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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Einar Victor Dyhrkopp of Shawneetown, who
4 passed away on December 6, 2008; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp was born on March 16, 1926 in Old
6 Shawneetown; his parents were Victor and Vevith (Denton)
7 Dyhrkopp; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp graduated from Shawneetown High
9 School in the spring of 1945; he was drafted into the United
10 States Navy at the end of his junior year of high school and
11 was called to serve on the U.S.S. Aaron Ward; he served two
12 years in the Navy, where he was awarded a Presidential Unit
13 Citation for his service during the Battle of Okinawa on the
14 Aaron Ward as a picket ship on a radar picket station; the
15 Aaron Ward took six direct hits from suicide planes, more than
16 any other ship of its size; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Following his discharge, Einar Dyhrkopp married
18 Frances Hope Sanders on December 14, 1946; in 1961, he started
19 the Gold Hill Ranch, a grain and livestock farm based in
20 Shawneetown; while working in Shawneetown, he was elected mayor
21 and initiated a land development company, Dyhrkopp
22 Development, which specializes in housing and commercial

 

 

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1 building; he also served as a partner and chief operating
2 officer of Shawnee Cabinets, Inc. for 22 years; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp served as director of Illinois One
4 Bank and its predecessor in Shawneetown for 33 years; he also
5 served as vice president of Illinois One Bancorp, the holding
6 company for Illinois One Bank, which was located in
7 Shawneetown, Elizabethtown, and Golconda; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp served as president of Tecumseh
9 International Corporation, a firm involved in coal energy
10 trading; he also served as the president of his own corporate
11 consulting firm, EVD Corporation; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp was a lifelong Democrat who served
13 on many Illinois State commissions; he was active in numerous
14 elections for Illinois State legislators, U.S.
15 Representatives, U.S. Senators, Illinois Governors, and U.S.
16 Presidents; in 1992, he was appointed elector to the Electoral
17 College in and for the State of Illinois; in November of 1993,
18 he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as governor
19 of the U.S. Postal Board, a post he held until December 8,
20 2002; during his tenure on the Postal Board, he was elected
21 chairman and vice chairman by his peers; and
 
22     WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp was a member of the Equality

 

 

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1 Masonic Lodge 2, Scottish Rite Bodies, Shawneetown American
2 Legion, the Shrine, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp was an avid world traveler for
4 business and pleasure; he visited Japan, Mexico, Panama,
5 England, and France during his time in the Navy; he also
6 visited Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada, The
7 Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad during vacations and
8 business for the U.S. Postal Service; he also visited Point
9 Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost point in North America; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp is survived by his wife of 62
11 years, Frances Hope (Sanders) Dyhrkopp; his brother, Felix
12 Dyhrkopp; his daughter-in-law, Ellen (Lambert) Dyhrkopp; and
13 his grandchildren, Douglas Einar Dyhrkopp, Derek and Kara
14 (Dyhrkopp) Brass, and Aaron Joseph Dyhrkopp; he was preceded in
15 death by his son, Anthony Wayne Dyhrkopp; therefore, be it
 
16     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
17 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
18 his family and friends, the passing of Einar Victor Dyhrkopp;
19 and be it further
 
20     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
21 presented to the family of Einar Dyhrkopp as an expression of
22 our sympathy.