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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois
3 learned with regret of the death of Joan Carole Miller Wood on
4 Friday, April 8, 2005; and
 
5     WHEREAS, She was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, on
6 August 1, 1940, to James Erroll Miller, Ph.D., and Grace Odessa
7 Thomas Miller; she grew up on the campus of Lincoln University,
8 a historically black college, where she developed a passion for
9 education and a love of the written word; after attending
10 Washington Elementary school, she became one of the first
11 African Americans to attend Jefferson City Senior High School;
12 while in high school, she was the recipient of many accolades,
13 including induction into the National Honor Society and
14 receiving the Outstanding Journalist award; and
 
15     WHEREAS, After graduating with honors, she went on to
16 attend Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she earned a
17 degree in political science and pledged Delta Sigma Theta; and
 
18     WHEREAS, After graduating from Wellesley, she moved to
19 Philadelphia to attend the University of Pennsylvania,
20 Annenberg School of Communications, where she earned her degree
21 in photojournalism; her professional career began in the
22 Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Senator Edward Long of
23 Missouri; this job honed her analytical and writing skills and
24 instilled in her a commitment to community service; armed with
25 these tools and a passion for human equality, she went to work
26 for the St. Louis Urban League and later the Louisville Urban
27 League, where she met her groom, Clarence N. Wood; and
 
28     WHEREAS, They were married August 15, 1970, at the home of
29 her parents on the campus of Indiana University; shortly after
30 they married she became a National Urban Fellow and moved to
31 Akron, Ohio; while in Ohio, Mrs. Wood worked for the Cleveland

 

 

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1 Foundation and completed additional graduate work in Public
2 Administration; on May 13, 1972, Joan and Clarence were blessed
3 with the birth of their only child, Carole, named after her
4 mother; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Over the years, Mrs. Wood's commitment to
6 community service was demonstrated through her work as: the
7 National Executive Director of the Settlement House
8 Association of America (New York); Senior Program Officer of
9 the Chicago Community Trust; Director, Senior staff associate
10 of the National Council of Negro Women; and Principal, Miller
11 Wood Associates - business consulting (Chicago); she served as
12 a consultant for various entities often as "angel in the
13 background"; and
 
14     WHEREAS, She was an avid reader, music lover, and patron of
15 the arts; she served on the boards of the Frank Lloyd Wright
16 Preservation Trust, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, the Jane
17 Addams Juvenile Court Foundation, and the Woman's Board of the
18 Field Museum; she loved spending time with her friends,
19 traveling with the Network, New Years Day parties in New York,
20 holiday celebrations, and season tickets to local theatre; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Known for her wit and grace, Mrs. Wood was able to
22 immediately make friends and acquaintances feel at ease and
23 comfortable; additionally, she had a way of making people feel
24 so special because she remembered so many of "the little
25 things"; and
 
26     WHEREAS, The passing of Joan Carole Miller Wood has been
27 deeply felt by many, especially her husband, Clarence; her
28 daughter, Carole; her son-in-law, Carl Jenkins; her brother,
29 James Erroll Miller II; her niece, Kimberly Miller; her nephew,
30 James Erroll Miller III; her loving cousins, James and Olivia
31 Fleming and their children and grandchildren, Jana, Jennifer,
32 James Jr., John, Sam, Jake, Journey, and Olivia; her foster

 

 

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1 sons, Garaen Flake and Phillip Rivers; and her many cousins,
2 friends, and loved ones; therefore, be it
 
3     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL
4 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
5 Joan Carole Miller Wood, and we extend our sincere condolences
6 to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be
7 it further
 
8     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9 presented to her family as an expression of our deepest
10 sympathy.