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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Corinne
4(Gieseke) Wood, the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, who
5passed away on May 18, 2021 in the presence of her family; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood was born in Barrington on May 28,
71954; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood attended the University of Illinois
9at Urbana-Champaign, where she was selected to the academic
10honor society, Phi Beta Kappa; she graduated from the Loyola
11University School of Law and was admitted to the Illinois bar;
12and
 
13    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood was named general counsel to the
14Illinois Commissioner of Banks and Trusts, the agency that at
15that time oversaw and supervised the State-chartered banks and
16trust companies of Illinois; in this role, she developed her
17understanding of the financial affairs of Illinois' private
18sector; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood and her family lived in Lake
20Forest, and her neighbors selected her to fill a growing
21number of community leadership roles and positions; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, As a community leader, Lt. Gov. Wood sought
2election to the Illinois House of Representatives for the 59th
3District; she was elected in November 1996 and served a single
4term before moving on to statewide office; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood was already a cancer survivor
6during her successful run on the Republican Party ticket for
7statewide office in 1998, in which she won election as the
8first female Lieutenant Governor of Illinois; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood's tireless campaigning won admirers
10in both parties, and in November 1998, after enjoying a
11winning ticket with Governor-elect George Ryan, she swung into
12action as a champion of professional women and their
13aspirations; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood is credited as being one of the
15first Illinois lieutenant governors to get a routine seat at
16the table in high-level policy discussions; her identity as a
17survivor made her a front row observer of the inadequacies in
18Illinois' responses to cancer, including chronic cancer and
19the lives and dreams of people in remission; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood, along with her team of advocates,
21stabilized the status of the income tax checkoff for breast,

 

 

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1cervical, and ovarian cancer research on Illinois income tax
2forms; the Penny Severns Breast, Cervical and Ovarian Cancer
3Research Fund provides annual grants, disbursed by the
4Illinois Department of Public Health, to a variety of
5institutions engaged in cutting-edge research into these
6subsets of deadly disease; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The name of the fund, the Penny Severns Breast,
8Cervical and Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, commemorates the
9bipartisan nature of the fight against cancer; it is named to
10celebrate the life of a former Illinois General Assembly
11colleague of Lt. Gov. Wood, a Democrat, who also courageously
12battled cancer while serving as a lawmaker; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood left office in 2003 and returned to
14the private sector, having developed lasting friendships in
15both political parties; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood's cancer returned in 2006, and she
17fought it courageously for 15 years; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood, despite her health challenges,
19continued and redoubled her fight for reforms to the process
20Illinois uses every 10 years to redistrict seats in the U.S.
21Congress and in the Illinois General Assembly; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Lt. Gov. Wood, upon her passing, received praise
2from members of both parties as a pioneer for Illinois women in
3statewide elected office and a woman of great personal
4courage; therefore, be it
 
5    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
6HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
7we honor the memory of and celebrate the life of Corinne Wood,
8the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, a pioneer both
9professionally and in government; and be it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
11presented to Lt. Gov. Wood's husband, Paul Wood, and to her
12three children, Ashley, Brandon, and Courtney.