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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Dianne Ruth Jones, who passed away on
4December 31, 2012; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Dianne Jones was born on March 24, 1928 and was
6raised in New York City; in 1949, she came to Chicago and
7attended Roosevelt University; she married Linzey D. Jones Sr.
8in 1950; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Dianne Jones and her husband became actively
10involved in the growing civil rights movement in the 1950s and
111960s; she was actively involved with the NAACP in Chicago and
12the south suburbs and helped to organize two NAACP chapters;
13she also led efforts to desegregate Chicago's Rainbow Beach and
14participated in the 1963 March on Washington, D.C.; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Dianne Jones began her career as an educator in
16the 1950s, teaching primarily in West Harvey School District
17No. 147; in 1968, she led efforts to establish one of the first
18teacher unions in the State of Illinois, West Harvey Federation
19of Teachers Local 1698; she served as President of Local 1698
20from 1972 to 1978; she also served as an Illinois Federation of
21Teachers (IFT) Vice-President for 8 years and chairperson of
22the Illinois Right-to-Read Advisory Council; after her

 

 

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1retirement from teaching in 1979, she took on a larger role in
2serving the interests of educators and children as an IFT Field
3Service Director with IFT Local 604 until 1991; in that
4capacity, she was responsible for organizing and bargaining for
5teachers and staff in Sauk Village, Peotone, Channahon,
6Wilmington, Homer, Joliet, Tinley Park, Steger, and many other
7communities; she also worked on teacher training and school
8reform initiatives of the IFT until her retirement from the IFT
9in 1993; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Dianne Jones was preceded in death by her beloved
11husband of 55 years, Linzey D. Jones Sr.; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Dianne Jones was the loving mother of Leslie Ann
13Jones (Tom Johnson) and Judge Linzey D. Jones, Jr. (Gloria) and
14the grandmother to Linzey George Jones and Ben, Charlie, and
15Jake Johnson; therefore, be it
 
16    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
17ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
18her family and friends, the passing of Dianne Ruth Jones; and
19be it further
 
20    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
21presented to the family of Dianne Jones as an expression of our
22sympathy.