SR0470 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0470 LRB096 15175 KXB 30244 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Robert Irvine "Bob" Grubbs of Peoria, who passed away on October 16, 2009; and

WHEREAS, He was born on April 12, 1922, in Richmond, Kentucky, to Abram Grubbs and Verlean Irvine; he was married to his high school sweetheart, Mary Frances Chenault, on July 15, 1943, in their hometown of Richmond, by the Reverend Titus Bennett; and

WHEREAS, He graduated in 1942 from Richmond High School in Kentucky, where that year he was a member of the state championship basketball team; he went on to join the United States Army, where he became a corporal with the 4208th Quarter Master Service Company serving in the Asiatic, Pacific, and Southwest Corridors during World War II; and

WHEREAS, He was a carpenter by trade and was a member of the Richmond carpenters union; he also worked for the Bluegrass Ordinance; he later settled his family into the Peoria community where he worked for Keystone Steel and Wire as a steel inspector, retiring in 1984 after 25 years of service; he was a community activist, civil servant, and notary for over 50 years and was also a life member of the NAACP; Bob and Mary Grubbs were inductees into the African-American Hall of Fame Museum in 1992 for Community Service; and

WHEREAS, He accepted Christ at age 11 at the First Baptist Church in Richmond; he was a former member, trustee, and treasurer, when the mortgage was paid off, at New Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership of the late Rev. Dr. Calvin C. Hightower; he was a faithful member for 16 years of Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church, where he was a charter member, trustee, and treasurer; and

WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his wife; his parents; one brother and one sister; and

WHEREAS, He leaves to cherish his precious memories his loving children, Bobby J. (Julia) Grubbs, Cecil I. Grubbs, and Marilyn L. Henning; his grandchildren; his 18 great-grandchildren; his five great-great-grandchildren; his seven god-children; his sisters-in-law, Eva (Charles) Holk and Phyllis Chenault; his cousins, Edna Finley, Joseph Irvine, and Hazel Hankerson; his Prince of Peace Church family; and a host of other relatives and friends who dearly loved him; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Robert Grubbs; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Robert Grubbs as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.