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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to express
3 their sincere condolences to the family and friends of Thomas
4 K. Hutchinson of Godfrey, Illinois, who passed away on January
5 1, 2007; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Thomas Hutchinson was born in Alton on October 30,
7 1924; his parents were O.C.K. Hutchinson and Cora (Wuerker)
8 Hutchinson; and
 
9     WHEREAS, He graduated from the New York Maritime Academy in
10 1942; he met his first wife, Nancy Jane Brokaw, while serving
11 in the Merchant Marines during World War II; they were married
12 on March 22, 1947; she preceded him in death on June 10, 1983;
13 and
 
14     WHEREAS, After World War II he returned to Alton; from
15 humble beginnings in a garage, Thomas Hutchinson and his father
16 began Hutchinson Foundry Products, which became the largest
17 independently owned manufacturer of rotors in the United
18 States; and
 
19     WHEREAS, In 1971, Mr. Hutchinson was appointed to the Alton
20 Memorial Hospital Board of Directors, where he served as
21 chairman of many committees, including the building and grounds
22 committee; after his retirement, he continued to serve,
23 remaining on the Hospital Foundation Board of Directors; he
24 also served as president of both Lewis and Clark Community
25 College and the Foundation Board of Directors and the Lockhaven
26 Development Board of Directors; and
 
27     WHEREAS, A lifelong love for hunting and firearms began at
28 the age of 5 when his father took him hunting for the first
29 time; he started his gun collection at age 8 with the
30 acquisition of a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun; at first he collected

 

 

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1 air guns and had built up one of the finest collections in the
2 United States when he donated it to the Buffalo Bill Historical
3 Center in Cody, Wyoming; he continued his collection, in part
4 inspired by the study of his great-uncle, Frederick Wuerker, a
5 fine gun maker in Alton during the 1850s; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Thomas Hutchinson was a member of the Winchester
7 Advisory Board of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, a member
8 of the Ohio Gun Collectors Association, the National Rifle
9 Association, the Colt Collectors Association, Ducks Unlimited,
10 the Winchester Club of America, and the American Society of
11 Arms Collectors; his gun collection, one of the largest in the
12 country in private hands, was sold at auction in 2002 to fund a
13 charitable remainder trust to benefit the Alton community; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Thomas Hutchinson also inherited both of his
15 parents' passion for the conservation of wildlife and
16 ornithology; in 1992, he donated more than 100 acres of land to
17 the Great Rivers Land Preservation Organization as a bird
18 sanctuary in memory of his parents; and
 
19     WHEREAS, On November 12, 1988, he married Lonjeana "Jeana"
20 (Gunn) Lukowski in Hannibal, Missouri; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Thomas Hutchinson was a member of the Alton Nature
22 League and Ainad Shrine Temple of East St. Louis; and
 
23     WHEREAS, Thomas Hutchinson is survived by his wife, Jeana;
24 his daughters, Cathy (Richard) Whittlesey, Gail (Kent)
25 Clarkson, Pam (Matt) Bishop, and Susie (David) Moore; his
26 stepchildren, Elizabeth (Brian) Boyer, Vincent Lukowski,
27 Jennifer (Jim) McClintock, Marion (Scott) Taylor, and Joanne
28 (Scott) Lammert; his grandchildren, Kristin (Kory) Stolte,
29 Mark (Kim) Whittlesey, Paige (Chris) Fleener, Peter (Jackie)
30 Priester, Kyle and Melissa Symes, and Brett and Adam Hartig;
31 his step-grandchildren, John Lukowski, Juliet and Jared

 

 

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1 McClintock, Morgan and Andrew Taylor and Jordan, Samantha and
2 Tyler Lammert; and his great-grandchildren, Sam and Emma Stolte
3 and Jack Fleener; therefore, be it
 
4     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL
5 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
6 his family and friends, the passing of Thomas Hutchinson; and
7 be it further
 
8     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9 presented to the family of Thomas Hutchinson.