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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Paul Harding Eagon; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Paul Eagon was born on August 8, 1922, in a farm
5 house in the tiny crossroads village of Deer Lick,
6 Pennsylvania; his parents were Mary Pansy Phillips Eagon and
7 Francis Jennings Eagon; he attended high school and served on
8 the yearbook staff at Center Township High School in
9 Rogersville, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1941; and
 
10     WHEREAS, After high school, Paul Eagon went to work in a
11 steel mill in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania; he then went back home
12 and attended Waynesburg College; he drove a cab to help pay for
13 his tuition, books, and housing; he also attended Lake Forest
14 College and was a graduate of the Industrial Management
15 Institute of Lake Forest College; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Paul Eagon served his country with pride and
17 distinction as a member of the United States Armed Forces;
18 after a stint in the U.S. Army Reserves, he went into the U.S.
19 Army and was sent to Fort McClellan, Alabama, for his basic
20 training in the summer of 1943; after basic training, he was
21 sent to the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, to
22 participate in the ASTP program; after a year, the ASTP program

 

 

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1 was shut down and he was sent to Camp Shelby at Hattiesburg,
2 Mississippi; and
 
3     WHEREAS, In November of 1944, Paul Eagon was sent to
4 Germany with the 69th Infantry Division, where he served as a
5 machine gun squad leader; during his time in Germany, his unit
6 broke through the Siegfried Line and fought in battles for
7 Colditz Castle and the City of Leipzig, which culminated with
8 his unit meeting with the Red Army at the Elbe River; he was
9 awarded the Bronze Star, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the
10 American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern
11 Campaign Medal with Bronze Star Device, the World War II
12 Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp,
13 the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Honorable Service Lapel
14 Button for his meritorious service; many of his exploits during
15 the war are included in the book, "The Stories of Our War"; and
 
16     WHEREAS, After World War II, Paul Eagon was transferred to
17 the 29th Infantry Division; he was later transferred to the
18 78th Infantry Division in Berlin, where he became a Battalion
19 Sergeant Major; and
 
20     WHEREAS, After returning to the United States, Paul Eagon
21 received a letter from a former Army buddy, Charles M.
22 Drinkwater, Jr., urging him to come to Waukegan to work for
23 Drinkwater, Inc.; after accepting his offer and working there,

 

 

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1 he went to work for the U.S. Envelope Co. in North Chicago for
2 10 years; he then accepted a position from Hammermill Paper Co.
3 and worked in their Chicago office, serving as District Sales
4 Manager for the Midwest area until his retirement in 1990; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Paul Eagon was a member of numerous civic
6 organizations, including the Junior Achievement Club, the
7 Indian Guides, the Boy Scouts at Greenwood School, the
8 Waukegan-North Chicago Jaycees, the Zion-Benton Jaycees, the
9 Sunrise Organization, the Jack Benny Statue Committee, the
10 Genesee Theatre, the American Legion Homer Dahringer Post #281,
11 the Fighting 69th Infantry Division Association, the Waukegan
12 Historical Society, and the Carnegie Preservation Project; he
13 served as a member of the Board of Trustees at the First United
14 Methodist Church for many years; he served as an usher for more
15 than 25 years and was a dishwasher at the Free Meal Program; he
16 was also a member of the Greene County Historical Society and
17 the Cornerstone Genealogical Society in Waynesburg,
18 Pennsylvania; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Paul Eagon and his wife were the recipients of the
20 Waukegan Exchange Club's Golden Deeds Award in 2008; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Paul Eagon was preceded in death by his parents
22 and his brother, Donald Jack Eagon; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Paul Eagon is survived by his wife of 60 years,
2 Elaine Manzke Eagon; his sons, Douglas P. Eagon (Jane),
3 Gregory, Jeffrey (Kathy), and Philip (Kristine Schell); his 9
4 grandsons; and his 7 great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
 
5     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
6 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
7 his family and friends, the passing of Paul Harding Eagon; and
8 be it further
 
9     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10 presented to the family of Paul Eagon as an expression of our
11 sympathy.