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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate Paul Porter Davidsmeyer
4on the occasion of his 100th Birthday, celebrated on April 16,
52023; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Paul Davidsmeyer was born in Jacksonville to
7Faith Porter and R.H. Davidsmeyer on April 16, 1923; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Paul Davidsmeyer served gallantly in the U.S.
9Army during World War II with the 82nd Airborne and fought in
10three battles, including the Battle of the Bulge (1944-45),
11where he received a Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit
12Citation; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Paul Davidsmeyer participated in the liberation
14of the Wobbelin camp, a sub-camp of the Neuengamme
15concentration camp, near the city of Ludwigslust in May 1945;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, After the war, Paul Davidsmeyer returned home,
18married his sweetheart, Saralee Butler, and moved to
19Springfield to start a family; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Paul Davidsmeyer worked at different jobs through

 

 

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1the 1950s and served in leadership positions on multiple
2boards and with clubs, including as president of the
3Springfield Jaycees from 1951 to 1952, where he was named the
4most outstanding local Jaycee president of the year in 1952,
5chosen from 100 presidents of Illinois Jaycee organizations;
6and
 
7    WHEREAS, Paul Davidsmeyer took his family back to
8Jacksonville in 1962 after the death of his father, R.H.
9Davidsmeyer, and his uncle, Paul Davidsmeyer, who founded the
10Davidsmeyer Oil Company after purchasing the Cockin Oil
11Company; the brothers renamed the company Illinois Road
12Contractors; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Under Paul Davidsmeyer's leadership, the company
14operated many different facilities from Paducah, Kentucky to
15Utica, mostly based in central Illinois, and developed a solid
16reputation throughout the entire Midwest; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Paul Davidsmeyer was instrumental in founding the
18Illinois chapter of Ducks Unlimited, an organization dedicated
19to conserving, restoring, and managing wetlands and associated
20habitats for North America's waterfowl; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Paul Davidsmeyer was a founding member of Our
22Redeemer Lutheran Church, where he served as an elder, as

 

 

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1president of the congregation, and as a choir member; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Paul Davidsmeyer has been the loving husband of
3Saralee for 77 years; he is the proud father of Devon and
4Cindy, the proud grandfather of Stephanie, C.D., Jayde, and
5Mycah, and the proud great-grandfather of nine; therefore, be
6it
 
7    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
8HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
9we congratulate Paul Porter Davidsmeyer on his 100th Birthday,
10and we wish him many more wonderful years; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12presented to Paul Davidsmeyer as an expression of our respect
13and esteem for a truly remarkable life and a leading example of
14a good man to emulate.