Full Text of SR0524 95th General Assembly
SR0524 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of Melvin E. "Mel" Dunn of Marco Island, | 4 |
| Florida, formerly of Geneva, who passed away on January 7, | 5 |
| 2007; and
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| WHEREAS, Melvin Dunn was born October 31, 1933, in Chicago; | 7 |
| he was orphaned at age six and was raised by various relatives; | 8 |
| he attended St. Thomas the Apostle Elementary School, Quigley | 9 |
| South Seminary, Hyde Park High School, the University of | 10 |
| Illinois at Navy Pier, Roosevelt University and Kent Law | 11 |
| School; after serving with the Coast Guard during the Korean | 12 |
| War he earned a living as a salesman and eventually launched | 13 |
| his own private investigation agency where his quick wit and | 14 |
| street-wise savvy made him the preferred P.I. of several top | 15 |
| law firms; and
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| WHEREAS, Following graduation from Kent Law School in 1971, | 17 |
| he was employed by a respected Chicago law firm and became the | 18 |
| chief investigator for the Illinois Attorney General's Fraud | 19 |
| Division; in 1972, Mel was united in marriage to Judith | 20 |
| Wilkinson Vester; and
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| WHEREAS, He opened his own law firm and soon a dream come | 22 |
| true when in 1982 he became a judge; he was a diligent |
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| volunteer for Mutual Ground, Aurora; he and his wife hosted | 2 |
| many foreign exchange students and opened their home to many | 3 |
| other children; he taught paralegal classes at Elgin Community | 4 |
| College and was a much sought after guest speaker for many | 5 |
| community causes and events; in 1986 he ran a hotly contested | 6 |
| campaign for a seat as a Circuit Judge and won by a large | 7 |
| margin; the motto of his campaign, "Let Justice be Dunn" became | 8 |
| the credo of his judicial career; in addition to working in all | 9 |
| the courts the Sixteenth Judicial District, he was Chief of the | 10 |
| Family Law Division and the Chancery Division; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1998, Mel retired from the bench; in 2001, he | 12 |
| and Jude moved to the present family home on Marco Island, | 13 |
| Florida; he was a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial | 14 |
| Lawyers, a member of the Family Law Council of the Illinois | 15 |
| State Bar Association, and the Kane County Bar Association; he | 16 |
| was a founder of the Elburn Business Council, a member of the | 17 |
| Elburn Lion's Club, and parade chairman of the Elburn Days | 18 |
| Parade; he was an enthusiastic member of the Marco Lutheran | 19 |
| Church, the church choir, and the Marco Men's Club; and
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| WHEREAS, Melvin Dunn is survived by his wife, Jude; his | 21 |
| daughters, Lori (Michael) Dunn-Reier and Andrea (Brian) | 22 |
| Johanson; his sons, Rick (Toni Keller) Vester, Jonathan (Judy | 23 |
| Johns) Vester, and G. Adam (Tina Schuck) Vester; his thirteen | 24 |
| grandchildren, Lori's: Jessica (Eric) Staponkus and Malia and |
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| Briana; Rick's: Ryan and Sarah; Jonathan's: David Vester, | 2 |
| Heather Johns and Matthew Johns; Adam's: Kylie Vester; | 3 |
| Andrea's: Luke, Abbie, Noah, Nehemiah; his three | 4 |
| great-grandchildren, Jessica's: Elise and Alex; Heather's: | 5 |
| Kaylee; his three former foreign exchanges students who remain | 6 |
| like sons and daughters, Christina "Nina" (Dr. Gerhardt) | 7 |
| Fliedner, Lars (Susanne) Johanhage, and Christian (Claudia) | 8 |
| Schmaus; his two half-sisters, Jane Dunn and "Wish" (Greg) | 9 |
| Sims; his many nieces and nephews;
his brother-in-law, Richard | 10 |
| "Dick" (fiancée: Yvonne Crane) Wilkinson; and a "family of | 11 |
| friends" across the country and around the world; he is | 12 |
| preceded in death by his parents; his mother and father-in-law, | 13 |
| Robert and R. Adele Wilkinson; his two sisters-in-law, Lillian | 14 |
| Wilkinson and Judy Kelly; and his two brothers-in-law, Robert | 15 |
| Wilkinson Jr. and Roger Wilkinson; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 17 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 18 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Melvin E. "Mel" Dunn; | 19 |
| and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 21 |
| presented to the family of Melvin E. "Mel" Dunn as a symbol of | 22 |
| our sincere sympathy.
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