HR1131 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1131 LRB099 21298 GRL 46999 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Albert McCoy, who passed away on April 26, 2016; and

WHEREAS, Albert McCoy was born on June 25, 1926 in Aurora, where he was a lifelong resident; he was a 1944 Marmion Academy alum; he later enlisted in the United States Navy and earned five Battle Stars; he then attended the former Aurora College and the University of Montana on a football scholarship; and

WHEREAS, Albert McCoy served as the Mayor of Aurora from 1965 to 1977; during his tenure, he was instrumental in the passage of a fair housing ordinance, approved at a time when civil unrest brewed following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and making Aurora the second city in the State to pass such a law; in order to improve the Aurora Police Department, he brought in legal counsel that specialized in the area and required testing for the police chief candidates; he organized the Aurora Civic Authority, the group that led the charge to save the Paramount Theatre, a historic landmark in downtown Aurora; he led the move to annex 6,800 acres to the city, the second-largest land addition to a municipality in Illinois history which is now the site of the Fox Valley Mall and the Fox Valley Villages in DuPage County; and

WHEREAS, McCoy Drive on the far east side of Aurora was named in honor of Albert McCoy and his work; and

WHEREAS, Albert McCoy was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Mary Ann; and

WHEREAS, Albert McCoy is survived by his son, Mike (Vicki) McCoy; his daughter, Cara (John) Gibbons; his grandchildren, Joe, Mark, and Kate McCoy and Elizabeth and Sarah Gibbons; and his many nieces and nephews; and

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with his family and friends, mourn the passing of Albert McCoy; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Albert McCoy as an expression of our sympathy.