SR0307 LRB096 13151 GRL 27701 r

1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Allen "Bo" Price of Evanston, who passed
4 away on May 1, 2009; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Allen "Bo" Price was a lifelong resident of
6 Evanston; he grew up on Darrow Avenue as one of the ten
7 children in his family; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Allen "Bo" Price, along with five of his brothers,
9 was drafted during World War II; he joined the U.S. Army in
10 1943 and fought in Europe from D-Day to VE-Day; he was one of
11 seven African-Americans featured in the 2007 documentary, "A
12 Distant Shore: African-Americans of D-Day"; he remained an
13 advocate for veterans' rights for the remainder of his life,
14 ensuring that wreaths were laid on the graves of local soldiers
15 every Memorial Day; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Allen "Bo" Price was employed with the Illinois
17 Highway Department and spent decades as a shoe repairman in
18 Glenview; he also made a life with the Snell Post of the
19 Veterans of Foreign Wars and the young people he served at
20 Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Allen "Bo" Price founded the Evanston Vanguards

 

 

SR0307 - 2 - LRB096 13151 GRL 27701 r

1 Rifle and Drill Team in 1947; he was also an accomplished drill
2 team instructor, taking hundreds of local drill team members
3 around the country to compete against the nation's top
4 contenders; under his direction, the drill teams won numerous
5 State and national titles; he also began two drum and bugle
6 corps; in total, he trained more than 2,000 girls and boys; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Allen "Bo" Price was a co-founder of the Council
8 of Elders Pops and Moms (COE-POPS), a group that helped
9 discourage gang involvement in the 1980s; he was president of
10 the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center advisory board and
11 effectively pushed to improve, renovate, and expand the
12 facility and add more programs to engage young people; he was a
13 founding member and former commander of the Veterans of Foreign
14 Wars William B. Snell Post #7186 and a fixture as emcee of
15 Veterans Day and Memorial Day programs at Fountain Square; and
 
16     WHEREAS, In 1998, Allen "Bo" Price had an honorary street
17 named for him, Allen "Bo" Price Drive, in honor of his
18 dedication to helping young people at Foster Field and the
19 Foster Community Center, later renamed Fleetwood-Jourdain; in
20 2006, the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Theatre saluted him
21 with a play titled "Honoring a Living Legend: The Life and
22 Times of Allen 'Bo' Price"; and
 
23     WHEREAS, Allen "Bo" Price will be remembered by all who

 

 

SR0307 - 3 - LRB096 13151 GRL 27701 r

1 knew and loved him as an intensely patriotic and caring man;
2 therefore, be it
 
3     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
4 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
5 his family and friends, the passing of Allen "Bo" Price; and be
6 it further
 
7     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8 presented to the family of Allen "Bo" Price as an expression of
9 our sympathy.