SR0145 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0145 LRB097 11322 KXB 53437 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Robert C. Whitehead Jr. of North Chicago, who passed away on March 4, 2011; and

WHEREAS, He was born in 1931 in Marion, Alabama to Robert and Mattie Whitehead; Robert's parents moved to the Waukegan area in July 1937; he attended elementary schools in the Waukegan-North Chicago area; he graduated from Waukegan Township High School in June of 1949 and received a B. A. Degree from Central State University at Wilberforce, Ohio in June 1953 with a major in Political Science-History and a minor in Music Education; and

WHEREAS, Upon graduation from Central State University he received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army and served two years with the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper-ranger; upon the completion of his military obligation he worked as a Postal Clerk for six and one half years at the North Chicago Post Office; and

WHEREAS, While working at the Post Office, he completed one year of law school at Chicago Kent College of Law; he earned a M.Ed Degree in Education at Roosevelt University with emphasis on Supervision and School Administration and went on to work 28 years with the North Chicago school system with 22 of the years as a School Principal and retired in 1990; he was the first black Junior High School Principal in Lake County; and

WHEREAS, He held the following memberships: Silver Square Lodge #791 Fayetteville, North Carolina Demit to; Rufus Mitchell Lodge #107 (Past Treasurer); Western Consistory #28 (1965) Demit to; North Shore Consistory #91 (Most Wise & Perfect Master); Shawall Temple #165 A.E.A.O.N.M.S. Illustrious Potentate; 33rd Degree Mason; Emblem Chapter #140 O.E.S. Past Patron; Stanley J Harris #60 Holy Royal Arch Mason; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, life member; Shiloh Baptist Church, member for 47 years and a trustee 35 years; Past Board Member-Lake County Urban League; Past Board Member-Branch Y.M.C.A.; Past 2nd Vice-President, Illinois Lung Association; Past President-Lake County Lung Association; and the American Legion; and

WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Timothy and Kenneth; and his sister, Mallie Nichols; and

WHEREAS, Robert Whitehead Jr. is survived by his loving wife, Valda; his son, Robert Rick (Shari); his granddaughter, Michelle Cydney; his step-grandsons, Philip, Adam, and Connor; his sisters, Cleopatra Cowins and Jacqueline Dorsey; his brother, Lawrence (Laura); his brother-in-law, Harvey (Helen) Ricks; his sisters-in-law, Kaye Whitehead and Barbara Ricks; his uncles, Rev. John (Ruby) Whitehead and Elder Earl (Laverne) Whitehead; his aunts, Elma McKinney and Archie Russell; several nieces and nephews; and special friends Warren and Mert Johnson, Curtis and Kathy Morris, O'Niel Swanson, and his Shiloh Baptist Church and Masonic family; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Robert C. Whitehead Jr.; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Robert C. Whitehead Jr. as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.