Full Text of SR2256 100th General Assembly
SR2256 100TH 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 Paul Luty Obis Jr., who passed away on | 4 | | June 25, 2018 at the age of 66; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Paul Obis was born to Elizabeth "Betty" and Paul | 6 | | Luty Obis Sr., a pharmacist, on August 13, 1951; his parents | 7 | | owned and operated pharmacies together, and he grew up in | 8 | | Melrose Park; he attended Proviso East High School in Maywood | 9 | | and then the University of Illinois at Chicago; during college, | 10 | | he worked in a kitchen, and one day a can of beans fell from a | 11 | | shelf and hit him on the head; he woke up in a hospital under | 12 | | the care of a male nurse and was inspired to pursue a nursing | 13 | | career; later, while eating at a Burger King on Broadway in | 14 | | Chicago, he was inspired to become a vegetarian; after his | 15 | | epiphany, he left without finishing his burger; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, While studying and working, Paul Obis founded a | 17 | | short-lived political newsletter called Truth and also | 18 | | submitted several freelance articles for other publications; | 19 | | when he was unsuccessful in finding someone to publish his | 20 | | articled title, "Being a Vegetarian is Never Having to Say | 21 | | You're Sorry - to a Cow," he set out to launch his own | 22 | | publication; he founded the Vegetarian Times in 1974, a | 23 | | newsletter that he hand-delivered on his bicycle before it grew |
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| 1 | | into an influential magazine with a readership of approximately | 2 | | 1.7 million; for many years, the magazine was housed in Oak | 3 | | Park; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, In the Vegetarian Times, Paul Obis featured cover | 5 | | stories about famous vegetarians, including Michael Jackson, | 6 | | Annie Lennox, Madonna, Linda McCartney, Cassandra "Elvira" | 7 | | Peterson, River Phoenix, Richard Simmons, and Dr. Henry | 8 | | Heimlich, the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver; he befriended | 9 | | another famous vegetarian, Fred "Mister" Rogers, who at one | 10 | | point was a major investor in the magazine; Yoko Ono and John | 11 | | Lennon were subscribers; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Paul Obis raised six sons with his first wife, | 13 | | Mariclaire Barrett, who also served as the food editor and book | 14 | | reviewer for the Vegetarian Times; while their children were | 15 | | raised on a mostly vegetarian diet, they were allowed to decide | 16 | | their own dietary lifestyles as they grew up; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Paul Obis sold his magazine in 1992 and concluded | 18 | | that vegetarianism could live without him; he said, "I've come | 19 | | to understand that it's so much bigger than whatever I eat," | 20 | | and, after experiencing a change of heart while attending the | 21 | | Taste of Chicago with his sons, he returned to occasionally | 22 | | eating meat; his magazine's legacy lives on as an online source | 23 | | for the vegetarian community; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Paul Obis met his second wife, Janeen, in 2012, | 2 | | and they married at the Arts Club of Chicago in 2014; the | 3 | | couple initially moved to Oak Park, but they later settled in | 4 | | Los Angeles, California; Janeen said she was attracted to | 5 | | Paul's kindness, empathy, and spontaneity and remembered an | 6 | | instance when he bought $400 worth of groceries for a family in | 7 | | need; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Paul Obis is remembered as an innovative, | 9 | | creative, brilliant, eccentric, sweet, and gentle soul, as well | 10 | | as "a provider and force for humanity"; he loved the nooks and | 11 | | crannies of Chicago and introduced his children to "ethnic | 12 | | grocery stores, charming barber shops, and off-the-beaten-path | 13 | | oddities"; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Paul Obis was preceded in death by his first wife, | 15 | | Mariclaire, and his parents, whom he nursed into old age; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Paul Obis is survived by his second wife, Janeen; | 17 | | his sons, Nick (Jess), Quentin (Maryam), Paul W., Kevin (Beth), | 18 | | Timothy (Anastasia), and Gregory, to whom he passed on his | 19 | | legacy of "making the world a better place"; and his grandson; | 20 | | therefore, be it
| 21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL |
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| 1 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 2 | | Paul Luty Obis Jr. and extend our sincere condolences to his | 3 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 4 | | further
| 5 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 6 | | presented to the family of Paul Obis as an expression of our | 7 | | deepest sympathy.
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