HR0436 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0436 LRB103 34720 MST 64567 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Marjorie Grandstaff of Yorkville on the occasion of her 100th birthday; and

WHEREAS, Marjorie Grandstaff was born on her family's farm in southwest Wisconsin on an unseasonably warm and sunny December 1st of 1923; she was the third child of Harry and Lelia Harris; and

WHEREAS, Marjorie Grandstaff, her two sisters, and her three brothers grew up during the Great Depression; this experience shaped her life in countless ways; she has many loving memories of her childhood home despite the struggles her family endured; she, along with her brothers and sisters, attended a one-room schoolhouse; and

WHEREAS, Marjorie Grandstaff met Loren Grandstaff, who was home on leave from the Army, when she was 17 at a dance in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin; they were married several weeks later in Waukon, Iowa on November 2, 1941; she returned to Fort Lewis in Washington, and just as she was making plans to join him, word came of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and of the country being at war; and

WHEREAS, Marjorie Grandstaff did not see Loren again for three years, as he was shipped overseas; during the war, she worked stamping bombs at a munitions factory in Rockford; she later moved to Denver, Colorado to be near her brother, Bueford, who was in the Army and stationed nearby; she worked there a year before returning to Chicago on the Zephyr train, which was famous at the time for its high rate of speed, which was 90 mph; and

WHEREAS, After the war, Marjorie Grandstaff and Loren farmed in southwest Wisconsin, where they raised their three daughters, Cheryl, Dixie, and Jeanie; she planted a large garden every year and canned all kinds of vegetables and fruit; she was a wonderful seamstress and sewed most of her girls' clothes; she has always been a wonderful cook, and her daughters still remember their mom always having a special treat for them every day when they got home from school; and

WHEREAS, Marjorie Grandstaff's family relocated to Racine, Wisconsin in the early 1960s, where they lived until Loren's passing in 1993, after more than 52 years of marriage; she moved to Yorkville to be near her daughter, Dixie, in 2008 and lived independently until her move to Heritage Woods in 2016; and

WHEREAS, Marjorie Grandstaff has nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren in addition to her three daughters; she has had 100 years of a simple and beautiful life and is cherished by her family and many friends; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Marjorie Grandstaff on this historic occasion and wish her the best 100th birthday celebration; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Majorie Grandstaff as a symbol of our respect and esteem.