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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Olive
4Smith of Beardstown, who passed away on November 27, 2011; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Olive Smith was born on November 27, 1914, in
6Beardstown; her parents were Lorenzo and Olive Southwell; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Olive Smith moved with her family to western
8Kansas, where she attended school through the 6th grade; after
9her mother's health had deteriorated to such a condition that
10she could no longer cook for the family and farm hands, she
11became the chief cook and caretaker for her mother; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Olive Smith met her husband, World War I Navy
13veteran Edward M. Smith, and they were married on March 3, 1931
14in Gem, Kansas; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Dust bowl weather conditions provided enough
16incentive to move a little farther west, so Olive Smith and her
17husband moved to eastern Colorado; Colorado blessed Olive and
18Ed with 2 children, Marie and Victor, and produced enough "no
19crop" years that they moved to Omaha, Nebraska to find
20employment with one of Edward's brothers; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Omaha blessed Olive Smith and her husband with two
2more children, Mitchell and Mary, and enough disappointment
3that they moved back to Beardstown; Beardstown blessed the
4couple with 4 more children, Alban, Nolan, Ruth, and Sandra;
5and
 
6    WHEREAS, Olive Smith was the inspiration for all 8 of her
7children to graduate from Beardstown High School; during the
8kids' school years, her home was always open to any needy
9child, several of whom moved in to become part of the family;
10most of the youngsters in the west end of Beardstown were
11corrected by Olive for wrongdoing; three of her sons joined the
12United States Navy, while the other son became a river boat
13captain on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers; one daughter
14became a nurse, two of her daughters became butchers, and the
15other daughter a District Avon Representative; all of her
16children survive her; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Following her husband's death in 1968, Olive Smith
18was employed by the State of Illinois Mental Facility in
19Jacksonville and moved there; and
 
20    WHEREAS, When Olive Smith retired from her employment with
21the State, she returned to Beardstown, where she was active
22with Guthrie-Pierce Post 1239 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars
23Ladies Auxiliary; the Auxiliary sponsored Red Cross Blood

 

 

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1Drives at the Post every 56 days, wherein she served as the
2blood drive caller for many years until her health deteriorated
3too much to continue; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Olive Smith was the last surviving World War I
5widow in Beardstown; her last act gift was for her body to be
6donated to science; afterwards, she was to be cremated and the
7ashes returned to be placed with her husband at Camp Butler,
8where he awaits; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Olive Smith's ashes have been returned and
10arrangements made for her to be interred in Camp Butler on May
118, 2013; therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
13NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
14we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of
15Olive Smith; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
17presented to the family of Olive Smith as an expression of our
18sympathy.