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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 Lukehart of Oak Park, who passed
4 away on December 11, 2007; and
 
5     WHEREAS, John Lukehart was born on his family's farm in
6 Laurel, Iowa; he graduated from Iowa State University with a
7 degree in Distributed Studies, focusing on sociology and
8 political science; he moved to Oak Park in 1980; and
 
9     WHEREAS, John Lukehart developed a sterling reputation as
10 an advocate for fair housing; he worked tirelessly for the
11 Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, a fair
12 housing organization started by Martin Luther King in the
13 1960s; he was actively involved in the Village of Oak Park's
14 community relations commission, dealing with discrimination in
15 the 1980s; he was also instrumental in the creation of the
16 Illinois Housing Roundtable, a group that coordinates the
17 activities of the various fair housing groups in the Chicago
18 area; and
 
19     WHEREAS, As an advocate for fair housing, John Lukehart
20 attempted to stress the relationship between employment,
21 housing, and affirmative housing strategies for low and
22 moderate income families; his innate ability to connect with

 

 

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1 labor unions, faith-based groups, middle and upper income
2 people, social justice groups, civil rights groups, and
3 business entities aided the council immensely in its fight for
4 fairness in housing practices; and
 
5     WHEREAS, John Lukehart's passion for equal treatment for
6 all was only matched by his intense love for art; he worked
7 with the Oak Park Area Arts Council, serving as president of
8 the organization since 2002; he was instrumental in the passage
9 of Oak Park's Public Arts Ordinance; he helped to pay for a
10 lease for the first two large sculptures placed in Oak Park out
11 of his own pocket; he was also a proud supporter of Off The
12 Wall, a summer arts employment program for local teens; and he
13 was awarded the Joseph Randall Shapiro Award in 2006 by the Oak
14 Park Area Arts Council for his numerous contributions to the
15 arts; and
 
16     WHEREAS, John Lukehart's love for art was also personal; he
17 was known as a great photographer, donating photos to the arts
18 council's annual fall fundraiser; and
 
19     WHEREAS, John Lukehart was preceded in death by his father,
20 L.J. "Mike" Lukehart; and
 
21     WHEREAS, John Lukehart is survived by his wife, Mary Daly
22 Lewis; his children, Jennifer and Jason Lukehart; his

 

 

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1 step-children, Colin and Alison Lewis; his mother, Donna (nee
2 Stewart); his siblings, Lynda (Morris) Wolken and Greg (Cheryl)
3 Lukehart; his in-laws, Sharon, Patrick (Lorraine), Edward
4 (Sharon), and Michael (Stella) Daly; and his many aunts,
5 uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins; and
 
6     WHEREAS, John Lukehart will be remembered by all who knew
7 and loved him as a quiet and calm, yet passionate person, whose
8 dedication to the arts and fair treatment to all were without
9 peer; therefore, be it
 
10     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
11 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
12 his family and friends, the passing of John Lukehart; and be it
13 further
 
14     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15 presented to the family of John Lukehart as an expression of
16 our sympathy.