2019 Senate Joint Resolution 11
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION
Relating to: honoring the life and public service of Joe Polasek.
Whereas, Joe Polasek, age 65, passed away Saturday, June 9, 2018; and
Whereas, Joe was born July 24, 1952, in Milwaukee, the son of Patricia Jane Polasek and Joseph Patrick Polasek, Sr.; and
Whereas, Joe attended St. Francis High School and UW-Whitewater, receiving his undergraduate degree in Political Science; and
Whereas, during his years at UW-Whitewater, Joe was student body president, a member of the Delta Chi fraternity, and the first student ever elected to the Whitewater City Council; and
Whereas, Joe then received his Master's Degree in Public Administration at UW-Madison; and
Whereas, Joe started his 44-year career with the State of Wisconsin in 1975, in the Department of Administration as a budget analyst, where he worked for nine years; and
Whereas, he then began his life's work in the Department of Natural Resources in 1984 when he was hired as the department's budget director, where he served as a model, dedicated public servant for seven DNR secretaries in his career until the day he died; and
Whereas, during that 35 years at the department, Joe was instrumental in administering nearly every major state environmental policy so that every DNR program implemented over the past 35 years has Joe's fingerprints on it; and
Whereas, he was an avid sports fan and a loving father to his son, Mike, and daughter, Lindsay, and a second dad to many of their friends who referred to him fondly as Joe Pa; and
Whereas, Joe shared 20 years of marriage and decades of loving friendship thereafter with Lori Jolin; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the senate, the assembly concurring, That: the Wisconsin Senate honors the life and public service of Joe Polasek and mourns his passing; and, be it further
Resolved, That the senate chief clerk shall provide a copy of this resolution to his family.
