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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois 
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were grieved to learn of the death of Monsignor Ignatius D. 
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McDermott on December 31, 2004; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Monsignor McDermott was born on July 31, 1909, on 
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Chicago's South Side to Michael J. and Ellen "Nellie" 
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McDermott; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Monsignor McDermott, known as "Father Mac", was 
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ordained in 1936 after studying at Quigley Preparatory Seminary 
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and Mundelein's St. Mary of the Lake Seminary; and

 
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    WHEREAS, While studying for the priesthood in 1930, Father 
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Mac worked at Arlington Park racetrack and began ministering to 
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the homeless and alcoholics who populated the area along his 
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commute known as "Skid Row"; and

 
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    WHEREAS, After ordination, his assignment until June 1941 
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was to staff a home for dependent children at Maryville 
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Academy, where he first realized that alcoholism was not only 
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an illness but an inherited tendency; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He worked as assistant pastor of Our Lady of Peace 
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from 1941 to 1946 in the then affluent South Shore 
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neighborhood; in 1946 he was named assistant director of the 
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Chicago Archdiocese's Catholic Charities, where he was 
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executive director of the Catholic Dependent Child Commission, 
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and simultaneously he was director of Holy Cross Mission, an 
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agency administering to the corporal and spiritual needs of 
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Skid Row inhabitants; and
 
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    WHEREAS, After working a full career both as a parish 
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priest and as an administrator in the Chicago Archdiocese, 
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Father Mac, at age 65, co-founded Haymarket Center, the Near 
 


 






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West Side facility which has helped thousands of people, men 
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and women, to recovery and rehabilitation from alcohol and 
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substance abuse; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Haymarket is a full-scale substance abuse 
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treatment center which administers 28 programs that provide a 
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comprehensive approach to substance abuse known as a continuum 
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of care; serving over 14,000 individuals each year, Haymarket 
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Center is one of the largest providers of rehabilitation 
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education for Illinoisans dealing with substance abuse; and

 
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    WHEREAS, The McDermott Foundation was formed in June 1963 
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with the fusion of the Catholic Dependent Child Commission; and

 
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    WHEREAS, The passing of Monsignor Ignatius D. McDermott has 
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been deeply felt by many, especially his niece, Helen (P.J.) 
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Sheehan; his nephews, the Honorable James (Jeri) Stack, Jim 
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(Sis) and Frank (Judith Ann) McDermott, William (Mary Jane) 
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McDermott, and John (Dorothy) McDermott; his many great-nieces 
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and great-nephews; and his dear friend, Mary Stack; therefore, 
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be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL 
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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of 
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Monsignor Ignatius D. McDermott along with all who knew and 
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loved him; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the McDermott Foundation, Haymarket Center, and 
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his family as a token of our deepest sympathy.