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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Anne Smedinghoff of River Forest, who was
4killed in Afghanistan on April 6, 2013; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Anne Smedinghoff served as a foreign service
6officer and was in Afghanistan working as a press officer for
7the U.S. embassy in Kabul; she was involved in helping Afghan
8journalists cover an event at a boys' school where the local
9U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team was working to donate math
10and science books; she had been in Afghanistan since July 2012
11working in the public diplomacy department for the local
12population, helping women and working with schools and local
13businesses; she had been in the foreign service for 3 years;
14and
 
15    WHEREAS, Anne Smedinghoff had a passion for the work she
16was doing and particularly enjoyed the opportunity to interact
17directly with the Afghan people and was always looking for
18chances to reach out and help make a difference; she loved to
19travel and the foreign service allowed her to see the world and
20help those in need; one of her favorite projects was working
21with the Afghan women's national soccer team and helping it
22gain greater acceptance inside Afghanistan; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Anne Smedinghoff was a Fenwick High School
2graduate; she attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,
3where she majored in international studies and became the key
4organizer of the university's annual Foreign Affairs Symposium
5in 2008; after college she went into the U.S. Foreign Service
6and began her career at a post in Caracas, Venezuela; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Anne Smedinghoff's desire to help others began
8before she entered foreign service; the passing of her
9grandfather from cancer when she was 11 got her involved in
10raising money for cancer research and in 2009 she took part in
11The 4K for Cancer cross-country bike ride and she rode from
12Baltimore to San Francisco; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Anne Smedinghoff loved a physical challenge; she
14rode her bike with friends from the Dead Sea in Israel to the
15Red Sea in Jordan and had been running laps to train for a
16marathon; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Anne Smedinghoff is survived by her parents, Tom
18and Mary Beth Smedinghoff; her brother; and her 2 younger
19sisters; therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
21ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
22Anne Smedinghoff, recognize the sacrifice she made for her

 

 

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1country, and extend our sincere condolences to her family,
2friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further
 
3    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4presented to the family of Anne Smedinghoff as an expression of
5our deepest sympathy.