093_SR0281

 
                                     LRB093 13154 RAH 18417 r

 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members  of  the  Senate  of  the  State  of
 3    Illinois  were  saddened  to  hear  of the death of Julia Mae
 4    White of Chicago on Tuesday, July 1, 2003; and

 5        WHEREAS,  Mrs.  White  was  born  Julia  Mae  Chapman  on
 6    November 11, 1910 in Earle, Arkansas to  Hattie  Mae  Chapman
 7    and  George  Chapman;  she grew up in Arkansas at a time when
 8    she  and  other  African-Americans  were  forbidden  to   use
 9    washrooms  for  whites or white areas in restaurants and were
10    relegated by segregation policies to the upper  balconies  of
11    movie houses and backs of buses; and

12        WHEREAS,  The  pain  she  felt  from  this discrimination
13    shaped her life and influenced how she raised her 7 children;
14    and

15        WHEREAS, After graduating from  high  school,  she  moved
16    with her family to Alton, Illinois, where she met and married
17    Edward  Shaw,  a  factory worker; she was pregnant with their
18    third child when he died in 1933; and

19        WHEREAS, She later fell in love with Jesse C. White, Sr.,
20    and the couple married and began raising their family,  which
21    included 4 more children, in Alton; they followed her parents
22    to Chicago about 7 years later; and

23        WHEREAS,  Mrs.  White's  culinary skills were well-tested
24    after moving to Chicago; she was  very  creative  in  cooking
25    meals with meager amounts of food; she held high expectations
26    for  her  7  children  when  it  came to their education, she
27    expected them to keep their grades up to par; and

28        WHEREAS, The family  lived  in  city  apartments  for  30
29    years, first on the North Side, then the West Side; after her
30    husband  died  in the late-1970s, Mrs. White bought a home on
31    the city's West Side with her youngest son, the  late  George
 
                            -2-      LRB093 13154 RAH 18417 r
 1    E. White; and

 2        WHEREAS,  In  1985,  she  and  a  niece  bought a home in
 3    Country Club Hills, though Mrs. White returned to the city to
 4    live in a senior citizens apartment complex on the North Side
 5    3 years later; her suburban home provided a chance  to  plant
 6    vegetables,  as  she  had done in Alton; she raised tomatoes,
 7    mustard greens, spinach, cabbage, and potatoes,  cooked  them
 8    in  various ways, and served them with homemade lemonade, her
 9    favorite beverage; and

10        WHEREAS, Mrs. White enjoyed staying at home, particularly
11    because the view from  her  seventh-floor  apartment  was  of
12    downtown  Chicago;  often  her  favorite  things  to look at,
13    however, were not  found  outside  her  window;  she  enjoyed
14    watching  wrestling, boxing, and roller derby contests on the
15    television; and

16        WHEREAS, Mrs. White will also be remembered as a straight
17    talker; if she had something to say, she'd say  it  loud  and
18    clear; and

19        WHEREAS,  White  instilled  in  each  of her children the
20    value of hard work, education, and tolerance, which served as
21    inspiration to her son, Illinois  Secretary  of  State  Jesse
22    White, in developing the Jesse White Tumbling Team; and

23        WHEREAS,  The  passing of Julia Mae White has been deeply
24    felt by all who knew and loved her, especially her  children,
25    Doris  Ivy, Dorothy White, Cora White, and Illinois Secretary
26    of State Jesse  White;  her  35  grandchildren;  and  her  15
27    great-grandchildren;  she  was preceded in death by her sons,
28    George E. White, Charles  Shaw,  and  Edward  Shaw,  and  her
29    parents; therefore, be it

30        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
31    ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the  passing
 
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 1    of  Julia  Mae  White  and extend out deepest sympathy to her
 2    family, friends, and community; she will be remembered  as  a
 3    devoted  mother  who  inspired her children to great lengths;
 4    and be it further

 5        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
 6    presented  to  the family of Julia Mae White as an expression
 7    of our sincerest condolences.