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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of L. James "Jim" Struif, who passed away on
4June 26, 2012; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Jim Struif was born on September 18, 1931, in
6Alton; he was the son of the late Leo John and Clara Lillie
7(Bauer) Struif; he married Shirley Spatz Cummings in 1965; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Jim Struif graduated from Alton Senior High School
9in January of 1949 and Northwestern University in 1953; after
10leaving the Navy, he attended law school at the University of
11Illinois, where he graduated in 1959; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Jim Struif enlisted in the United States Navy in
131954; he served 4 years of sea duty on a submarine in the
14Pacific Ocean, where he was a submarine officer; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Jim Struif served as a legal counsel and as a
16faculty member at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville
17for 5 years; he was in general law practice from 1963 until his
18retirement in 2011 and opened a private practice in 1968; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Jim Struif was a member of the Evangelical United
20Church of Christ, where he was an Elder, taught Sunday school,

 

 

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1and designed and maintained the Courtyard Garden; he was active
2in the Boy Scouts of America, first as a scout, then as a camp
3counselor and later as a Scoutmaster; he worked as a civil
4rights activist in Mississippi in 1966 and was one of the
5founders of the Madison County Urban League; he was also a
6life-long conservationist involved in prairie restoration and
7helped found the Nature Institute; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Jim Struif enjoyed gardening, magic, and music;
9and
 
10    WHEREAS, Jim Struif is survived by his wife, Shirley; his
11children, Scott Struif and his wife, Kerry, Jamie
12Struif-Pehowski and her husband, Steven, Susie Bazzell and her
13husband, Lance, and Jeff Struif and his wife, Missy; his
14grandchildren, Jessica Johnson, Brennan Struif, Adam Pehowski,
15Jenna Pehowski, Connor Bazzell, Chloe Bazzell, Lola Struif, and
16Hattie Struif; his great-grandchild, Collin Griffin; his
17sister, Jean Malone; and his many nieces and nephews;
18therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL
20ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
21his family and friends, the passing of L. James "Jim" Struif;
22and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2presented to the family of Jim Struif as an expression of our
3sympathy.