryside | 5 | | Community Center as a not-for-profit organization; Bruce was | 6 | | involved in State and national associations concerned with | 7 | | bereavement care throughout much of the 1990s; in 1995, he led | 8 | | the first conclave between the National Hospice Organization | 9 | | and the National Funeral Directors Association; in 1998, he | 10 | | chaired the Association for Death Education and Counseling | 11 | | national conference held in Chicago; in 2000, his focus | 12 | | returned home to take over the West Towns Network, a tax | 13 | | supported program of 708 Inc., which became a service of Conley | 14 | | Outreach; in 2001, Bruce joined with Dr. Michael Mangis and Dr. | 15 | | Donald Preussler of Wheaton College to create the Center for | 16 | | Rural Psychology, which took over the counseling arm of Conley | 17 | | Outreach to become Heartland Counseling; Bruce's ultimate | 18 | | vision for combined bereavement and community care found | 19 | | dimension in his dream of a barn raising on the grounds of the | 20 | | Ravlin homestead in Kaneville which he acquired in 1997; though | 21 | | the barn never came to be, many of the programs and services he | 22 | | envisioned did evolve at the farm through the tireless efforts | 23 | | of volunteers who created a prayer garden and made use of | 24 | | existing buildings to host various programs and gatherings; in | 25 | | 2005, Bruce and Kris moved from Elburn to make their home at | 26 | | the Conley Outreach Farm in Kaneville; he was also a member of |
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| 1 | | the Illinois Funeral Directors Association, the National | 2 | | Funeral Directors Association, ADEC, Blackberry Lodge #630 AF & | 3 | | AM in Elburn, and the Community Congregational Church in Elburn | 4 | | and helped various schools to create crisis teams and programs | 5 | | to meet the needs of students; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Conley wrote countless songs and stories | 7 | | that left special memories in the hearts of his children, | 8 | | niece, nephews, and friends; his repertoire included songs of | 9 | | faith, songs for travel and adventure, and even a song for | 10 | | "going to get a Christmas tree"; his most recent song, "My | 11 | | Offering, The Vision", was penned in the last days of his life; | 12 | | Bruce loved children and spent many years developing programs | 13 | | to help and to teach the children of his community and the | 14 | | world at large; he also wrote songs for his nieces and nephews, | 15 | | great-nieces and great-nephews, and his grandchildren, | 16 | | including a Christmas story, "Bethlehem Kids", which included | 17 | | not only his grandchildren but several other children who held | 18 | | a special place in his heart; throughout his battle with | 19 | | cancer, he wrote inspiring journal entries on Caring Bridge | 20 | | that were read by thousands of people across the country who | 21 | | were touched by his God given skills, caring, words, vision, | 22 | | and faith; and
| 23 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Conley was preceded in death by one child in | 24 | | infancy; his parents, Charles and Winifred Conley; his brother, |
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| 1 | | Wayne; his paternal and maternal grandparents; his | 2 | | father-in-law and mother-in-law, Lloyd and Gladys | 3 | | McConnaughay; and his uncle, George McCloud; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Conley is survived by his devoted and loving | 5 | | wife, Kris; his son, Ben (C.J.) Conley; his daughter, Sarah | 6 | | Conley; his beloved grandchildren, Andy, Em, Matt, and Mikey | 7 | | Conley; his sister, Karen (Les) Howard; his niece, Sheila | 8 | | (Phillip) Albano and their children, Nick and Katherine; his | 9 | | nephew, Bill Howard; his sister-in-law, Karen (Bill) Wootton | 10 | | and their son, Daniel Wootton; his aunts and uncle, Ruth | 11 | | McCloud and Ralph (Ferne) Conley; his extended family of | 12 | | cousins and their families; his many friends; and the countless | 13 | | people who have found comfort and hope in his writings, poems, | 14 | | and songs; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Conley will be fondly remembered by all who | 16 | | knew and loved him for his selfless and compassionate nature, | 17 | | his incredible creativity and talent, and his wonderful sense | 18 | | of humor and kindness to all; therefore, be it
| 19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 20 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 21 | | his family and friends, the passing of Bruce H. Conley; and be | 22 | | it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | presented to the family of Bruce Conley as an expression of our | 3 | | sympathy.
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