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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | ||||||
| 3 | to learn of the death of Michael "Shawn" Way, who passed away | ||||||
| 4 | on October 3, 2025; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Shawn Way, the son of Bud and Joyce Way, was born | ||||||
| 6 | in Rockford on October 1, 1962; he graduated from Holy Family | ||||||
| 7 | Catholic School and Boylan Catholic Central High School, where | ||||||
| 8 | he served as a pitcher on the 1980 conference championship | ||||||
| 9 | baseball team; he received a degree in marketing from Northern | ||||||
| 10 | Illinois University; he married Kathy Darnell in 1987; and | ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, Shawn Way worked at AMCORE Bank for 20 years | ||||||
| 12 | before co-founding Rockford Bank & Trust with his longtime | ||||||
| 13 | friend, Tom Budd; he later served as CEO of the nonprofit | ||||||
| 14 | Milestone Inc., an organization serving individuals with | ||||||
| 15 | intellectual and developmental disabilities, for 13 years; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, Shawn Way was active in fundraising for Rock | ||||||
| 17 | House Kids, Holy Family Catholic School, and Milestone Inc.; | ||||||
| 18 | he served on the Holy Family Finance Committee and the Boylan | ||||||
| 19 | High School Foundation; and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, Shawn Way was an avid sports fan, supporting the | ||||||
| 21 | Chicago Cubs, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Green Bay Packers, | ||||||
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| 1 | and the Milwaukee Bucks; he loved coaching baseball and | ||||||
| 2 | basketball; he also loved golfing with his friends and family, | ||||||
| 3 | especially at his favorite course, Whistling Straights on Lake | ||||||
| 4 | Michigan; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Shawn Way loved his family, friends, coworkers, | ||||||
| 6 | and the Rockford community; he will be remembered as a sincere | ||||||
| 7 | servant leader, a talented marketer, and a selfless community | ||||||
| 8 | advocate who displayed a sharp sense of humor and a genuine | ||||||
| 9 | ability to connect with and care for other people; and | ||||||
| 10 | WHEREAS, Shawn Way was the husband of Kathy for 38 years; | ||||||
| 11 | the father of Alex, Hannah (Johnny Mitchell), Emily, Sarah | ||||||
| 12 | (Danny Gorman), Kate (Justin Fell), and Michael; the | ||||||
| 13 | grandfather of two; and the brother of Dave (Rose), Brad | ||||||
| 14 | (Julie), and Kathy (Stan Kline); therefore, be it | ||||||
| 15 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 16 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | ||||||
| 17 | Michael "Shawn" Way and extend our sincere condolences to his | ||||||
| 18 | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | ||||||
| 19 | further | ||||||
| 20 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 21 | presented to the family of Shawn Way as an expression of our | ||||||
| 22 | deepest sympathy. | ||||||