SR0761 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0761 LRB095 21743 KXB 51954 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of prominent Chicago architect Walter A. Netsch Jr., who passed away on June 15, 2008; and

WHEREAS, Walter Netsch was born on February 23, 1920; he married the former Illinois Comptroller, Dawn Clark Netsch, in 1963; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Netsch is credited with creating several significant structures throughout the country using "Field Theory" and was both praised and criticized for his work; he is remembered for designing the U.S. Air Force Academy Chapel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago, the Inland Steel Building in Chicago, the Behavioral Science Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Miami University Art Museum, and his home in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Netsch studied architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; during World War II he was stationed on the Aleutian Islands; and

WHEREAS, He spent thirty years with Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, the Chicago architecture firm; in 1986 he was appointed Park District Board president by then Mayor of Chicago, Harold Washington; and

WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents, Walter Andrew Netsch, Sr. and Anna Calista Netsch (nee Smith) and one sister, Nan (the late William S. II) Kerr; and

WHEREAS, Walter Netsch Jr. is survived by his wife of 44 years, Dawn Clark Netsch; his nephews, Andrew D. (Pamela) Kerr and William S. Kerr III; his niece, Elizabeth Nan Kerr; and his grand-nephews, Andrew D. (Lindsey) Kerr, Jr. and Mathias S. Kerr; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Walter A. Netsch Jr.; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Walter A. Netsch Jr. as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.