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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of former
4United States Ambassador to Norway and Quaker Oats Chief
5Executive Officer Robert D. Stuart, Jr., who passed away on May
68, 2014 at the age of 98; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Robert Stuart, Jr. was born in 1916 in Hubbard
8Woods and grew up just north of there in Lake Forest; he
9graduated from the Los Alamos Ranch School in New Mexico and
10then Princeton University in 1937; and
 
11    WHEREAS, In 1940, while attending Yale Law School, Robert
12Stuart, Jr. began to become politically active by joining a
13group of classmates that included future President Gerald Ford
14and future Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, which became
15the founding of the America First Committee; the America First
16Committee disbanded shortly after the attacks on Pearl Harbor
17in 1941, and he joined the Army as a field artillery officer,
18serving 2 years overseas; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Robert Stuart, Jr. was discharged in 1946 with the
20rank of Major and returned to law school at Yale; shortly after
21graduating, he joined Quaker Oats, which was founded by his
22grandfather, and led at the time by his father, R. Douglas

 

 

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1Stuart, and uncle, John Stuart; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Robert Stuart, Jr. stayed at Quaker Oats for 38
3years, the last 15 serving as Chief Executive Officer; in 1984,
4he stepped down from Quaker Oats, and was appointed by
5President Ronald Reagan as the ambassador to Norway and served
6from 1984 to 1989, during the declining years of the Cold War;
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, In the years following his time as U.S.
9ambassador, Robert Stuart, Jr. served on the defense Base
10Closure and Realignment Committee under Presidents George H.W.
11Bush and Bill Clinton; he continued to stay active in local
12politics, including his involvement with the Lake County
13Republican Federation, which he co-founded in 1962; he was an
14Illinois Republican Party committeeman from 1964 to 1972; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Robert Stuart Jr. is survived by his wife,
16Lillian; sister, Margaret; son, James M. (Dianne) Stuart;
17daughter, Marian S. Pillsbury; son, Alexander D. (Robin)
18Stuart; daughter-in-law, Nancy M. Stuart; 8 grandchildren; 6
19great-grandchildren; and numerous Norwegian stepchildren,
20grandchildren, and great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
22NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that

 

 

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1we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of
2Robert D. Stuart, Jr.; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That we honor the memory of Robert D. Stuart, Jr.
4and remember his service as a U.S. ambassador, philanthropy,
5business acumen, and political activism; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
7presented to the family of Robert Stuart as a symbol of our
8sincere sympathy and gratitude for his service.