Full Text of SR0832 102nd General Assembly
SR0832 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois State Senate are | 3 | | saddened to learn of the death of Ramona "Mona" C. McNeese of | 4 | | Oak Park, Illinois, who passed away on January 7, 2022 at the | 5 | | age of 88; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Mona McNeese was born in Toledo, Ohio on July 12, | 7 | | 1933, surviving through the depths of the Great Depression; | 8 | | and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Mona McNeese graduated from the University of | 10 | | Toledo in 1955, shortly before taking the first flight of her | 11 | | life to Japan to marry her college boyfriend and work as a | 12 | | substitute teacher on a U.S. Army base; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Mona McNeese moved back to the U.S. following her | 14 | | work in Japan; she settled in Oak Park to start her career as a | 15 | | kindergarten teacher at Lincoln Elementary School; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Mona McNeese proudly served as principal at | 17 | | Whittier Elementary School in Oak Park, becoming the first | 18 | | female principal in District 97 history; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Mona McNeese later served as principal at Madison | 20 | | and Jackson Elementary Schools in Elmhurst District 205, all |
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| 1 | | while raising her children and earning two master's degrees | 2 | | and later her PhD in Public Policy Analysis from the | 3 | | University of Illinois at Chicago at the age of 53; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Mona McNeese married Dr. James McNeese, in 1976, | 5 | | and they traveled around the world together; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Mona McNeese retired from education in 1995, | 7 | | after which she continued to devote her time and love to her | 8 | | family and her three grandsons; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, As an active member of her community, Mona | 10 | | McNeese was well involved in local politics; she assisted | 11 | | first as a volunteer and then as the Deputy Committeewoman for | 12 | | the Democratic Party of Oak Park; she once looked after Malia | 13 | | and Sasha Obama while Michelle Obama was out campaigning for | 14 | | her husband, then State Senator Barack Obama, and at times | 15 | | also helped shuttle Michelle around the state; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, In addition to her other accomplishments, Mona | 17 | | McNeese read every Pulitzer Prize winning book, which was said | 18 | | to earn her a commendation in a column of the Chicago Tribune; | 19 | | and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Mona McNeese was preceded in death by her | 21 | | husband, Dr. James McNeese, and her siblings, Ardis (George) |
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| 1 | | Wollenweber, Kenneth (Carol) Leininger, and Albert N. | 2 | | Leininger; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Mona McNeese is survived by her children, Robin | 4 | | (Joseph Picone) Zimmerman, Dana (Michael) Murphy, Amy McNeese, | 5 | | and Terry (Karen Farmer) McNeese; her three grandsons, Tom | 6 | | (Lauren Meleney), Dan (Carly Neville) and Jack (Kelly Hickey) | 7 | | Murphy; and her brother, Paul (Sherri) Leininger; therefore, | 8 | | be it | 9 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 10 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 11 | | Ramona "Mona" C. McNeese and extend our sincere condolences to | 12 | | her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it | 13 | | further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 15 | | presented to the family of Mona McNeese as an expression of our | 16 | | deepest sympathy.
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