Bill Text: IL SR1481 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the death of Raymond Eugene Suggs of Champaign.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-11-20 - Resolution Adopted [SR1481 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2013-SR1481-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 Raymond Eugene "Gene" Suggs of Champaign, | ||||||
4 | who passed away on September 19, 2014; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs was born on May 22, 1928 in Champaign | ||||||
6 | to Roy Raymond and Claudia
Mae (nee Glover) Suggs; he attended | ||||||
7 | Marquette Elementary School and
Champaign Junior High and High | ||||||
8 | Schools, graduating in 1946; he attended Illinois State
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9 | University in Normal;
he was active in his community as a Boy | ||||||
10 | Scout and Patrol Leader in Troop 11; in 1945, he was elected by | ||||||
11 | his teammates as captain of the Champaign High
School Maroons | ||||||
12 | football team; he was a member of the Champaign High School | ||||||
13 | basketball team that won the 1946
Illinois State championship, | ||||||
14 | and, in 1990, the team was
entered into the Illinois Basketball | ||||||
15 | Coaches Association Hall of Fame; he married Hester Barbara | ||||||
16 | Nelson in Champaign on June 20, 1948; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs, as a young man of 16, worked with his | ||||||
18 | uncle, Eddie
Glover, in the roundhouse of the Cleveland, | ||||||
19 | Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway as a fire knocker; | ||||||
20 | in the early 1950s, he began
Suggs Plastering and Contracting | ||||||
21 | and operated the business for over 25 years; he also worked | ||||||
22 | with
Reinhardt and Johnson Realtors as an associate; and
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1 | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs's interest in photography began as a | ||||||
2 | hobby in the 1940s and blossomed into a lifetime career
that | ||||||
3 | spanned over 50 years; starting out as a freelance | ||||||
4 | photographer, his work drew positive
attention and he was hired | ||||||
5 | by the Champaign-Urbana Courier as a part-time general | ||||||
6 | assignment
photographer in 1960, working there until the | ||||||
7 | publication closed in 1979; he continued his work as a | ||||||
8 | photographer, establishing Suggs Photography; over the years, | ||||||
9 | he
documented the visual history of organizations, clubs, | ||||||
10 | sporting events, weddings, and other social
activities | ||||||
11 | throughout Champaign County and, most particularly, its | ||||||
12 | African-American community; his photos appeared in several | ||||||
13 | publications, including Ebony Magazine; and
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14 | WHEREAS, In the early 1960s, Gene Suggs was part of a group | ||||||
15 | of individuals committed to improving race
relations and the | ||||||
16 | quality of life for the African-American population in the | ||||||
17 | community, which
resulted in the founding of the Champaign | ||||||
18 | County Urban League; he would go on to serve on its
Board of | ||||||
19 | Directors and as its President for several years; he also | ||||||
20 | served on the boards of the Community Foundation of Champaign | ||||||
21 | County, The Don
Moyers Boys' Club, and was a member of the | ||||||
22 | Zoning Board of Appeals for the City of
Champaign; for over 30 | ||||||
23 | years, he served as a jury commissioner for Champaign County; | ||||||
24 | and
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1 | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs was life-long member of Bethel
African | ||||||
2 | Methodist Episcopal Church, serving in the past on its Board of | ||||||
3 | Trustees and chairing the Building Committee
for the current | ||||||
4 | church, completed in 1959; he was a devoted fan of University | ||||||
5 | of Illinois basketball and a founding member of the Illini
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6 | Rebounders, serving as its Vice-President from 1989 to 1992; he | ||||||
7 | was also a member at one time
of the Champaign-Urbana Kiwanis | ||||||
8 | Club and the Thursday Evening Men's Supper Club; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs was preceded in death by his parents; | ||||||
10 | and
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11 | WHEREAS, Gene Suggs is survived by his wife, Hester; | ||||||
12 | daughter, Barbara Elaine (Frederick) Mason; son,
Danny Jerome | ||||||
13 | (Catherine); daughter, Ramona Gay (William)
Winrow; 7 | ||||||
14 | grandsons, William Winrow III, Mason James Reinhart-Suggs,
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15 | Justin Paul Winrow, Raymond Nelson Winrow, Frederick Eugene | ||||||
16 | Kwame Mason, Ryan
Daniel Suggs, and Logan Patrick Suggs; | ||||||
17 | cousins, Marian Barnett Cullers and her sons, Vincent Terry
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18 | Cullers and Jeffery Bryan Cullers; sisters-in-law, Eleanor | ||||||
19 | Conrad, Estelle Merrifield, and Eunice
Rivers; and a host of | ||||||
20 | nieces and nephews, cousins, and friends; therefore, be it
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21 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | ||||||
22 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
23 | Raymond Eugene "Gene" Suggs, and extend our sincere condolences |
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1 | to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be | ||||||
2 | it further
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3 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
4 | presented to the family of Gene Suggs as an expression of our | ||||||
5 | deepest sympathy.
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