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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Donald Chambers Dodds Jr. of Champaign,
4who passed away on March 29, 2018; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Donald Dodds Jr. was the oldest son of Donald C.
6"Pick" and Julia Harris Dodds; he attended Uni High and then
7graduated form the University of Michigan; he returned to
8Champaign after college and serving in the Army; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Donald Dodds Jr. began Doddson Travel (Later Dodds
10Athletic Tours) in Campustown in 1959; in addition to Doddson
11Travel, he partnered with Tom Conlin in Conlin-Dodds Travel;
12they created an area of travel combining alumni and sports that
13was previously unknown; his first alumni sports trip took the
14Illini to the Rose Bowl in 1963; Doddson Travel/Dodds Athletic
15Tours and Conlin-Dodds Travel soon became the national leader
16in alumni sports travel; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Donald Dodds Jr. was also involved in banking and
18served on the First National Bank board and then later on the
19Hickory Point Bank advisory board; with his brother, he
20developed the Interstate Research Park in northwest Champaign,
21the first in Champaign; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Donald Dodds Jr. was a strong, longtime supporter
2of Parkland College; he was a founding board member and served
3on the Board from 1968 until 1983; he was a founding board
4member, and later president, of Parkland's Foundation Board; in
5honor of his service and support, he received an honorary
6degree from Parkland in 2003; in 2011, the school's new gym was
7named after him; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Donald Dodds Jr. also supported the Champaign
9Public Library and served as a founding member on its
10Foundation Board; along with the rest of his family, he
11contributed to the new library; he was a contributor to the
12University of Illinois Fighting Illini Scholarship Fund for
13over 50 years; he also served on the Krannert Center for the
14Performing Arts Marquee Council and supported the Krannert Art
15Museum and the Crisis Nursery; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Donald Dodds Jr. and Dodds Athletic Tours have
17sponsored Kiwanis Little League baseball since 1969; in
18recognition, he and his then-wife, Alice, were named
19Philanthropists of the Year, and he and his brother, Newt, were
20named Champaign County's Most Valuable Citizens by the
21Champaign County Chamber of Commerce in 2006; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Donald Dodds Jr. loved the St. Louis Cardinals,
23music, and Champaign; he was generous and valued friendship and

 

 

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1family; he took immense pride in his family; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Donald Dodds Jr. is survived by his brother, Newt
3Dodds and his three daughters; his daughter and son-in-law,
4Christine and Ken Bruce, his daughter and son-in-law, Marci
5Dodds and Cody Sokolski, and KK Dodds; and his grandchildren,
6Callie Bruce, Lillie Sokolski, and Nate Sokolski; therefore, be
7it
 
8    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
9ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
10Donald Chambers Dodds Jr. and extend our sincere condolences to
11his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
12further
 
13    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
14presented to the family of Donald Dodds Jr. as an expression of
15our deepest sympathy.