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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Juliette Marie Ferguson, who passed away
4 on October 1, 2009; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Juliette Ferguson was born on January 15, 1965, in
6 Chicago; she was the third daughter of Henry Wordsworth
7 Ferguson and Gwendolyn Roddy Ferguson; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Juliette Ferguson attended John T. Pirie and
9 Arthur Dixon Elementary Schools; she then attended Whitney
10 Young High School, where she graduated with honors in 1981;
11 after high school, she attended Northwestern University, where
12 she earned her undergraduate degree with distinction in 1986,
13 and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she earned
14 her juris doctorate degree in 1989; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Juliette Ferguson participated in numerous
16 extracurricular activities during her academic career; she was
17 a co-captain of the cheerleading team, a member of the Student
18 Government Association and the National Honor Society, and the
19 vice-president of the Honors Club; she was voted Homecoming
20 Queen and Most Ambitious during her senior year of high school;
21 she won the Miss Black Chicago Beauty Pageant in 1986; she also
22 served as National Vice-President of the Black American Law

 

 

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1 Students Association at the University of Michigan; and
 
2     WHEREAS, Juliette Ferguson worked for noted black
3 journalist Vernon Jarrett during the early days of her career;
4 in 2003, she became the Associate General Counsel for the City
5 Colleges of Chicago; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Juliette Ferguson was very passionate about
7 theater and the performing arts; she appeared in productions of
8 the Buffalo Theater Ensemble, The African Company, and the ETA
9 Creative Arts Association; she earned a Jefferson Citation
10 nomination in 1991 for her performance as Corky in Stoops; she
11 participated in dance classes at the Lou Conte and Joel Hall
12 dance studios; she performed in numerous voice-overs and
13 television commercials; in 2008, she starred in the independent
14 film Self Determination, which was shown at film festivals in
15 Milwaukee and Los Angeles; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Juliette Ferguson is survived by her mother,
17 Gwendolyn; her sister, Melanie Ferguson Lobdell; her
18 brother-in-law, Willie Lobdell; her aunt, Harriette Roddy
19 Brown; her nieces, Nicole Parrott, R'Mani Gamble, and Wendy
20 Lobdell; her nephews, David Moss and Willie Lobdell; her
21 cousins, Madelynne Brown, Sharmon Wilkinson, Brian and
22 Christopher Wilkinson, Lisa Brown Tribbett, Charles Tribbett,
23 Jillian Tribbett, Charles Tribbett, Jr., Jason Tribbett, Bert

 

 

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1 Roddy III, Bert Roddy IV, Sydney Roddy, Sharon Gill, Tonese
2 Gill-Woodie, Amber Woodie, Tshaye Taylor, Lauretta Travis,
3 Albert Travis III, Albert Travis IV, Adam Travis, Allison
4 Travis, Mariana Mason, and Sister Mary Annunciata; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Juliette Ferguson will be remembered by all who
6 knew and loved her as a warm, nurturing, articulate,
7 compassionate, and inspiring person who enriched the lives of
8 everyone she met; therefore, be it
 
9     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL
10 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
11 her family and friends, the passing of Juliette Marie Ferguson;
12 and be it further
 
13     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
14 presented to the family of Juliette Ferguson as an expression
15 of our sympathy.