Full Text of SR0986 102nd General Assembly
SR0986 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | 3 | | to learn of the death of Linda May Laird Bolton, who passed | 4 | | away on April 2, 2022; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Linda Bolton was born to Robert Allen Laird and | 6 | | Maxine Marie Jamison in Danville on May 2, 1948; she attended | 7 | | Danville schools and was home schooled for one year before | 8 | | attending First Baptist Christian Day School; she then | 9 | | attended North Ridge and Danville High School, graduating in | 10 | | 1967; she earned her associate's degree from then-Danville | 11 | | Junior College in 1969; she married Wilbur Wait Bolton at St. | 12 | | James United Methodist Church on January 27, 1973, and they | 13 | | lived in Champaign until 1980, where she attended the | 14 | | University of Illinois for two years; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Linda Bolton returned to school for another | 16 | | degree in computer programming and then took a job writing | 17 | | copy and helping to automate the traffic and billing | 18 | | department of WIAI FM; she worked there for 12 years, moving | 19 | | into the news department, where she served as a reporter, | 20 | | anchor, and then news director; during that time, she earned | 21 | | an award for Second Best Downstate News Reporting from the | 22 | | Illinois News Broadcasters; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Linda Bolton was recruited by Public Health | 2 | | Administrator Steve Laker to be in charge of Community Health | 3 | | Education in 1996 to help the public understand the importance | 4 | | of public health issues; while there, she facilitated three | 5 | | IPLANs, the required community health needs assessments that | 6 | | health departments are required to do for license retention; | 7 | | she earned an award for marketing from the Illinois Public | 8 | | Health Association; locally, she was named a Woman of | 9 | | Distinction; she filled an unexpired term on the Danville City | 10 | | Council, where she served for six years, spending most of that | 11 | | time chairing the Public Works Committee; while at the | 12 | | Vermilion Country Health Department, she graduated with a | 13 | | degree in Organizational Leadership from Greenville College in | 14 | | 2007; she accepted a position as director of Business | 15 | | Development at Vermilion Advantage after 14 years with the | 16 | | health department; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Linda Bolton was a certified public information | 18 | | officer with a specialty in Risk Communications, and she | 19 | | served as the volunteer public information officer for | 20 | | Vermilion County Emergency Management for 16 years; she was a | 21 | | past member of Ambucs; she was an active community volunteer, | 22 | | chairing Media/Marketing for the Oldsmobile Balloon Classic | 23 | | for most of its 15 years, and she was proudly one of the | 24 | | organizers and board members of the 2016 Balloons Over | 25 | | Vermilion; she served as president of the Convention and |
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| 1 | | Visitors' Bureau; she was the first female president of the | 2 | | Danville Family YMCA, serving two terms; she volunteered for | 3 | | Festival of Trees for many years, including serving as chair | 4 | | of Marketing/Media; she served as director, producer, board | 5 | | member, and president of the Red Mask Kathryn Randolph Theatre | 6 | | in Danville, where she additionally appeared in a Christmas | 7 | | production with her husband Wilbur on the stage where they | 8 | | met; she also had the rare privilege of appearing as Ouiser in | 9 | | the Beef House Dinner Theatre production of Steel Magnolias; | 10 | | and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Once she left the news business at WIAI, Linda | 12 | | Bolton was recruited by Michael Hulvey to help with news at | 13 | | Neuhoff Media, where she was asked to helm a morning radio | 14 | | interview show, which she did; she hosted Newsmakers 1490 WAN | 15 | | for many years; she won a Silver Dome award for her community | 16 | | news program from the Illinois Broadcasters Association in | 17 | | 2016; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Linda Bolton served on the Presence United | 19 | | Samaritans Medical Center Missions Committee and the Community | 20 | | Leadership Board; she was a board member of the Vermilion | 21 | | County Rape Crisis Center, known today as the Survivor | 22 | | Resource Center; she became an advocate for CASA after she | 23 | | retired; she served on the Danville Police and Fire Commission | 24 | | for many years, assuming the role of chair when the former |
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| 1 | | longtime chair became a judge; she also served on the city's | 2 | | Hispanic/Latino Committee; she served on the Danville Public | 3 | | Library Board of Trustees, assuming the role of president in | 4 | | 2016; she served on the Grants Committee of the Vermilion Area | 5 | | Healthcare Foundation Board of Directors and the Vermilion | 6 | | County Mental Health Initiative; she assisted Vermilion County | 7 | | Board Chairman Mike Marron in facilitating Strategic Planning | 8 | | 2015 from 2016 to 2017, setting a vision for the county's | 9 | | future; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Linda Bolton was an active member of St. James | 11 | | United Methodist Church, serving on its Board of Trustees, | 12 | | which she chaired for two terms; she also served on and chaired | 13 | | the Staff/Parish Relations Committee; she then served on the | 14 | | Visioning, Building, and Construction Committees, overseeing | 15 | | renovations to the historic old church; alongside her husband, | 16 | | she was a member of the Keystone Sunday School group; she also | 17 | | served as church archivist, preserving much of the church's | 18 | | history; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Alongside her husband, Linda Bolton was part of | 20 | | the original organizers of the vintage baseball team, the | 21 | | Vermilion Voles, and they were very active with the group for a | 22 | | time; they were avid collectors of memorabilia from the | 23 | | 1933/34 Chicago World's Fair; she also collected memorabilia | 24 | | from businesses in the City of Danville and antique Santas; |
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| 1 | | she loved reading, and she belonged to a book club with her | 2 | | husband; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Linda Bolton enjoyed sharing lunch and life with | 4 | | a small group of very close friends, and they included Carol | 5 | | Vorel, Jenny Trimmell, Nancy O'Kane, and some special young | 6 | | women she was privileged to mentor over the years, Dona | 7 | | Chiafreddo and Alicia Pettigrew; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Linda Bolton always marveled at living such a | 9 | | great life with a truly supportive, understanding husband who | 10 | | made her laugh, never judged, and kept her grounded while | 11 | | never letting her take herself too seriously; therefore, be it
| 12 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 13 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 14 | | Linda May Laird Bolton and extend our sincere condolences to | 15 | | her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it | 16 | | further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 18 | | presented to the family of Linda Bolton as an expression of our | 19 | | deepest sympathy.
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