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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Ivan D.
4Thunder of Grayslake, who passed away on October 29, 2010; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Ivan Thunder was born in Oakland, California on
6September 28, 1913; his parents were the late James and
7Gertrude Thunder; he attended Loyola Academy, graduating in
81932, and was the only one of his siblings to attend college;
9during the Great Depression, he worked his way for 5 years
10through the 4-year program at Armour Tech (now the Illinois
11Institute of Technology), graduating in 1937; he subsequently
12became a civil engineer; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Ivan Thunder served his country with pride and
14distinction; when the United States entered World War II, Mr.
15Thunder was working at the Panama Canal; he later joined the
16United States Navy and was a lieutenant junior grade with the
17133rd Naval Construction Battalion (SeaBees) of the 4th Marine
18Division; he landed on Iwo Jima on D-Day + 1; during World War
19II, Mr. Thunder was the commander of the first ship to make a
20successful landing at Iwo Jima and risked his life to extricate
21the ship from a chain that fouled the boat; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Ivan Thunder was a member of the American Society

 

 

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1of Engineers; as a structural engineer, he helped to build
2America, constructing roads, bridges, dams, power plants, and
3steel-making plants; later in life, he began communicating in
4detail about his war experience; he spoke to students at every
5level, including Navy ROTC students at Notre Dame in April of
62007; he wrote a book about his life up to the day he landed at
7Iwo Jima ("Her Last Letter" under the pseudonym Michael Dalton)
8and wrote a second book about Iwo Jima and the Pacific War; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Ivan Thunder was a member of St. Gilbert Catholic
10Church in Grayslake and Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish in Park
11Ridge; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Ivan Thunder was preceded in death by his
13cherished wife of 61 years, Rosemary; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Ivan Thunder was the loving father of Rosemary
15(James) Schwoebel, Maureen (Dennis) Brebner, James (Ann Gerby)
16Thunder, Tom (Linda Craig) Thunder, Anita (Richard)
17Rotchstein, Diane (John) Schlosser, and Sheila (Gerard)
18Zygmunt; the proud grandfather of 26; and the great-grandfather
19of 15; therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
22mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Ivan

 

 

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1D. Thunder; and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
3presented to the family of Ivan Thunder as an expression of our
4sympathy.