SR0588 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0588 LRB100 13054 MST 27421 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Barbara M. Wilson, who passed away on May 19, 2017; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Wilson was born in England on December 7, 1941; she attended Guildford High School and studied electrical engineering in college; she married Gerald Moore; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Wilson worked at Decca on, among other projects, modern Christmas tree lights; after getting married, she worked part time for several years as the secretary at the Royal Marines Officer's Mess in Hamworthy, Dorset, the first woman allowed in; she was an enthusiastic actor in the local Townswomen's Guild productions; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Wilson immigrated to Chicago in 1975 and began teaching classes on electronics on a volunteer basis; she also ran the local Girl Scout troop; she had a brief career as a basket weaver and sold her products at craft shows and taught children how to weave; for several years, she volunteered at a home for the severely mentally disabled; she worked for almost 20 years at Sola Electric, documenting engineering processes, and then for another five years at Northgate Medical equipment doing the same; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Wilson married Alan Wilson in 1980 and, after the children had all grown, they lived happily together in their house by the stream working jointly on nature conservation and prairie restoration projects; for the last 30 years, she was involved in prairie restoration and was a steward at the Lake-in-the-Hills Fen; she gave nature walks, botany classes, and conducted children's programs for the Fen, the Illinois Nature Conservancy, the McHenry County Land Conservancy, the McHenry County Conservation District, and the Algonquin Park District among many more; she did plant inventories of rare plants, annual plant monitoring, and seed collection programs; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Wilson was honored countless times for her service to the conservation community; she was a Big Sister, a teacher's aide with ESL classes at McHenry County Community College, and a private tutor for ESL and math students; she played the recorder and the clarinet; she could remember the lyrics to most of the songs of her youth, and loved a good sci-fi book; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Wilson was preceded in death by her parents and her daughter, Sylvia Harrigan; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Wilson is survived by her husband, Alan; her daughter, Jacqueline M. Moore; her stepdaughter, Tina Mudge, and children, Josh and Frank Mudge; her grandson, Kevin Krauser, and his wife, Samantha, and son, James Krauser; her granddaughter, Jillian Krauser, and son, Xander Cirrincione; her niece, Allison Harrington, and children, Grace and Fred; and her step-granddaughter, Lisa Hartney; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Barbara M. Wilson, and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

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