Full Text of SR0398 100th General Assembly
SR0398 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Willie Thomas Summerville of Champaign, | 4 | | who passed away on March 7, 2017; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Willie Summerville was born in Sunshine Arkansas | 6 | | to Moses and Lenora on August 7, 1944; he started taking music | 7 | | lessons when he was 12 to 13 years of age;
he was a drum major | 8 | | at T.W. Daniels High School and played the tuba in the band; he | 9 | | was on the student council and sang in the school choir; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Willie Summerville graduated from the University | 11 | | of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science in | 12 | | Music Education; he earned his Masters of Science in Music | 13 | | Education from the University of Illinois in 1967; he furthered | 14 | | his studies at the University of Utah, the Ohio State | 15 | | University, Youngstown State University, East Stroudburg State | 16 | | University, Westminster Choir College, the University of | 17 | | Michigan, Michigan State University, and Jackson State | 18 | | University; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Willie Summerville worked at the Champaign Public
| 20 | | Schools until 1970, when he became the Choral Music Director of | 21 | | the Middle School and the Eighth Grade Chorus in the Urbana | 22 | | Unified Schools; he was the Director of the High School Concert |
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| 1 | | Choir and took the choir to Rome to sing at St.
Peter's | 2 | | Basilica at the Vatican in 1999; he took the Urbana High School | 3 | | choir to New York City where they sang at the Riverside Church | 4 | | and at Carnegie Hall; he also worked in the African American | 5 | | Studies Department at the University of Illinois, where he was | 6 | | the Campus
and Community Affairs Specialist;
and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Willie Summerville belonged to many professional | 8 | | associations and service organizations, including the National | 9 | | Education Association, the Illinois Education Association, the | 10 | | Urbana Education Association, the Urbana Rotary, the | 11 | | University of Illinois Alumni Band, the Phi Beta Sigma | 12 | | Fraternity, the Phi Delta Kappa, the Alpha Kappa Mu National | 13 | | Honor Society, the University of Illinois Alumni Association | 14 | | (Life Member), the American Choral Directors Association, the | 15 | | Illinois Music Educators Association, the Music Educators | 16 | | National Conference, and the Illinois Music Adjudicators | 17 | | Association; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Willie Summerville was a founding member of Canaan | 19 | | Missionary Baptist Church; he was a charter member of the | 20 | | Deacon Board and Treasurer of the Canaan Development Foundation | 21 | | that supports the Canaan Academy; he faithfully served with the | 22 | | Soul Winning Action Team (SWAT Team) where he was a charter | 23 | | member; he was the director of the St. Luke's choir for over 50 | 24 | | years; he also conducted music workshops and clinics all over |
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| 1 | | the world which were attended by thousands of people; he won | 2 | | numerous awards for his music and for his teaching; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Willie Summerville had many personal editorial | 4 | | and musical publications such as, "Choral Clarification," | 5 | | "Jesus, How I love You," "Keeping the Dream Alive," "Dear Old | 6 | | Urbana," and "The Chocolate Flavored Birthday Song"; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Willie Summerville was married to the former | 8 | | Valerian Alexander for 47 years; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Willie Summerville was preceded in death by his | 10 | | sisters Ruby Lee Summerville Dixon, Sarah Jean Patton Brown, | 11 | | and Annie Pearl Summerville; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Willie Summerville is survived by his sister, | 13 | | Bertha Sue Summerville; his children, Derrick, Shandra, and | 14 | | William (Danielle Moses); his grandchildren, Darius (Jazmine), | 15 | | Adrian, Makeda, Jaxon, and Ezekiel; his great-granddaughter, | 16 | | Amiyah; his unborn great-grandson, Sebastian; and many nieces, | 17 | | nephews, and godchildren; therefore, be it
| 18 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | 19 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 20 | | Willie Thomas Summerville, and extend our sincere condolences | 21 | | to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be |
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| 1 | | it further | 2 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 3 | | presented to the family of Willie Summerville as an expression | 4 | | of our deepest sympathy.
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