IL SR1481

Raymond Eugene "Gene" Suggs of Champaign died on September 19, 2014; he was born May 22, 1928 to Roy Raymond and Claudia Mae Suggs.

Suggs was captain of the Champaign High School Maroons football team in 1945 and a member of the 1946 Illinois State championship basketball team, which was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1990.

He worked as a photographer for over 50 years, starting as a freelance photographer and later working for the Champaign-Urbana Courier from 1960-1979, documenting the visual history of Champaign County's organizations and African-American community.

Suggs served as President of the Champaign County Urban League, on boards of the Community Foundation of Champaign County and The Don Moyers Boys' Club, and as a jury commissioner for over 30 years.

The Illinois Senate mourns his passing and extends condolences to his surviving wife Hester, three children, seven grandsons, and extended family.