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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Donald Wilson of Downers Grove, who
4 passed away on April 10, 2008; and
 
5     WHEREAS, The Wilson family came from Sweden to Illinois
6 when Donald's Uncle August (a wagon maker) was asked to
7 participate as a tradesman at the Swedish Pavilion in the
8 Columbian Exposition (World's Fair) in Chicago in 1893; after
9 the Exposition ended, he settled in Geneva with a group of
10 other Swedes, and he wrote Donald's father (Oscar) in Sweden
11 and encouraged him to join August in America; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Oscar joined his brother in Geneva in 1899 and
13 they soon started a building business, known as Wilson
14 Brothers, which was responsible for designing and building a
15 significant number of homes in Geneva and Batavia and also many
16 buildings still standing on Main Street in Geneva; two of their
17 first residential houses (the Hoyt house in Geneva and the
18 Gridley-Snow house in Batavia) were designed by Frank Lloyd
19 Wright, and they also worked on other Wright projects including
20 the Unity Temple in Oak Park and the Avery Coonley house in
21 Riverside; and
 
22     WHEREAS, Donald Wilson was the youngest of six children;

 

 

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1 his siblings included, Marion, Kenneth, Norman, George, and
2 Leonard; they were born to Oscar and Frida Wilson (Frida also
3 being a Swedish immigrant); Donald was born in 1919, he
4 attended Geneva public schools, and was the quarterback on the
5 Geneva High School football team; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Donald and his wife began dating while they were
7 both students at Geneva High School; after high school, Donald
8 worked for two years before starting at Cornell College in Mt.
9 Vernon, Iowa, but his college experience was interrupted when
10 World War II broke out in 1941; and
 
11     WHEREAS, He enlisted in the United States Navy and became a
12 Pilot and Section Leader in Bombing Squadron Three in the USS
13 Yorktown; he piloted an SBD Dauntless Divebomber on numerous
14 carrier-based missions over the Philippines, Formosa, French
15 Indo-China, Chichi Jim, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and he
16 participated in the first Navy carrier-based plane strikes
17 against Tokyo; for his service, he was awarded the Navy Air
18 Medal and four Navy Gold Stars; he sent an engagement ring to
19 his future wife, Lucille Stokes, by mail while he was aboard an
20 aircraft carrier, and they were married on August 30, 1943
21 while he was on leave; and
 
22     WHEREAS, After the war, he graduated from Cornell College
23 and left business school in 1947 to enter the management

 

 

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1 training program at Bell Telephone, where he worked for
2 approximately 35 years; Bell Telephone's practice was to move
3 their management people among different offices, so he worked
4 in Chicago, Elgin, Rockford, Chicago (again), Joliet, and then
5 Chicago one more time during his career; in Joliet, he was
6 active in the United Way and served as President of the West
7 Side Kiwanis Club of Joliet; he also sang as a baritone in two
8 barbershop quartets that competed in state-wide competitions;
9 and
 
10     WHEREAS, After retiring in 1981, he participated as a
11 volunteer in several community activities, including teaching
12 English as a second language to immigrants from over 30
13 countries in the Downers Grove area; he was also an active
14 member of the First United Methodist Church in Downers Grove;
15 and
 
16     WHEREAS, Donald Wilson is survived by his wife of over 64
17 years, Lucille; his two daughters, Louise Wilson and Mary
18 Ambrose; his son, John Wilson; and his five grandchildren;
19 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 Donald Wilson; and be it
23 further
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2 presented to the family of Donald Wilson as a symbol of our
3 sincere sympathy.