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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Plessa Edward Mast of Urbana, who passed
4away on February 19, 2016; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Edward Mast was born in Bourbon, Indiana to Plessa
6L. and Vada Mae Mast on October 18, 1926; he lived in
7Churubusco and Nappanee, Indiana before moving to Peru,
8Indiana; he graduated from Peru High School in 1944 and started
9college at Purdue University the same year; after being
10drafted, he enlisted in the United States Navy as an
11electronics technician's mate in the fall of 1945, during World
12War II; he married Phyllis Oury in 1947; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In 1946, Edward Mast volunteered to serve on the
14USS Appalachian, a communications ship that was at the Bikini
15Atoll atomic bomb tests; he returned to complete his
16undergraduate and master's degrees in electrical engineering
17at Purdue University; after a brief stint as an engineer for
18the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. in Akron, Ohio, he joined the
19University of Illinois in 1952, starting a continuous
20association with the U of I by Edward, his children, and his
21grandchildren that lasted for 64 years to date; he received a
22Doctor in Electrical Engineering in 1958, and he remained at
23the U of I for his entire career as a professor of electrical

 

 

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1engineering, becoming associate head of the Electrical
2Engineering Department in 1985, before retiring in 1987; in
3addition to his work at the U of I, he worked many summers for
4aerospace companies in Southern California, where he designed
5antennas for spacecraft and missiles, with a particular focus
6on electromagnetic propagation of radio frequency signals
7during spacecraft re-entry; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Edward Mast was an Eagle Scout, and all 6 of his
9sons and 7 of his grandsons are Eagle Scouts; when he gave a
10presentation at the Eagle Scout ceremony for his grandchildren,
11he remembered his experience getting a camping merit badge when
12he rode his bicycle to the woods, and stayed alone overnight
13with a gun for protection from animals; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Edward Mast built a car for the Great American
15Soapbox Derby in 1937, and his love for cars continued
16throughout his life; he learned to fix all the cars he owned
17through the years and he was a longstanding member of Illini
18Collector Car Club; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Edward Mast was proud of his Amish-Mennonite
20heritage and did extensive genealogy research, including
21tracing the immigration of his fourth great-grandfather, Jacob
22Mast, from Switzerland to Pennsylvania on the Charming Nancy in
231737 and identifying his eighth great-grandfather, Benedict

 

 

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1Mast, who was born in Guggisberg, Canton Bern, Switzerland, in
2about 1570; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Edward Mast enjoyed spending time with his
4grandchildren, playing games, showing them his model train
5sets, and making them his hot chocolate with whipped cream; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Edward Mast was preceded in death by his parents
7and his sisters, Jane and Mary Etta; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Edward Mast is survived by his wife of 68 years,
9Phyllis; his 7 children, Philip (Katy), Kim (Cindy), Eric
10(Jill), Dan (Laura), Anne (John), Alan (Lynne), and Jeffery
11(Kristin); his 22 grandchildren; his 4 great-grandchildren;
12his brother, Paul Mast; and many extended family and cherished
13friends; therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
15ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
16Plessa Edward Mast, and extend our sincere condolences to his
17family, 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 Edward Mast as an expression of our
21deepest sympathy.