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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3to learn of the death of Linda Rae Nelson Dillard of
4Springfield, who passed away on February 8, 2024; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Linda Dillard, the daughter of Roy Winfred Nelson
6and Thelma Jacobson Nelson, was born in Mayville, North Dakota
7on May 29, 1938; she was raised in Fargo, North Dakota and
8attended Fargo High School; she studied nursing at North
9Dakota State University, where she was a member of the Gamma
10Phi Beta sorority; she married Jim Dillard in 1959, and he
11preceded her in death in 2003; when her first child was born in
121961, she became a full-time mother and homemaker; she and her
13family later moved to Springfield, Illinois in 1978; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Linda Dillard was an active member and leader in
15both the communities of Fargo, North Dakota and Springfield,
16Illinois; she served as president of the Fargo branch of the
17Junior League, a nonprofit women's volunteer organization, and
18as president of the Springfield chapter of the P.E.O.
19Sisterhood, a U.S.-based, international women's organization
20that focuses on providing educational opportunities to women
21worldwide; while in Springfield, she was also an active member
22of King's Daughters, an organization aiding the elderly in the
23community, served as president of Friends of Memorial, which

 

 

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1coordinates all volunteer activity at Memorial Hospital, and
2was actively involved in the opening of the first Ronald
3McDonald House in the city, where she led volunteer efforts
4for the first year of its operations and continued to
5volunteer and bring bags of fresh fruit weekly to the home's
6guests in later years; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Linda Dillard was an active member of the
8Westminster Presbyterian Church in Springfield for more than
940 years, forging many friendships in the congregation; she
10enjoyed belonging to a book club in Springfield and being a
11member of Illinois Questers, a nonprofit organization
12dedicated to the study, preservation, and restoration of
13historical objects and landmarks; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Linda Dillard spent summers at her lake cottage
15on Lake Melissa in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and she spent
16winters in the small fishing town Barra de Navidad on Mexico's
17Pacific coast; wherever she was, she maintained active groups
18of friends; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Linda Dillard will be remembered for her
20unfailingly positive energy and kindness; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Linda Dillard is survived by her daughter,
22Christine (Bill); her sons, James (Christina) and John

 

 

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1(Gabriella); and her grandchildren, Vincent, Grace, Eloise,
2James, Henry, and Philip; therefore, be it
 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
4ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
5Linda Rae Nelson Dillard and extend our sincere condolences to
6her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
7further
 
8    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9presented to the family of Linda Dillard as an expression of
10our deepest sympathy.