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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3to learn of the death of Wadell Brooks Sr., who passed away on
4July 4, 2022; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks was born to Willie and Canary
6Brooks in Lexington, Mississippi on January 20, 1933; he was
7the first Black student to graduate from East St. Louis Senior
8High School and a centennial graduate of Illinois State Normal
9University; he earned his Bachelor of Science in Business
10Education, with a minor in Physical Education; he received two
11honorary doctoral degrees from Faith Grant College in
12Birmingham, Alabama; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks accepted his first position in
14federal civil service as an educational therapist under
15Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service in charge of
16Commercial Studies at the VA Medical Center, where he remained
17for 11 years; he then held several positions at the Great Lakes
18Naval Training Center, serving as educational specialist for
19two years, director of Housing Assignments/Referral Service
20for nine years, and deputy of the Equal Employment Opportunity
21Office for 11 years; he retired after completing 35 years of
22federal civil service on November 30, 1990, which included two
23years serving in the U.S. Army and 16 months in Korea, from

 

 

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1which he received the Korean Service Medal; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks started a business alongside his
3wife in the human services field, creating a day care, infant
4care, and group home for girls by securing financing
5assistance from the Small Business Administration; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks was deeply involved in community
7activities; he initiated and hosted NAACP Focus, a weekly
8radio talk show on WKRS-AM 1220 that aired every Sunday
9morning; he also hosted the weekly local Comcast Community
10Access talk show Community Forum on Channel 17, and he
11received the Best of Lake County First Production by a
12Producer Award for his show in 1994; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks belonged to several organizations,
14including District 64's Board of Education, the non-profit
15Dads Are Doing Something, Inc., and the North Chicago District
16187 Schools' Dads for Education; he was a past president of the
17North Chicago Rotary Club, the North Chicago Branch of the
18NAACP, and the North Chicago Chamber of Commerce; he served as
19chairman and on the board of directors of the Lake County Race
20Unity Task Force; he was a past master of Rufus Mitchell
21Masonic Lodge #107, and he was named 1998 Prince Hall Mason of
22the Year for the State of Illinois and earned the honorary 33rd
23degree of masonry in 1988; he was also a past patron of Emblem

 

 

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1Chapter #140 of the Order of the Eastern Star; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks committed to his faith at the
3Southern Mission Baptist Church in East St. Louis at the age of
413; he later served as deacon of the Shiloh Baptist Church and
5as trustee of the Mt. Sinai Institutional Baptist Church; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Wadell Brooks received a number of accolades,
7including being named the 1984 Lake County Urban League
8Business Person of the Year and the Most Influential African
9American of Lake County; he received the 1996 Charles E.
10DeRivera Memorial Award, the 1999 Life Models Award from the
11Omni Society, and the 2002 David Kellum Award from the
12National Spiritual Assembly of Baha'is of the United States of
13America; therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
15ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
16Wadell Brooks Sr. and extend our sincere condolences to his
17family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it
18further
 
19    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20presented to the family of Wadell Brooks as an expression of
21our deepest sympathy.