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LRB094 21384 HSS 59737 r |
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois |
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| learned with regret of the death of Warren Billhartz of |
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| Collinsville on Monday, August 21, 2006; and
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| WHEREAS, He was born on January 3, 1927, in Centralia; he |
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| attended public schools in New Baden before joining the U.S. |
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| Merchant Marines as a crew member; and
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| WHEREAS, A veteran of two dozen crossings of the North |
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| Atlantic, at age twenty, he received his U.S. Coast Guard |
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| certificate of registry as a staff officer; he also holds the |
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| Atlantic War Zone bar; and
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| WHEREAS, He later returned to school and graduated from |
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| Illinois College and Washington University Law School; during |
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| law school and for three years after his graduation, he was |
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| associated with the law firm of Johnson & Johnson in |
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| Belleville; he was a licensed attorney in Illinois and |
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| Missouri; and
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| WHEREAS, A former Assistant Attorney General of the State |
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| of Illinois, Mr. Billhartz was elected to three consecutive |
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| terms in the Illinois General Assembly as Representative from |
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| the old 42nd and 55th districts; he served in the Illinois |
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| House until 1960, when he did not seek re-election; and
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| WHEREAS, He was a charter member and first president of the |
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| Clinton County Board of School Trustees; he was a second |
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| generation banker and had been in banking since 1954; for 21 |
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| years, he was with First National Bank of Collinsville, as |
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| President and then Chairman; he was Chairman and principal |
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| stockholder of that bank when it was bought by United Missouri |
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| Bank in 1987; and
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LRB094 21384 HSS 59737 r |
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| WHEREAS,
Mr. Billhartz was the Founder, Chairman, and |
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| principal stockholder of FCB Banks; his generous donations and |
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| gifts were responsible for the O.W. Billhartz Civic Center in |
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| New Baden, Lehrter Community Park in Albers, the statue at the |
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| Police Station, and the future home of the Billhartz Animal |
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| Shelter in Collinsville, as well as the Illinois College |
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| Student Investment Fund; many other charitable organizations |
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| benefited from his anonymous donations; and
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| WHEREAS, The passing of Warren Billhartz has been deeply |
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| felt by many, especially his wife, Marcia Anne, nee Allan, |
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| Billhartz, whom he married September 28, 1979, in Kaui, Hawaii; |
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| his son, Ward (Chris) Billhartz; his daughters, Jan Billhartz, |
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| Jean T. Billhartz, and Susan Zavaglia; his sister, Eileen |
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| (Olin) Hoffmann; his grandchildren, Garrett, Shane, and Jordan |
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| Zavaglia, Taylor Singleton, Chandler Lotridge, Danielle and |
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| Rachel Billhartz, and McCall and Caden Sheetz; his loving pet, |
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| Shady Francis; and his numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, |
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| and great-nephews; he was preceded in death by parents, Oliver |
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| W. and Marie, nee Engelhart, Billhartz; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL |
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| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of |
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| Warren Billhartz, and we extend our sincere condolences to his |
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| family, his friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it |
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| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| presented to his family as an expression of our deepest |
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| sympathy.
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