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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of William S. Abbott of Godfrey, who passed
4 away on May 8, 2007; and
 
5     WHEREAS, William S. Abbott was born September 21, 1917, in
6 Wood River to Sidney and Della (Hunter) Abbott; he married
7 Frances L. Shankland on June 4, 1955, in St. Louis; and
 
8     WHEREAS, William Abbott was a 1936 graduate of Alton High
9 School; he began his long career in the tool and die field at
10 Olin Corporation; during World War II he worked as a toolmaker
11 at the Navy Pier in San Francisco, Curtis Wright (Boeing) in
12 St. Louis, and the Small Arms Ammunition Plant (Olin), also in
13 St. Louis; after the war, he started a small machine shop in
14 the basement of his home in Alton, which later grew into Piasa
15 Tool and Die; in the late 1950s it was the largest machine shop
16 in the area, at one time employing over 100 people; Piasa
17 Sports Car Company was also housed in the same facility, where
18 he was a dealer for Jaguar, MG, Morris Minor, and Riley cars;
19 today the company continues as Abbott Machine Company in the
20 same location, under the ownership of his sons, Robert and
21 Rick; and
 
22     WHEREAS, William Abbott was well known, both locally and

 

 

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1 worldwide, for his collection of antique cars and motorcycles;
2 he started an antique car museum in Grafton in the 1950s but it
3 did not continue, though he still amassed more vehicles for his
4 collection; he kept his collection at Homeridge Farm in
5 Jerseyville for many years and later moved to the former
6 Mercedes dealership building in North Alton; he donated many
7 cars to museums, including the National Museum of Transport in
8 St. Louis, the Auburn, Cord, Duesenburg Museum in Fort Wayne,
9 Indiana, and the Classic Car Club Museum in Hickory Corners,
10 Michigan; and
 
11     WHEREAS, William Abbott was preceded in death by his
12 parents; a daughter in infancy; a granddaughter, Michelle
13 Abbott Brose; and two brothers in infancy; and
 
14     WHEREAS, William Abbott is survived by his wife, Frances;
15 his sons and a daughter-in-law, Robert and Sonia Abbott and
16 Richard "Rick" Abbott; his grandchildren and their spouses,
17 Teresa and Michael St. Peters, Andrea and Aaron Webb, Jason
18 "J.B." Abbott and Eric Abbott, and Jody and Joe Poletti; and
19 his four great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
 
20     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
21 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
22 his family and friends, the passing of William S. Abbott; and
23 be it further
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2 presented to the family of William S. Abbott as a symbol of our
3 sympathy.