Bill Text: IL SR0848 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the death of James Oliver Gross.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Passed) 2026-06-01 - Resolution Adopted [SR0848 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2025-SR0848-Introduced.html
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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | ||||||
| 3 | to learn of the death of James Oliver Gross, who passed away on | ||||||
| 4 | February 18, 2026; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, James Gross was born in Memphis, Tennessee to | ||||||
| 6 | Willie Lee Stanford and James Reginald Gross on August 2, | ||||||
| 7 | 1942; as a child, he was a member of Mt. Pisgah C/M.E. Church | ||||||
| 8 | in Memphis, and his family eventually moved to the Orange | ||||||
| 9 | Mound neighborhood; he graduated from Melrose High School in | ||||||
| 10 | 1960 and attended Los Angeles City Colleges before returning | ||||||
| 11 | to Memphis and attending Lemoyne Junior College (now | ||||||
| 12 | Lemoyne-Owen) in the mid-60s; and | ||||||
| 13 | WHEREAS, James Gross enrolled in Tennessee State | ||||||
| 14 | University in 1965; he was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi | ||||||
| 15 | Fraternity, Alpha Theta Chapter and represented the chapter on | ||||||
| 16 | the cover of the Kappa Journal in 1966; he graduated with | ||||||
| 17 | honors from Tennessee State University with a major in | ||||||
| 18 | sociology in 1967; and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, James Gross spent 1967 to 1969 in Puerto Cabello, | ||||||
| 20 | Venezuela; he served as a physical education teacher, and his | ||||||
| 21 | greatest accomplishment was to garner funds from USAID and | ||||||
| 22 | non-profits in the United States to complete the completion of | ||||||
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| 1 | a school in another part of Puerto Cabello; he completed a | ||||||
| 2 | 40-year dream of visiting Puerto Cabello in 2007 and seeing | ||||||
| 3 | the school where he taught physical education and the school | ||||||
| 4 | that he built; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, James Gross continued his love for learning by | ||||||
| 6 | obtaining two more degrees, a Master of Arts in Personnel and | ||||||
| 7 | Guidance Administration in 1971 and a Juris Doctorate from | ||||||
| 8 | Depaul Law School in 1978; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, James Gross married Karen Laurette Bozeman in | ||||||
| 10 | 1982, and they traveled the world together; and | ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, James Gross had a vast and distinguished social | ||||||
| 12 | service career; he served as executive director of the | ||||||
| 13 | Clarence Darrow Community Service Center in Le Claire Courts | ||||||
| 14 | near Midway Airport from 1971 to 1976, and upon his departure, | ||||||
| 15 | he left standing a day care center that he built that served | ||||||
| 16 | the community for many years after; he worked at the | ||||||
| 17 | Thresholds Psychiatric Rehabilitation Agency; he also served | ||||||
| 18 | as executive director of Firman House Community Center from | ||||||
| 19 | 1985 to 1987 and program/project director at the Henry Boothe | ||||||
| 20 | House, the Altgeld Gardens Community Center, and the Ford | ||||||
| 21 | Heights Community Service Center; he served as employment | ||||||
| 22 | assistance director for Chicago Public Schools before his last | ||||||
| 23 | professional job at Chicago Housing Authority, from which he | ||||||
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| 1 | retired in 2015; and | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, James Gross consulted with many social service | ||||||
| 3 | agencies and educational institutions, including the Institute | ||||||
| 4 | of Positive Education, the Community Renewal Society, Bethel | ||||||
| 5 | New Life, the National College of Black Law, and numerous | ||||||
| 6 | other small churches and organizations; and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, James Gross was the impetus for three major laws, | ||||||
| 8 | the Nuisance Law in the City of Chicago, the Domestic Violence | ||||||
| 9 | Law in the City of Chicago, and the Expungement Law for the | ||||||
| 10 | State of Illinois; and | ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, James Gross was fondly known as "Professor Gross" | ||||||
| 12 | at Kennedy-King College, as "Rabbit" by some, and as "Baba | ||||||
| 13 | James" by others; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, James Gross was preceded in death by his parents; | ||||||
| 15 | his brothers, Alfred and Stanford Gross; and his daughter, | ||||||
| 16 | Kamaria Laurette Gross; and | ||||||
| 17 | WHEREAS, James Gross is survived by his wife, Karen | ||||||
| 18 | Laurette Bozeman Gross; his daughter, Robyn (Deryle) Wheatley | ||||||
| 19 | McCoy; his son, Jabari Wilfred Oliver Gross; his sister, | ||||||
| 20 | Willie Levada Gross Moore; his grandchildren, Kaiden Collins, | ||||||
| 21 | Kairo Gross, Jamir Gross, Sebastian McCoy, Ethan McCoy, Riley | ||||||
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| 1 | McCoy, and Rayna McCoy; and numerous nieces and nephews and | ||||||
| 2 | great-nieces and nephews; therefore, be it | ||||||
| 3 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 4 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
| 5 | James Oliver Gross and extend our sincere condolences to his | ||||||
| 6 | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | ||||||
| 7 | further | ||||||
| 8 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 9 | presented to the family of James Gross as a symbol of our | ||||||
| 10 | deepest sympathy. | ||||||
