SR0070

LRB095 10984 KXB 31290 r






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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to 
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learn of the death of George Becker of Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, 
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formerly of Granite City, who passed away on February 3, 2007; 
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and

 
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    WHEREAS, As a child, George Becker grew up near the Granite 
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City Steel plant; at the age of 15 he took a job at the plant on 
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an open hearth labor gang; and

 
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    WHEREAS, George Becker served with the United States Marine 
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Corps toward the end of World War II; he was drafted into the 
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United States Army during the Korean War due to a critical 
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shortage of light weapons infantry leaders; and

 
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    WHEREAS, George Becker's early work background also 
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included working as a crane operator at General Steel Castings 
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and as an assembler at the General Motors Fisher Body plant in 
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St. Louis; and

 
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    WHEREAS, On June 21, 1950 he married Jane Goforth; after 
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there wedding he began working at a Dow Chemical aluminum 
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rolling mill, becoming a shop steward for Local 4804; he later 
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became treasurer, then vice president, and in 1961 became the 
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president of the local union; and

 
 


 






SR0070
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LRB095 10984 KXB 31290 r




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    WHEREAS, George Becker was elected vice president of United 
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Steelworkers of America (USW) in 1985; after the retirement of 
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union president Lynn Williams; George Becker became the first 
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person since the founder of the USW, Phillip Murray, to be 
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elected president of the union without an election challenge or 
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the death of a predecessor; and
 
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    WHEREAS, He was elected as the sixth international 
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president of the USW in 1993, won re-election in 1997, and 
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served in that position until his retirement in 2001; and
 
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    WHEREAS, George Becker is survived by his wife, Jane; his 
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sons, George, Greg, and Matthew; his ten grandchildren; his 
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five great-grandchildren; and his sister; therefore, be it

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

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the family of George Becker as a symbol of our 
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sympathy.