Bill Text: IL SR1899 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Mourns the death of James E. Gast of New Lenox.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-05-19 - Resolution Adopted [SR1899 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-SR1899-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 James E. Gast of New Lenox, who passed | ||||||
4 | away on May 9, 2016; and
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5 | WHEREAS, James Gast was born to Stanton and Clare (Brock) | ||||||
6 | Gast on July 7, 1941; he attended St. Joseph Grade School and | ||||||
7 | graduated from Lincoln-Way High School in 1959, where he was | ||||||
8 | active on the football and baseball teams, serving as Captain | ||||||
9 | of both during his Senior year; he was also a member of the | ||||||
10 | Future Farmers of America, was a representative in Springfield | ||||||
11 | for Boys State, and was on the Student Council; he attended St. | ||||||
12 | Ambrose College and Southern Illinois University, where he | ||||||
13 | majored in Agriculture; he married Mary Lou Cummins in 1965; | ||||||
14 | and
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15 | WHEREAS, James Gast began his career as a salesman with the | ||||||
16 | International Harvester Company in 1964; he worked in various | ||||||
17 | management positions for the next ten years in Illinois, | ||||||
18 | Missouri, Kansas, and Minnesota; his last assignment was in | ||||||
19 | Warren, Minnesota, where he managed a company store from 1972 | ||||||
20 | to 1974; in December of 1974, he purchased Moss Equipment in | ||||||
21 | Joliet and created Gast International, an International | ||||||
22 | Harvester Farm Equipment store; after five years in the | ||||||
23 | original facilities, he moved into a new, larger facility; his |
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1 | dealership has been featured in many International Harvester | ||||||
2 | advertising brochures, TV commercials, and company magazines; | ||||||
3 | and
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4 | WHEREAS, James Gast served as President of the | ||||||
5 | International Harvester North American Agriculture Dealer | ||||||
6 | Council representing U.S. and Canadian agriculture dealers in | ||||||
7 | 1982; he served on various advisory councils at Lincoln-Way | ||||||
8 | High School, Joliet Junior College, and St. Francis Academy and | ||||||
9 | was past Chairman of the Will County Heart Fund Drive; he was | ||||||
10 | always active in the Farm Equipment Association, serving as | ||||||
11 | President in 1983; he was involved in many Illinois Retail | ||||||
12 | Dealer's Association activities and served as President in | ||||||
13 | 1984; he retired in 2000; and
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14 | WHEREAS, James Gast's proudest accomplishment was being | ||||||
15 | elected to the Board of Education of Lincoln-Way Community High | ||||||
16 | School in 1983; he served on the Board for 33 years from 1983 | ||||||
17 | to 2016; he was a community relations ambassador for the | ||||||
18 | Lincoln-Way High School District 210; he served as President of | ||||||
19 | the Board of Education three times from 1989 to 1991, from 1997 | ||||||
20 | to 1998, and from 2003 to 2005; he served as the Board liaison | ||||||
21 | to the Lincoln-Way District 210 Foundation for Educational | ||||||
22 | Excellence from 1999 to 2001; and
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23 | WHEREAS, James Gast was a strong supporter of the |
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1 | district's vocational and fine arts programs; his support of a | ||||||
2 | partnership for an Agri-Science Center in conjunction with a | ||||||
3 | neighboring village succeeded in securing an eight-acre | ||||||
4 | Agri-Science Center; he also took a leadership role with the | ||||||
5 | Lincoln-Way Alumni Planning Committee and served on their board | ||||||
6 | of directors for more than six years; and
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7 | WHEREAS, James Gast was one of the leaders of the | ||||||
8 | district's 10-year reading program, which became a graduation | ||||||
9 | requirement by the Board of Education; he was one of the | ||||||
10 | presenters of the district's reading program, "Ascending the | ||||||
11 | Reading Summit: 10 Step Success Story" as part of the Carousel | ||||||
12 | of Panels at the Illinois Association of School Board's Annual | ||||||
13 | Conference in 2010; and
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14 | WHEREAS, James Gast was involved with Lincoln-Way's | ||||||
15 | Special Education Joint Agreement Governing Board of District | ||||||
16 | 843 on which he was a member from 2001 to 2015; he served as | ||||||
17 | Secretary from 2003 to 2006, as President from 2007 to 2009, | ||||||
18 | and as Vice-President from 2013 to 2015; he served over 45,000 | ||||||
19 | Lincoln-Way students during his 33 years as a Board of | ||||||
20 | Education member; he dedicated thousands of hours to activities | ||||||
21 | to improve support and understanding of the school district; | ||||||
22 | and
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23 | WHEREAS, James Gast twice earned the INSPRA's |
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1 | Distinguished Service Award in the Board of Education category; | ||||||
2 | and
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3 | WHEREAS, James Gast was a hard-working, self-made man who | ||||||
4 | was dedicated to his family, his business, and his community; | ||||||
5 | he had a strong, quiet exterior and a devoted and generous | ||||||
6 | heart; he and his wife, Mary Lou, always had an open door to | ||||||
7 | welcome friends and enjoyed hosting parties for friends, family | ||||||
8 | and "the kids"; and
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9 | WHEREAS, James Gast was father to Mark E. (Christy) Gast | ||||||
10 | and Melissa (Alan) Breitbart; brother to Kathleen (Dennis) | ||||||
11 | Galle, Ray (Jo) Gast, and Rita (Charlie) Russella; | ||||||
12 | brother-in-law to Vance Cummins; "Papa" to his grandchildren, | ||||||
13 | Ryan and Alec Gast and James and Mia Breitbart; and "Uncle Jim" | ||||||
14 | to his nieces and nephews, Juli, Galle, Mike (Erin) Galle, Beth | ||||||
15 | (Kameron) deVente, Jeff (Katrina) Galle, Christopher (Melanie) | ||||||
16 | Galle, Andrea (Kieran) Noonan, Nick (Meg) Galle, Kate (Sean) | ||||||
17 | Ramswick, Pete Russella, and Joe Russella, Melissa (Hugh) Rink, | ||||||
18 | David Morgan, and Kristen Gast; therefore, be it
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19 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | ||||||
20 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
21 | James E. Gast, and extend our sincere condolences to his | ||||||
22 | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | ||||||
23 | further
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1 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
2 | presented to the family of James Gast as an expression of our | ||||||
3 | deepest sympathy.
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