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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Lois Mila Killam of Jacksonville, who
4 passed away on June 27, 2009; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Lois Killam was born on May 14, 1921 on the Joy
6 farm near Loami; her parents were William B. and Mettye Hancock
7 Handy; she married Edward L. Killam Jr. in 1943; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Lois Killam attended White Pilgrim School, a one
9 room country school near Waverly; she graduated from Waverly
10 High School in 1939 and from Hardin-Brown Business College in
11 Jacksonville in 1941; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Lois Killam was employed as an executive secretary
13 at New Method Book Bindery and NESCO; she was later employed as
14 a receptionist at radio station WLDS, where she sometimes
15 played guitar and sang with "The Prairie Pioneers", a country
16 and western band; she was also employed at Jacksonville State
17 Hospital as a librarian until her retirement in 1981; and
 
18     WHEREAS, After her retirement from Jacksonville State
19 Hospital, Lois Killam and her husband moved to Palm Springs,
20 California, where they became active community volunteers and
21 won the Volunteer of the Year Award in 1990; she became close

 

 

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1 friends with Sonny Bono while working on his campaign to become
2 mayor of Palm Springs; she later became Rep. Bono's district
3 office receptionist when he was elected to serve in Congress;
4 after her retirement in 2000, she was honored by having
5 September 2, 2000 designated as "Lois Killam Day" in Palm
6 Springs and the surrounding communities; and
 
7     WHEREAS, After her retirement from Rep. Bono's staff, Lois
8 Killam returned to Jacksonville, where she continued to enjoy
9 her lifetime of reading, political news, gardening, cooking,
10 friends, and family; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Lois Killam was preceded in death by her husband,
12 Edward L. Killam Jr.; her five siblings; and her daughter,
13 Suellen Killam Casson; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Lois Killam is survived by her son, Edward L.
15 Killam III; her grandsons, Tom Casson and Tim Casson; her four
16 great-grandchildren; and her many nieces and nephews;
17 therefore, be it
 
18     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
19 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
20 her family and friends, the passing of Lois Mila Killam; and be
21 it further
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2 presented to the family of Lois Killam as an expression of our
3 sympathy.