Bill Text: IL SR1391 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Mourns the death of Colonel Jerry J. Felmley.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-01-13 - Resolution Adopted [SR1391 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SR1391-Introduced.html

---

SR1391 LRB101 22215 ECR 73245 r
SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
learn of the death of Colonel Jerry J. Felmley, formerly of
Bloomington, who passed away on July 21, 2020; and
WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley was born to John B. and
Beatrice S. Felmley in Bloomington in 1933; he graduated from
Bloomington High School in 1950; he attended the University of
Illinois, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta and
graduated with a degree in civil engineering; he was
commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force from Reserve
Officer's Training Corps at the University of Illinois in 1955
and later joined the Air Force's Regular Officer Corps; he
completed pilot training in Marana, Arizona; his early USAF
assignments included over eight years of international flying
from Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina to Europe,
South America, Africa and the Middle East; his missions
included the Hungarian airlift, the Suez crisis, support for
the United Nations in Congo, and resupply for the South Pole's
McMurdo Sound; during this time he met and married Jenrose
Weldon; he completed a Master of Business Administration in
1965 under a special Air Force scholarship program for
aerospace research and development managers at the University
of Chicago's Graduate School of Business; and

SR1391 - 2 - LRB101 22215 ECR 73245 r
WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley felt called to pursue active
duty when the Vietnam War began; during the war, he was
aircraft commander on aerospace rescue and recovery missions
and flew from the Republic of Vietnam and Thailand; it was his
Rescue C-130 tanker and communications aircraft that led the
Jolly Green helicopter forces on the famous Son Tay POW rescue
mission in November of 1970; after the war, he spent three
years on the USAF's Air Staff in the Pentagon directing
operation evaluation and analytic studies of new airlift
aircraft; he was a distinguished graduate of the prestigious
National Defense University's Industrial College of the Armed
Forces in Washington, D.C. and a member of that institution's
faculty for two years; he spent his later career in senior
management of Air Force research and development at Wright
Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; he retired from the Air Force
in 1981; and
WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley was awarded the Legion of
Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Meritorious
Service Medals, seven Air Medals, and two Presidential Unit
Citations; he was a command pilot with over 11,000 flying hours
in 27 different aircraft and experience in all of the USAF's
4-engine transports operational between 1955 and 1980; and
WHEREAS, after his retirement from the Air Force, Colonel
Jerry Felmley started Catalyst Associates, a consulting group

SR1391 - 3 - LRB101 22215 ECR 73245 r
doing work in aerospace research and development management; he
worked for another decade before fully retiring; and
WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley was an active member of
numerous charitable and professional organizations, including
the Air Force Association, the American Defense Preparedness
Association, the Order of Daedalians, alumni associations of
the Universities of Illinois and Chicago and the Industrial
College of the Armed Forces, the Phi Delta Theta national
fraternity, the Green Valley Phi Delts, the Jolly Green
Association, the booster clubs for both the USS Tucson and the
USS Arizona submarines, and the Reid Park Zoological Society;
and
WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley loved to travel; in
retirement, he was able to take many trips, including going to
Moscow in 1994 as part of an American Institute of Aeronautics
and Astronautics technical exchange group, going to Hong Kong
for the 1997 transition from British to Chinese control, and
numerous Lindblad/National Geographic cruises from Alaska to
Baja to the Antarctic; within the U.S., his favorite travel
spots were Portland and San Diego to visit with crews of the
subs stationed there and trips to see family in Bloomington,
San Antonio, and Santa Fe; he also enjoyed bird watching the
cactus wrens, doves, and quail who flocked to the feeders and
water in the shady spot under the palo verde trees in his yard

SR1391 - 4 - LRB101 22215 ECR 73245 r
in Tucson, Arizona; and
WHEREAS, Colonel Jerry Felmley is survived by his three
daughters, Melissa, Jennifer, and Amy; and his grandchildren,
Catharine Rose, Conor, and James Nicholas; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
Colonel Jerry J. Felmley 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 Colonel Jerry Felmley as an
expression of our deepest sympathy.