093_HR0559
LRB093 14439 RAH 20131 r
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives were saddened to learn of the death of John
4 Donahue of Chicago; and
5 WHEREAS, John Donahue was born on July 16, 1939 in
6 Chicago and has been a guiding force to mobilize people to
7 push for change during more than 40 years' work in Chicago
8 and Central America; and
9 WHEREAS, John, known to his many friends as Juancho, was
10 the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless executive director
11 since 1990; under his leadership, the Coalition's work has
12 focused on finding ways to prevent and end homelessness,
13 pushing for workable solutions that create more affordable
14 housing and living wage jobs; and
15 WHEREAS, Juancho is one of the people profiled in Studs
16 Terkel's new oral history, "Hope Dies Last: Keeping the Faith
17 in Troubled Times" (October 2003), and his many honors
18 include the first Daniel Berrigan Peace Award from DePaul
19 University, the True Patriot of the Year award from The
20 Coalition for New Priorities, and a 2003 human rights award
21 from Casa Guatemala; and
22 WHEREAS, Juancho worked three years in Panama as project
23 director for Agro Bia Mundi Yala (1987-1990) and organized
24 indigenous tribes to protect their habitat and crops in the
25 Panamanian rainforest; and
26 WHEREAS, From 1982 to 1987, Juancho was a founder and
27 executive director of Comite Latino, organizing for jobs,
28 housing, and fair immigration policies among families and
29 religious groups in Chicago's Uptown and Rogers Park
30 communities; he also served as a division director at The
31 Association House of Chicago (1979-1982), where he oversaw
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1 youth employment and employment training programs; and
2 WHEREAS, Juancho, a former Catholic priest, was vicar of
3 the Archdiocese of Panama from 1971 to 1979; in those years
4 he lived in a squatters' community, San Miguelito, near
5 Panama City; he organized and developed a national preschool
6 project, a credit union, a housing project, and various
7 cooperatives; and
8 WHEREAS, Juancho also worked as a priest, administrator,
9 and teacher at Chicago's Visitation High School (1965-1971);
10 he holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's
11 degree in divinity from St. Mary of the Lake University in
12 Mundelein; and
13 WHEREAS, His passing will be deeply felt by his family
14 and friends, especially his wife, Icela; and his children,
15 Belen, Maricela, Lisa, Daniel, and Megan; therefore, be it
16 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
17 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
18 we mourn the death of John "Juancho" Donahue along with all
19 who knew and loved him, and extend our sincerest condolences
20 to his family and friends; and be it further
21 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
22 presented to the family of John Donahue.