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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate Thomas J. Schafer
4on the occasion of his retirement after 27 years of
5distinguished service with the Illinois Department of Public
6Health, the last 7 years of which he served as the Deputy
7Director in the Office Health Promotion; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Thomas Schafer functioned admirably as a jack of
9all trades for 5 directors of the Department of Public Health,
10as demonstrated by his innate ability to handle various
11assignments during his nearly 3 decades serving the public's
12health; he served for 7 years as the Deputy of Director in the
13Office of Health Promotion, 3 years as the Chief of the
14Division of Social Marketing and Emergency Risk
15Communications, and 17 years as the Department's Chief of
16Communications; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Thomas Schafer was assigned on 2 separate
18occasions to the Governor's Office, first as a Special
19Assistant to the Governor at the request of Governor Jim Edgar,
20where he researched and authored the 186-page book "Meeting the
21Challenge: The Edgar Administration, 1991-1999", and second as
22the Springfield Press Secretary under Governor Rod R.
23Blagojevich; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Thomas Schafer developed the Department of Public
2Health's first website; he handled emergency communications
3for the 1998 multistate outbreak of Salmonella Serotype Agona
4infections linked to Toasted Oats cereal, in which Illinois
5reported the highest number cases in the country; he also
6advised the Director's office during the 2009 H1N1 influenza
7pandemic and developed the rules and implemented the Smoke Free
8Illinois Act; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Thomas Schafer was a founding member of the
10National Public Health Information Coalition and served as the
11organization's Region V President; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Thomas Schafer worked as a reporter and editor at
13the Rockford Register Star, a Springfield correspondent for
14Gannet News Service, and the Florida Bureau Chief in
15Tallahassee for Gannett News Service before transferring his
16reporting and editing skills to provide expert communications
17for the Department of Public Health; therefore, be it
 
18    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
19NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
20congratulate Thomas J. Schafer on the occasion of his
21retirement after many years of distinguished service with the
22Illinois Department of Public Health and wish him the best in

 

 

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1all his future endeavors; and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
3presented to Thomas J. Schafer as an expression of our esteem
4and respect.