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1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION |
2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened |
3 | | to learn of the death of John Alan Woodruff, who passed away on |
4 | | September 10, 2023; and |
5 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff was born in Carlinville to William |
6 | | Verness and Mary (Parker) Woodruff on February 1, 1939; he |
7 | | grew up in Carlinville, where he enjoyed the outdoors; he was a |
8 | | High School All-American in football, threw the discus and |
9 | | shot put, and participated in band and chorus activities; he |
10 | | played football for one year at the University of Illinois in |
11 | | Urbana-Champaign and graduated as a field biology major from |
12 | | Southern Illinois University at Alton in 1963; he married |
13 | | Judith Colleen VanPelt on November 9, 1963; and |
14 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff started his career as a textbook |
15 | | editor/writer for a high school publishing company; he later |
16 | | became a mainframe computer specialist and, after years of |
17 | | programming and system design, went into management and |
18 | | consulting; he worked in both the public and private sectors |
19 | | for over 40 years; and |
20 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff oversaw many of the early efforts |
21 | | to consolidate computers while working for the State of |
22 | | Illinois, including the establishment of the data processing |
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1 | | department of the new Department of Alcoholism and Substance |
2 | | Abuse and development of several PC-based systems for the |
3 | | Illinois State Board of Education; in addition, he was an |
4 | | assistant professor in the business school at Sangamon State |
5 | | University (now UIS) and an adjunct professor at Lincoln Land |
6 | | Community College, specializing in system development and |
7 | | business management; and |
8 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff was actively involved in the |
9 | | Springfield theater scene; he was on stage at Springfield's |
10 | | Muni 15 times in 14 years; he played Amos Hart in Springfield's |
11 | | original production of Chicago and was known as Mr. |
12 | | Cellophane; after he and Judy built their dream log home in |
13 | | rural New Berlin in 1993, he concentrated more on Theater in |
14 | | the Park and venues in Jacksonville; ultimately, he got into |
15 | | directing local productions, including Carousel, Seven Brides |
16 | | for Seven Brothers, and others; he restaged the epic poem John |
17 | | Brown's Body for the modern theater and wrote and directed |
18 | | three successful plays, Civil War Journeys, Drummer Girl, and |
19 | | Baltimore Plot; he was a member of a local storytellers group, |
20 | | loved to write short, two-person plays, and was fascinated by |
21 | | history and family ancestry; and |
22 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff was an avid hunter and fisherman, a |
23 | | competitive bass fisherman, and a proud member of Ducks |
24 | | Unlimited, the NRA, and the Capitol City Men's Chorus; he |
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1 | | enjoyed golfing and had great respect for the environment and |
2 | | the conservation of natural resources; and |
3 | | WHEREAS, John Woodruff is survived by his wife, Judith; |
4 | | his son, Jim Woodruff; his daughter, Beth (Bob) Paton; and his |
5 | | grandchildren, Tim Paton, Andy (Lydia) Paton, Bailey Woodruff, |
6 | | Parker Woodruff, and Riley Woodruff; therefore, be it |
7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL |
8 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of |
9 | | John Alan Woodruff and extend our sincere condolences to his |
10 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it |
11 | | further |
12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
13 | | presented to the family of John Woodruff as an expression of |
14 | | our deepest sympathy. |