Full Text of HR0281 103rd General Assembly
HR0281 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Henry W. | 4 | | "Hank" Flora of Aurora, who passed away on February 26, 2023; | 5 | | and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Henry Flora was born to William and Jennie Flora | 7 | | in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on February 16, 1918; he graduated | 8 | | from Carlisle High School, where he was a star football | 9 | | player; he earned his bachelor's degree in Electrical | 10 | | Engineering from Pennsylvania State
University (Penn State) in | 11 | | 1941, where he participated in the ROTC program; he married | 12 | | Lois Squires in Missouri on October 23, 1943; later in life, he | 13 | | earned his master's degree in Management Engineering from | 14 | | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Henry Flora worked as a relay engineer at West
| 16 | | Penn Power Company for a year before enlisting in the U.S. Army | 17 | | due to the
attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941; on Pearl Harbor Day | 18 | | two years
later, he sailed to the
South Pacific, where he | 19 | | served under General Douglas MacArthur
and played a critical | 20 | | role in communications, helping to establish the radio
| 21 | | communications network that sent information back to the
| 22 | | United States from wherever Gen. MacArthur was establishing
| 23 | | headquarters during the conflict to regain control of the |
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| 1 | | Philippines; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Henry Flora became a commanding officer of the
| 3 | | U.S. Army Signal Corps Transmitting Station at the Hemmant
| 4 | | military camp in Brisbane, Australia, where he operated a
| 5 | | powerful twin channel transmitter; as commanding officer, he
| 6 | | was in charge of the system that transmitted the majority of
| 7 | | communications in the South Pacific; he was transferred to | 8 | | Seabourn
Communications in September 1944, where he was in | 9 | | charge of
two specially-outfitted transmitting ships; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, After arriving home from the Pacific, Henry Flora
| 11 | | used his technical expertise to work at the Pentagon in
| 12 | | Washington, D.C. during the Korean War; he then pursued a | 13 | | successful career in technology, first working at AT&T and | 14 | | then IBM; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Henry Flora was a proud member of The Gideons | 16 | | International and the American Heart Association, and he was a | 17 | | past president of the Ostomy Association; he was instrumental | 18 | | in the building of Faith Assembly of God in Poughkeepsie, New | 19 | | York, where he was a valued member and served on the board; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Henry Flora remained tech-savvy, never
missed a | 21 | | Penn State game, and was a gardening, bird, and weather
| 22 | | aficionado; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Henry Flora was preceded in death by his wife; | 2 | | his parents; and his granddaughter, Hadessa "Hadi" Flor; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Henry Flora is survived by his children, Bob | 4 | | (Marilyne) Flora, Heather (Stanley) Birnbaum, Steve (Sharon | 5 | | Presti) Flora, and Hollie (Alan) Flora-Holmquist; his | 6 | | grandchildren, Linnann (Pascal) Muhlemann, Lisa Flora, Rachel | 7 | | (Nathaniel) Wiseman, Wendy Birnbaum, Eli Stephen (Shoshana) | 8 | | Birnbaum, Ariel Andrew (Gal) Birnbaum, Chaim (Vered) Birnbaum, | 9 | | Lucas Flora, Amber (Kevin) Lawless, Jade (Sikander) | 10 | | Flora-Holmquist, and Garnet (Will Dowling) Flora-Holmquist; | 11 | | his great-grandchildren, Sedona, Zack, Shalev, Tzuk, Carmel, | 12 | | Lavie, Leilah, Alastor, and Murphy; his nieces and nephews; | 13 | | his countless cousins; and his family of friends; therefore, | 14 | | be it
| 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 16 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 17 | | we mourn the passing of
Henry W. "Hank" Flora and extend our | 18 | | sincere
condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew | 19 | | and loved
him; and be it further
| 20 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
| 21 | | presented to the family of Henry Flora as an expression of
our | 22 | | deepest sympathy.
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