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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Paul Pesthy, who passed away on October
4 27, 2008; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Paul Pesthy was a native of Budapest, Hungary; as
6 a teenager, he participated in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
7 against the Soviet occupation of the country; after his parents
8 helped him escape and obtain asylum in Colombia, a United
9 States Army general spotted him at an athletic competition and
10 got him inducted into the U.S. Army; and
 
11     WHEREAS, During his tenure in the U.S. Army, Paul Pesthy
12 studied at Rutgers in New Jersey and won several NCAA and
13 national fencing championships, including a team championship
14 in 1964; that same year, he joined the U.S. Olympic team as a
15 member of the modern pentathlon team that won the silver medal
16 at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games; he was also a member of the
17 Olympic national fencing team in 1968, 1976, and 1980, but
18 couldn't compete in the 1980 Moscow games due to the American
19 boycott; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Shortly after participating in the Tokyo Olympic
21 Games, Paul Pesthy went to the San Antonio, Texas area and
22 nearly single-handedly built a house in Bulverde; while in San

 

 

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1 Antonio, he taught kinesiology at San Antonio College for more
2 than 20 years and served as the director of the national
3 pentathlon association in San Antonio before it moved to the
4 control of the U.S. Olympic Committee; he also began coaching
5 and mentoring numerous athletes, such as 2008 Olympic fencer
6 Kelley Hurley of San Antonio and former pentathlon world
7 champion Bob Nieman; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Paul Pesthy is survived by his loving wife,
9 Carolyn; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Paul Pesthy will be remembered by all who knew and
11 loved him as a wonderful husband and athlete who loved
12 representing the country that offered him freedom; therefore,
13 be it
 
14     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
15 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
16 his family and friends, the passing of Paul Pesthy; and be it
17 further
 
18     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19 presented to the family of Paul Pesthy as an expression of our
20 sympathy.