Full Text of SR1959 099th General Assembly
SR1959 99TH 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 Pastor Willis Allen Bruce of Alton, who | 4 | | passed away on May 26, 2016; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce was born in St. Louis, Missouri to | 6 | | Adelaide Irene (Purcell) and Captain Donald Frances Bruce on | 7 | | August 14, 1921; he was educated in St. Louis and Alton public | 8 | | schools and enlisted in the United States Army shortly after | 9 | | his 19th birthday; he served in World War II with the 3443rd | 10 | | Quartermaster Truck Company until his Honorable Discharge as a | 11 | | Sergeant in 1945; he fought in battles and campaigns in Papua | 12 | | New Guinea, and the East Indies; he was a decorated soldier | 13 | | receiving multiple ribbons and badges for his courage and | 14 | | bravery, including three Battle Stars and six Oversees Bars; he | 15 | | married Juanita Katheryn Merriweather at Campbell Chapel AME | 16 | | Church in Alton on June 2, 1946; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce retired from Laclede Steel in Alton | 18 | | after over 30 years; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce became an ordained minister in the | 20 | | early 1970s; he was Pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Alton for | 21 | | 39 years; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce was the youngest of nine children: | 2 | | Francis, Adelaide, Jane, Donald Jr., Irvin, John, Robert, and | 3 | | Melvin; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce was preceded in death by his wife of | 5 | | 64 years, Juanita; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Pastor Bruce is survived by his daughters, Ruth | 7 | | Ann Bruce Wilson (William Johnson) and Diane Irene Bruce Ross; | 8 | | his sons, Charles Allen (Sandra) Bruce and Donald Madison | 9 | | Bruce; his grandchildren, Thomas C. Wilson Jr., Jerome M. | 10 | | Wilson, Diane B. Wilson, Delano B. Ross III, Jason B. Ross, | 11 | | Lyndsay N. Bruce, Gerad D. Bruce, and India J. M. Bruce; his | 12 | | great-grandchildren; and a host of friends, neighbors, | 13 | | brothers, and sisters; therefore, be it
| 14 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | 15 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 16 | | Pastor Willis Allen Bruce, and extend our sincere condolences | 17 | | to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be | 18 | | it further
| 19 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 20 | | presented to the family of Pastor Bruce as an expression of our | 21 | | deepest sympathy.
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