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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Erich | ||||||
| 4 | Himmel, who passed away in August of 2022; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Erich Himmel was born outside of Munich,
Germany | ||||||
| 6 | in the City of Moosburg on January 3, 1936; he was joined by | ||||||
| 7 | his wife of 65 years, Ingeborg "Inge", when he emigrated to New | ||||||
| 8 | Hampshire in 1958; they later
moved to
Chicago for his work as | ||||||
| 9 | a mechanic for Volkswagen (VW); and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Erich Himmel was drafted
into the U.S. Army while | ||||||
| 11 | a German citizen and served with honor in
Germany during the | ||||||
| 12 | building of the Berlin Wall; following his military career, he
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| 13 | returned to Chicago as a general manager for VW, eventually | ||||||
| 14 | opening several Volkswagen
dealerships; he and his daughter, | ||||||
| 15 | Carol, built a
successful autobody shop, which is still in the | ||||||
| 16 | family
today and presently operated by his grandson, Erich; | ||||||
| 17 | and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, Erich Himmel became president of the
Rheinischer | ||||||
| 19 | Verein Mardi Gras Society in 1984, and he served in that
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| 20 | position for more than 25 years; after being mentored
by Karl | ||||||
| 21 | Laschet, he became president of the United
German American | ||||||
| 22 | Societies; he was knighted for his
service and later held the | ||||||
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| 1 | position of grand chancellor
for the United States of The Het | ||||||
| 2 | Golden Vleis; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, For
his contributions to the preservation of | ||||||
| 4 | German
culture in foreign lands, Erich
Himmel received the | ||||||
| 5 | highest civilian
medal of honor from the President of Germany | ||||||
| 6 | in 1984, the
Bundesverdienstkreutz First Class medal of honor; | ||||||
| 7 | in 2020, he realized his
dream of creating a German Haus for | ||||||
| 8 | all the clubs in
an umbrella organization to call home and | ||||||
| 9 | celebrated
the 100-year anniversary of the United German | ||||||
| 10 | American
Societies with family and friends; he served as the
| ||||||
| 11 | grand marshal of the Von Steuben parade in Chicago
for | ||||||
| 12 | decades, bringing together diplomats, public
officials, | ||||||
| 13 | members of the German American Societies,
and many others for | ||||||
| 14 | this wonderful neighborhood
celebration; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, Erich
Himmel was a friend and mentor to many, | ||||||
| 16 | from
public officials to newcomers to the United States from | ||||||
| 17 | Germany
and other countries to his employees to community
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| 18 | members; he embraced every opportunity to educate people about | ||||||
| 19 | German culture and
traditions; he passed these values to his | ||||||
| 20 | two
daughters who, as German Americans, have carried on
his | ||||||
| 21 | legacy of welcoming people of all backgrounds to
celebrate and | ||||||
| 22 | enjoy German culture; and
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| 23 | WHEREAS, At the time of his passing, Erich
Himmel was | ||||||
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| 1 | survived by his wife, Inge; his daughters, Diana and Carol; | ||||||
| 2 | his
son-in-law, Jerry; his grandchildren, Erich "Bubba"
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| 3 | (Esther), Michelle (JJ), and Ashley; and his
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| 4 | great-grandchildren, Parker and Hudson; therefore, be it
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| 5 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 6 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 7 | we mourn the passing of Erich Himmel and extend our sincere | ||||||
| 8 | condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved | ||||||
| 9 | him; and be it further
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| 10 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 11 | presented to the family of Erich Himmel as an expression of our | ||||||
| 12 | deepest sympathy.
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