Full Text of HR0742 96th General Assembly
HR0742 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Robert C. | 4 |
| "Bob" Atherton of Palatine, who passed away on September 6, | 5 |
| 2009; and
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| WHEREAS, Robert Atherton was born July 16, 1927, in Grand | 7 |
| Rapids, Michigan; he graduated from the Senn High School in | 8 |
| Chicago in 1945, but had attended Chicago's Sullivan High | 9 |
| School for most of his high school years; during World War II, | 10 |
| he served in the United States Army from 1945 to 1946; using | 11 |
| the G.I. Bill, he received a degree in foreign trade from the | 12 |
| Latin American Institute; the first languages he studied were | 13 |
| Spanish, French, and Portuguese; and
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| WHEREAS, Following employment with the Malco Machinery | 15 |
| Co., he embarked on a plan to build a business in Mexico; while | 16 |
| that did not take-off, he utilized more than a year of | 17 |
| bicycling over 7,000 miles to be well-acquainted with many | 18 |
| European countries, as well as northwestern Africa; following | 19 |
| that, he founded Raco Industrial Corp. in 1953 and Raco remains | 20 |
| one of the most prominent machinery dealers in the United | 21 |
| States today; and
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| WHEREAS, He also served as board member at all levels of |
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| the Machinery Dealers National Association, and was President | 2 |
| from 1970 to 1972; he was also the first U.S. dealer to become | 3 |
| a member of the then the Association of European Machine Tool | 4 |
| Merchants (A.E.M.T.M.) (later, the European Association of | 5 |
| Machine Tool Merchants (E.A.M.T.M.)) and was the first to be | 6 |
| honored as a "Fellow" with the Europeans; and | 7 |
| WHEREAS, He was well-known for his outstanding, tireless | 8 |
| dedication to his work, but also lived life and loved life to | 9 |
| the fullest, traveling around the world five times, climbing | 10 |
| over 230 mountains on six continents, and river rafting and | 11 |
| boating on over 214 rivers of the earth; and
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| WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents, Curry and | 13 |
| Edith Atherton; and his sons, Robert David and Richard Hillary; | 14 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, He is survived by his beloved wife of 51 years, | 16 |
| Martha; and his son, John Curry Atherton; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 18 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 19 |
| mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Robert | 20 |
| Atherton; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| presented to the family of Robert Atherton as a symbol of our | 2 |
| sincere sympathy.
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