093_SR0163

 
                                     LRB093 11924 HSS 16364 r

 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members  of  the  Senate  of  the  State  of
 3    Illinois  were  saddened  to  learn  of  the  death of Robert
 4    Reynolds Bliss of Hillsboro on Tuesday, April 29, 2003; and

 5        WHEREAS, Mr. Bliss was born in Hillsboro on November  16,
 6    1911  to Clinton Phillips and Lucia Christina Matilda (Evans)
 7    Bliss; he graduated from Hillsboro Community High School with
 8    the Class of 1929; he attended the University of Illinois for
 9    two years; he married Patricia Weingand on June 30,  1934  in
10    Paxton; they were married for almost 70 years; and

11        WHEREAS,  Mr. Bliss was a part of the third generation of
12    Bliss's to  run  The  Montgomery  County  News;  he  and  his
13    brother, Tom, partnered at it until Tom's retirement in 1971;
14    during  most  of his career with The News, Mr. Bliss reported
15    the  news,  wrote  feature  stories  and   editorials,   took
16    photographs,   and  maintained  the  newspaper's  letterpress
17    equipment; in later years, after his daughter and son-in-law,
18    Nancy (Bliss) and Richard Slepicka, assumed leadership of the
19    paper, he continued  to  write  obituaries,  editorials,  and
20    weekly  historical columns; his final column was in the March
21    8, 2003 edition of The Montgomery County News; and

22        WHEREAS, Mr. Bliss was honored many times  by  his  peers
23    and his community; in 1968, both he and his brother, Tom were
24    named  Master  Editors  by  the  Southern  Illinois Editorial
25    Association and were inducted into  the  Journalism  Hall  of
26    Fame  at  Southern  Illinois University at Carbondale; he was
27    named the Illinois Press Association's Editor of the Year  in
28    1971; he was the recipient of the Arthur Darwin Jenkins Award
29    for Achievement in Journalism, and in 1993, he won the Eugene
30    Cervi   Award   from  the  International  Society  of  Weekly
31    Newspaper Editors; and

32        WHEREAS, Because  he  was  recognized  as  a  well-versed
 
                            -2-      LRB093 11924 HSS 16364 r
 1    small-town  editor  both  statewide and nationally, Mr. Bliss
 2    was invited to participate in a panel discussion conducted by
 3    Bill Moyers and broadcast on public television  in  1972;  in
 4    March  of  1988,  he  was  interviewed by NBC news anchor Tom
 5    Pettit on the coming Presidential primary  election;  he  was
 6    honored  by  his  hometown  in  1978  when  he  received  the
 7    Hillsboro Sertoma Club's Service to Mankind Award; and

 8        WHEREAS,  Mr.  Bliss was a lifelong Democrat, a Hillsboro
 9    volunteer  fireman  for  many  years,  a  50-year  member  of
10    Hillsboro Moose Lodge 1377, a member  of  First  Presbyterian
11    Church of Hillsboro, and a former member of Hillsboro Country
12    Club and Chamber of Commerce; and

13        WHEREAS,  The  passing  of Robert Reynolds Bliss has been
14    deeply felt  by  all  who  knew  him,  especially  his  wife,
15    Patricia;  his daughters, Betsy Bliss and Nancy Slepicka; his
16    grandchildren,  Christian  Alexander  Bliss  Ach,   Ekaterina
17    "Kate"  Slepicka,  and Pavel Slepicka; and his step-grandson,
18    James P. Nicholls III; therefore be it

19        RESOLVED, BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL
20    ASSEMBLY  OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing
21    of Robert R. Bliss and extend to  his  friends,  family,  and
22    community  our  sincere condolences on the passing of a truly
23    great citizen of the State of Illinois; and be it further

24        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
25    presented  to  the family of Robert R. Bliss as an expression
26    of our deepest sympathy.