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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives wish to posthumously recognize Pat Polas on
4 receiving the 2003 Eleanor Roosevelt Outstanding Democratic
5 Women of the Year Award given by the Illinois Democratic Women
6 (IDW); and
 
7     WHEREAS, Pat Polas was born in 1921; she started in
8 politics in 1932, when she was in the fourth grade, by helping
9 her father work precincts and wearing all her Democratic
10 buttons to school, which aggravated the teachers, most of whom
11 were Republican; and
 
12     WHEREAS, She continued to work on campaigns through high
13 school, and, as a college student, she worked on a successful
14 gubernatorial campaign in Indiana; and
 
15     WHEREAS, She married Harry F. Polas, an attorney and former
16 Chief Justice of the Illinois Court of Claims, had two sons,
17 and followed the "Mommy Track", as it was called back then,
18 with PTA, scouts, and YMCA; and became the proud grandmother of
19 six; and
 
20     WHEREAS, After her sons graduated from grammar school, she
21 went back to college and received a degree from Mundelein
22 College of Loyola; and
 
23     WHEREAS, Then her husband decided to enter politics; still
24 attending college, she managed his congressional campaign for
25 an open seat; she later became very involved in Senator Esther
26 Saperstein's campaign; after graduating from college, she went
27 to work for Senator Saperstein; when the Senator ran for
28 re-election in 1972, she resigned her position as the Senator's
29 legislative assistant to manage the Senator's campaign; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Following that experience she started her own
2 consulting business, and was a very dedicated and powerful
3 lobbyist for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA); she fought to
4 increase feminine representation in the Illinois Delegation to
5 the Democratic National Convention, and the Democratic State
6 Central Committee; and
 
7     WHEREAS, In 1976, she was part of the original steering
8 committee of the Illinois Democratic Caucus, later to be known
9 as the Illinois Democratic Women; she was one of the
10 co-conveners in 1978 through 1979, and also became the first
11 President of IDW, as it is known today, from 1980-1982; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Mrs. Polas was never content to sit on the
13 sidelines, and, in 1980, she managed Senator Howard Carroll's
14 campaigns for State Senator and Ward Committeeman; after those
15 successful campaigns Senator Carroll hired her as his
16 Legislative Assistant; she also served as Treasurer of the 50th
17 Ward Democratic Organization in Chicago; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Never one to take a minute for herself, she served
19 on the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union
20 (ACLU) of Illinois, working as Vice President for Legislation;
21 she served as President of Northtown-Rogers Park Mental Health
22 Council and ERA of Illinois; she was a member of the Community
23 Mental Health Board of Chicago and the ERA Summit; she was a
24 historian for IDW and a staunch advocate for AARP issues; and
 
25     WHEREAS, Pat Polas who passed away on June 26, 2003, was
26 most deserving of this long overdue recognition; therefore, be
27 it
 
28     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
29 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
30 honor the memory and legacy of Pat Polas and recognize her hard
31 work and dedication over the years; and be it further
 

 

 

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1     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2 presented to the family of Pat Polas as an expression of our
3 respect.