HR1154 LRB094 20209 HSS 58058 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, After 21 years of service at St. Ignatius Church
3 in Antioch and nearly 40 years in the ministry, Father Vince
4 Eckholm is retiring; and
 
5     WHEREAS, He was born in Chicago on January 12, 1942; his
6 interest in becoming a priest began at the young age of five;
7 when he was about seven years old, his family joined St.
8 Gertrude, where he was an acolyte; he also attended Catholic
9 school at St. Gertrude until entering Archbishop Quigley
10 Preparatory Seminary in Chicago; from Quigley, he went to the
11 University of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein for
12 his priestly education; he received his Masters in Dogmatic
13 Theology and was ordained a priest on April 27, 1967; and
 
14     WHEREAS, He did social work and eventually became a
15 chaplain at the Cathedral Shelter on Madison St. in Chicago;
16 this shelter happened to be run by the Episcopal Church; at the
17 shelter, Father Eckholm ministered to the homeless, the
18 unemployed, and others, who for various reasons, were down on
19 their luck; he also spent time at the "skid row" courthouse in
20 Chicago, where he counseled people who were arrested for being
21 drunk; and
 
22     WHEREAS, During this time, Father Eckholm got to know the
23 Episcopal Church; after much personal reflection and
24 deliberation, he decided to join the Episcopal Church; he
25 completed the process of being received in the Episcopal Church
26 in 1975; and
 
27     WHEREAS, His first parish was in Shenandoah, Iowa, and then
28 he returned to Chicago, where he became the chaplain at
29 Lawrence Hall Youth Services, ministering to boys who were
30 abused, neglected, and in some cases, had minor scrapes with
31 the law; he also spent some time supporting a colleague at a

 

 

HR1154 - 2 - LRB094 20209 HSS 58058 r

1 church in Oak Park; and
 
2     WHEREAS, In the fall of 1984, the Bishop approached Father
3 Eckholm and asked him to become the interim priest for St.
4 Ignatius Church in Antioch; after a very long courtship and
5 recruiting effort by both the parish and the bishop, Father
6 Eckholm formally became the rector of the parish of St.
7 Ignatius in December of 1985; over the years, he not only
8 presided over the parish, but he also touched many people in
9 the community; he and his wife, Cynthia, will remain active
10 members of the Antioch community; therefore, be it
 
11     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
13 we congratulate Father Vince Eckholm on the occasion of his
14 retirement; and be it further
 
15     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
16 presented to Father Eckholm as an expression of our esteem.