HR0336 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0336 LRB102 18574 MST 26870 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Corinne (Gieseke) Wood, the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, who passed away on May 18, 2021 in the presence of her family; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood was born in Barrington on May 28, 1954; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was selected to the academic honor society, Phi Beta Kappa; she graduated from the Loyola University School of Law and was admitted to the Illinois bar; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood was named general counsel to the Illinois Commissioner of Banks and Trusts, the agency that at that time oversaw and supervised the State-chartered banks and trust companies of Illinois; in this role, she developed her understanding of the financial affairs of Illinois' private sector; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood and her family lived in Lake Forest, and her neighbors selected her to fill a growing number of community leadership roles and positions; and

WHEREAS, As a community leader, Lt. Gov. Wood sought election to the Illinois House of Representatives for the 59th District; she was elected in November 1996 and served a single term before moving on to statewide office; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood was already a cancer survivor during her successful run on the Republican Party ticket for statewide office in 1998, in which she won election as the first female Lieutenant Governor of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood's tireless campaigning won admirers in both parties, and in November 1998, after enjoying a winning ticket with Governor-elect George Ryan, she swung into action as a champion of professional women and their aspirations; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood is credited as being one of the first Illinois lieutenant governors to get a routine seat at the table in high-level policy discussions; her identity as a survivor made her a front row observer of the inadequacies in Illinois' responses to cancer, including chronic cancer and the lives and dreams of people in remission; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood, along with her team of advocates, stabilized the status of the income tax checkoff for breast, cervical, and ovarian cancer research on Illinois income tax forms; the Penny Severns Breast, Cervical and Ovarian Cancer Research Fund provides annual grants, disbursed by the Illinois Department of Public Health, to a variety of institutions engaged in cutting-edge research into these subsets of deadly disease; and

WHEREAS, The name of the fund, the Penny Severns Breast, Cervical and Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, commemorates the bipartisan nature of the fight against cancer; it is named to celebrate the life of a former Illinois General Assembly colleague of Lt. Gov. Wood, a Democrat, who also courageously battled cancer while serving as a lawmaker; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood left office in 2003 and returned to the private sector, having developed lasting friendships in both political parties; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood's cancer returned in 2006, and she fought it courageously for 15 years; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood, despite her health challenges, continued and redoubled her fight for reforms to the process Illinois uses every 10 years to redistrict seats in the U.S. Congress and in the Illinois General Assembly; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood, upon her passing, received praise from members of both parties as a pioneer for Illinois women in statewide elected office and a woman of great personal courage; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor the memory of and celebrate the life of Corinne Wood, the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, a pioneer both professionally and in government; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Lt. Gov. Wood's husband, Paul Wood, and to her three children, Ashley, Brandon, and Courtney.