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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3to learn of the death of George E. Hopkins, Ph.D., who passed
4away on September 28, 2023; and
 
5    WHEREAS, George Hopkins was born to Homer and Lillian Hunt
6Hopkins in Shawnee, Oklahoma on March 6, 1937; while residing
7in Texas, he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1955
8and Southern Methodist University in 1959; he joined the U.S.
9Navy Reserve during high school and attended Officer Training
10School while in college; after college, he was commissioned as
11an ensign in the U.S. Navy; he applied for flight training and
12was assigned to the patrol squadron PATRON 50 in Iwakuni,
13Japan for a three-year tour of duty, where he piloted a U.S.
14Navy P5M seaplane; he married Elaine Bridges in Dallas, Texas
15in 1959; he earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of
16Texas at Austin; and
 
17    WHEREAS, George Hopkins was hired by Western Illinois
18University in 1968, where he taught lecture classes on the
19Vietnam War and U.S. presidential assassinations, as well as
20many other subjects, until his retirement in 2007; and
 
21    WHEREAS, George Hopkins authored the book The Airline
22Pilots: A Study in Elite Unionization, published by Harvard

 

 

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1University Press in 1971; he also authored Flying the Line,
2Volumes I and II, published in 1982 and 2000, respectively,
3published by the Airline Pilots Association, where he served
4as a consultant; and
 
5    WHEREAS, George Hopkins was named Professor of the Year by
6Western Illinois University students in 1979 and Distinguished
7Faculty Lecturer by his colleagues in 2003; and
 
8    WHEREAS, George Hopkins was a member of the Macomb Flyers;
9and
 
10    WHEREAS, George Hopkins and his wife shared a wide variety
11of interests, including traveling, biking, skiing, reading,
12attending live theater, and touring museums; and
 
13    WHEREAS, George Hopkins is survived by his wife; his
14children, Jennifer (Paul) Wheeler and Paul W. Hopkins; his
15grandchildren, Sam (Carolyn) Wheeler, Joey (Stephanie)
16Wheeler, Jack (Karen) Wheeler, and Breanna Hopkins; his
17great-grandchildren, Lillian Elaine and Charles Robert; and
18one great-grandchild on the way; therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
20ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
21George E. Hopkins, Ph.D. and extend our sincere condolences to

 

 

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1his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
2further
 
3    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4presented to the family of George Hopkins as an expression of
5our deepest sympathy.