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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Ruben Avelar of Garland, Texas, who
4passed away on April 17, 2012; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Ruben Avelar was born on August 8, 1927, in El
6Paso, Texas; his parents were Vicente and Nicolasa Avelar; he
7married his second wife, Martha, in September of 1959, in El
8Paso, Texas; and
 
9    WHEREAS, As a child, Ruben Avelar and his family worked as
10migrant farmers in California; he graduated from Bowie High
11School in El Paso, Texas in 1945; and
 
12    WHEREAS, After high school, Ruben Avelar joined the United
13States Army after VE Day during the closing months of World War
14II; after the end of the war, he saw overseas duty in post-war
15Korea to help keep the peace; in 1950, he was recalled into the
16Army as a second lieutenant in anti-aircraft artillery and
17served stateside both in California and at Fort Bliss; and
 
18    WHEREAS, After his Army service, Ruben Avelar attended
19Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso)
20and earned his bachelor's degree in economics; he later
21attended the University of Texas Law School; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Ruben Avelar began his professional career in 1952
2as a labor economist with the Texas Employment Commission; in
31958, he began working for the United States Department of
4Labor; drawing from his upbringing as a migrant worker, he
5passionately learned about the U.S. Department of Labor and the
6federal government's tracking and caring for the migrant
7segment of the labor force; shortly after joining the
8Department of Labor, he moved his family to West Memphis,
9Arkansas; in 1962, he was hired by the San Francisco Regional
10Office of the Department of Labor in the U.S. Employment
11Service Division; after serving as the interim Regional
12Administrator for the Dallas Regional Office of the Department
13of Labor, he accepted a permanent position as the Deputy
14Regional Administrator in Dallas, Texas; in August of 1972, he
15and his family moved to Garland, Texas; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Ruben Avelar was heavily involved in community
17activism and service; while living in California, he helped
18form the San Francisco Civic Center Forum, a group that helped
19train local activists on the basics of tapping state and
20federal resources for any conceivable community need; he sought
21elective public office on the San Bruno City Council, as part
22of a successful effort to prevent the construction of an
23interstate highway through the San Bruno neighborhoods; later,
24while living in Garland, Texas, he began working to help

 

 

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1educate residents about high electric rates, and in the
2mid-1980s was appointed to the Utility Advisory Board by the
3Garland City Council; after his retirement from the federal
4government in 1988, he became an elected member of the Garland
5City Council; as a member of the council, he was influential in
6preventing high-stakes bingo from coming to Garland; in 1997,
7he was asked by his neighbors to return to the Garland City
8Council, and he won election to the District 4 seat of South
9Garland in May of that year; he retired from the council after
10serving 2 full terms; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Ruben Avelar was a member of various local
12organizations, including the Garland AARP, the Garland chapter
13of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, and
14the Dallas County Workforce Development Board; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Ruben Avelar enjoyed travelling, fishing, and
16photography; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Ruben Avelar was preceded in death by his
18daughter, Jacquelyn Celeste; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Ruben Avelar is survived by his wife of 52 years,
20Martha; his sons, Andre' and Marc (Grace); his 2 grandchildren
21and 3 great-grandchildren; and his niece, Cecilia Farley
22(Bill); therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
3his family and friends, the passing of Ruben Avelar; and be it
4further
 
5    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
6presented to the family of Ruben Avelar as an expression of our
7sympathy.