HR1205 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1205 LRB094 20291 HSS 58306 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Mr. Louis H. Rago has been named a recipient of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Humanitarian of the Year Award given by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans (JCCIA); and

WHEREAS, The JCCIA's Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Humanitarian of the Year Award is presented annually to those whose lives exemplify the virtues of caring, humanity, and good will that were the hallmark of Cardinal Bernardin's tenure as Archbishop of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Rago served as president of the JCCIA from 1997 to 1998; he has been in the forefront of combating Italian stereotypes since he became involved in the Chicago-area Italian-American community; and

WHEREAS, He was born and raised on Chicago's Near North Side at Grand and Western avenues, an area known as "The Patch"; he attended Holy Rosary Parish School and later St. Genevieve School; during his freshman year of high school at DePaul Academy, he started working for his father's funeral home business; he was 18 when his father passed away, and he decided to go to mortuary school and enter the family business; and

WHEREAS, It was during this time that he became actively involved with the Italian-American community; since 1967, he has been involved in coordinating the assembly area and the line of march for the Columbus Day Parade; he has also served as past president of Amerital Chicago and Greater Chicago chapters of UNICO National and the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans; and

WHEREAS, As president of the JCCIA, Mr. Rago led a demonstration against the Chicago Tribune for the paper's lack of sensitivity regarding comments made by one of its writers; Mr. Rago also founded the Italian American Human Relations Foundation of Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Throughout the years, Mr. Rago has also dedicated himself to many worthwhile charities; he served as a past trustee of the Easter Seals Society of Illinois and is the past director of the Hemophilia Foundation; and

WHEREAS, He is the third-generation owner of the Original Rago Brothers Funeral Homes, and currently serves as the president of the Midwest Group/Memorial Traditions of Illinois; he is the father of three children, and two of his sons work in the family business; he says that he has enjoyed every minute of his activities in the Italian-American community and is happy to contribute by fighting against negative stereotypes; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Mr. Louis H. Rago on being a recipient of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Humanitarian of the Year Award given by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mr. Rago as an expression of our esteem.