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90_HR0537
LRB9012313KBkb
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives wish to congratulate William "Bill"
4 Rutherford, recipient of the 1998 Frank Bellrose Illinois
5 River Valley Conservation Award; and
6 WHEREAS, William Rutherford is an attorney-at-law from
7 Peoria, Illinois; he was born in Peoria, Illinois on December
8 28, 1914; he was educated in the Peoria schools; he received
9 his AB at Bradley University and his Juris Doctor from the
10 University of Chicago; he did a Post Doctoral Study on
11 Taxation at Columbia University; and
12 WHEREAS, Mr. Rutherford served as a Consultant to the
13 Secretary of War, Army-Navy Munitions Board, in Washington,
14 D.C., in 1942; he was a flight instructor in the United
15 States Navy in 1943; from 1944 to 1946 he was a pilot for
16 United Airlines; he served as the Director of the Department
17 of Conservation for the State of Illinois in 1969; and in
18 1970 he served as the first coordinator of environmental
19 quality for the State; and
20 WHEREAS, Mr. Rutherford has spearheaded the addition of
21 over 20,000 acres to the available land for parks,
22 recreation, and wildlife purposes in the Peoria area; he is
23 the Administrative Vice President, Treasurer, and Director of
24 the Forest Park Foundation, serving as the Foundation
25 attorney since its inception in 1939; and
26 WHEREAS, Mr. Rutherford has served the causes of
27 conservation for years, including: being Co-Chairman, along
28 with Mr. M.P. Venema, of the Illinoisans for Pure Air and
29 Water; serving as a member of the Board of Trustees for the
30 Chicago Zoological Society (Brookfield Zoo) in 1970; serving
31 as a past Vice-Chairman of the State Sanitary Water Board for
32 the State of Illinois; serving as a past member of the Air
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1 Pollution Control Board for the State of Illinois; serving as
2 a past member of the Interagency Committee on Use of
3 Pesticides of the State of Illinois; serving as a member of
4 the Board of Directors of Illinois Wildlife Federation,
5 Illinois Wildlife Endowment; serving as a member of the Board
6 of Directors of DuPage Forest Foundation; and serving as a
7 member of the Board of Directors of the Sierra Club Legal
8 Defense Fund; and
9 WHEREAS, Mr. Rutherford has received many awards for his
10 service including: the 1975 Environmental Quality Award for
11 Illinois from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the
12 Conservationist of the Year Award in 1970 from the Great
13 Lakes Chapter of the Sierra Club; the Illinois Audubon
14 Society Annual Award in 1966; the Soil Conservation Society
15 of America Nation Award in 1976; the Illinois Association of
16 Park Districts Award in 1965; the National Recreation & Park
17 Association Awards in 1976 and 1985; the National Park and
18 Recreation Society Special Achievement Award in 1981-1982;
19 the Governor's Pollution Prevention Award in 1990; the
20 Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Award, presented by President
21 George Bush at the White House, in 1990; the "Distinguished
22 Alumni Award" from Peoria High School in 1996; and in 1998 he
23 was given an Appreciation Award for humanitarian service from
24 the American Red Cross, Central Illinois Chapter, in addition
25 to many other awards; and
26 WHEREAS, Mr. Rutherford is a member of the Peoria Bar
27 Association, the Illinois Bar Association, the American Bar
28 Association, and the American Judicature Society; and
29 WHEREAS, Mr. William Rutherford is married to the former
30 Hazel Sommer of Peoria, Illinois; they have two sons, W.L.
31 Rutherford, M.D., who is a pilot for United Air Lines, and
32 Ladd D. Rutherford, M.D.; and
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1 WHEREAS, Together with his wife, Hazel, they designed and
2 built Wildlife Prairie Park in Peoria, Illinois; therefore,
3 be it
4 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
5 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
6 congratulate William "Bill" Rutherford on receiving the 1998
7 Frank Bellrose Illinois River Valley Conservation Award; it
8 is a well deserved award for a man who cares about the
9 conservation needs of the State of Illinois; and be it
10 further
11 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12 presented to William "Bill" Rutherford.