SR0188 LRB096 12110 KXB 24237 r

1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Thomas F. Bolger of McHenry, who passed
4 away on March 16, 2009; and
 
5     WHEREAS, He was born March 11, 1924, the fifth of 10
6 children, to Thomas A. and Grace Doherty Bolger on an Irish
7 Prairie farm just south of McHenry; after graduating high
8 school at the age of 17, he took a job at McHenry State Bank
9 "until something better came along"; and
 
10     WHEREAS, He joined the United States Army in January of
11 1943, arriving in Liverpool, England, on his 20th birthday; his
12 unit landed in Normandy shortly after the D-Day invasion and
13 was part of the Red Ball Express supporting General Patton's
14 Third Army as it raced east across France; at the conclusion of
15 the war, his unit guarded German officers being tried for war
16 crimes in Luxembourg; and
 
17     WHEREAS, After his discharge from the Army with the rank of
18 staff sergeant, he returned to his war-shortened banking career
19 and met his future wife, Kathryn, working in the bookkeeping
20 department of the bank; they married in 1948; he was named
21 president of McHenry State Bank in 1974, a position he held
22 until retirement; in 1980, he was elected the national

 

 

SR0188 - 2 - LRB096 12110 KXB 24237 r

1 president of the Independent Bankers Association of America
2 representing 7,800 banks across 48 states; during his tenure,
3 he testified before committees of both houses of Congress and
4 the Illinois Legislature and was invited to participate in
5 President Carter's White House economic summit; he retired from
6 McHenry State Bank in 1993 after a 52-year career; and
 
7     WHEREAS, As a lifelong resident, he was a passionate
8 supporter of the McHenry community and took on leadership roles
9 in many charitable and civic organizations, including serving
10 as treasurer of the city of McHenry for 25 years, charter
11 treasurer of McHenry County College, and with his wife,
12 Kathryn, served as national co-chairman of the Marquette
13 University Parents Association; he also was a member of St.
14 Mary's Catholic Church, the American Legion, the VFW, the
15 McHenry Rotary Club, the McHenry Country Club, the Marian
16 Central Parents Club and the Knights of Columbus; and
 
17     WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents; and his
18 sisters, Vivian Eastman and Eleanor Sullivan; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Thomas Bolger is survived by his wife of 60 years,
20 Kathryn Nye Bolger; his sons, Tom (Lisa) and Dave; his
21 daughters, Cindy (Dan) Schmidt, Mary Ellen (Scott) Stanek, Ann
22 Bolger Cates, and Susan (Jeff) Hamar; his grandsons, Tom
23 (Karen), Michael (Allison), Christopher (Annie), Danny and

 

 

SR0188 - 3 - LRB096 12110 KXB 24237 r

1 Timothy Bolger, Joseph (Laura) Schmidt, Peter and Patrick
2 Stanek, and Reynold and Hudson Hamar; his granddaughters, Sarah
3 Schmidt and Kathryn Stanek; and his great-grandson, Thomas
4 Henry Bolger, the seventh generation Thomas Bolger; he also is
5 survived by his brothers, Walter (Madeline) and William (Carol)
6 Bolger; his sisters, Mabel (Richard) Weber, Grace Stilling,
7 Margaret (Richard) Carey, Ann Miller, and Rita (Ray) Gaylord;
8 his brothers-in-law, Richard Eastman and Edwin Sullivan; his
9 sisters-in-law, Shirley Nye and Mary Bauer; and his many nieces
10 and nephews; therefore, be it
 
11     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
12 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
13 his family and friends, the passing of Thomas Bolger; and be it
14 further
 
15     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
16 presented to the family of Thomas Bolger as a symbol of our
17 sincere sympathy.