093_SR0298

 
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 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members  of  the  Senate  of  the  State  of
 3    Illinois  were  saddened  to learn of the death of Richard C.
 4    Wessell, Sr. of Des Plaines on June 27, 2003; and

 5        WHEREAS, Mr. Wessell was born April 27, 1922, in Chicago;
 6    he was the owner, editor, and  publisher  of  the  Journal  &
 7    Topics  newspapers  in  Des  Plaines since 1946; he began his
 8    career as a reporter for Pickwick Newspapers in Park Ridge in
 9    June, 1935; he grew up on Chicago's North Side in the  Edison
10    Park  area  and  attended Taft and Schurz High Schools, later
11    graduating from Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, where  he
12    was editor of the student newspaper; and

13        WHEREAS,  During  World  War II, he was a gunnery officer
14    and later commander of a Navy gunboat; he served  during  the
15    battles  of Iwo Jima and Okinawa; he married Mary Jane Hobson
16    in 1944 during the war; after he was discharged in 1946,  the
17    couple bought a station wagon and embarked on a trip out West
18    to  find a community newspaper to buy; together they bought a
19    single  newspaper  in   1946   and   expanded   it   into   a
20    16-publication  group;  headquartered  in  Des  Plaines,  the
21    Journal  &  Topics  newspapers, considered one of the best in
22    Illinois, have won many regional, State and  national  awards
23    over  the  last  57 years; recently, he and Mary Jane, turned
24    over ownership of the group that serves 28 adjacent Northwest
25    and North suburbs of Chicago to three of their children; and

26        WHEREAS, Besides his journalistic career,  he  worked  in
27    the  early  1950s for the Cook County Sheriff, Joseph Lohman,
28    and in the late 1960s he was a press  aide  for  then-Senator
29    Birch Bayh of Indiana; and

30        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Wessell's  passing  will be deeply felt by
31    many, especially his wife, Mary Jane; his  children,  Stephen
32    H.  Wessell,  Todd  C.  (Carolyn) Wessell, Richard C. (Cindy)
 
                            -2-      LRB093 12487 KEF 17674 r
 1    Wessell, Jr., Robert H. (Melanie) Wessell, Shelby J. (Walter)
 2    Bogdan, and Christian  M.  "Kiki"  (Patrick)  Geoghegan;  his
 3    grandchildren,  Emily,  Thomas,  Erin,  Katie, Danny, Taylor,
 4    Elliott, Josh, Zach, Amanda,  Cassidy,  Adam,  and  Flannery;
 5    therefore, be it

 6        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
 7    ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of
 8    Richard C. Wessell, Sr. along with all who knew and loved him
 9    and extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends;
10    and be it further

11        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
12    presented  to  the  family  of  Richard C. Wessell, Sr. as an
13    expression of our deepest sympathy.