SR0740 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0740 LRB095 21604 GRL 51627 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Felicia Munn Galas Brenner, who passed away on May 23, 2008; and

WHEREAS, Felicia Brenner survived the ravages of the Lodz (Poland) ghetto, the death camps of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, and the Salzwadel work camp, which unfortunately claimed the lives of her parents and six brothers and sisters; and

WHEREAS, After she was liberated in 1945, Felicia Brenner met her first husband, Tibor Munk, at an American hospital in Frankfurt, Germany; Felicia and Tibor found his mother, Roza, who also survived Auschwitz; together, the three of them immigrated to the United States in July of 1946; and

WHEREAS, In 1955, Felicia Brenner and her husband moved to Skokie, where they raised their two daughters and where she developed her reputation on the North Shore for her beautiful handmade draperies and bedspreads; and

WHEREAS, After remarrying in 1985, Felicia Brenner and her husband, Gershon Brenner, became founding members of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center; being a gifted speaker, she was invited numerous times to speak to children and university students about her war experience, doing so with unfailing candor, grace, and eloquence; and

WHEREAS, In 2005, Felicia Brenner was named Mayor Daley's Speaker of the Year at Chicago's annual Holocaust Memorial event; and

WHEREAS, Felicia Brenner was the beloved wife of Gershon Brenner, the cherished mother of Debbie Long and Judy Shiffman, the loved mother-in-law of Courtney Long, the stepmother of Brian (Judy) and Warren Brenner; and the revered grandmother of Rebecca and Jori Shiffman and Jennifer Long; and

WHEREAS, Felicia Brenner and her speeches inspired the many who heard her moving words; everyone who knew her was touched by her struggles to overcome the incredible challenges of her life and admired her indomitable will to survive; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of Felicia Munn Galas Brenner; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Felicia Brenner as an expression of our sympathy.