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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Robert Byers Wilcox of Chicago, who
4 passed away on March 5, 2010; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox was born on April 5, 1922, in
6 Chicago; his parents were Edward Byers and Mary Amanda (Gore)
7 Wilcox; in 1941, he met Laura Janet Winstonthe, who he married
8 in 1944 in Evanston; she preceded him in death in 1995; in July
9 of 2006, he married a long-time and cherished family friend,
10 Susanne Bush; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox was raised in Winnetka, where he
12 attended North Shore Country Day School; he then attended
13 Harvard College, where he graduated AB cum laude with the class
14 of 1944; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox served his country with pride and
16 distinction as a member of the United States Navy during World
17 War II; during the war, he served on the USS Petrof Bay in the
18 Pacific Ocean and narrowly survived an injury sustained in the
19 midst of a typhoon; he was awarded the Purple Heart for his
20 service; and
 
21     WHEREAS, After his discharge from the military, Robert

 

 

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1 Wilcox attended the University of Michigan Law School, earning
2 his Juris Doctor degree in 1949; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox had a long and distinguished career
4 in law; he began his career by joining the Chicago law firm of
5 Isham, Lincoln and Beale, where he was a partner from 1956 to
6 1971; during that time, he served as an advocate in
7 groundbreaking and successful newspaper/libel cases and he
8 played a key role in the research and preparation of the Report
9 of the Chicago Riot Study Committee to the Honorable Richard J.
10 Daley, investigating the causes of the riots in April of 1968
11 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; and
 
12     WHEREAS, In 1971, Robert Wilcox was hired by the Marlennan
13 Corporation, the holding company of Marsh & McLennan Companies,
14 Inc., where he served as General Counsel; he served as General
15 Counsel until 1974, when he accepted the position of Director
16 of Insurance for the State of Illinois under Governor Dan
17 Walker; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Following his retirement, Robert Wilcox helped
19 found 2 groups that continue to pursue issues of great
20 importance to him; in 1993, he became the Founding Chairman of
21 the Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest; he also
22 helped found Protestants for the Common Good, a group that
23 educates and mobilizes people of faith to participate in

 

 

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1 political democracy for the sake of social justice and the
2 beloved community; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox believed fervently in the power of
4 community to ameliorate poverty and suffering and that the
5 religious right should not have a monopoly on the
6 representation of people of faith in the political sphere; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Robert Wilcox is survived by his wife, Susanne
8 Bush Wilcox; his children, Robert B. Wilcox, Jr. (Barbara
9 Hermansen), Steven W. Wilcox (Kathleen), Katherine Wilcox
10 Lambert (Ian), David W. Wilcox (Melynda), and Brian W. Wilcox
11 (Amy); his grandchildren, Elisabeth Lambert Thompson (John
12 Neil), William W. Lambert, Benjamin B. H. Wilcox, James R.
13 Wilcox, Katharine H. Wilcox, Samuel J. Wilcox, Amanda F.
14 Wilcox, and Laura F. Wilcox; his sisters, Lee Kneerim and Ann
15 Jones; and his many nieces and nephews; therefore, be it
 
16     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
17 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
18 his family and friends, the passing of Robert Byers Wilcox; and
19 be it further
 
20     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
21 presented to the family of Robert Wilcox as an expression of
22 our sympathy.