HR1330 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1330 LRB096 22554 GRL 41857 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of John Schmidt of Antioch, who passed away on May 30, 2010; and

WHEREAS, John Schmidt was born on June 29, 1922, in Munich, Germany; he immigrated to the U.S. with his parents, John and Magdalena Schmidt, in 1923 and settled in Waukegan; he grew up in Waukegan during its heyday and met his future wife, Irene, in the German Club at Waukegan Township High School; he and his wife later resided in Waukegan for over 50 years before moving to Antioch in 1995 with their 4 dogs; and

WHEREAS, John Schmidt served his country with pride and distinction as a member of the United States Army during World War II; he served as a combat engineer with the 3rd Armored Division, where he fought in most of the major campaigns in the European theatre; and

WHEREAS, John Schmidt trained as a machinist at U.S. Steel; after World War II, he took a job at Northwestern University in 1946; he retired from NU's Technological Institute after 42 years of running the Civil Engineering Lab, where he assisted and mentored engineering grad students and specialized in model making, stress analysis, and high speed photography; and

WHEREAS, John Schmidt loved spending time with his family and the "old gang" from Northwestern University, reading mystery novels, and working in his machine shop on many special projects; he was well known for his ability to fix, redesign, or refashion anything; and

WHEREAS, John Schmidt was preceded in death by his loving wife of 63 years, Irene; and

WHEREAS, John Schmidt is survived by his children; Robert (Suzi) Schmidt, Carol (Norman) Koshkarian, and Paula (Michael) Bessler; his grandchildren, Mark Schmidt and Dawn (Brian) Holcomb; and his great-grandson, Carson Holcomb; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of John Schmidt; and be it further

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