HR0802 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0802 LRB093 21739 KEF 49643 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to posthumously recognize Pat Polas on receiving the 2003 Eleanor Roosevelt Outstanding Democratic Women of the Year Award given by the Illinois Democratic Women (IDW); and

WHEREAS, Pat Polas was born in 1921; she started in politics in 1932, when she was in the fourth grade, by helping her father work precincts and wearing all her Democratic buttons to school, which aggravated the teachers, most of whom were Republican; and

WHEREAS, She continued to work on campaigns through high school, and, as a college student, she worked on a successful gubernatorial campaign in Indiana; and

WHEREAS, She married Harry F. Polas, an attorney and former Chief Justice of the Illinois Court of Claims, had two sons, and followed the "Mommy Track", as it was called back then, with PTA, scouts, and YMCA; and became the proud grandmother of six; and

WHEREAS, After her sons graduated from grammar school, she went back to college and received a degree from Mundelein College of Loyola; and

WHEREAS, Then her husband decided to enter politics; still attending college, she managed his congressional campaign for an open seat; she later became very involved in Senator Esther Saperstein's campaign; after graduating from college, she went to work for Senator Saperstein; when the Senator ran for re-election in 1972, she resigned her position as the Senator's legislative assistant to manage the Senator's campaign; and

WHEREAS, Following that experience she started her own consulting business, and was a very dedicated and powerful lobbyist for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA); she fought to increase feminine representation in the Illinois Delegation to the Democratic National Convention, and the Democratic State Central Committee; and

WHEREAS, In 1976, she was part of the original steering committee of the Illinois Democratic Caucus, later to be known as the Illinois Democratic Women; she was one of the co-conveners in 1978 through 1979, and also became the first President of IDW, as it is known today, from 1980-1982; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Polas was never content to sit on the sidelines, and, in 1980, she managed Senator Howard Carroll's campaigns for State Senator and Ward Committeeman; after those successful campaigns Senator Carroll hired her as his Legislative Assistant; she also served as Treasurer of the 50th Ward Democratic Organization in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Never one to take a minute for herself, she served on the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois, working as Vice President for Legislation; she served as President of Northtown-Rogers Park Mental Health Council and ERA of Illinois; she was a member of the Community Mental Health Board of Chicago and the ERA Summit; she was a historian for IDW and a staunch advocate for AARP issues; and

WHEREAS, Pat Polas who passed away on June 26, 2003, was most deserving of this long overdue recognition; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor the memory and legacy of Pat Polas and recognize her hard work and dedication over the years; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Pat Polas as an expression of our respect.