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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives have learned with much sadness of the passage | ||||||
| 4 | of a great friend and special contributor to the history of the | ||||||
| 5 | Illinois General Assembly, William J. "Bill" O'Connell of | ||||||
| 6 | Peoria; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, It would not be an exaggeration or bring an | ||||||
| 8 | objection from any corner to say that Bill O'Connell is one of | ||||||
| 9 | a kind, an institutional legend, or an old-time reporter; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, During his more than 60 years covering politics | ||||||
| 11 | and government for the Peoria Journal Star, Bill O'Connell was | ||||||
| 12 | always credited with faithfully keeping his | ||||||
| 13 | mythical-but-typical readers "Grace and Elmer" fully informed | ||||||
| 14 | with crisp, unvarnished reporting; he mentored hundreds of | ||||||
| 15 | journalists young and old from all regions of this State, | ||||||
| 16 | saving more than a few officials from blunders and never | ||||||
| 17 | missing an opportunity to help Peoria benefit from every bill | ||||||
| 18 | that passed through the legislative process; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, Bill O'Connell received numerous awards and | ||||||
| 20 | honors during his career, including the 1986 Illinois | ||||||
| 21 | Journalist of the Year award and awards from the American | ||||||
| 22 | Political Science Association, the Associated Press, and the | ||||||
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| 1 | Illinois Education Association; and
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| 2 | WHEREAS, While proud of his journalistic achievements, | ||||||
| 3 | Bill O'Connell did not shy away from the published accounts | ||||||
| 4 | that also credited him as the inspiration for funding the | ||||||
| 5 | downstate civic center construction program and with being one | ||||||
| 6 | of the surest translators of the often incomprehensible | ||||||
| 7 | dialects spoken by the inhabitants of Chicago, Cook County, and | ||||||
| 8 | downstate Illinois; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, Perhaps the true uniqueness of Bill O'Connell's | ||||||
| 10 | persona was exemplified at the time of his 1996 retirement from | ||||||
| 11 | the Peoria Journal Star, when Lee A. Daniels, then Speaker of | ||||||
| 12 | the House of Representatives, and Michael J. Madigan, House | ||||||
| 13 | Democratic Leader, cosponsored Bill's retirement resolution | ||||||
| 14 | during the somewhat tumultuous 89th General Assembly; and | ||||||
| 15 | WHEREAS, The one-of-a-kind moments continued when Illinois | ||||||
| 16 | Senate President Philip J. Rock fought foggy weather to reach | ||||||
| 17 | Springfield and come to the floor of the Illinois Senate to | ||||||
| 18 | speak and describe Bill O'Connell as "as man whose integrity we | ||||||
| 19 | should all salute"; and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, During this time of sadness, we ask all who knew | ||||||
| 21 | and loved Bill O'Connell to remember the happier moments in his | ||||||
| 22 | life and to reach out in their own way to ask for strength and | ||||||
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| 1 | comfort for his wife, Helen; their children, Kelly, Molly, Tom, | ||||||
| 2 | Tim, David, and William; their 12 grandchildren; and their 3 | ||||||
| 3 | great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| 4 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 5 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 6 | we mourn the passing of William J. "Bill" O'Connell, offer our | ||||||
| 7 | deepest sympathies to his families and friends, and affirm that | ||||||
| 8 | the State of Illinois and its people are better because of his | ||||||
| 9 | contributions, and fondly remember his great character, wit, | ||||||
| 10 | and wisdom; and be it further
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| 11 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 12 | presented to the family of Bill O'Connell as an expression of | ||||||
| 13 | our sympathy.
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