HR0498 LRB094 12496 HSS 47003 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Jerry O. Branson, Business Manager and Financial
3 Secretary of IBEW Local 461, is retiring on July 5, 2005; a
4 retirement party honoring his years of dedication and service
5 will be held on Friday, June 17, 2005; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Mr. Branson is a lifelong resident of Illinois; he
7 attended Batavia High School, where he was quite the athlete
8 and was captain of the football team, played basketball, and
9 was a member of the track team; during his sophomore year, he
10 began dating the love of his life, Marge, whom he married in
11 1963, and is still happily married to today; and
 
12     WHEREAS, After high school, Mr. Branson attended Barber
13 College in Chicago and then worked as a barber until 1972; at
14 that time, he and Marge were raising their three young boys,
15 and he realized he needed to switch careers; he chose to follow
16 in the footsteps of his father, an IBEW Local 461 electrician;
17 after a stint working with concrete to get a feel for
18 construction work, he started working as an electrician in the
19 Local; it took six years to become a journeyman wireman, and he
20 was initiated as such into IBEW Local 461 on July 1, 1978; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Mr. Branson was appointed to the IBEW Local 461
22 Executive Board in 1986; in 1987, he was elected to the seat of
23 Vice President of the Local, and in the same year, he was
24 appointed to Assistant Business Manager; he served as both for
25 the next nine years; in 1996, he ran for and won the position
26 of Business Manager; he ran and won again in 1999 and 2002; and
 
27     WHEREAS, While serving as Business Manager, Mr. Branson was
28 also a delegate to the IBEW International Convention in 1996
29 and 2001; he has attended nearly every conference the IBEW has
30 scheduled in his 9 years as Business Manager, and several while
31 he was Assistant Business Manager, including the semiannual

 

 

HR0498 - 2 - LRB094 12496 HSS 47003 r

1 IBEW State conferences, IBEW 6th District conferences, and
2 those involving the issues of Training, Organizing,
3 Telecommunications, Construction, and Employee Benefits; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Mr. Branson serves on numerous boards of IBEW
5 Local 461, including the Health & Welfare and Pension Trust
6 Funds on which he is the Administrator and Secretary, the Joint
7 Apprenticeship Training Committee, and the Audit Committee; he
8 also regularly attends meetings of the Fox Valley Building
9 Trades and in 1999 and 2000 was its Treasurer; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Mr. Branson has served with dignity and grace
11 under pressure and has always done his best to improve the
12 working conditions and the lives of the members he so dutifully
13 serves; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Mr. Branson has been a member of the United
15 Methodist Church for over 40 years and is a longtime member of
16 the Batavia Moose; in his free time, he enjoys bowling,
17 fishing, gardening, traveling, and driving his convertible,
18 but his family will always be his top priority; and
 
19     WHEREAS, In addition to his dear wife and three sons, he
20 has three daughters-in-law and eight beloved grandchildren; he
21 is a dedicated family man and an outstanding individual;
22 therefore, be it
 
23     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
24 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
25 we congratulate Jerry Branson on the occasion of his retirement
26 and wish him all the best in the years ahead; and be it further
 
27     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
28 presented to Mr. Branson as an expression of our respect and
29 esteem.