Bill Text: IL SR0085 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the passing of Donald Benchley of Hampshire.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-01-26 - Resolution Adopted [SR0085 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2017-SR0085-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | ||||||
3 | learn of the death of Donald A. Benchley of Hampshire, who | ||||||
4 | passed away on January 13, 2017 at the age of 91; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Donald Benchley was born in Evanston on April 24, | ||||||
6 | 1925; after graduating from high school he entered the United | ||||||
7 | States Navy serving as a radioman aboard the carrier USS | ||||||
8 | Salamaua in the Pacific; near the end of his tour, he met | ||||||
9 | Joyce, his wife of 69 years; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Donald Benchley was a natural salesman; he worked | ||||||
11 | with his father in the furniture business, representing several | ||||||
12 | furniture and lamp manufacturers, during which time he made | ||||||
13 | many lifelong friends and loyal customers; he also worked at | ||||||
14 | the Taylor YMCA front desk, as an EMT for the Hampshire Fire | ||||||
15 | Department, and at the Superwash car wash in Hampshire; in each | ||||||
16 | job, he made friends and did what he could to make each | ||||||
17 | customer's day better; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Donald Benchley and his wife lived on George | ||||||
19 | Street in Chicago when they were first married and then moved | ||||||
20 | to their first house on Ridge Road in Highland Park; they later | ||||||
21 | moved to a larger home in Highland Park on Princeton Avenue; | ||||||
22 | their last move was to a farm in Hampshire in 1971 where they |
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1 | raised or kept chickens, goats, turkeys, peacocks, horses, | ||||||
2 | cows, as well as having many barn sales, and a massive garden; | ||||||
3 | and
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4 | WHEREAS, Donald Benchley made full use of his military | ||||||
5 | tuition exemption to take classes at Elgin Community College | ||||||
6 | for 28 years, learning glass blowing, welding, and | ||||||
7 | jewelry-making; his found-art welding projects were displayed | ||||||
8 | in galleries and outdoors in Elgin; he also took commissioned | ||||||
9 | work for customers; he made scale models of animals, plants, | ||||||
10 | and insects out of scrap metal and wood; among his creations | ||||||
11 | was a half-scale giraffe, a one-third-scale allosaurus, a | ||||||
12 | full-scale silverback gorilla, a miniature buffalo, a | ||||||
13 | full-scale human skeleton, a family of turtles, and a four-foot | ||||||
14 | spider; and
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15 | WHEREAS, Donald Benchley was a member of the First United | ||||||
16 | Methodist Church in Hampshire; his most meaningful and | ||||||
17 | fulfilling time was spent ministering to the homeless and those | ||||||
18 | in jail through the Wayside Cross Ministries; he spent more | ||||||
19 | than 20 years going to Aurora and Elgin, providing Bible study, | ||||||
20 | life lessons, and advice to those who most needed it; he was | ||||||
21 | Wayside's Volunteer of the Year in 1999; and
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22 | WHEREAS, Donald Benchley was a no-frills guy; he was | ||||||
23 | honest, hardworking, and dedicated to his God and his family; |
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1 | he was an exceptional example of how to conduct oneself as a | ||||||
2 | husband, father, grandfather, and mentor; and
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3 | WHEREAS, Donald Benchley was preceded in death by his | ||||||
4 | parents, Henry and Margaret Benchley; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Donald Benchley is survived by his wife, Joyce; | ||||||
6 | his four children, Jeffrey (Terry) Benchley, Janet (Robert) | ||||||
7 | Abramson, John Benchley, and Jason (Julie) Benchley; his eight | ||||||
8 | grandchildren, Jeffrey Eric (Vanessa) Benchley, Justin Allen | ||||||
9 | (Iriss) Benchley, Courtney (Joseph) Benchley Torelli, Brittany | ||||||
10 | (Edward) Benchley May, Julie (Scott) Abramson Brosnan, | ||||||
11 | Marjorie (Jason) Abramson Kranz, Jonathon (Sheena) Abramson, | ||||||
12 | and Maxwell Benchley; his eight great-grandchildren; and his | ||||||
13 | best friend, Larry Wedding; therefore, be it
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14 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | ||||||
15 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
16 | Donald A. Benchley, and extend our sincere condolences to his | ||||||
17 | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | ||||||
18 | further
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19 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
20 | presented to the family of Donald Benchley as an expression of | ||||||
21 | our deepest sympathy.
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