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91_SR0312
LRB9113497CBcb
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Senate were saddened to learn
3 of the death of Jefferson P. Hightower of Chicago on Friday,
4 March 3, 2000; and
5 WHEREAS, Jefferson Hightower was born in Jackson,
6 Tennessee, on September 16, 1920, the son of James and Lola
7 Hightower; he attended Lane College and while there joined
8 the Kappa Sigma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.;
9 and
10 WHEREAS, The Hightower family moved to Chicago in 1939,
11 and Jefferson Hightower continued his matriculation at
12 Roosevelt University; and
13 WHEREAS, In October, 1943, Jefferson Hightower married
14 Amelia Stewart and to this union two daugthers and a son were
15 born; his son, Jefferson, preceded him in death; and
16 WHEREAS, During World War II, Jefferson Hightower served
17 as a tank commander sergeant with the 758th Tank Battalion,
18 an all black unit comprised of 800 black men; this battalion
19 was dissolved after the war and Jefferson Hightower joined
20 the Chicago Chapter of the 761st Tank Battalion and Allied
21 Veterans Association; upon his honorable discharge, he became
22 a career government employee with the U.S. Postal Service and
23 also served as a union steward until his retirement in 1979;
24 and
25 WHEREAS, On March 10, 1962, Jefferson Hightower married
26 Ernestine Brooks, the mother of four children from a previous
27 union, who preceded him in death; and
28 WHEREAS, Jefferson Hightower felt that the past should
29 never be forgotten and worked to ensure that the legacy of
30 the 761st Tank Battalion would be remembered; in 1978 a
31 Presidential Unit Citation for Extraordinary Heroism was
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1 presented to this unit by President Jimmy Carter; in his role
2 as National President of the 761st Tank Battalion and Allied
3 Veterans Association, Jefferson Hightower spoke before
4 various groups about the history of the 761st; and
5 WHEREAS, Jefferson Hightower's passing will be deeply
6 felt by his family and friends, especially his daughters,
7 Amelia Honesty and Sylvia Brooks; his step-children, Rowena
8 Barrett, Mark Woosley, and Roscoe Woosley; his sisters, Mary
9 Sarten and Rebecca Braithwaite; his brother, Clifford
10 Hightower; his grandchildren, Lynn Brooks-Darden, Michelle
11 Honesty-Wilson, Phillip Hightower, and Corey Barrett; and a
12 great-grandchild, Brooke Ashlei Darden; therefore, be it
13 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIRST GENERAL
14 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we note with sorrow
15 and regret the death of Jefferson P. Hightower and extend our
16 sincere condolences to his family and friends; and be it
17 further
18 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
19 presented to the family of Jefferson P. Hightower.