Full Text of SR1391 101st General Assembly
SR1391 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Colonel Jerry J. Felmley, formerly of | 4 | | Bloomington, who passed away on July 21, 2020; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley was born to John B. and | 6 | | Beatrice S. Felmley in Bloomington in 1933; he graduated from | 7 | | Bloomington High School in 1950; he attended the University of | 8 | | Illinois, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta and | 9 | | graduated with a degree in civil engineering; he was | 10 | | commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force from Reserve | 11 | | Officer's Training Corps at the University of Illinois in 1955 | 12 | | and later joined the Air Force's Regular Officer Corps; he | 13 | | completed pilot training in Marana, Arizona; his early USAF | 14 | | assignments included over eight years of international flying | 15 | | from Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina to Europe, | 16 | | South America, Africa and the Middle East; his missions | 17 | | included the Hungarian airlift, the Suez crisis, support for | 18 | | the United Nations in Congo, and resupply for the South Pole's | 19 | | McMurdo Sound; during this time he met and married Jenrose | 20 | | Weldon; he completed a Master of Business Administration in | 21 | | 1965 under a special Air Force scholarship program for | 22 | | aerospace research and development managers at the University | 23 | | of Chicago's Graduate School of Business; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley felt called to pursue active | 2 | | duty when the Vietnam War began; during the war, he was | 3 | | aircraft commander on aerospace rescue and recovery missions | 4 | | and flew from the Republic of Vietnam and Thailand; it was his | 5 | | Rescue C-130 tanker and communications aircraft that led the | 6 | | Jolly Green helicopter forces on the famous Son Tay POW rescue | 7 | | mission in November of 1970; after the war, he spent three | 8 | | years on the USAF's Air Staff in the Pentagon directing | 9 | | operation evaluation and analytic studies of new airlift | 10 | | aircraft; he was a distinguished graduate of the prestigious | 11 | | National Defense University's Industrial College of the Armed | 12 | | Forces in Washington, D.C. and a member of that institution's | 13 | | faculty for two years; he spent his later career in senior | 14 | | management of Air Force research and development at Wright | 15 | | Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; he retired from the Air Force | 16 | | in 1981; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley was awarded the Legion of | 18 | | Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Meritorious | 19 | | Service Medals, seven Air Medals, and two Presidential Unit | 20 | | Citations; he was a command pilot with over 11,000 flying hours | 21 | | in 27 different aircraft and experience in all of the USAF's | 22 | | 4-engine transports operational between 1955 and 1980; and
| 23 | | WHEREAS, after his retirement from the Air Force, Colonel | 24 | | Jerry Felmley started Catalyst Associates, a consulting group |
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| 1 | | doing work in aerospace research and development management; he | 2 | | worked for another decade before fully retiring; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley was an active member of | 4 | | numerous charitable and professional organizations, including | 5 | | the Air Force Association, the American Defense Preparedness | 6 | | Association, the Order of Daedalians, alumni associations of | 7 | | the Universities of Illinois and Chicago and the Industrial | 8 | | College of the Armed Forces, the Phi Delta Theta national | 9 | | fraternity, the Green Valley Phi Delts, the Jolly Green | 10 | | Association, the booster clubs for both the USS Tucson and the | 11 | | USS Arizona submarines, and the Reid Park Zoological Society; | 12 | | and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley loved to travel; in | 14 | | retirement, he was able to take many trips, including going to | 15 | | Moscow in 1994 as part of an American Institute of Aeronautics | 16 | | and Astronautics technical exchange group, going to Hong Kong | 17 | | for the 1997 transition from British to Chinese control, and | 18 | | numerous Lindblad/National Geographic cruises from Alaska to | 19 | | Baja to the Antarctic; within the U.S., his favorite travel | 20 | | spots were Portland and San Diego to visit with crews of the | 21 | | subs stationed there and trips to see family in Bloomington, | 22 | | San Antonio, and Santa Fe; he also enjoyed bird watching the | 23 | | cactus wrens, doves, and quail who flocked to the feeders and | 24 | | water in the shady spot under the palo verde trees in his yard |
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| 1 | | in Tucson, Arizona; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley is survived by his three | 3 | | daughters, Melissa, Jennifer, and Amy; and his grandchildren, | 4 | | Catharine Rose, Conor, and James Nicholas; therefore, be it
| 5 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 6 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
| 7 | | Colonel Jerry J. Felmley and extend our sincere
condolences to | 8 | | his family, friends, and all who knew and loved
him; and be it | 9 | | further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
| 11 | | presented to the family of Colonel Jerry Felmley as an | 12 | | expression of
our deepest sympathy.
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