Full Text of SR0291 95th General Assembly
SR0291 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of
Willie Thomas of Peoria Heights, who | 4 |
| passed away on July 10, 2007; and
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| WHEREAS, Willie Thomas was born on June 10, 1913, in | 6 |
| Jackson, Mississippi; her parents were Albert and Emma (Cox) | 7 |
| Brady; she grew up and lived most of her life in Jackson with | 8 |
| her older brothers, Julius and Louis Brady; she attended County | 9 |
| Line Baptist Church School and later attended Lenior High | 10 |
| School in Jackson, Mississippi; she later married and had three | 11 |
| children, George Edward Ward, Eugene Powell Jr., and May Emma | 12 |
| Samples; and
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| WHEREAS, Willie Thomas moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in | 14 |
| 1944; in 1969, she moved to Kewanee, where she owned a soul | 15 |
| food restaurant; she later moved to Peoria and purchased a 10 | 16 |
| acre farm, where she raised and sold livestock; and
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| WHEREAS, Willie Thomas was a devoted and loyal Christian | 18 |
| throughout her life; she was a member of Peoria Friendship | 19 |
| Baptist Church, where she also served as a Mother of the | 20 |
| church; and
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| WHEREAS, Willie Thomas was known throughout the Peoria |
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| Heights neighborhood as "Miss Earlene"; she was best known for | 2 |
| her volunteer work at Carver Center, where she spent hours | 3 |
| encouraging others and spreading laughter; she made it a point | 4 |
| to drive to the center and visit her friends to bring a smile | 5 |
| to their faces; the young and old always loved her visits and | 6 |
| witty sense of humor; and
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| WHEREAS, Willie Thomas was preceded in death by her | 8 |
| siblings, Julius and Louis Brady; and her daughter; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, Willie Thomas is survived by her sons, George | 10 |
| Edward Ward Sr. and Eugene Powell Jr.; her seventeen | 11 |
| grandchildren; her forty-seven great-grandchildren; her seven | 12 |
| great-great-grandchildren; and a host of cousins and nephews; | 13 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | 15 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 16 |
| her family and friends, the passing of Willie Thomas; and be it | 17 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 |
| presented to the family of Willie Thomas as an expression of | 20 |
| our sympathy.
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