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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois
3 learned with regret of the death of Gerald S. Gidwitz of
4 Chicago on Tuesday, July 11, 2006, just six days before his
5 100th birthday; and
 
6     WHEREAS, He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a
7 cotton farmer and general store owner; he moved with his family
8 to Chicago when he was 12 years old; he married Jane Blumenthal
9 in 1944; she preceded him in death in 2001; and
 
10     WHEREAS, He graduated from the University of Chicago, and
11 in 1927, he went to work for National Minerals Co., which came
12 to be Helene Curtis; the Gidwitz family and others took the
13 firm that was essentially bankrupt and made it into a
14 prosperous company from which the Suave shampoo brand came; he
15 was chairman of Helene Curtis when it was sold to Unilever; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Outside of business, he was committed to
17 educational causes and helped to fund literacy programs through
18 Roosevelt University and later, National-Louis University; he
19 was devoted to stopping the spread of communism, was known as a
20 "Cold Warrior", and funded literacy programs that he hoped
21 would help people to get off of welfare; he served on the board
22 of Roosevelt University and worked with the National Planning
23 Association; and
 
24     WHEREAS, He supported cultural institutions, including the
25 Auditorium Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre; he grew orchids at
26 his greenhouse at his Highland Park home until he moved to the
27 city in the 1970s and was an avid tennis player until his early
28 90s; and
 
29     WHEREAS, The passing of Gerald S. Gidwitz has been deeply
30 felt by many, especially his sons, Ronald, James, Peter, and

 

 

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1 Thomas; his daughter, Nancy; and his nine grandchildren;
2 therefore, be it
 
3     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL
4 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
5 Gerald S. Gidwitz, and we extend our sincere condolences to his
6 family, his friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
7 further
 
8     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9 presented to his family as an expression of our deepest
10 sympathy.