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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3to learn of the death of Byron DeHaan, who passed away on May
48, 2023; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan was born to Sophia and Conrad DeHaan
6in LaGrange on July 18, 1926; he served in the U.S. Navy from
71944 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1951, retiring as operations
8officer and temporary executive officer of U.S.S. PCEC 873,
9with the rank of lieutenant junior grade; he married Sylvia
10Williams Hogan in 1963; he earned his Bachelor of Science in
11Industrial Management from the University of Kansas, where he
12was named a member of honorary fraternity Omicron Delta Kappa;
13and
 
14    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan worked at Caterpillar from 1948 to
151991, last serving as its director of public affairs; he
16founded the company's historical archives and authored
17Caterpillar's first book length history, 50 Years on Tracks,
18in 1954 and its first Code of Worldwide Business Conduct in
191974; at his retirement, he was honored by the Illinois House
20of Representatives when they adopted a resolution commending
21him on his contributions to his community and State; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan was a leader in the successful 1952

 

 

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1Peoria referendum to adopt the council-management of
2government; he was an early advocate for the community college
3concept for the Peoria area; he co-chaired the speaker's
4bureau, leading to the successful 1966 referendum that
5established Illinois Central College; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan was involved in civil rights
7matters, serving as vice-chair of the Peoria Commission on
8Human Relations in the mid-1960s; he was appointed as chairman
9of the Illinois Commission on Human Rights, then the State's
10principal civil rights agency, by Governor Otto Kerner in
111967; he was named to a second two-year term by Governor
12Richard Ogilvie in 1969; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan earned over 200 semester credit
14hours at Bradley University and Illinois Central College from
151991 to 2008; he acquired skills in ceramics and oil painting;
16he was named an honorary alumnus of Bradley University in
172000; he won poetry competitions at both schools; in 2004, he
18had a collection of 32 of his poems published by Converse
19Marketing, Inc. under the title Breviary, which was a finalist
20in the 2005 Pulitzer competition; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan sang in Peoria's Orpheus Club in the
22early 1950s and in the Bradley Community Chorus from 1991 to
232008; accompanying himself on guitar, he sang German carols at

 

 

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1Pettengill-Morron House Christmas Candlelight events for 20
2years; he was an occasional performer at local retirement and
3nursing homes; he co-chaired the founding board of the Peoria
4Civic Opera Company in 1977; he was named an honorary member of
5music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha by Bradley University in 1998;
6and
 
7    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan was a founding member of the Pillars
8Society of the Heart of Illinois United Way; he was a former
9president of the Peoria Toastmasters Club; he served on the
10boards of Goodwill Industries, the Peoria and Illinois
11chambers of commerce, the Hult Health Education Center, the
12Peoria Historical Society, and the Lakeview Museum; in 2000,
13he became co-chair of the Museum Collaboration Group and held
14a leadership role in conceiving and locating the Peoria
15Riverfront Museum; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan was commissioned to commemorate the
17Peoria Civic Center's new Preston Jackson sculpture about the
18Underground Railroad in Peoria in 2008; his resulting poem,
19Hallowed Ground, appears on the wall of the Jefferson Street
20entrance; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan was honored as one of six
22Peoria-area "legends" by Central Illinois Business
23Publications in July 2016; he was a long-term Rotarian and a

 

 

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1Paul Harris Fellow; he was a long-standing member of the
2Governing Board of the Forest Park Foundation; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan was a golf enthusiast and won the
4Caterpillar A Flight tournament in 1960; he was a member of the
5Peoria Country Club for over 50 years; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan was preceded in death by his wife,
7Sylvia; his parents; and his sister, Marilyn Orloff; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Byron DeHaan is survived by his sons, William
9(Suzanne) DeHaan and Robert (Cheryl) DeHaan; his daughters,
10Dr. Kathleen DeHaan and Nancy DeHaan; his grandchildren, Lisa,
11Peter, Anna, Tessa, Robert, Henry, and Sylvia; and six
12great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
15Byron DeHaan and extend our sincere condolences to his family,
16friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18presented to the family of Byron DeHaan as an expression of our
19deepest sympathy.