SR1609 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1609 LRB099 20844 MST 45604 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Margaret Sandner Eyre, who passed away on January 13, 2016; and

WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre was born on May 9, 1918 to Ed and Elisabeth Sandner, Austrian immigrants who arrived in the United States just before World War I; she attended Immaculate Conception Grammar School and was inducted into the National Honor Society at York High School; upon her graduation in 1936, she attended Gregg Business College; she married Leonard W. Eyre in 1943 in Norfolk, Virginia and they settled in Elmhurst; and

WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre's first job was working for the Donnelley Publishing Company; later, she became the office manager for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Elmhurst; she and her husband ran a successful general contracting business; they became licensed real estate brokers and were honored with recognition and publicity about the beautiful homes they built in LaGrange, Western Springs, Hinsdale, and Burr Ridge; in 1970, they moved to Woodstock and started a small rental business that has continued for 45 years; and

WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre was a member of the Mothers Club, the membership secretary of the Fine Arts Club at the Opera House, and was a volunteer at the Woodstock Hospital; she and her friend, Donna Strain, became the first female Elks (not Does) at the Elks Club in Woodstock; and

WHEREAS, In 1988, Margaret Eyre became active in her son's business, Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery; her specialty was hostas and she propagated the plants and sold them for Heifer International; she raised over $500,000 for world hunger, allowing Heifer to buy farm animals for people around the world with the agreement that those farmers would give what they received and pass on the gift to others in their communities; some of those funds were donated to the Heifer International Foundation, where the funds remain in perpetuity and the interest is given to projects in Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Haiti, and Bolivia; she received a Gill Ark Award in 2004 for her Hosta Happening Sales and the Heifer Certificate of Service Award in 2010; she had an army of volunteers to help her in the hosta patch and she had her own regular customers who came to purchase her hosta varieties; she was known as the "Hosta Queen"; she was thrilled when Tom Michiletti, former President of the American Hosta Society, hybridized a hosta and named it "Margaret Eyre"; she worked every day at the nursery until she was 93 years old; and

WHEREAS, On December 21, 2015, Mano a Mano International presented Margaret Eyre with a plaque for a school in Sora Sora, Bolivia, dedicated in her honor for her years of work on behalf of the people of Bolivia; the school is scheduled to be completed by April of 2016; and

WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre was preceded in death by her husband, Leonard; and

WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre is survived by her son and his wife, Richard and Susan Eyre; many cousins, nieces, and nephews; and numerous friends and customers; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Margaret Sandner Eyre, and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Margaret Eyre as an expression of our deepest sympathy.