SR0920 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0920 LRB095 22890 KXB 53336 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of K.E. "Blackie" Jackson of Roodhouse, who passed away on October 20, 2008; and

WHEREAS, He was born January 27, 1925, in Roodhouse; he graduated in 1943 from Roodhouse High School, where he was all-conference in football, basketball, and track; and he enlisted in the United States Navy in 1943; and

WHEREAS, In 1946 he joined the American Legion and was a member for 62 years; he was a former member of the Rotary Club of Roodhouse and served as Rotary president from July 1961 to July 1962; he was a former member of the Roodhouse Lodge of the Knights of Pythias; he played on men's amateur softball teams for more than 30 years and participated in donkey basketball and donkey field hockey events to raise money for various community and charitable organizations; and

WHEREAS, He served on the Board of Education of the Roodhouse Public Schools System and was president of that board when Roodhouse, White Hall, Hillview, and Patterson schools consolidated into the current North Greene School District in 1962; he owned and operated his own plumbing business for 55 years and was a licensed master plumber, licensed plumbing contractor, and a licensed refrigeration engineer; in 1974, he was appointed by Governor Daniel Walker to an advisory committee that rewrote the Illinois State Plumbing Code; in 1952, he became a Democratic Party precinct committeeman and member of the Greene County Democratic central committee; in 1955, he was elected central committee chairman and served in that capacity until he retired from the central committee in 1974; and

WHEREAS, He was a firefighter with the Roodhouse Volunteer Fire Department for 55 years, serving the last 39 of those years as fire chief; and he was a member of First Baptist Church of Roodhouse; and

WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Avenel Jackson; his sister, Eileen Smock; and his son, Lloyd Dean Jackson; and

WHEREAS, K.E. "Blackie" Jackson is survived by his wife, Betty; his sister, Louise Proffer; his two daughters, Patricia Lendennie and Donna Feltner; his son, Timothy Jackson; his eight grandchildren, United States Army Specialist Michael Wendell, Kyle Wendell, Benjamin Feltner, Matthew Feltner, Brittany Jackson, Jessica Jackson, Chance Stilley, and Kenneth Jackson; and his ten great-grandchildren; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of K.E. "Blackie" Jackson; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of K.E. "Blackie" Jackson as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.