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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3to learn of the death of Farrell Cole "Dutch" Gay of
4Springfield, who passed away on March 27, 2023; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Farrell Gay was born to Eugene V. Gay and Naomi
6Cole Gay in Albia, Iowa on July 13, 1933; he graduated from
7Franklin High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; he attended Coe
8College, where he studied art and lettered in track all four
9years; he married Ann LeFebure on April 3, 1955; and
 
10    WHEREAS, While still in college, Farrell Gay took a sales
11position in January 1956 with Standard Fruit and Steamship
12Company, a major importer of bananas based in New Orleans;
13later in the year, he moved to St. Louis as acting sales
14manager for Standard Fruit; he remained in that position for
152.5 years before joining Brown and Loe, a fruit and vegetable
16brokerage firm in St. Louis; he partnered with Manager Tom
17Lange and colleague Paul Beisser to purchase the brokerage
18office from the retiring Brown and Loe owners in 1960, and they
19proceeded to open their first Tom Lange Company office; he
20opened a second Lange office in Springfield four years later,
21with his first sale being a load of potatoes at a profit of
22$38; through hard work and dedication, he expanded the
23business to include hiring staff and selling throughout

 

 

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1central Illinois, Indiana, and the Midwest; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Farrell Gay began his term as president of the
3Lange Company in 1977, with seven midwestern Lange sales
4offices; after having served as president in Springfield for
518 years, he became board chairman in 1995 before retiring in
6August 1997, with 20 Lange offices in the United States and one
7in Toronto, Canada; he was succeeded as CEO by his friend and
8long-time partner, Phil Gumpert; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Farrell Gay was active with his partners, Tom
10Lange and Phil Gumpert, in several other endeavors, and they
11were affectionately known by the managers and employees as
12"The Three Wise Men"; in 1979, they purchased the two square
13block site of the former Sangamo Electric and Illinois Watch
14Company, and, after extensive renovations that later earned
15them the Mayor's City Preservation Award, they sold the site
16to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in 1998; they
17were also owners of TLC, Inc., a national transporter of
18multiple products with a refrigerated fleet of 300 tractors
19and 500 trailers that was purchased by a publicly held
20Texas-based transportation company in 1996; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Farrell Gay was also a founding partner and owner
22of The Gables shopping complex; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Farrell Gay belonged to several organizations and
2served on the boards of Copley First Citizen, the Champion
3Federal Savings and Loan Association in Bloomington, the Rail
4Classic and State Farm Classic golf tournaments, the Sangamo
5Club, the Illini Country Club, the Springfield Art
6Association, and the Island Bay Yacht Club, where he was named
7commodore in 1979; he was a member of the State of Illinois
8Public Arts Advisory Council and the Imperial Golf Club in
9Naples, Florida; he served on the broker's division of the
10United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association for six years,
11with two being spent as president; he was chairman of the Old
12Capitol Art Fair in 1973, returning as an honorary chairman 30
13years later in 2003; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Farrell Gay was heavily involved with the Elijah
15Iles House Foundation, serving as a board member and
16president; he organized and began the Elijah Iles Golf
17Tournament in 2010, and its proceeds garnered $52,500 for the
18Iles House over the next five years; he also founded the
19Farrell and Ann Gay Museum of Springfield history, located in
20the Elijah Iles House; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Farrell Gay further gave back to his community
22through reviving the Illinois Watch Company's 1925 nationwide
23Lincoln essay contest in 2009, bringing the scholarship
24competition back to students of Springfield's six high

 

 

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1schools; he also lent his artistic skills to face painting for
2children at the Old State Capitol and the Elijah Iles House;
3and
 
4    WHEREAS, Farrell Gay was a collector of old and classic
5automobiles, and he belonged to the Classic Car Club of
6America, the National Woodie Club, and the Cadillac/LaSalle
7Club; he also enjoyed collecting Illinois Watch Company wrist
8watches, both men's and women's, and his collection has been
9recognized as the finest and most extensive in the country;
10and
 
11    WHEREAS, Farrell Gay is survived by his sons, Cole
12(Sharon) Gay and Todd (Suzi) Gay; his grandchildren, Zoey Gay,
13Olivia (Zach) Warman, Melissa (TJ) Vanheil, and Jett Gay; his
14sister, Eleanor Siepman; and his three great-grandchildren;
15therefore, be it
 
16    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
17ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
18Farrell Cole "Dutch" Gay and extend our sincere condolences to
19his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
20further
 
21    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
22presented to the family of Farrell Gay as an expression of our

 

 

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1deepest sympathy.