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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Gene Vanderport of Champaign and
4Danville, who passed away on June 28, 2016, at the age of 66;
5and
 
6    WHEREAS, Gene Vanderport graduated from the University of
7Illinois with a degree in political science; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Gene Vanderport joined his first union at the age
9of 15 while playing rock and roll; he was a card-carrying
10"professional revolutionary" and spent his entire career
11working for labor unions on local and national levels; he was a
12member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 90; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In the mid 1980s, Gene Vanderport moved from the
14Veterans Administration in Danville, where he was the local
15President, to being the national director of American
16Federation of Government Employees in Washington, D.C.; in the
171990s, he returned to Danville and joined the Illinois
18Education Association; he was coordinator of the Living Wage
19Association of Champaign and was successful in getting living
20wage policies adopted in the City of Urbana and Champaign
21County; he and his wife, Germaine Light, were very active in
22the Central Illinois Jobs with Justice Coalition; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Gene Vanderport's most prized possession was the
2family land near the Vermilion River, east of Danville, and the
3family cemetery across the river; therefore, be it
 
4    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
5ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
6Gene Vanderport, and extend our sincere condolences to his
7family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
8further
 
9    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10presented to the family of Gene Vanderport as an expression of
11our deepest sympathy.