SR0950 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Einar Victor Dyhrkopp of Shawneetown, who passed away on December 6, 2008; and

WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp was born on March 16, 1926 in Old Shawneetown; his parents were Victor and Vevith (Denton) Dyhrkopp; and

WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp graduated from Shawneetown High School in the spring of 1945; he was drafted into the United States Navy at the end of his junior year of high school and was called to serve on the U.S.S. Aaron Ward; he served two years in the Navy, where he was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for his service during the Battle of Okinawa on the Aaron Ward as a picket ship on a radar picket station; the Aaron Ward took six direct hits from suicide planes, more than any other ship of its size; and

WHEREAS, Following his discharge, Einar Dyhrkopp married Frances Hope Sanders on December 14, 1946; in 1961, he started the Gold Hill Ranch, a grain and livestock farm based in Shawneetown; while working in Shawneetown, he was elected mayor and initiated a land development company, Dyhrkopp Development, which specializes in housing and commercial building; he also served as a partner and chief operating officer of Shawnee Cabinets, Inc. for 22 years; and

WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp served as director of Illinois One Bank and its predecessor in Shawneetown for 33 years; he also served as vice president of Illinois One Bancorp, the holding company for Illinois One Bank, which was located in Shawneetown, Elizabethtown, and Golconda; and

WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp served as president of Tecumseh International Corporation, a firm involved in coal energy trading; he also served as the president of his own corporate consulting firm, EVD Corporation; and

WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp was a lifelong Democrat who served on many Illinois State commissions; he was active in numerous elections for Illinois State legislators, U.S. Representatives, U.S. Senators, Illinois Governors, and U.S. Presidents; in 1992, he was appointed elector to the Electoral College in and for the State of Illinois; in November of 1993, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as governor of the U.S. Postal Board, a post he held until December 8, 2002; during his tenure on the Postal Board, he was elected chairman and vice chairman by his peers; and

WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp was a member of the Equality Masonic Lodge 2, Scottish Rite Bodies, Shawneetown American Legion, the Shrine, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars; and

WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp was an avid world traveler for business and pleasure; he visited Japan, Mexico, Panama, England, and France during his time in the Navy; he also visited Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada, The Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Trinidad during vacations and business for the U.S. Postal Service; he also visited Point Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost point in North America; and

WHEREAS, Einar Dyhrkopp is survived by his wife of 62 years, Frances Hope (Sanders) Dyhrkopp; his brother, Felix Dyhrkopp; his daughter-in-law, Ellen (Lambert) Dyhrkopp; and his grandchildren, Douglas Einar Dyhrkopp, Derek and Kara (Dyhrkopp) Brass, and Aaron Joseph Dyhrkopp; he was preceded in death by his son, Anthony Wayne Dyhrkopp; 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 Einar Victor Dyhrkopp; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Einar Dyhrkopp as an expression of our sympathy.