SR0700 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0700 LRB101 14372 MST 63258 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Mary Ivalyn Carter Bowden Hill of Dowling Park, Florida, who passed away on August 14, 2019; and

WHEREAS, Mary Hill was born in Waycross, Georgia to Ivy and Mary (Strickland) Carter on March 6, 1932; she helped to manage her father's general store when she was young and worked through high school at the famous Ware Hotel in downtown Waycross and for the Bell Telephone Company switchboard; she had a summer stint rolling the final wrapping onto King Edward cigars; after graduating high school, she attended Aurora College; and

WHEREAS, Mary Hill married and had children, before moving with her Bowden Family to Peoria, where she earned a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1971 at Bradley University; and

WHEREAS, Mary Hill began her professional life in the service of others by teaching homemaking and money management skills to young mothers in Peoria's Urban Living Renewal Project; she then joined the Illinois Department on Aging and rose through the ranks, becoming the Chief of the Bureau of Field Operations for the department's Division of Long-Term Care; and

WHEREAS, In 1979, Mary Hill helped develop and establish the Illinois Department on Aging's Community Care Program, which helps senior citizens, who might otherwise need nursing home care, to remain in their own homes by providing in-home and community-based services; and

WHEREAS, Upon her retirement, the Illinois Association of Community Care Program Homecare Providers chose to recognize Mary Hill with the naming of the Mary I. Hill Award; and

WHEREAS, Mary Hill moved to Dowling Park, Florida to the Advent Christian Village, where she kept busy, volunteering for several years as manager of the Twice Nice Resale Shop in the Village Commons, helping to generate proceeds in support of the Advent Christian Village Benevolent Fund; she enjoyed reading, cultivating her wondrous backyard garden, actively participating in the church community, taking advantage of hydro-therapy at the Copland Center, chasing sunsets, cooking southern specialties like biscuits and gravy, and traveling the Florida coastline and the world; she often tended to others, visiting and comforting seniors; and

WHEREAS, Mary Hill was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Avant, Sylvanis, Arliss, Felice, Buford, Wylie, and Curtis; and her stepmother, Vera (Lewis) Carter; and

WHEREAS, Mary Hill is survived by her children, Mary Ricketson, Marsha Buckley, Michele (Jim) Haptonstahl, Michael Bowden, and Melinda (Jeff) Selke; 10 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; her brothers, Edward and Tommy Carter; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and others who were like family to her; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Mary Ivalyn Carter Bowden Hill and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Mary Hill as an expression of our deepest sympathy.