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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 Viveca Lynne Howell Mayes
4 of Chicago, on June 17, 2006; and
 
5     WHEREAS, She was born on May 30, 1959, to Brenetta and
6 Jesse Howell; she grew up on Chicago's West Side, attending
7 Sumner and Byford Public Elementary Schools, and graduating
8 from Siena High School in 1977; and
 
9     WHEREAS, She found her calling in the education field,
10 obtaining her Baccalaureate degree in elementary education at
11 Northeastern Illinois University in 1981; she then pursued
12 graduate work in Speech and Language Pathology at Rush
13 University; after volunteering at Austin Developmental Center
14 and Leslie Lewis School, she began teaching in Chicago Public
15 Schools in 1983; she worked in several schools, including
16 Audubon School on Chicago's North Side, where she taught 4th
17 and 5th grades until the time of her passing; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Her life of service to her community extended far
19 outside of her employment; she was active in numerous
20 organizations including the Chicago Teachers' Union as a member
21 of its House of Delegates, Phi Delta Kappa, which awarded her
22 Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 1996, Third World
23 Conference, Chicago Economic Development Corporation, and the
24 Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights; she received
25 recognition for voluntarism from the Chicago Black United Fund
26 and Pathfinders Prevention Education Fund; as a member of Third
27 Unitarian Church, she conducted a summer reading program for
28 youngsters in the Austin community for two years; and
 
29     WHEREAS, Her faith in Christ continued to grow throughout
30 her life; she was a member of St. Benedict Parish while her son
31 attended school there, and she also attended Faith Tabernacle

 

 

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1 Church and Harvest Christian Center; most recently she worked
2 with her husband to establish Harvest Worship Cathedral
3 International in Chicago's Rogers Park area; and
 
4     WHEREAS, The passing of Viveca Lynne Howell Mayes has been
5 deeply felt by many, especially her husband, Pastor Donald N.
6 Mayes, Jr.; her mother, Brenetta Howell Barrett; her sisters,
7 Dr. Cynthia T. Henderson (Prentiss J. Jackson) and Abliba
8 Howell; her brother, Kevin Howell; her sons, Juan R. Gibson II,
9 Jawaan Mayes, and Joshua Mayes; her daughter, LaDonna Young;
10 her grandchildren, sisters, brothers-in-law, aunts, uncles,
11 nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, co-workers, and hundreds of
12 children and their parents whose lives she touched; therefore,
13 be it
 
14     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL
15 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
16 Viveca Lynne Howell Mayes, and we extend our sincere
17 condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved
18 her; and be it further
 
19     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20 presented to her family as an expression of our deepest
21 sympathy.