Full Text of SR0744 102nd General Assembly
SR0744 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | 3 | | to learn of the death of George Finley Veenstra of | 4 | | Springfield, who passed away on November 11, 2021; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, George Veenstra was born in Chicago to William | 6 | | and Ruth (McNaughton) Veenstra on January 13, 1944; he | 7 | | contracted polio at age 5 and relied on leg braces to walk for | 8 | | the rest of his life; he graduated from Morgan Park High School | 9 | | in 1961 and earned a teaching degree from the University of | 10 | | Illinois in 1966; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, George Veenstra worked in the Springfield School | 12 | | District for more than 30 years, teaching mathematics and | 13 | | later computer classes, mostly at Washington Middle School, | 14 | | before retiring in 2000; he was an enthusiastic teacher who | 15 | | drew parents' praise for helping students who usually | 16 | | struggled with math; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, George Veenstra became an ardent fan of the | 18 | | Fighting Illini and discovered his own athletic abilities | 19 | | while in college; from 1962 to 1971, he played intramural | 20 | | wheelchair football at Illinois and was quarterback for the | 21 | | Gold Team, leading the team to five championships; in 1964, he | 22 | | was a member of the United States Paralympic team in archery |
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| 1 | | and table tennis at Tokyo; during this same time, he | 2 | | participated in swimming, archery (Silver Medal) and table | 3 | | tennis (Bronze Medal) at the National Wheelchair Games; in | 4 | | 1980, he won Gold Medals in the 50-meter butterfly and 400 | 5 | | freestyle swimming events and Silver Medals in the 100 free | 6 | | and 200 individual medleys at the National Wheelchair games; | 7 | | and | 8 | | WHEREAS, George Veenstra played point guard for the | 9 | | Champaign Urbana Black Knights wheelchair basketball team from | 10 | | 1967 to 1971; he was named the National Tournament Most | 11 | | Valuable Player in 1970; he helped form the Springfield Spoke | 12 | | Jockeys, coaching and playing for that team until 1989; he was | 13 | | a member of eight All-Midwest Conference teams, four | 14 | | all-sectional teams, and two all-national tournament teams; he | 15 | | was an assistant coach for three USA international wheelchair | 16 | | basketball teams that won Gold Medals at international | 17 | | competitions; he was inducted into the Wheelchair Hall of Fame | 18 | | in 1988 and the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame in 2003; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, George Veenstra threw his competitive spirit into | 20 | | playing with the Bridge Club of Springfield after retirement; | 21 | | he achieved the status of Silver Life Master; he also happily | 22 | | helped at Harvest & Blooms, the Rochester farm owned by his | 23 | | son, Garrick, and daughter-in-law, Violeta; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, George Veenstra is survived by his wife of over | 2 | | 50 years, Jeanne Titone Veenstra; his sons, Garrick, Matt, and | 3 | | Phil; his brothers, Bob and Ron; and his grandchildren, Sol, | 4 | | Sebi, Liam, Riley, Maddie, Ella, Finley, and Cecilia; | 5 | | therefore, be it
| 6 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 7 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 8 | | George Finley Veenstra and extend our sincere condolences to | 9 | | his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 10 | | further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 12 | | presented to the family of George Veenstra as an expression of | 13 | | our deepest sympathy.
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