HR1168 LRB093 23204 KEF 53276 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives were saddened to learn of the death of Richard
4 E. Wurtzinger of Oak Park on August 6, 2004; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Richard E. Wurtzinger was born and raised in
6 Chicago; he attended St. Cyril and Methodius Grammar School and
7 Lane Tech High School; he enrolled in the DeVry Institute of
8 Technology in 1953 as an undergraduate student of electrical
9 engineering; at the age of 19, he began his engineering career
10 while still at DeVry; he worked as an engineer in the Cook
11 Research Labs; and
 
12     WHEREAS, In 1957, he married his sweetheart, the late
13 Frances Mary Black, whom he had known since the age of 5; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Mr. Wurtzinger worked on projects contracted out
15 for the Mercury and Gemini programs at NASA and for the armed
16 forces; he helped to design systems to recover space capsules
17 from the ocean after re-entry into the atmosphere; he also
18 worked on developing the first ejection seat for the F-104
19 fighter plane; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Mr. Wurtzinger worked for several
21 technology-driven businesses, starting in 1965; he spent 15
22 years as a development engineer in Motorola Inc.'s engineering
23 division and worked on Motorola's first line of cellular
24 telephones; some of his other projects included work on the
25 first highway camera surveillance systems, Mars lights for
26 squad cars, and night-vision cameras; and
 
27     WHEREAS, In 1984, while working at VCS Inc. in Carol
28 Stream, he invented an encoding apparatus for a closed-circuit
29 television; the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a
30 patent for the device, which allowed a viewer to track the

 

 

HR1168 - 2 - LRB093 23204 KEF 53276 r

1 orientation of a surveillance camera on a remote monitor
2 screen; and
 
3     WHEREAS, In his spare time, he was an amateur ham-radio
4 operator, a hobby he picked up in 1951; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Mr. Wurtzinger was an active member of his
6 community serving on the advisory commission for the Village of
7 Oak Park for many years, dealing with issues such as parking,
8 traffic, and cable franchise agreements; and
 
9     WHEREAS, The passing of Richard E. Wurtzinger will be
10 deeply felt by many, especially his two sons, James and
11 Christopher; his sister, Linda Lou Bricker; and his
12 granddaughter, Alyssa; therefore, be it
 
13     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
15 mourn the death of Richard E. Wurtzinger along with all who
16 knew and loved him and extend our sincere condolences to his
17 family and friends; and be it further
 
18     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19 presented to the family of Richard E. Wurtzinger as a token of
20 our deepest sympathy.