RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, William T. Coleman Jr. has been called to eternal life by the wisdom of God at the age of 96; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of his passing by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, William T. Coleman Jr. was a widely admired member of the legal community and the loving husband of Lovida; and
WHEREAS, William T. Coleman Jr. was the much-adored father of Hardin, William and Lovida and the grandfather of four to whom he imparted many of the fine and noble qualities that he possessed in abundance; and
WHEREAS, William T. Coleman Jr. served in World War II and graduated from Harvard Law School and was among the first African-Americans to serve on the Harvard Law Review; and
WHEREAS, Following graduation, William T. Coleman Jr. clerked for U.S. Appeals Court Judge Herbert Goodrich and Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter; and
WHEREAS, William T. Coleman Jr. was a civil rights attorney who won several landmark cases before the Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, William T. Coleman Jr. worked on a series of cases that were combined into Brown versus Board of Education which made school segregation illegal; and
WHEREAS, William T. Coleman Jr. served as U.S. Transportation Secretary under President Gerald R. Ford; and
WHEREAS, The hard work, sacrifice and dedication of William T. Coleman Jr. serve as an example to all; and
WHEREAS, To his beloved family, William T. Coleman Jr. imparts a legacy of faithfulness, service and dignity; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this nineteenth day of April, 2017, do hereby commemorate William T. Coleman Jr. for his grace-filled life and do hereby express our condolences to his family; and