HJ0066 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0066 LRB094 14114 DRH 49012 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Dr. Gerald L. Downie died in 2000, having served as a physician in Kankakee, Ill. for more than 50 years; and

WHEREAS, Gerald L. Downie was born in 1903 and was educated in a one-room schoolhouse in Mt. Ayr, Iowa, later graduating as the top student at Simpson College; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Downie graduated from Northwestern Medical School and served his internship at Kankakee State Hospital, now known as Shapiro Developmental Center; and

WHEREAS, From 1932 through 1950 Dr. Downie and his wife, Maurine, served three times as medical missionaries for the United Methodist Church in China, leaving for a one-year furlough in 1937, just as the Japanese invaded, and leaving the final time after spending nine months under communist rule; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Downie also served as a medical missionary in India, Africa, Taiwan, and Malaysia before returning to Kankakee County, where he practiced medicine until he reached the age of 89; and

WHEREAS, The State Route 17 bridge across the Kankakee River in Kankakee is now known as the Court Street Bridge; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Court Street Bridge in Kankakee be designated the Dr. Gerald L. Downie Bridge; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with State regulations, appropriate plaques or signs giving notice of the name; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation and to Kankakee Mayor Donald E. Green.