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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois
3 learned with regret of the death of Sharon L. Merritt on
4 Saturday, July 10, 2004; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Mrs. Merritt was born in Chicago; she graduated
6 from St. Louis University with a bachelor's degree in nursing
7 in 1962; she moved to California and received her master's in
8 nursing from the University of California, San Francisco, in
9 1964; that same year, she met her future husband at a party;
10 they had their first date on a Thursday, their second the next
11 day, and on Sunday Frank J. Merritt proposed to her; they were
12 married four months later; and
 
13     WHEREAS, The Merritts moved to St. Louis in 1971 and Mrs.
14 Merritt taught nursing at Southern Illinois University in
15 Edwardsville; she earned her PhD in education at the University
16 of Missouri-St. Louis in 1982, while continuing to teach; in
17 1987, the Merritts moved to Hinsdale and she took an associate
18 professorship at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Mrs. Merritt worked for years with people with
20 sleep disorders, such as narcolepsy and sleep apnea; she also
21 directed the Center for Narcolepsy Research at the University
22 of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing; her concentration
23 was on pupillometry, the science of measuring eye pupil size,
24 which can clinically determine sleepiness; her research
25 validated that the sleepier a person gets, the smaller their
26 pupils become; the four-year study on pupillometry will be
27 published soon; and
 
28     WHEREAS, Mrs. Merritt is remembered as a hands-on director
29 and was good at hiring quality personnel; and
 
30     WHEREAS, Mrs. Merritt played tennis, a sport she started at

 

 

SR0644 - 2 - LRB093 22901 HSS 52753 r

1 age 34; and
 
2     WHEREAS, The passing of Sharon L. Merritt has been deeply
3 felt by many, especially her husband, Frank J. Merritt; her
4 daughters, Michelle and Melissa; her sisters, Colette Loecke
5 and Joyce Spizzirri; her brother, Louis Spizzirri; and her
6 three grandchildren; therefore, be it
 
7     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
8 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
9 Sharon L. Merritt, and we extend our deepest sympathy to her
10 family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
11 further
 
12     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
13 presented to the family of Sharon L. Merritt as an expression
14 of our sincerest condolences for their loss.