HR0293

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HOUSE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
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Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Claudia 
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Nash-Thomas of East St. Louis, who recently passed away; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Claudia Nash-Thomas was born in East St. Louis on 
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July 5, 1918; she attended school in  School District 189 and 
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graduated from Lincoln School; she attended Southern Illinois 
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University after graduation; she taught in Sparta at Vernon 
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Grade School for three years, and then came to School District 
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189, where she taught for three years; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Her sister, Frances, interested her in becoming a 
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mortician, and she enrolled in St. Louis College of Mortuary 
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Science; following graduation she was licensed in Illinois and 
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Missouri and worked with her father and sister in the business; 
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while working at the funeral home, she met Walter Lee Thomas 
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and they married on March 27, 1947; and

 
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    WHEREAS, She was a life member of St. Luke A.M.E. Church; 
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she served on the Board of Directors for the Comprehensive 
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Mental Health Center of St. Clair County from 1976 to 1991, as 
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a charter member of the East St. Louis Volunteers for Police 
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Safety, as a board member for the Children's Center, and she 
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was very active with the NAACP; she was the first Black 
 


 






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President of the YWCA of St. Clair County, and served in many 
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other clubs and organizations as well; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Claudia Nash-Thomas received the Profile of 
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Providence Award for Metro East Women of Achievement in 1980; 
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she received a citation from the 82nd General Assembly of the 
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State of Illinois for Community Service; and many other honors 
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and awards; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Claudia Nash-Thomas was preceded in death by her 
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parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. (Emma C. Edwards) Nash; her 
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sister, M. Frances Nash Terrell; and her brother-in-law, Mr. 
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Edward Terrell; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Mrs. Claudia Nash-Thomas leaves to cherish her 
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memory her loving and devoted daughter, Claudia E. Thomas- 
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Nash; her loving sister, Fredericka J. Nash; her extended 
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family, Mrs. Priscilla Holliway, Mrs. Princetta Farries, and 
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Mrs. Michelle Buchannan; her very close friends, Mrs. Wastic 
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"Brownie" Brown, Mrs. Ossie Kersee, and Dr. Helen Hudlin; her 
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church family, club members, and her friends; therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
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NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we 
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mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of 
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Claudia Nash-Thomas; and be it further

 
 


 






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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the family of Claudia Nash-Thomas as a symbol of 
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our sympathy.