File #: 22-1946    Version: 1 Name: HONORING THE LIFE OF WILLIE "BILL" WILLIAMS JR.
Type: Consent Calendar Resolution Status: Approved
File created: 2/17/2022 In control: Board of Commissioners
On agenda: 3/17/2022 Final action: 3/17/2022
Title: PROPOSED RESOLUTION HONORING THE LIFE OF WILLIE "BILL" WILLIAMS JR. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 WHEREAS, Willie "Bill" Williams Jr. touched many lives and treated everyone he met as a friend and equal from the White House to the street corner; and WHEREAS, as an entrepreneur, Willie founded the Morgan Park Shoe Repair and Shine Parlors (known today as K&J Shoe Repair & Shine Parlors) and the E&B Restaurant along with his business partners where they provided over thirty individuals part-time employment; and WHEREAS, Willie is recognized nationally as a leader for furthering racial equality and opportunity in the convention and tourism industry; and WHEREAS, Willie proudly held the title as the Senior African American in the U.S. in the convention bureau industry for his tremendous impact on the economic growth and development of Chicago's hospitality industry in the department of cultural diversity in the meeting industry; and WHERE...
Sponsors: STANLEY MOORE, TONI PRECKWINKLE (President), FRANK J. AGUILAR, ALMA E. ANAYA, LUIS ARROYO JR, SCOTT R. BRITTON, JOHN P. DALEY, DENNIS DEER, BRIDGET DEGNEN, BRIDGET GAINER, BRANDON JOHNSON, BILL LOWRY, DONNA MILLER, KEVIN B. MORRISON, SEAN M. MORRISON, PETER N. SILVESTRI, DEBORAH SIMS, LARRY SUFFREDIN
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PROPOSED RESOLUTION

HONORING THE LIFE OF WILLIE "BILL" WILLIAMS JR.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

WHEREAS, Willie "Bill" Williams Jr. touched many lives and treated everyone he met as a friend and equal from the White House to the street corner; and

WHEREAS, as an entrepreneur, Willie founded the Morgan Park Shoe Repair and Shine Parlors (known today as K&J Shoe Repair & Shine Parlors) and the E&B Restaurant along with his business partners where they provided over thirty individuals part-time employment; and

WHEREAS, Willie is recognized nationally as a leader for furthering racial equality and opportunity in the convention and tourism industry; and

WHEREAS, Willie proudly held the title as the Senior African American in the U.S. in the convention bureau industry for his tremendous impact on the economic growth and development of Chicago's hospitality industry in the department of cultural diversity in the meeting industry; and

WHEREAS, Willie earned a Business Degree at Chicago State University, has received numerous accolades, and served on several boards for his many years of service in the fields of business, marketing, and hospitality; and

WHEREAS, Willie is a founding board member of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners as well as a founding board member of the Chicago Chapter of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals; and

WHEREAS, Willie served as a Marine and member of the Montford Point Marines Association; he is a life time member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, a member of the Quarter Century Club of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, a 33rd Degree Mason and a Shriner, a member of NAACP, and President of the Rat Pack Chicago, to name a few; and

WHEREAS, Willie has 37 years of exceptional service to Chicago as the Vice President, Diversity/Sales of Choose Chicago (formerly the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau), and forty years in the hospitality industry; and

WHEREAS, Willi...

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