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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of former Illinois Senator Virginia
4 Macdonald of Arlington Heights, who passed away on July 12,
5 2008; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Virginia Macdonald was born in El Paso, Texas; she
7 attended the University of New Mexico, where she met her late
8 husband, Alan; the couple moved to Evanston, where she became
9 involved in a number of causes; in 1953, they moved to
10 Arlington Heights, where Mrs. Macdonald found a new calling in
11 politics, volunteering for Dwight Eisenhower's re-election
12 campaign in 1956 and Richard Nixon's presidential campaign in
13 1960; she also worked on the campaign of Senator Charles Percy
14 and acted as Senator Everett Dirksen's State director of the
15 Women Volunteers for Everett Dirksen during his 1968 bid for
16 the U.S. Senate; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Virginia Macdonald had a long and distinguished
18 career in politics; she served as chairperson of the Cook
19 County Republicans; she also served as a delegate to the 1970
20 Illinois Constitutional Convention, where she was the only
21 woman to be a member of the Bill of Rights Committee, which
22 created the State's Equal Rights provision; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Virginia Macdonald served with pride and
2 distinction as a member of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives from 1972 to 1982; she then moved on to the
4 Illinois Senate, serving from 1982 until 1992; a political
5 pioneer in her own right, she was one of just eight women in
6 the then 177-member House and one of 11 women in the 236-member
7 General Assembly in 1973; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Virginia Macdonald achieved many accomplishments
9 during her tenure in the Illinois General Assembly, including
10 laws that require hospitals to safely dispose of
11 non-radioactive medical waste and laws for reimbursement for
12 reconstructive breast surgery; in addition, she sponsored
13 bills to bring Lake Michigan water to the Northwest suburbs,
14 decentralize the State's juvenile court system, broaden the
15 State's rape law to include the charge of sexual assault, and
16 create property tax caps for suburban Cook County; she proved
17 to be a popular legislator, achieving high plurality victories
18 during each of her re-election campaigns; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Despite her busy career in State politics,
20 Virginia Macdonald always found time to be a dedicated and
21 supportive mother and wife, involving herself with the Girl
22 Scouts, helping to found the St. Simon Episcopal Church in
23 Arlington Heights, cleaning her own house until her latter
24 years, and hosting dinner parties that would include such

 

 

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1 guests as Donald Rumsfeld; and
 
2     WHEREAS, Virginia Macdonald is survived by her daughter,
3 Susan (John) Van Bramer; her son, Alan H. Macdonald Jr.; and
4 her grandchildren, Rebecca, Diana, Michael, and Joseph Van
5 Bramer and Michelle (Christopher) Smudde; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Virginia Macdonald will be remembered fondly by
7 all who knew and loved her as a loving, feminine, and nurturing
8 mother and as a talented administrator and public servant who
9 believed in good and honest government; therefore, be it
 
10     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
11 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
12 her family and friends, the passing of our former colleague,
13 Virginia Macdonald; and be it further
 
14     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15 presented to the family of Virginia Macdonald as an expression
16 of our sympathy.