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093_SR0298
LRB093 12487 KEF 17674 r
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of
3 Illinois were saddened to learn of the death of Richard C.
4 Wessell, Sr. of Des Plaines on June 27, 2003; and
5 WHEREAS, Mr. Wessell was born April 27, 1922, in Chicago;
6 he was the owner, editor, and publisher of the Journal &
7 Topics newspapers in Des Plaines since 1946; he began his
8 career as a reporter for Pickwick Newspapers in Park Ridge in
9 June, 1935; he grew up on Chicago's North Side in the Edison
10 Park area and attended Taft and Schurz High Schools, later
11 graduating from Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, where he
12 was editor of the student newspaper; and
13 WHEREAS, During World War II, he was a gunnery officer
14 and later commander of a Navy gunboat; he served during the
15 battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa; he married Mary Jane Hobson
16 in 1944 during the war; after he was discharged in 1946, the
17 couple bought a station wagon and embarked on a trip out West
18 to find a community newspaper to buy; together they bought a
19 single newspaper in 1946 and expanded it into a
20 16-publication group; headquartered in Des Plaines, the
21 Journal & Topics newspapers, considered one of the best in
22 Illinois, have won many regional, State and national awards
23 over the last 57 years; recently, he and Mary Jane, turned
24 over ownership of the group that serves 28 adjacent Northwest
25 and North suburbs of Chicago to three of their children; and
26 WHEREAS, Besides his journalistic career, he worked in
27 the early 1950s for the Cook County Sheriff, Joseph Lohman,
28 and in the late 1960s he was a press aide for then-Senator
29 Birch Bayh of Indiana; and
30 WHEREAS, Mr. Wessell's passing will be deeply felt by
31 many, especially his wife, Mary Jane; his children, Stephen
32 H. Wessell, Todd C. (Carolyn) Wessell, Richard C. (Cindy)
-2- LRB093 12487 KEF 17674 r
1 Wessell, Jr., Robert H. (Melanie) Wessell, Shelby J. (Walter)
2 Bogdan, and Christian M. "Kiki" (Patrick) Geoghegan; his
3 grandchildren, Emily, Thomas, Erin, Katie, Danny, Taylor,
4 Elliott, Josh, Zach, Amanda, Cassidy, Adam, and Flannery;
5 therefore, be it
6 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
7 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of
8 Richard C. Wessell, Sr. along with all who knew and loved him
9 and extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends;
10 and be it further
11 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12 presented to the family of Richard C. Wessell, Sr. as an
13 expression of our deepest sympathy.
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