Bill Text: IL SR0376 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the passing of Roy C. Roberts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-10-26 - Resolution Adopted [SR0376 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-SR0376-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | ||||||
3 | to learn of the death of Roy C. Roberts, who passed away on | ||||||
4 | June 15, 2023; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Roy Roberts was born to Clarence and Marietta | ||||||
6 | Roberts in Beardstown on February 1, 1922; he graduated from | ||||||
7 | Beardstown High School in 1939 and attended Bradley | ||||||
8 | University; he enlisted in the U.S. Army, which sent him to | ||||||
9 | Stanford University and the University of Cincinnati for | ||||||
10 | additional training before he joined the 14th Armored Division | ||||||
11 | in 1943; he served as a tank gunner with the rank of sergeant | ||||||
12 | in battles in France and Germany during World War II; he | ||||||
13 | married Christine Kuhlmann at St. Paul Lutheran Church in | ||||||
14 | Cincinnati, Ohio on December 23, 1943; they spent their | ||||||
15 | winters in the Rio Grande Valley near McAllen, Texas for 17 | ||||||
16 | years; in more recent years, they made their home at the Blair | ||||||
17 | House Retirement Home in Normal; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Roy Roberts was instrumental in organizing the | ||||||
19 | Beardstown Park District with the goal of providing a swimming | ||||||
20 | pool for Beardstown; he served as the park district's first | ||||||
21 | board president and later became the first director of Parks | ||||||
22 | and Recreation; during his tenure, he supervised and built a | ||||||
23 | park swimming pool, improved Schmoldt Park, and acquired the |
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1 | property for two neighborhood parks, Kiwanis Park and Elks | ||||||
2 | Park; he facilitated the purchase of land for the construction | ||||||
3 | of the Beardstown Airport and the Beardstown Marina; along | ||||||
4 | with others, he started Little League Baseball in Beardstown; | ||||||
5 | he raised funds, planned, and supervised the joint | ||||||
6 | construction of the Schewe Community Center/Illinois National | ||||||
7 | Guard Armory; he retired in 1987 after 33 years of service, and | ||||||
8 | in his honor, a park he built was named the Roy Roberts Park; | ||||||
9 | he served as a director and vice president of the Illinois | ||||||
10 | Association of Park Districts Board, from which he received an | ||||||
11 | honorary life membership in appreciation for his work in parks | ||||||
12 | and recreation; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Roy Roberts served as a columnist for the | ||||||
14 | Illinoian Star and the Cass County Gazette for over 50 years; | ||||||
15 | he first wrote about sports before later renaming his column | ||||||
16 | Trivia Too, which featured a myriad of stories about his | ||||||
17 | family, friends, items of human interest, and travel; at age | ||||||
18 | 101, he was granted a lifetime membership to the National | ||||||
19 | Association of Newspaper Columnists; he also authored three | ||||||
20 | books, The Life of Thomas Beard, Grandpa, Please Tell Us a | ||||||
21 | Story, and Dear Christine; within these pages, he preserved | ||||||
22 | his hometown's history of the past 200 years, chronicled | ||||||
23 | stories of his childhood and life for his family, and shared | ||||||
24 | the love he held for his wife through the many letters he wrote | ||||||
25 | to her during his military service; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Roy Roberts was a member of St. John's Lutheran | ||||||
2 | Church, a charter member of the Beardstown Kiwanis Club, and a | ||||||
3 | member of the Beardstown Lions Club; he served on the | ||||||
4 | Beardstown Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and as | ||||||
5 | president of the Beardstown High School Alumni Association, | ||||||
6 | which honored him in 1988 for his dedicated service to youth; | ||||||
7 | he was named the grand marshal of the Beardstown Fall Festival | ||||||
8 | in 1995; he also belonged to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) | ||||||
9 | and The American Legion, and he was a member of the 14th | ||||||
10 | Armored Division Organization, where he was elected president | ||||||
11 | in 2006; and
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12 | WHEREAS, Roy Roberts continually gave back to the | ||||||
13 | Beardstown community; he solicited the funds for the Houston | ||||||
14 | Memorial Library and actively secured several thousands of | ||||||
15 | dollars for community projects; through his dedication to the | ||||||
16 | community, he preserved spaces for children and families to | ||||||
17 | play, to gather, and to create lifelong memories; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Roy Roberts loved all sports and instilled a love | ||||||
19 | of sports in his grandchildren; recently, he sent racks and | ||||||
20 | basketballs to his great-grandchildren with advice, preserving | ||||||
21 | his coaching techniques for generations to come; he also | ||||||
22 | enjoyed oil painting; he dearly loved his family and friends, | ||||||
23 | and he enjoyed initiating and upholding several traditions |
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1 | with them; and
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2 | WHEREAS, Roy Roberts was preceded in death by his parents; | ||||||
3 | his wife, Christine; his brothers, Mylo G. Roberts and Dale E. | ||||||
4 | Roberts; his sister, Jane Deckenbach; and step-granddaughter, | ||||||
5 | Tracy Chelette; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Roy Roberts is survived by his children, Ann | ||||||
7 | (Jess) Chelette, Don C. (Cathy) Roberts, Sue (Richard) Walker, | ||||||
8 | and Chris (Keith) Mason; his grandchildren, Laura (John) | ||||||
9 | Hawkins, Amy (Chris) Wood, Heidi (Matt) Cardinal, Angela | ||||||
10 | (Ryan) Wolterstorff, Jessica (Andy) Moots, Jill (Andrew) | ||||||
11 | Gaskell, Kate (Steve) Szczudlo, Joel (Sara) Walker, Kevin | ||||||
12 | (Michelle) Mason, and Claire Mason (fiancé, John Busse); 20 | ||||||
13 | great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews; | ||||||
14 | therefore, be it
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15 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL | ||||||
16 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
17 | Roy C. Roberts and extend our sincere condolences to his | ||||||
18 | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | ||||||
19 | further
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20 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
21 | presented to the family of Roy Roberts as an expression of our | ||||||
22 | deepest sympathy.
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