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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3to learn of the death of Aydin O. Gonulsen of Shipman, who
4passed away on July 6, 2021; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Aydin Gonulsen was born in Izmir, Turkey to
6Muharrem and Ulviye (Hasyigin) Gonulsen on February 15, 1943;
7he immigrated to the United States in 1963; he attended Warren
8Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina, where he was a
9two-time junior college All-American soccer player and set the
10school record for goals scored in a season; he then
11transferred to Pikeville College in Kentucky; he married Suna
12Uslu on January 15, 2008; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Alongside his brother Yavuz, Aydin Gonulsen was
14instrumental in starting the YMCA soccer program in
15Springfield in the 1970s, and their efforts were critical in
16launching the modern-day soccer community in central Illinois;
17he became the first athletic director and head soccer coach at
18Sangamon State University (SSU) in 1976, where he built the
19soccer program from the ground up; with the assistance of a
20group of student athletes, he also placed the sod on the first
21SSU soccer field; he led SSU and later the University of
22Illinois-Springfield to 400 career victories and three
23National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)

 

 

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1national championships in 1986, 1988, and 1993; his teams
2appeared in more than 20 NAIA national tournaments and in two
3World Collegiate Soccer Championships, including a 2-1 win
4over former NCAA champion UCLA in 1988; he retired in 2001; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Aydin Gonulsen took over the men's and women's
6soccer teams at Blackburn College in 2007; he helped
7revitalize both programs and won 71 games, with the men's team
8scoring 48 victories and the women's team achieving 23 wins;
9he retired in 2013; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Aydin Gonulsen was named Coach of the Year by the
11National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics twice; he
12was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2000, the
13Springfield Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, and the University of
14Illinois-Springfield Hall of Fame in 2014; he was also a
15member of the Warren Wilson College Hall of Fame; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Aydin Gonulsen loved skiing, waterskiing, and
17traveling to see family in the United States and Turkey; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Aydin Gonulsen was preceded in death by his
19parents; his daughter, Katherine Gonulsen; five brothers; and
20one sister; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Aydin Gonulsen is survived by his wife; his

 

 

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1daughters, Peri (Mitch) Pugh and Amanda Gonulsen, and their
2mother, Mimi Rutherford Gonulsen; his grandson, Sebastian
3Aydin Pugh; and his brother, Akin (Ilkay) Gonulsen; therefore,
4be it
 
5    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
6ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
7Aydin O. Gonulsen and extend our sincere condolences to his
8family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
9further
 
10    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
11presented to the family of Aydin Gonulsen as an expression of
12our deepest sympathy.