MEMORIAL-JIM DOOLEY

Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SR0644

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SR0644
LRB104 21040 RMO 34980 r
1
SENATE RESOLUTION

2

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3
to learn of the death of James "Jim" L. Dooley, of River
4
Forest, who passed away on August 8, 2025, at the age of 76;
5
and

6

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley was born in River Forest to Tom and
7
Avis (McMullin) Dooley in 1948; and

8

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley attended St. Luke School, Fenwick High
9
School, Loyola University and Roosevelt University; and

10

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley, a talented musician, vocalist,
11
guitarist, arranger, and prolific songwriter, poet, artist,
12
and nature photographer, formed the original Dooley musical
13
group with his brothers in 1966, and the band has given
14
thousands of performances, enduring as a Chicago-area
15
institution for six decades; and

16

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley came from a very musical and artistic
17
family, with his maternal grandfather performing Irish music
18
hall ballads on Lake Michigan cruise ships and at Strening's
19
Saloon on the near Southwest Side of Chicago and his paternal
20
grandfather being a popular fiddler from County Clare,
21
Ireland, who settled in the Chicago area; and

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LRB104 21040 RMO 34980 r
1

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley started singing at home with his
2
brothers, harmonizing and recording the popular doo-wop songs
3
of the 1950s on a Webcor reel-to-reel tape recorder that their
4
father had given them for Christmas in 1956, and in their
5
appreciation of all kinds of music, they transitioned to
6
harmonizing barbershop quartet music and the songs of the
7
Kingston Trio and other folk music artists of the day; and

8

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley, during his high school days, fronted
9
a rock band with some friends called The Group Incorporated,
10
playing popular songs of the 1960s at local high school dances
11
in the Oak Park area; and

12

WHEREAS, When Jim Dooley and his brothers Joe and Bill
13
founded The Dooley Boys in 1966, they started playing at
14
colleges and various coffeehouses and nightclubs, especially
15
in the Old Town and Rush Street areas; a few years later, their
16
youngest brother Mike joined the group, and the four became
17
known as The Dooley Brothers; and

18

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley and the band performed regularly at
19
music clubs in the 1970s and 1980s on Chicago's North Side,
20
including The Roxy, The Barbarossa, The Bulls, Wise Fools Pub,
21
Orphans, Ratso's, Holsteins, The Earl of Old Town, Somebody
22
Else's Troubles, and The Kilkenny Castle Inn, one of their

SR0644
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LRB104 21040 RMO 34980 r
1
favorites, with another of their regular spots being the Irish
2
American Heritage Center since the center opened in 1985; and

3

WHEREAS, This past March marked the Dooley Band's 40th
4
time performing at the St. Patrick's Day Celebration in
5
Berwyn, and they also played at Healy's, Molly Malone's, and
6
Goldyburgers in Forest Park; the band held many concert
7
appearances at Oak Park's Scoville Park, various River Forest
8
park venues, and the River Forest Public Library; and

9

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley and his brothers were featured on the
10
television show Nightclubbing on PBS Channel 11, at the King
11
Richard's Renaissance Faire in the 1970s, and as the house
12
band for Marshall Field's State Street store at Christmas, and
13
they spent summers performing in the pubs of County Clare,
14
Ireland while staying at their cousin's farm; and

15

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley and the band were joined in recent
16
years by some "next generation" Dooley family members,
17
including Jim's late son, Jimmy, who played with the band from
18
2015 through 2018, Mike's son, Mick, who joined in 2015 and
19
Jim's daughter, Claire, who started singing with the band in
20
2020; and

21

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley and the band recorded critically
22
acclaimed albums and CDs, including A Place in My Heart

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1
(1983), which features his original compositions; subsequent
2
CD albums were titled The Road to Lisdoonvarna, Glad Magic,
3
and Black Sunshine, and a new album that Jim and the band just
4
completed recording will be released in the coming months; and

5

WHEREAS, Jim Dooley, besides his passion for music,
6
enjoyed Thatcher Woods, taking nature photos that were even
7
featured in the book Trailside Museum: The Legend of Virginia
8
Moe by Jane Morocco, and working on a short book called The
9
Hidden Passageways of River Forest, which mostly highlighted
10
his favorite hidden walking and biking paths, special places,
11
and stories of the village that he so loved; and

12

WHEREAS, WHEREAS, Jim Dooley was preceded in death by his
13
parents, Tom and Avis Dooley; his son, Jimmy; and his
14
brothers, Bill and Joe; and

15

WHEREAS, At the time of his passing, Jim Dooley was
16
survived by his wife, Anna; his daughter, Claire; his
17
brothers, Mike, Dennis, and Tom; his sisters-in-law; his aunts
18
and uncles; and his nieces and nephews; therefore, be it

19

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL
20
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
21
James "Jim" L. Dooley and extend our sincere condolences to
22
his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it

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LRB104 21040 RMO 34980 r
1
further

2

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
3
presented to the family of Jim Dooley as an expression of our
4
deepest sympathy.

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