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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to recognize former Crestwood
4 Mayor Chester Stranczek for his hard work and dedication to his
5 community while serving in office; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Elected mayor in 1969, he served as trustee for 12
7 years before his election; he is credited with improving the
8 business community, changing the look of the community, and
9 leading the campaign for the south suburbs to get a riverboat
10 casino; and
 
11     WHEREAS, In 2006 he gave residents who own their homes 48
12 percent of their property taxes back, a total of $4 million; he
13 also returned his $6,000 mayor's salary to the village every
14 year; and
 
15     WHEREAS, He was born and raised in Crestwood but did not
16 speak English until he was 8 years old and later helped his
17 siblings learn the language; he attended St. Christopher
18 grammar school in Midlothian, Blue Island High School, and
19 Canisius College in western New York; and
 
20     WHEREAS, After serving in the United States Army and
21 pitching in the minor leagues, Chester Stranczek returned to

 

 

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1 Crestwood, where he and his wife, Diane, raised their two
2 children; it was during this time that they started a trucking
3 business, Cresco Lines, Incorporated, that today operates in 48
4 states and parts of Canada; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Chester Stranczek was a minor league pitcher for
6 the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1950s before an injury forced
7 him to leave baseball; he also lent his talents to the United
8 States Army baseball team, when he served for seventeen months
9 in the Far East; his great love of baseball led him to bring
10 minor league baseball to Crestwood, where he secured funds to
11 build a multimillion dollar, state-of-the-art field; and
 
12     WHEREAS, He was a member of the executive boards of the
13 Illinois Transportation Association and Highway Users
14 Federation and director of the Suburban Bus Line "PACE;" he
15 also served the trucking industry as a director of the
16 Interstate Truckload Carriers Conference, the Illinois
17 Trucking Associations, and the Chicago Regional Transportation
18 Authority, was secretary of the Highway Users Federation as
19 well as that group's Automobile Safety Foundation affiliate; he
20 is also a past chairman of the American Trucking Association
21 and the Truckload Carriers Association; therefore, be it
 
22     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
23 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we

 

 

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1 congratulate Chester Stranczek on his retirement and commend
2 him for his hard work and dedication to the City of Crestwood;
3 and be it further
 
4     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
5 presented to Chester Stranczek as a symbol of our respect.