Full Text of SJR0040 102nd General Assembly
SJ0040 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, It is highly fitting that the Illinois General | 3 | | Assembly pay respect to the life of former Illinois State | 4 | | Senator John Benjamin "Jack" Roe III by honoring him with a | 5 | | memorial overpass on Rochelle State Route 251; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe's family has a long history of service | 7 | | to the State of Illinois; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe's great-grandfather, Dr. John Roe, was | 9 | | born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1800 and moved to Ogle | 10 | | County in 1836; he was the first doctor in the Rock River | 11 | | Valley; he established a farm and medical practice on a hill, | 12 | | which later became known as "Lighthouse Point" because Dr. Roe | 13 | | and his wife kept a light burning in a window as a beacon so | 14 | | that all knew how to find the doctor; that land now houses the | 15 | | Lighthouse Church and Cemetery and was donated by the Roe | 16 | | family; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe was born to Jane Gilbert and John B. Roe | 18 | | II on November 21, 1942; he graduated from Oregon Community | 19 | | High School in 1960 and Center College in Danville, Kentucky | 20 | | in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and | 21 | | History; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe attended the University of Illinois, | 2 | | where he graduated from law school in 1967 and began his | 3 | | practice of law in Ogle County; he served as a public defender | 4 | | for the county and was then elected the youngest state's | 5 | | attorney in Illinois in 1968; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe was elected State Senator of the 35th | 7 | | District of Illinois in 1972 and was the first freshman | 8 | | senator to be appointed to the Committee of Committees; he | 9 | | also served on the Legislative Investigative Commission; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe sponsored the Illinois Campaign | 11 | | Disclosure Act, requiring candidates for public office to | 12 | | disclose their contributors and their expenditures; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe sponsored and passed legislation that | 14 | | appropriated the necessary funds for the first leg of the | 15 | | North-South Freeway from Rockford to the west tollway | 16 | | extension of Rochelle and legislation allocating money for the | 17 | | U.S. 20 Freeway Bypass system to be built from Lena to east of | 18 | | Freeport; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, In 1976, Sen. Roe was approached by Robert "Bob" | 20 | | Hultgren, a local businessman and entrepreneur, and Mayor Bill | 21 | | Cipolla to obtain assistance and funding to place an overpass | 22 | | on then U.S. Route 51 through Rochelle; at that time, U.S. |
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| 1 | | Route 51 was the major north-south thoroughfare through the | 2 | | state; Rochelle had two sets of railroad tracks, the Chicago | 3 | | Northwestern and Burlington Northern; as many as 80 trains a | 4 | | day went through Rochelle, creating delays of 15 to 20 minutes | 5 | | for each train; the city had become known as Jamtown and | 6 | | Delaysville by truckers; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe obtained the money necessary to | 8 | | construct the Rochelle overpass; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe was appointed Chief Justice of the | 10 | | Illinois Court of Claims by Governor Jim Thompson in 1979; he | 11 | | was a member of the Rochelle Grade School Board of District 230 | 12 | | from 1982 to 1984; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Sen Roe. practiced law in Rochelle from 1973 to | 14 | | 1995; he was appointed a circuit judge in 1995 by the Illinois | 15 | | Supreme Court and was elected as a circuit judge in 1996; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe retired as a judge in 2000 and was a | 17 | | member of the Governor's Commission to Revise and Rewrite The | 18 | | Illinois Criminal Code; he was also a member of the board of | 19 | | the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and served | 20 | | on the faculty at Stetson University College of Law in St. | 21 | | Petersburg, Florida as an adjunct professor; he was a | 22 | | Certified Florida County Circuit and Family Mediator and a |
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| 1 | | Certified Mediator of the U.S. District Court Middle District | 2 | | of Florida and U.S. District Court Northern District of | 3 | | Illinois; he was a Florida Bar Association arbitrator and | 4 | | mediator and was a certified mediator and arbitrator of the | 5 | | 12th Circuit of Florida and the 15th Circuit of Illinois; he | 6 | | was a Manatee County Florida administration hearing officer | 7 | | and was an arbitrator for the New York and Nasdaq Stock | 8 | | Exchanges; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Sen. Roe was preceded in death by his parents; | 10 | | and | 11 | | WHEREAS, At the time of his passing, Sen. Roe was survived | 12 | | by his wife of 47 years, Phyllis, who was his companion, love, | 13 | | best friend, and caretaker; his son, John B. "Ben" (Irene) Roe | 14 | | IV; his stepdaughter, Julie (Jim) Watt; his grandchildren, | 15 | | John Benjamin Roe V, Mary Margaret Roe, Justin Watt, and Emma | 16 | | Watt; his sister, Ruth Roe Arth; and many nieces and nephews | 17 | | and extended family members; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Without the leadership, statesmanship, and | 19 | | perseverance of Sen. Roe, the Rochelle overpass would not have | 20 | | been built; therefore, be it
| 21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 22 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF |
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| 1 | | REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate the | 2 | | Rochelle State Route 251 overpass as the "Sen. John B. "Jack" | 3 | | Roe Overpass"; and be it further | 4 | | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation | 5 | | is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with | 6 | | State and federal highway regulations, appropriate plaques or | 7 | | signs giving notice of the name of the "Sen. John B. "Jack" Roe | 8 | | Overpass"; and be it further
| 9 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 10 | | presented to the family of Sen. Roe, the Secretary of the | 11 | | Illinois Department of Transportation, and the Mayor of City | 12 | | of Rochelle.
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