093_HR0462

 
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 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS,  The  members   of   the   Illinois   House   of
 3    Representatives  were  saddened  to  learn  of  the  death of
 4    General Frank Chandler Bacon, Jr. of Chicago  on  August  27,
 5    2003; and

 6        WHEREAS,  He  was  born  on August 29, 1929 in Lexington,
 7    Mississippi to the late Frank and Mary Adams Bacon; and

 8        WHEREAS, He married Marie Baker and to this  union  three
 9    sons  were  born,  Phillip,  Geoffrey, and Stuart Bacon; they
10    were later divorced; and

11        WHEREAS, He moved to Chicago and matriculated at  several
12    public  schools  including  DuSable; in 1945, near the end of
13    World War II, he advanced his age and enlisted in the war; he
14    was honorably discharged from  the  United  States  Army  Air
15    Force  and  returned  to  Chicago; he joined a friend, Melvin
16    Clark, and enrolled in West Virginia State  College;  he  was
17    commissioned  as  a  2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army
18    and served for three years; and

19        WHEREAS, General Bacon began a lifetime of service in the
20    United States Army Reserves; he also served diligently  as  a
21    member  of the Chicago Police Department for twelve years; he
22    worked for the Chicago Committee  on  Urban  Opportunity  and
23    became Director of Manpower; and

24        WHEREAS,  General  Bacon received the honor and challenge
25    to develop a military high school within the  Chicago  Public
26    School System in a facility in Bronzeville that had served as
27    the Eighth Regiment Armory; he raised funding and pursued the
28    completion  of  building,  staffing and operating the Chicago
29    Military Academy, the first military school  in  the  Chicago
30    Public  School  System;  he  served  the  school as the first
31    Superintendent Commandant overseeing its first graduation  of
 
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 1    seniors  on  June  16,  2003  with  approximately  85% of its
 2    graduates accepted to college with scholarships; and

 3        WHEREAS, General Bacon  was  an  outstanding  leader  who
 4    helped  bridge  the  gap  between the corporate world and the
 5    community; as a community representative for Sears, he worked
 6    to develop  and  provide  funding  to  enhance  programs  and
 7    services to agencies within the community; and

 8        WHEREAS,    General    Bacon    later    ventured    into
 9    entrepreneurship   with  the  ownership  of  Nutrition  Plus,
10    Incorporated, a food distribution center; he then accepted  a
11    position  to  return  to teaching at Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
12    Paideia Community Academy; he thrived in  this  endeavor  and
13    later became assistant principal; and

14        WHEREAS,  General Bacon had always had a strong belief in
15    the power of  higher  education  and  had  demonstrated  that
16    belief  by  educating  three sons, two stepdaughters, a niece
17    and nephew, and numerous young people who had come under  his
18    direction; and

19        WHEREAS,  General  Bacon's passing will be deeply felt by
20    many, especially his loving wife of twenty-three  years,  Dr.
21    Gloria  Jackson-Bacon;  his  three  sons,  Phillip,  Geoffrey
22    (Donna),   and   Stuart  (Barbara);  his  two  stepdaughters,
23    Constance Jackson and Judith Jackson Fossett  (Clayton);  his
24    sister,  Aniece  Bacon;  his stepmother, Inez Miller; his two
25    stepsisters;  his   grandchildren,   Jennifer,   Christopher,
26    Patrick,  and  Jacqueline  Bacon, Malikh and Shashu Franklin,
27    D'Andrea "Angel" Harris, and Alden Olivia Fossett; therefore,
28    be it

29        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
30    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
31    we mourn the passing of General  Frank  Chandler  Bacon,  Jr.
32    along  with all who knew and loved him and extend our sincere
 
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 1    condolences to his family and friends; and be it further

 2        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
 3    presented  to the family of General Frank Chandler Bacon, Jr.
 4    as an expression of our deepest sympathy.