093_HR0172

                                     LRB093 11397 KEF 13896 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members of the House of  Representatives  of
 3    the  State of Illinois were saddened to learn of the death of
 4    eight British soldiers and four United States Marines when  a
 5    CH-46  Sea  Knight  helicopter  crashed  in Kuwait about nine
 6    miles away from the border with Iraq on March 20, 2003; and

 7        WHEREAS, The four Marines are Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin,  36,
 8    of  Waterville, Maine; Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of St.
 9    Anne, Illinois; Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25,  of  Houston,
10    Texas;  and  Staff  Sgt.  Kendall  Damon  Watersbey,  29,  of
11    Baltimore, Maryland; and

12        WHEREAS,  Capt.  Beaupre,  attached  to  the  1st  Marine
13    Expeditionary  Force  based at Camp Pendleton, California was
14    the pilot of the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter and was born  on
15    December   10,   1972  in  St.  Anne,  Illinois,  a  town  of
16    approximately 1,300 persons 60 miles south of Chicago; and

17        WHEREAS, He graduated from Bishop McNamara High School in
18    Kankakee in 1991 where  he  captained  the  track  and  cross
19    country  teams and ran the lead-off leg to win the 1991 State
20    championship of the 1,600-meter relay; and

21        WHEREAS, He majored in accounting  at  Illinois  Wesleyan
22    University,  graduated in 1995 and took a job with State Farm
23    Insurance; and

24        WHEREAS, At Illinois Wesleyan, Capt. Beaupre was  on  the
25    Dean's  List,  was the  recipient of the Growmark Outstanding
26    Accounting Major Award in 1994, was a member and treasurer of
27    Sigma Pi social fraternity, competed  in  cross  country  and
28    track,  was  a  recruitment  peer  at the University's Career
29    Center for two years, was a member of the Accounting Society,
30    and was a volunteer at "Home-Sweet-Home" mission, a  homeless
31    shelter and transitional housing program in Bloomington; and
 
                            -2-      LRB093 11397 KEF 13896 r
 1        WHEREAS,  He  chose  to  serve his country as a Marine to
 2    pursue a life-long dream  of  becoming  a  pilot,  and  after
 3    officer  candidates'  school  in  Virginia,  was stationed in
 4    Pensacola, Florida and in Corpus Christi, Texas  before  Camp
 5    Pendleton,  where  he  lived near the ocean and surfed nearly
 6    every day; and

 7        WHEREAS, The passing of Capt. Ryan Beaupre will be deeply
 8    felt by  all  who  knew  him,  especially  his  father,  Mark
 9    Beaupre;  his mother, Nicky Beaupre; his brother, Christopher
10    Beaupre; and his sisters, Alyse  Beaupre  and  Kari  Leisure;
11    therefore, be it

12        RESOLVED,   BY   THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE
13    NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,  that
14    together  with his family, friends, educators, community, and
15    fellow members of the United States armed  forces,  we  mourn
16    the  death  of  Capt. Ryan Beaupre, who will be remembered as
17    bright, dependable, generous, and confident,  and  offer  our
18    deepest  sympathy  to  all  who knew and loved him; and be it
19    further

20        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
21    presented   to  the  family  of  Capt.  Ryan  Beaupre  as  an
22    expression of our sincerest condolences.