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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Bishop Harold Breon Dawson Jr. of Peoria,
4who passed away on July 14, 2019; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Bishop Dawson was born to Bishop Harold Sr. and
6Mattie Pearl Dawson on August 5, 1970; he married Lori Tawana
7Guyton on May 30, 1997; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Bishop Dawson earned a Bachelor of Administration
9in Marketing from Jackson State University; he studied at
10Lincoln Christian Seminary and the Summer Leadership Institute
11at Harvard Divinity School; he graduated from the Samuel DeWitt
12Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University with a
13Master in Divinity; he was accepted as a candidate for his
14Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership at The Chicago School of
15Professional Psychology; he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi
16Fraternity; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Bishop Dawson was licensed and ordained as a
18minister by his father in 2001; he was installed as pastor of
19New Hope International Ministries, where he served as senior
20pastor for 11 years; in July 2012, he organized and founded New
21Life Christian Church, where he served as senior pastor; he
22received Episcopal Consecration as a bishop on August 26, 2016;

 

 

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1and
 
2    WHEREAS, Bishop Dawson ministered across the country and in
3South Africa and the Caribbean; he was a member of the U.S.
4delegation to Trinidad and Tobago; along with a group of four
5Peoria churches, he continued missionary support and
6international fellowship in Trinidad and assisted in sending
7missionaries to Colombia; and
 
8    WHEREAS, In 2010, Bishop Dawson was appointed president of
9the Peoria Christian Leadership Council; he also served as a
10commissioner on the board of the Wayne A. Downing Metropolitan
11Airport Authority; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Bishop Dawson was a devoted husband and loving
13father and expressed pride and joy over each of his children;
14and
 
15    WHEREAS, Bishop Dawson was a hero, a champion, a warrior, a
16builder, a visionary, a scholar, and a friend; he was
17unquestionably one of a kind; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Bishop Dawson was preceded in death by his mother,
19Evangelist Mattie Pearl Dawson; his father-in-law and mentor,
20Pastor A.J. Guyton; and his grandmothers, Mother Maybelle
21Mitchell and Leila Mae Dawson; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Bishop Dawson is survived by his wife of 22 years,
2Lori; his children, Harold III, Haven, and Harrington; his
3father, Bishop Harold Dawson Sr. (Valerie); his sisters,
4Sheirie Artese Dawson and Shannon Pleishette Dawson-Galloway
5(Stacy); his brother, Pastor Ahmad Jamal Dawson (Jewel); his
6beloved mother-in-law, Mother Lena M. Guyton; numerous aunts,
7uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins; and his New Life
8Christian Church family; therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
10ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
11Bishop Harold Breon Dawson Jr. and extend our sincere
12condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved
13him; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15presented to the family of Bishop Dawson as an expression of
16our deepest sympathy.