093_SR0224
LRB093 12862 HSS 18068 r
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of State of Illinois
3 learned with regret of the death of Mary Louise Albey
4 McDowell on July 2, 2003; and
5 WHEREAS, Mrs. McDowell was born in Trenton, Tennessee on
6 April 2, 1917; she later moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky
7 where she was raised by her Aunt Coley and Uncle Jesse; she
8 attended Fisk University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts
9 degree in sociology and a master's degree in education;
10 through a program at Peabody College and Fisk and Vanderbilt
11 Universities, she became qualified as a trained
12 teacher-librarian; and
13 WHEREAS, She worked as a librarian and English teacher at
14 Lincoln Academy High School in Kings Mountain, North
15 Carolina, where she met Curtis F. McDowell; they were married
16 on June 2, 1942 and were married for 61 years; and
17 WHEREAS, The family moved to Chicago where Mr. McDowell
18 pursued a career as a lawyer; during this time, Mrs. McDowell
19 co-founded and helped organize the Princeton Park Nursery,
20 joined the P.T.A., and served as a volunteer in the Girl
21 Scouts and Boy Scouts; and
22 WHEREAS, Mrs. McDowell went on to teach in the Chicago
23 Public Schools, where she spent the bulk of her years
24 teaching educable mentally handicapped children at Carver
25 Elementary School; she retired from the public school system
26 after 25 years of service; during her retirement, she spent
27 14 years as an English tutor at Olive-Harvey College; and
28 WHEREAS, Mrs. McDowell was a long-time member of the
29 Church of the Good Shepherd, where she was a member of the
30 Chancel Choir, the Plymouth Group, Deacon Board, Women's
31 Fellowship, and the April Birthday Group Committee; and
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1 WHEREAS, During her life, Mrs. McDowell loved travelling;
2 she had visited Egypt, Turkey, India, China, Japan, South
3 America, Paris, Rome, and many other exotic locations; she
4 also traveled to every state in the Union, including Alaska
5 and Hawaii; she also enjoyed gardening, her cats, and
6 writing, but especially spending time at family gatherings;
7 and
8 WHEREAS, The passing of Mrs. Mary Louise Albey McDowell
9 has been deeply felt by many, especially her husband, Curtis;
10 her children, Henry Lynn, Melody Maria, and Sylvia Rebecca;
11 her grandchildren, Neal Patrick Wells and his wife Bethany,
12 Angela Lynn Wells, who are Sylvia's children; she also leaves
13 behind Lynn and his wife Rose and their children, Mary Louis
14 McDowell, Henry Curtis McDowell, and Peter Alexander
15 McDowell; she also leaves Mrs. Ruth Alexander McDowell, her
16 mother-in-law and her great-granddaughter, April Elizabeth
17 Wells; therefore, be it
18 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
19 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing
20 of Mrs. Mary McDowell and extend our deepest sympathy to her
21 friends and family; and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
23 presented to the family of Mrs. McDowell as an expression of
24 our sincere condolences.