|
|
|||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Robert C. | ||||||
| 4 | "Bob" Atherton of Palatine, who passed away on September 6, | ||||||
| 5 | 2009; and
| ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Robert Atherton was born July 16, 1927, in Grand | ||||||
| 7 | Rapids, Michigan; he graduated from the Senn High School in | ||||||
| 8 | Chicago in 1945, but had attended Chicago's Sullivan High | ||||||
| 9 | School for most of his high school years; during World War II, | ||||||
| 10 | he served in the United States Army from 1945 to 1946; using | ||||||
| 11 | the G.I. Bill, he received a degree in foreign trade from the | ||||||
| 12 | Latin American Institute; the first languages he studied were | ||||||
| 13 | Spanish, French, and Portuguese; and
| ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, Following employment with the Malco Machinery | ||||||
| 15 | Co., he embarked on a plan to build a business in Mexico; while | ||||||
| 16 | that did not take-off, he utilized more than a year of | ||||||
| 17 | bicycling over 7,000 miles to be well-acquainted with many | ||||||
| 18 | European countries, as well as northwestern Africa; following | ||||||
| 19 | that, he founded Raco Industrial Corp. in 1953 and Raco remains | ||||||
| 20 | one of the most prominent machinery dealers in the United | ||||||
| 21 | States today; and
| ||||||
| 22 | WHEREAS, He also served as board member at all levels of | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | the Machinery Dealers National Association, and was President | ||||||
| 2 | from 1970 to 1972; he was also the first U.S. dealer to become | ||||||
| 3 | a member of the then the Association of European Machine Tool | ||||||
| 4 | Merchants (A.E.M.T.M.) (later, the European Association of | ||||||
| 5 | Machine Tool Merchants (E.A.M.T.M.)) and was the first to be | ||||||
| 6 | honored as a "Fellow" with the Europeans; and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, He was well-known for his outstanding, tireless | ||||||
| 8 | dedication to his work, but also lived life and loved life to | ||||||
| 9 | the fullest, traveling around the world five times, climbing | ||||||
| 10 | over 230 mountains on six continents, and river rafting and | ||||||
| 11 | boating on over 214 rivers of the earth; and
| ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, He was preceded in death by his parents, Curry and | ||||||
| 13 | Edith Atherton; and his sons, Robert David and Richard Hillary; | ||||||
| 14 | and
| ||||||
| 15 | WHEREAS, He is survived by his beloved wife of 51 years, | ||||||
| 16 | Martha; and his son, John Curry Atherton; therefore, be it
| ||||||
| 17 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 18 | NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 19 | mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Robert | ||||||
| 20 | Atherton; and be it further
| ||||||
| 21 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | presented to the family of Robert Atherton as a symbol of our | ||||||
| 2 | sincere sympathy.
| ||||||