HR1159 LRB095 20674 KXB 49000 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of R. Eugene
4 Pincham of Chicago, who passed away on April 3, 2008; and
 
5     WHEREAS, R. Eugene Pincham was born in Chicago on June 28,
6 1924 and grew up in Alabama; he graduated from high school in
7 1942 and later attended LeMoyne College in Memphis; he
8 transferred to Tennessee State University in 1944 and earned a
9 bachelor's degree in political science in 1947; and
 
10     WHEREAS, He married Alzata C. Henry in 1948 and enrolled in
11 Northwestern University School of Law that same year; he worked
12 his way through school by waiting on tables at the Palmer House
13 Hotel and shining shoes; he earned his law degree in 1951; and
 
14     WHEREAS, He practiced law for the next 25 years; he was a
15 brilliant criminal defense lawyer and a hero in Chicago's black
16 neighborhoods; and
 
17     WHEREAS, He served as both a Cook County judge and Illinois
18 Appellate Court justice; he became a Circuit Court judge in
19 1976 and was assigned to the Criminal Division, where he served
20 until 1984; he then became an Appellate Court justice and
21 resigned in 1989; and
 

 

 

HR1159 - 2 - LRB095 20674 KXB 49000 r

1     WHEREAS, In 1989 he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic
2 Party nomination for president of the Cook County Board of
3 Commissioners; he was the nominee for mayor of Chicago in the
4 Harold Washington Party in 1991; he lost the election but
5 carried 19 of the 50 city wards; and
 
6     WHEREAS, After his retirement, Judge Pincham continued to
7 practice law; he also lectured at Harvard University,
8 Northwestern, DePaul, Notre Dame, and the University of
9 Chicago; he was a member of the American Civil Liberties Union
10 and a lifetime member of the NAACP; therefore, be it
 
11     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13 mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Judge
14 R. Eugene Pincham; and be it further
 
15     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
16 presented to the family of R. Eugene Pincham as a symbol of our
17 sympathy.