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HR0924 |
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LRB094 19570 LCT 55698 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of |
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| Representatives wish to express their sincere condolences to |
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| the family and friends of Emmett Ellsworth Kirby of Champaign, |
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| who passed away on January 21, 2006; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Kirby was born on December 22, 1914, to |
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| William Ellsworth and Minnie Price Kirby; on October 6, 1957, |
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| he married Evelyn Dixon; and
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| WHEREAS, Emmett Kirby was raised on a farm in McLean County |
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| and did handy work on tractors, cars, mowers, radios, plumbing, |
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| and electricity; he graduated from Urbana High School in 1933 |
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| and went to work at the Rock Island Arsenal during World War II |
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| building recoil mechanisms for cannons; he later worked at the |
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| civil engineering machine shop at Talbott Hall at the |
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| University of Illinois, retiring in 1976; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Kirby cast his first vote in 1936; a historian |
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| of Champaign, Ford, and McLean counties, he traced his family |
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| tradition of voting in the area to its pioneer beginnings, when |
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| Joshua Trickel served as an election judge in 1832; and
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| WHEREAS, Emmett Kirby was known for his knowledge, wit, and |
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| his devotion to the Republican party; he was fond of making toy |
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| donkeys and other joking references to the Democrats and giving |
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| them out to his GOP pals; he frequently wrote letters to the |
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| editor that appeared in the News-Gazette and would pop up |
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| regularly in election stories; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Kirby was also fond of traveling; he traveled |
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| extensively in Ireland and England; and |
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| WHEREAS, Emmett Kirby was preceded in death by his brother; |
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| and |