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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Lucille Rose (Kotewa) Msall, who passed
4away on May 15, 2016, at the age of 87; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall was born to Polish immigrant parents
6in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood on June 29, 1928;
7she graduated from Lourdes High School and studied psychology
8at Loyola University Chicago; she became active in social
9justice issues on campus and in the city; she met her husband,
10Emil, during her junior year of college and they married in
111950; 18 years and seven children later, she received her
12bachelor's degree from Loyola; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Before getting her degree, Lucille Msall was
14active in tutoring and teaching children with special needs,
15both out of her home and in the homes of her pupils, helping to
16teach the skills they were not being taught in public schools;
17and
 
18    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall was an American disability rights
19activist and was recognized for co-founding some of the United
20States' first organizations to advocate on behalf of people
21with Down Syndrome; in 1968, she was the founding director of
22the Beacon Therapeutic School for children with autism and

 

 

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1other special needs, which still operates on Longwood Drive on
2Chicago's Far South Side; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall helped organize the National
4Association for Down Syndrome and served as its president from
51974 to 1975; she was inspired to do so when her daughter,
6Christianne, was born with Down Syndrome in 1969; she helped
7form the National Down Syndrome Congress, for which she was the
8first recording secretary and was the organization's president
9from 1978 to 1979; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall was invited by President Jimmy
11Carter to participate in the White House conference for the
12mentally "retarded" in 1980; she became a strong advocate for
13replacement of the word "retarded" in favor of "developmentally
14challenged" or "special needs"; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall became a rehabilitation counselor
16for the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services from
171989 until 2003, where she focused on helping people become
18independent and having opportunities for fuller lives,
19including employment; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall's greatest joy of her professional
21career was helping any child to learn to read and write or to
22master arithmetic; she believed in the ability of everyone, and

 

 

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1she believed that everyone deserved an education and could be
2educated, and she set out to prove it; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall and her family moved from the South
4Side of Chicago to Oak Park in 1975 to give her daughter,
5Christianne, an opportunity to attend a mainstream school;
6Christianne went on to attend National Louis University and
7completed a certificate program, fulfilling a life's goal for
8her mother; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall expected her children to become
10well-rounded, each learning a musical instrument and becoming
11involved in outside activities such as 4-H or the Scouts, and
12to take on part-time jobs; as they got older, she encouraged
13her children to help those in need by getting involved in
14projects that would increase their awareness and address some
15of the inequities in the community; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall encouraged expectations of higher
17education for her children while they were in high school,
18resulting in nine of her living children attending college; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall was preceded in death by her beloved
20husband, Emil B. Msall, and her son, Gerard Peter Msall; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Lucille Msall is survived by her loving children,

 

 

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1Michael (Karla), Anita, Karin (Steve) Fischer, Mary (Scott)
2Rogers, Camille, Laurence, Madeleine (Frank Mauceri),
3Christianne, and Julianne (Christopher) Pegler; 17
4grandchildren; and her sister, Joan (Stanley) Vinkler;
5therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
7ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
8Lucille Rose Msall, and extend our sincere condolences to her
9family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
10further
 
11    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12presented to the family of Lucille Msall as an expression of
13our deepest sympathy.