Full Text of SR0252 095th General Assembly
SR0252 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of
Jesse Loraine Wade of Scottsdale, | 4 |
| Arizona, who passed away on June 9, 2007; and
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| WHEREAS, Jesse Wade was born on April 4, 1913, in Valley | 6 |
| City; he was the middle son of Jesse Walter and Anna Gregory | 7 |
| Wade; he married Margery M. Sawyer on May 19, 1935; in 1949, | 8 |
| they had one daughter, Susan; and
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| WHEREAS, Jesse Wade graduated from Griggsville High | 10 |
| School, where he was an outstanding athlete, particularly in | 11 |
| basketball; he attended the University of Illinois at | 12 |
| Urbana-Champaign for one year; in 1932, he began his business | 13 |
| career with 150 dollars, when he opened a grocery store in | 14 |
| Griggsville during the peak of the Great Depression; and
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| WHEREAS, Jesse Wade enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943; he | 16 |
| completed his basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and was | 17 |
| deployed to England in early 1944; he was part of the second | 18 |
| advancement to France, landing on the beaches of Normandy on | 19 |
| June 7, 1944; he served as a communications specialist with the | 20 |
| Third Army, traveling with the second French Armored Division | 21 |
| on the eastern march across France, being in Paris on the day | 22 |
| it was liberated; after reaching Germany, he was wounded in |
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| action, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart; he was | 2 |
| returned to the United States for medical treatment on the day | 3 |
| Germany surrendered; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1962, Jesse Wade, with the help of the Trio | 5 |
| Manufacturing Company, pioneered the aluminum martin housing | 6 |
| industry; by 1965, Griggsville proclaimed itself the Purple | 7 |
| Martin Capital of the Nation and erected the "Empire State | 8 |
| Building of the Bird World"; soon after, he appeared on the | 9 |
| cover of Look Magazine and published his first book, "What You | 10 |
| Should Know About the Purple Martin"; in 1966, he formed the | 11 |
| Griggsville Wild Bird Society and started publishing the Purple | 12 |
| Martin Capital News, which still has international membership | 13 |
| and distribution; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, In 1968, Jesse Wade was responsible for the first | 15 |
| commissioned painting of the Purple Martin since John James | 16 |
| Audubon in the mid 1840s; this became the first of a series of | 17 |
| 50 North American Bird Species which became the foundation for | 18 |
| the Governor's State Bird Print program; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, During the 1970s and 1980s, he commissioned other | 20 |
| artists to paint series of North American mammals, flowers and | 21 |
| sporting dogs; he renamed the company Nature House Inc.; he | 22 |
| amassed an enormous collection of antique wildlife art and | 23 |
| founded two museums; he gained national notoriety when he rode |
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| across the Mississippi River on the top of Engine 3007 from | 2 |
| Quinsippi Island to Quincy; he was written up by countless | 3 |
| publications in the U.S., appearing twice on the front page of | 4 |
| The Wall Street Journal; he wrote his second book, "Attracting | 5 |
| Purple Martins," in 1987; and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, In the 1990s, Jesse Wade began his favorite and | 7 |
| final endeavor; with the help of his daughter and son-in-law, | 8 |
| he purchased and developed Perry Springs, a 1200-acre wildlife | 9 |
| refuge in the hills north of Griggsville, and Wade Marsh, an | 10 |
| 80-acre wetlands just north of his birthplace on the Illinois | 11 |
| River; he was an avid duck hunter and cherished his times | 12 |
| communing with nature; and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, Jesse Wade was one of the founders of AMPS, a | 14 |
| coalition of businessmen and community leaders who lobbied for | 15 |
| the completion of Interstate 72 from Springfield to Quincy; he | 16 |
| was a member of American Legion Post 213 and ANSAR Shrine; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, Jesse Wade was preceded in death by his parents; | 18 |
| and his wife; and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, Jesse Wade was survived by his daughter; his | 20 |
| son-in-law, Tom Barr; his nephews, Courtney (JoEllen) Wade, Dr. | 21 |
| Mark (Laurie) Wade, and Dr. Michael Wade; his great-nephews and | 22 |
| great-niece; and his devoted long-term caretaker, Mimi Hu; |
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| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 3 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 4 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Jesse L. Wade; and be it | 5 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 7 |
| presented to the family of Jesse L. Wade as an expression of | 8 |
| our sympathy.
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