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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Janet Ann "Jan" O'Rourke of Danville, who
4passed away on January 9, 2017; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke was born in New Haven, Connecticut
6to Frank W. Flood and Rose Clark Corbett on April 16, 1931; she
7graduated from Hamden High School in Hamden, Connecticut in
81949 and attended the University of Connecticut; she earned a
9Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from Southern
10Connecticut State College in 1953; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke began her career in education in
12Hamden, where she taught at Dunbar Hill School for four years;
13she worked towards her master's degree at Bridgewater Teachers
14College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts; in 1957, she taught
15elementary school at a United States Army base in Zama, Japan,
16for one year and then on another base in Giessen, West Germany
17for a year; in 1959, she became Assistant to the Dean of Women
18at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where
19she also worked as director of the student center and as
20manager of the social center; she married John O'Rourke in
21Hamden on June 24, 1961; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke continued her teaching career in

 

 

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1Danville; she taught at the YWCA Pre-School from 1981 to 1989,
2serving as director from 1986 to 1989; she taught pre-school at
3St. Paul's Catholic School and at Central Christian Church; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke was active in numerous school and
5community activities; she served on the school board and was
6President of the Home and School Board at St. Paul's School;
7she was the Parents' Club President at Schlarman High School;
8she was a 4-H group leader and a member of the Vermilion County
9Bar Association Auxiliary and Birthright of Danville; she was
10part of the fifth class of the Leadership Danville program; in
11recent years, she was active in the Danville Garden Club; after
12her retirement, she planted and tended a beautiful and
13extensive flower garden at her home each summer; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke enjoyed family holiday
15celebrations and annual trips to Lake Michigan for Labor Day
16weekend; she also enjoyed traveling to visit her sisters on the
17East Coast; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke was preceded in death by her
19parents and an infant grandson; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke is survived by her husband of 55
21years, Honorable John P. O'Rourke (Ret.); her children, Kerry,
22Beth (Kevin Reiman), Ellen (Peter McCormack), Amy (Steve

 

 

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1Marsey), Peter, and Meg (Jeff Head); her grandchildren, Kate,
2Erin, and Will Reiman, Mary Margaret and Brigid McCormack, Eli,
3Jane, and John Marsey, Aubre Jean and Cain O'Rourke, and Simon,
4Seamus, and Max Head; and her sisters, Marie Merkel, Rosemary
5Fitzpatrick, Joan Ciaburri, Frances Jack, Virginia Kelly, and
6Elizabeth Ziter; therefore, be it
 
7    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
8ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
9Janet Ann "Jan" O'Rourke, and extend our sincere condolences to
10her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
11further
 
12    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
13presented to the family of Janet O'Rourke as an expression of
14our deepest sympathy.