SR0716 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois learned with regret of the death of Jay W. Stream, the founder of the Village of Carol Stream, on Sunday, January 22, 2006; and

WHEREAS, He was born in Churdan, Iowa, on April 17, 1921, to Adrian and Theo Stream; later, the family moved to Wheaton, where they had a dairy herd and about 65 horses; after high school, Mr. Stream went to the University of Southern California on a football scholarship, but left school to enlist in the United States Army Air Corps at the outbreak of World War II; he was a bomber pilot, but for much of the war, he ferried USO performers to military bases around the world; and

WHEREAS, Following World War II, Mr. Stream worked briefly for John Hancock Insurance in Boston, Massachusetts, but missed his midwest origins, and soon returned to Chicago; he was working out of John Hancock's Chicago office and quickly rose to leadership in the field of annuity programming; and

WHEREAS, In 1947, looking for something a bit more tangible, he was instrumental in opening the city's first ready-mix concrete plant and served as president of Royal Ready-Mix Concrete Co.; he bought a gravel pit in Wisconsin and was soon shipping 60 freight cars a day full of sand and gravel to Chicago; from 1949 to 1964, he pioneered and led the Durable Construction Co. to a position as one of Illinois' largest residential and commercial building firms; during this period he served as president of Midwest Land Corp., Wheaton Sewer and Water Co., and Hydro-Structure Corp.; and

WHEREAS, It was in 1958 that Jay Stream had a vision that now, 48 years later, represents visible proof of his clarity of vision; after selecting an area of virgin farmland in Illinois, he carefully pulled together a planned community of residential atmosphere that would be supported by well-selected manufacturing companies; and

WHEREAS, The Village of Carol Stream was named in honor of Mr. Stream's daughter; under his direction, the industrial area grew to include many of the nation's industrial leaders, such as Fiat, Morton Salt, Container Corporation of America, Allis Chalmers, Meyer Cord Decalcomania Company, Easterling Silverware, and many more; today, Carol Stream has more than 40,000 residents; and

WHEREAS, In 1962, he founded the Hawthorne Bank of Wheaton and served as its bank president and chairman of the board; in 1967, Mr. Stream retired from the bank to pursue a new post as president of the International Arabian Horse Association; his enthusiastic dedication to the Arabian horse resulted not only in his founding Greengate Farms, one of the largest and most successful Arabian Horse breeding farms in the world, but also his participation in the creation of the World Arabian Horse Organization; serving as chairman of the Steering Committee, he helped found and wrote the constitution for the World Arabian Horse Association, an organization representing more than 50 countries; he was elected first president of the organization and served in that capacity for 30 years, a position that placed him in close contact with many governments, including Russia and several nations of the Eastern bloc; he dealt extensively with countries of the Mid-East (including Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Jay Stream, a man who was truly a visionary, and we extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to his family and to the Village of Carol Stream as an expression of our deepest sympathy.