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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Ralph W. Thoma of McHenry, who passed
4away on January 28, 2016; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Ralph Thoma was born on April 18, 1944 in Chicago;
6his parents were Matthew and Myrtle (nee Schmook) Thoma; he
7moved with his family the age of 12 to a lakefront home on
8McCullom Lake at the age of 12; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Ralph Thoma was a 1962 graduate of McHenry High
10School; the following year, be became a member of the drum and
11bugle band for Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #4600; he
12graduated from DeVry Technical Institute as an electronics
13technician on September 4, 1964; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Ralph Thoma entered the United States Army in June
15of 1965 and served in Vietnam; he received an aircraft
16maintenance diploma and a single rotor turbine utility
17helicopter maintenance course diploma, and worked on the
18double-bladed Chinook helicopter; and
 
19    WHEREAS, After being discharged from the Army in 1967,
20Ralph Thoma tended bar for a time at The Question Mark in
21McHenry; the bar's owner, Roger Beu, would become an important

 

 

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1part of Ralph's career by employing him for welding jobs; when
2Roger Beu founded a new business, B & R Erectors, Ralph began
3his career there, working on the installation, repair, and
4relocation of bleachers in school gyms and sports fields; the
5position took him all over the United States; he also designed
6and installed the stadium seats in Willow Creek Church in
7Barrington and the seating at Soldier Field; he returned to B &
8R after his retirement from there, working on building and
9putting together motors for bleachers until October of 2015;
10and
 
11    WHEREAS, Ralph Thoma was a member of the Fox Lake American
12Legion Post 703, McHenry Moose Lodge 691, a lifetime member of
13PLAV Post #188, and a lifetime member and the first Vietnam
14veteran to be made commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post
154600 in McHenry; he was also a member of Shepherd of the Hills
16Lutheran Church in McHenry; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Ralph Thoma was preceded in death by his parents
18and his brother, Ray (Ann) Thoma; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Ralph Thoma is survived by his wife of 28 years,
20Pam; his step-children, Kym (Phil) Belyaev and Kevin (Valerie)
21Diedrich; his grandchildren, Drew, Kati, Zach, Lexi, Colleen,
22and Ryan; and his brothers, Robert Thoma, Ron (Maureen) Thoma,
23and Michael (Karen) Thoma; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with his
3family and friends, mourn the passing of Ralph W. Thoma; and be
4it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
6presented to the family of Ralph Thoma as an expression of our
7sympathy.