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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Peter A. "Tony" Oakley of Quincy, who
4passed away on January 23, 2015; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Growing up, Peter Oakley was a newspaper carrier
6for the Quincy Herald-Whig, occasionally doing work in other
7departments; he worked several summers during high school and
8college for WGEM radio and television; he was a 1952 graduate
9of Quincy High School and graduated in 1956 from Westminster
10College in Fulton, Missouri, with a degree in English; he
11served in the United States Army from 1957 through July of
121959, stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia; he served in the Army
13Reserve from 1959 to 1963; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Peter Oakley joined the Herald-Whig as a full-time
15employee in October of 1959 in the circulation department; he
16served as city circulation manager from October of 1964 through
17August of 1966, becoming the newspaper's circulation manager in
181965, a position he held until 1995; during that time, he hired
19the first African-American and the first female carriers for
20the newspaper; in 1971, he started the Outstanding Carrier
21Banquet; in 1995, he became the Herald-Whig's community
22relations director, a position he held until 2008; he was the
23co-founder and long-time coordinator of the newspaper's Good

 

 

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1News of Christmas campaign, which recently celebrated its 26th
2year of helping area families in need during the holidays; he
3was an active member in the International Circulation Managers
4Association, the Central States Circulation Managers
5Association, and the Association of Illinois Circulation
6Managers; he served as President of the Central States
7Circulation Managers Association from 1988 to 1990 and was
8awarded the group's President's Trophy in 1992 for his
9contributions toward the betterment of the profession; he was
10also a member of the Newspaper Association of America; he
11played a prominent role in Quincy Newspapers, Inc. (QNI), which
12won the 1991 Illinois Governor's Hometown Award for the Good
13News of Christmas campaign and the 1999 Illinois Governor's
14Award for the Arts; he was a member of the Quincy Newspapers,
15Inc. Board of Directors from 1983 to 2007 and a member of the
16Board of Directors of the Quincy Broadcasting Company from 1969
17to 2007; he was Secretary for the Board of Directors for QNI
18and the Oakley-Lindsay Foundation from 2001 until his passing;
19and
 
20    WHEREAS, Peter Oakley also took the lead in various
21community organizations; he served on the board and was either
22a past President or Chairman of the Quincy Community Theatre,
23the Progressive Playhouse, the Quincy Society of Fine Arts, the
24Washington Theater Commission, the John Wood Community College
25Foundation Board of Trustees, the Noon Kiwanis Club of Quincy,

 

 

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1and the Community Counseling Center (now known as Transitions
2of Western Illinois); he also served on the boards for the
3Quincy Art Center, the Friends of Dr. Richard Eells House, the
4Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County, the United Way
5Unmet Needs Committee, the Quincy Notre Dame Foundation, the
6Westminster Sigma Chi Fraternity Association, Junior
7Achievement, the Quincy Museum, the Quincy Arts Corridor
8Committee, and the St. Mary Hospital Foundation Board of
9Trustees; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Peter Oakley served as a volunteer for the United
11Way and was a division chairman; in 1980, he was appointed by
12the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission to the first
13Human Rights Authority, which covered an 18-county region in
14West-Central Illinois; he volunteered as a child-family mentor
15in the Quincy Public Schools; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Peter Oakley and his wife, Signe, were co-founders
17of the Adams County Arc, a group that provides support to
18parents and families of those with developmental disabilities;
19they were honorary chairpersons of the D.A. Weibring pro-am
20golf tournament in 1992 and were longtime volunteers for the
21event, which benefited the Arc for 25 years; Peter Oakley was
22the group's first President, and he received a number of honors
23for his community involvement; the Oakleys were honored with
24the Enid Ireland Award from the Quincy Community Theatre in

 

 

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11990; they were recipients of the Transitions of Western
2Illinois Humanitarian Award in 1999, and, in 2003, they were
3recipients of the Joe Bonansinga Community Service Award from
4the United Way of Adams County; the Oakleys were honored with
5the Sister Theresa Marie Braun Service Award from Quincy
6Catholic Charities in 2007; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Peter Oakley was honored by Westminster College
8with its Alumni Achievement Award in 2004; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Peter Oakley is survived by his wife of 50 years,
10Signe; his sons, Peter A. Oakley, II and his wife, Judy, and
11Harold B. "Hal" Oakley and his wife, Kathy, and their children,
12Bennett W. Oakley, Abigail L. Oakley, and Allen B. Oakley;
13therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
15ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
16Peter A. "Tony" Oakley, and extend our sincere condolences to
17his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
18further
 
19    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20presented to the family of Peter Oakley as an expression of our
21deepest sympathy.