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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Melba Colleen (nee Brush) Ripper of
4Canton, who passed away on November 4, 2013; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Melba Ripper was born on December 30, 1935 to Carl
6and Josephine (nee Dowell) Brush; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Melba Ripper used the skills she learned at
8Brown's Business College in Peoria, now Midstate College, to
9help her husband run the family farm outside of Canton; she
10served on the county's Insurance Committee and represented
11Fulton County on the Governmental Inter-Insurance Exchange
12(GIE) in Bloomington and served as the Chairman of its Advisory
13Board; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Melba Ripper was a lifelong member of the
15Democratic Party; she represented District 3 on the Fulton
16County Board from 1976 to 1996, serving as Chair for 10 of
17those years; she was the first woman Chair for Fulton County
18and only the second female in the State to hold such a
19position; in the early 1970s, she and her husband formed the
20Fulton County Citizens for Better Health and Environment to
21provide a voice for the citizens when the Metropolitan Sanitary
22District of Greater Chicago entered Fulton County; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Melba Ripper was a member of the United City
2Council of Illinois and served as Chairman for 2 years; she
3also served on the boards of the Fulton Mason Crisis Service,
4where she was also Treasurer, and as President with UPIC; in
51990, she was recognized as one of the Young Women's Christian
6Association's "Women of Achievement" for her political and
7community contributions; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Melba Ripper was a volunteer at the Fulton County
9Health Department and was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church
10in Canton, where she held a number of positions, including
11financial secretary and congregational president; she was a
12member of the Fulton County Sewing Guild; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Melba Ripper was preceded in death by her parents;
14and
 
15    WHEREAS, Melba Ripper is survived by her sister, Joyce (nee
16Brush) Elston; her brother, Jerry (Judy) Brush; her husband,
17William J. Ripper; her daughter, Joanne Ripper; her sons, Jim
18(Jackie) Ripper and Joel (Darinda) Ripper; her grandchildren,
19Haley Aubrey, Jonathan Ripper, Jason Ripper, and Adam Ripper;
20many great-nephews and nieces; and a whole community of friends
21and colleagues; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
3Melba Colleen Ripper, and extend our sincere condolences to her
4family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
5further
 
6    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
7presented to the family of Melba Ripper as an expression of our
8deepest sympathy.