SR1344 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1344 LRB103 43664 ECR 77014 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of William Matheson "Bill" Ahlenius, who passed away on December 18, 2024; and

WHEREAS, Bill Ahlenius was born to William Ahlenius and Kathryn (Trenkle) Ahlenius in Chicago on July 26, 1934; he graduated from Bloomington High School in 1951; he attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign at the age of 16 through the U.S. Navy's Naval Reserves Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program, graduating in 1955; later, while teaching at the U.S. Naval Academy, he enrolled in Georgetown Law School and, upon transitioning to the U.S. Navy Reserve, he transferred back to the University of Illinois College of Law Urbana-Champaign to complete his legal studies, graduating in 1961; and

WHEREAS, Bill Ahlenius began serving as an active-duty member of the U.S. Navy in 1955; he was stationed on the Destroyer Escort APD-128 from 1955 to 1957; he was then assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy from 1957 to 1959, where he taught Engineering Drawing and Descriptive Geometry; he departed the U.S. Navy with the rank of commander; and

WHEREAS, Bill Ahlenius, after passing the bar on the first try, initially worked at Betty, Newman, and Heninger in Davenport, Iowa before moving to Peoria, where he began working at Swain, Johnson, and Gard in 1962; he spent the rest of his career at the firm, making partner and becoming a well-respected pillar of the Peoria legal community before retiring in 1997; and

WHEREAS, Bill Ahlenius was a proud member of Mensa International for over 40 years, and he participated in Arrow Investments Stock Club; and

WHEREAS, Bill Ahlenius enjoyed sharing his passion for solving challenging puzzles, board games, and trivia contests with his friends and family; he was enthusiastic about gourmet cooking and keeping up with local, state, and national politics; and

WHEREAS, Bill Ahlenius was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Susan Pegg; and

WHEREAS, Bill Ahlenius is survived by his wife of 66 years, Jackie (Painter) Ahlenius; his daughters, Kristie (Fraser) Engerman and Lisa (Craig) Nafziger; his three granddaughters; and his brothers, Chuck Ahlenius, Bob Ahlenius, and John Ahlenius; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of William Matheson "Bill" Ahlenius and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Bill Ahlenius as an expression of our deepest sympathy.