HR1229 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1229 LRB098 22049 MST 60918 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Barb Nafziger on the occasion of her retirement from the McLean County Coroner's Office; and

WHEREAS, Barb Nafziger began her career with the McLean County Coroner's Office in November of 1995 as a part-time Deputy under Coroner Dan Brady; she was promoted to full-time Deputy Coroner, then Lead Deputy Coroner, and finally Chief Deputy Coroner, where she has worked under the direction of current Coroner Beth Kimmerling for the past 11 and ˝ years; and

WHEREAS, This position grants Barb Nafziger the opportunity to make presentations and participate in several organizations; however, her main interests while in the office have been in the areas of mental illness and dementia; she has been actively involved for many years in the National Alliance for Mental Health and McLean County's Recovery Court and Advisory Board; she was a facilitator for the Survivors of Suicide support group and has provided lectures emphasizing coping mechanisms for those families with loved ones experiencing some type of dementia; she has pursued formal training in the areas of Suicide Investigation and Police Response to Mental Illness; and

WHEREAS, Through the National Catholic Ministry to the Bereaved, Barb Nafziger has been trained in the advanced skills of pastoral bereavement counseling and has provided emotional and psychological support to many survivors in the McLean County area; she has been a nationally certified Death Investigator since October 2001, and successfully passed Illinois's mandatory Lead Homicide Investigator class; her areas of expertise include Disaster Response, Forensic Anthropology, and Reconstruction of Shooting Incidents; within the office, she was the liaison to the Southern Illinois Child Death Investigation Task Force, and managed the highly successful Internship program as well as the Alzheimer's Brain Research project; and

WHEREAS, Prior to joining the coroner's office, Barb Nafziger had over 15 years of experience in the health care field; she also served on the Board of Directors for the Livingston County Family Care Center, and was a Court Appointed Special Advocate for McLean County; and

WHEREAS, Barb Nafziger was raised in Pontiac; she attended Parkland College and Heartland Community College, and has over 60 hours of college credit in the areas of psychology, medical terminology, sociology, and anatomy and physiology; she is married to John Nafziger, and they have 5 children; they serve their community as Eucharistic Ministers at Holy Trinity Catholic Parish in Bloomington; in her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren and relaxing at the family lake house; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Barb Nafziger on her retirement from the McLean County Coroner's Office, and wish her the best in all her future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Barb Nafziger as an expression of our esteem and respect.