HR0274 LRB095 11859 KXB 35039 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of retired
4 Judge and former State Representative Rolland F. Tipsword of
5 Taylorville, who passed away on April 5, 2007; and
 
6     WHEREAS, He was born August 19, 1925, in Monticello, the
7 son of Leo Clemit and Jossie Banning Fortner Tipsword; he
8 graduated from Beecher City Community Unit High School in 1943
9 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Idaho in
10 1949, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity; he
11 graduated with honors from Northwestern University School of
12 Law in Chicago in 1951; and
 
13     WHEREAS, He was admitted to the Illinois Bar in September
14 of 1951; Mr. Tipsword served as Clerk to Illinois Supreme Court
15 Justice Harry Hershey from the years 1951 to 1954 and 1957 to
16 1960; he later became an associate partner in the Hershey &
17 Bliss Law Firm; he served as Christian County State's Attorney
18 during the years of 1960 to 1966; he was a partner in the
19 Tipsword & Fraley Law Firm, which later became the Coale,
20 Taylor, Tipsword, Fraley & Doyle Law Firm; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Mr. Tipsword was elected to the Illinois House of
22 Representatives, serving Districts 50 and 51 during the years

 

 

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1 1966 to 1979; he served as Circuit Judge, 4th Judicial District
2 of Illinois from 1983 to 1993; he served on the Illinois
3 Supreme Court Committee to prepare first Illinois pattern jury
4 instructions; he was elected as a delegate to the 1980
5 Democratic National Convention; he was Past President of the
6 Christian County, Illinois Bar Association; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Judge Tipsword was extremely active in the Grand
8 Chapter Order of the Eastern Star of Illinois and the Grand
9 Lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons of Illinois; he
10 received the Meritorious Service Award in 1975 and the 33rd
11 Degree, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the Northern Masonic
12 Jurisdiction in 1977; he also served as Worthy Grand Patron of
13 the Order of the Eastern Star in 1970; he was a member of the
14 Haslemere Chapter 221 in Taylorville, and a member of the White
15 Shrine of Jerusalem in Springfield; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Rolland Tipsword was a member of the First
17 Presbyterian Church, where he served as a past Deacon and
18 Elder; he was a member of Taylorville Elks Club, Taylorville
19 Eagles Club, Taylorville Moose Club, American Legion, and the
20 VFW; he was a charter member of the Taylorville Kiwanis Club;
21 and he served in the United States Navy, Pacific Theatre,
22 during the years of 1942 to 1946; and
 
23     WHEREAS, Mr. Tipsword never married; surviving are several

 

 

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1 cousins; therefore, be it
 
2     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
4 mourn, along with his family, friends, and the people of the
5 City of Taylorville, the passing of Rolland Tipsword and extend
6 our sincere condolences to all who knew him at this time; and
7 be it further
 
8     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9 presented to the Coale, Taylor, Tipsword, Fraley & Doyle Law
10 Firm as a symbol of our sympathy.