SR0084 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0084 LRB096 10894 KXB 21134 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Robert W. Brown of Morton, who passed away on February 6, 2009; and

WHEREAS, He was born July 9, 1940, in Peoria to Genola Naumann Brown and Edwin W. Brown Jr.; he married Barbara Kay Black on January 3, 1960, in Indianapolis; he graduated from Washington Community High School in 1958 and attended Purdue University, where he was initiated into Phi Gamma Delta; and

WHEREAS, After graduating from Bradley University in 1963, he worked for IBM and Howard Printing Company before starting to work at Morton Federal Savings and Loan in 1973; he retired from Bank Plus in 2001 as CEO and chairman of the board; he earned an MBA from Bradley in 1989 and had been a member of the Foster College of Business Administration's National Council of Advisors since 1999; and

WHEREAS, He was a member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Washington, where he served as co-chair of the building committee, two terms on the church council, and on the long-range planning and finance committees; he was a member of the Morton Chamber of Commerce, he chaired the Morton Pumpkin Festival in 1976, was a member of chamber board of directors from 1989 to 1994, and received the chamber's Distinguished Service Award in 2000; and

WHEREAS, He served on the board of the American Red Cross, Central Illinois Chapter, from 1995 to 2005, as board chair from 2001 to 2003, on the State Service Council from 2000 to 2004, and one term on the national American Red Cross nominating committee; he served as a member of the We Care Foundation board, helped form the Morton Youth Baseball Association and the Beta Phi chapter of Phi Gamma Delta at Bradley; he was a member of Washington's 12th Man; he was an honorary member of the Morton Rotary Club, a Paul Harris Fellow and a member of Taylor Lodge 98 AF & AM in Washington; and

WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his father; and

WHEREAS, Robert Brown is survived by his wife, Barbara; his mother, Genola Naumann Brown Edwards; his children, Robert W. Brown Jr. (Sarah), Martin T. Brown (Julie), David A. Brown (Suzanne), and Katherine B. Bowers (Scott); and his grandsons, Steffan W. Brown, Mitchell R. Brown, Walker T. Brown, Andrew D. Brown, Anthony S. Brown, Hunter T. Brown, Jonathon S. Bowers, and Andrew J. Bowers; 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 W. Brown; and be it further

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