SR0905 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0905 LRB094 22103 KXB 60732 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Don Hubert of Chicago, Illinois, who passed away on November 27, 2006; and

WHEREAS, Don Hubert was raised in a Chicago family of seven children; in a Chicago Lawyer magazine article, after being named 1992 Person of the Year by the publication, Mr. Hubert recounted how he would pick cotton with his grandmother, trying to build his pile higher and higher onto the scale that would determine how much he would be paid; and

WHEREAS, In grade school, he asked for a wagon for Christmas so he could deliver groceries to earn money for tuition at Hales Franciscan; he is credited with helping Hales Franciscan High School keep its doors open by generously donating the proceeds of his first big legal verdict to the school; he has since led a capital campaign for Hales Franciscan, persuading Michael Jordan to give $1 million to kick off a $15 million fund-raising effort; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Hubert served as the second African-American president of the Chicago Bar Association; he represented the City of Chicago in a federal redistricting case; he won acquittals for men falsely accused of murder; and raised his now 12-year-old daughter Jessica on his own after his wife, Mellonie, died; and

WHEREAS, He was considered among the top leaders in Chicago's African-American community, and was frequently sought after as an adviser and fund-raiser by African-American politicians; he created a mentoring program through the Cook County Bar Association to train new lawyers to avoid getting into trouble; and

WHEREAS In 2005, Mr. Hubert was awarded the Chicago Bar Association's John Paul Stevens award for his life's work; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Hubert attended Loyola University, where he founded the African-American Student Organization, then went to law school at the University of Michigan; he was head of the Hubert Law Group, a six-lawyer firm that counts Coca-Cola and McDonald's as their clients; and

WHEREAS, Don Hubert is survived by his daughter, Jessica; his stepson, Brandon Harris; his parents, Issac and Louise Hubert; his brothers, Issac, Karl, Jerome and Maurice; and his sisters, Shirley Hubert-Thompson, and Janice Hubert-Whitten; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Don Hubert of Chicago; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Don Hubert as a sign of our condolences.