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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Rose Sawako Tani of Lombard, who passed
4 away on December 19, 2007; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Sawako Shigeno was born on February 20, 1917 in
6 Florin, California, then a farming community outside of
7 Sacramento; she was the third of six children born to Hikokuma
8 and Koyoshi Shigeno, who had emigrated from Japan between 1906
9 and 1908; because an English name was required to enroll in
10 public elementary school, an older sister gave her the name,
11 Rose; and
 
12     WHEREAS, In 1940, Rose married Henry Nobuo Tani of San
13 Francisco; soon after the birth of their first son in 1942, the
14 Tani family, along with over 120,000 Japanese-Americans, was
15 incarcerated by the United States government, following the
16 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; on May 10, 1942, the Tani
17 family was moved temporarily to Tanforan racetrack, south of
18 San Francisco; after permanent internment camps were built
19 around the country, the family was transferred to Topaz
20 Relocation Center in Utah, where they lived for 16 months; in
21 1944 the Evangelical & Reformed Church offered Rose's husband a
22 job, enabling the family to leave Topaz and move to St. Louis,
23 Missouri; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Continued work for the church brought the family
2 in 1951 to Ridley Park, Pennsylvania and in 1964 to Lombard,
3 where Rose settled after her husband's death in 1965; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Throughout her life, Rose was known for her
5 devotion to her family, her garden, and her church; as a
6 long-time member of the First Church of Lombard, United Church
7 of Christ, Rose volunteered in many church programs; she worked
8 a monthly night shift at PADS, an overnight shelter for
9 homeless people, up to the time of her death; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Rose Tani is survived by her four children,
11 Richard (Ann), Steven (Tricia), Christine, and Daniel (Jane);
12 her third son, John, died in 1992; she is survived by her
13 twelve grandchildren, her two great-grandchildren, and one
14 sister, Nobuko Kawagoye (Mits); therefore, be it
 
15     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
16 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
17 her family and friends, the passing of Rose Sawako Tani; and be
18 it further
 
19     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20 presented to the family of Rose Sawako Tani as a symbol of our
21 sincere condolences.