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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

  
 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of  Jacoby 
4Dickens of Fisher Island, Florida, formerly of Chicago and 
5Olympia Fields; and
  
 
6    WHEREAS, After moving to Chicago in 1946, Jacoby Dickens 
7attended Wendell Phillips High School on the South Side; and
  
 
8    WHEREAS, Jacoby Dickens was a longtime resident of Chicago; 
9he began his career at the Chicago Board of Education and 
10demonstrated an entrepreneurial flair that earned him the 
11distinction as one of the nation's most admired business 
12leaders; and
  
 
13    WHEREAS, Jacoby Dickens was elected to the Board of the 
14Seaway Bank and Trust Company in 1979; he served as Vice 
15Chairman of the board before becoming Chairman in 1983; and
  
 
16    WHEREAS, Jacoby Dickens was well known as a champion for 
17the African-American and civic communities; his deep 
18involvement with the community shaped his work at Seaway, where 
19he helped implement the opening of bank branches in otherwise 
20underserved areas of the city, including his own South Side of 
21Chicago; he focused on growing new businesses through loans, 
 
 
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1outreach, and community development programs; he also 
2supported local churches and mentoring programs, sponsoring 
3African-American teenagers through high school and college; 
4and
  
 
5    WHEREAS, Jacoby Dickens served as chairman of the Committee 
6to Elect Harold Washington and as a Commissioner of Economic 
7Development for the City of Chicago; he was a member of the 
8boards of the Chicago Urban League, Chicago State University 
9Foundation, and the School of Business at Florida A & M 
10University; he also served as a trustee at the Museum of 
11Science and Industry at DePaul University, where a 
12scholarship-and-loan program was named in his honor, and at 
13Chicago State University, to which he donated more than $1 
14million; in 1995, the Physical Education and Athletics Building 
15at CSU was named for him; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Jacoby Dickens was listed among Chicago 
17Magazine's "20 Most Influential People in Chicago" and had been 
18inducted into the Chicago Business Hall of Fame; and
  
 
19    WHEREAS, Jacoby Dickens is survived by his loving wife of 
2015 years, Veranda Dickens; therefore, be it
  
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
22NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 
 
 
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1we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of 
2Jacoby Dickens; and be it further
  
 
3    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
4presented to the family of Jacoby Dickens as an expression of 
5our sympathy.