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SR0820 |
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LRB094 21347 HSS 59695 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 Gerald S. Gidwitz of |
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| Chicago on Tuesday, July 11, 2006, just six days before his |
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| 100th birthday; and
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| WHEREAS, He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a |
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| cotton farmer and general store owner; he moved with his family |
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| to Chicago when he was 12 years old; he married Jane Blumenthal |
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| in 1944; she preceded him in death in 2001; and
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| WHEREAS, He graduated from the University of Chicago, and |
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| in 1927, he went to work for National Minerals Co., which came |
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| to be Helene Curtis; the Gidwitz family and others took the |
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| firm that was essentially bankrupt and made it into a |
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| prosperous company from which the Suave shampoo brand came; he |
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| was chairman of Helene Curtis when it was sold to Unilever; and
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| WHEREAS, Outside of business, he was committed to |
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| educational causes and helped to fund literacy programs through |
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| Roosevelt University and later, National-Louis University; he |
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| was devoted to stopping the spread of communism, was known as a |
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| "Cold Warrior", and funded literacy programs that he hoped |
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| would help people to get off of welfare; he served on the board |
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| of Roosevelt University and worked with the National Planning |
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| Association; and
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| WHEREAS, He supported cultural institutions, including the |
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| Auditorium Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre; he grew orchids at |
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| his greenhouse at his Highland Park home until he moved to the |
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| city in the 1970s and was an avid tennis player until his early |
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| 90s; and
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| WHEREAS, The passing of Gerald S. Gidwitz has been deeply |
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| felt by many, especially his sons, Ronald, James, Peter, and |