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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | ||||||
| 3 | learn of the death of Nia Thomas of Chicago, who recently | ||||||
| 4 | passed away; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Nia Thomas was born on March 28, 1991 in Chicago; | ||||||
| 6 | Nia, whose name in Swahili means "Purpose", would never allow | ||||||
| 7 | distractions to pull her away from her goals; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Nia Thomas was a beautiful young lady who had a | ||||||
| 9 | flair for creativity; at the age of two she was the little girl | ||||||
| 10 | who took scraps of paper left on the table by her teacher and | ||||||
| 11 | created a collage, her first framed work of art; she also | ||||||
| 12 | displayed a keen talent for drawing, writing, the performing | ||||||
| 13 | arts, and music; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, At just four years old, Nia began playing the | ||||||
| 15 | violin and the piano; she began playing the flute when she was | ||||||
| 16 | eight, and in 2006 she picked up the saxophone; her first | ||||||
| 17 | performance was on stage for ballet and tap at age three, she | ||||||
| 18 | sang in the church choir since she was four, entered the | ||||||
| 19 | Princess Beauty Pageant at six , and in 2006 she took the lead | ||||||
| 20 | in Aladdin ; and
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| 21 | WHEREAS, Nia's interests included swimming, playing little | ||||||
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| 1 | league baseball, ice hockey, figure skating, fencing, taking | ||||||
| 2 | karate and Tai Chi lessons, gymnastics, and basketball; when | ||||||
| 3 | she was thirteen she became a certified scuba diver; she was | ||||||
| 4 | asked to be the assistant cheerleading coach; she took a seat | ||||||
| 5 | in student government;
Nia was involved with the Youth | ||||||
| 6 | Department at the Apostolic Church of God; she was a member of | ||||||
| 7 | The G.R.A.C.E. program, a program that groomed teenage girls to | ||||||
| 8 | lady-hood; and Nia and her two brothers were active members of | ||||||
| 9 | the Children's Concert Choir; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Nia Thomas has left an indelible mark on all of | ||||||
| 11 | her friends; she played a significant role in mentoring her two | ||||||
| 12 | brothers, Rheaves and Brooks
and is survived by them, her | ||||||
| 13 | cousins, her fellow students at the Cove School, and many | ||||||
| 14 | friends; therefore, be it
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| 15 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 16 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | ||||||
| 17 | her family and friends, the passing of Nia Thomas; and be it | ||||||
| 18 | further
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| 19 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 20 | presented to the family of Nia Thomas as a symbol of our | ||||||
| 21 | sympathy.
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