Bill Text: IL SR1006 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the death of James Pobiega.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-05-26 - Resolution Adopted [SR1006 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-SR1006-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 R. Pobiega, who passed away on | ||||||
| 4 | September 12, 2023 at the age of 73; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, James Pobiega was born in Oak Park on August 23, | ||||||
| 6 | 1950 to Michael Pobiega, who drove a milk truck, and Alice | ||||||
| 7 | Pobiega, who held several jobs including working as a | ||||||
| 8 | secretary for a roofing company; and
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| 9 | WHEREAS, James Pobiega attended Argo High School in | ||||||
| 10 | Summit, where he earned the nickname Beowulf due to his large | ||||||
| 11 | stature, which was later changed to Little Howlin Wolf by | ||||||
| 12 | passersby who would toss money in his saxophone case as he | ||||||
| 13 | played music on the Michigan Avenue bridge; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, James Pobiega, a self-taught saxophonist, began | ||||||
| 15 | busking at Chicago's Old Maxwell Street Market as he graduated | ||||||
| 16 | high school in 1968; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, James Pobiega studied acting at the Goodman | ||||||
| 18 | School of Drama and joined his instructor, Patrick Henry, and | ||||||
| 19 | several classmates to form the Free Street Theater in 1969, | ||||||
| 20 | which performed around Chicago and the Midwest region; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, James Pobiega worked as Santa Claus at Water | ||||||
| 2 | Tower Place in Chicago; he enjoyed scuba diving as a hobby and | ||||||
| 3 | as an instructor and had bit parts in a few productions, | ||||||
| 4 | including a goofy music video with Tim Kazurinsky and the | ||||||
| 5 | Chevy Chase movie Bad Meat; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, James Pobiega's true passion was music, and he | ||||||
| 7 | self-released dozens of singles and three albums, two in the | ||||||
| 8 | 1980s and one in 2005; although his music was never | ||||||
| 9 | commercially successful, it found a wider audience in the | ||||||
| 10 | early 2000s after Twig Harper, a musician who was working at an | ||||||
| 11 | antique store in Wicker Park, bought one of his self-released | ||||||
| 12 | albums at a Chicago Thrift shop and circulated it among | ||||||
| 13 | friends in the underground experimental music scene; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, James Pobiega was preceded in death by his | ||||||
| 15 | parents; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, At the time of his passing, James Pobiega was | ||||||
| 17 | survived by his sister, Patricia Pobiega; his cousins, | ||||||
| 18 | Kathleen Rehr and Bobby Pobiega; and numerous friends; | ||||||
| 19 | therefore, be it
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| 20 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL | ||||||
| 21 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
| 22 | James Pobiega and extend our sincere condolences to his | ||||||
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| 1 | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | ||||||
| 2 | further
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