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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of John H. Bickley Jr. of Long Grove, who
4 passed away on February 26, 2007; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Mr. Bickley practiced law for much of his life,
6 with 11 years in law enforcement and 44 years in civil
7 plaintiff and defense trial work; he began as an assistant U.S.
8 attorney in the Northern District of Illinois in 1955; he also
9 worked as an assistant state's attorney and special prosecutor-
10 for Cook County; and
 
11     WHEREAS, He was honored by Readers Digest in 1959 for the
12 successful prosecution of Paul "The Waiter" Ricca, head of the
13 crime syndicate of Chicago, and the case was honored as one of
14 the best 100 true crime stories of the century; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Mr. Bickley graduated from the Castle Heights
16 Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee; he completed his A.A.
17 degree in 1948 at Evanston Community College, then went on to
18 graduate with his J.D. from Chicago Kent College of Law IIT
19 University in 1951; he was appointed as a special lecturer on
20 evidence and technique at the U.S. Attorney's Conference by
21 Attorney General Robert Kennedy in 1963 in Chicago; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, In 1964, he was the Republican candidate for
2 States Attorney of Cook County; the Chicago Junior Chamber of
3 Commerce voted him one of ten Outstanding Young Men of Chicago
4 that same year; he was listed as one of the Outstanding Young
5 Men of the United States in 1965; he was admitted to the
6 Supreme Court of the United States in 1965; in 1971, he served
7 as the special counsel to and Chief of the Environmental
8 Control Division, Illinois State Attorney General's Office;
9 from 1971 to 1972 he was the president of the Illinois Trial
10 Lawyers Association; from 1972 to 1973 he was the president of
11 the Federal Bar Association of the Chicago Chapter; and from
12 1974 to 1975 he served as the national vice president of the
13 Federal Bar Association; he was elected a member of the Society
14 of Trial Lawyers in 1973; he was also a member of the American
15 Trial Lawyers Association and the Lake County Bar Association;
16 and
 
17     WHEREAS, John Bickley was a guest lecturer at both Chicago
18 Kent College of Law and DePaul University Law Clinic; he earned
19 the Martindale Hubbell Rating of A.V., the highest rating
20 available; he served as consulting attorney to the Illinois
21 State Board of Elections and was a former campaign manager for
22 U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen, Illinois Governor Richard
23 Ogilvie, Illinois Attorney General William Scott, as well as 17
24 others; he proudly served as a lieutenant colonel in the Marine
25 Corps for 42 years, until his retirement in May 1989; he was a

 

 

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1 certified trial counsel for General Courts-Marital, a graduate
2 of the Naval School of Justice, and was admitted to the U.S.
3 Court of Military Appeals; and
 
4     WHEREAS, John H. Bickley Jr. is survived by his wife, Anne
5 Clark-Bickley, whom he married on Jan. 20, 1995, in Waukegan;
6 his children, John H. (Sandy) Bickley III, Lisa F. (Tom)
7 Bitsky, and Kathryn M. (Mark) Hastings; his stepdaughter,
8 Jennifer (Conrad) Stoldt; his grandchildren, John IV, Kathryn
9 and Melanie Bickley, Tom Jr., Joe and Gregory Bitsky, and
10 Steve, Jim and Lisa Hastings; his great-grandchildren,
11 Charlie, Logan and Reece; and his sister, Mary Runion; he was
12 preceded in death by his parents; therefore, be it
 
13     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
14 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
15 John H. Bickley Jr. and extend our condolences to his family
16 and friends at this time; and be it further
 
17     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18 presented to the family of John H. Bickley Jr. as a symbol of
19 our sympathy.