Full Text of SR2298 99th General Assembly
SR2298 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Hester Barbara Nelson Suggs, who passed | 4 | | away on October 2, 2016; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Hester Suggs was born on April 30, 1928 in | 6 | | Champaign; her parents were Cecil D. and Carrie Nelson; she | 7 | | married Raymond Eugene Suggs in June of 1948; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Hester Suggs attended Gregory Elementary School | 9 | | and Champaign Junior High; in 1945, she graduated from | 10 | | Champaign High School, where she was active in the Girls | 11 | | Athletic Association, the Glee Club, and the Vocalettes; she | 12 | | entered the University of Illinois in the fall of 1945; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Hester Suggs led a life committed to providing | 14 | | exemplary education to children for over 30 years and service | 15 | | to the Champaign-Urbana community; in the late 1940s, she | 16 | | served as a teacher in the Douglass Center Kindergarten | 17 | | Association, an independent, community-based organization that | 18 | | provided early childhood education for African-American | 19 | | children in Champaign-Urbana during the time of a segregated | 20 | | school system; in the early 1950s, she concentrated on raising | 21 | | her family and assisting her husband with his plastering and | 22 | | photography businesses; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 1961, Hester Suggs resumed her career as an | 2 | | educator, serving as the afternoon kindergarten teacher at | 3 | | Booker T. Washington School; after earning her bachelor's | 4 | | degree in elementary education from the University of Illinois | 5 | | at Urbana-Champaign in 1963, she completed her student teaching | 6 | | at Leal Elementary School in Urbana, where she was later | 7 | | employed; after earning her master's degree in elementary | 8 | | education at the University of Illinois in 1967, she joined | 9 | | Champaign School District Unit 4 as a fifth grade teacher at | 10 | | Dr. Howard School; with the establishment of Project | 11 | | Creativity, the gifted program in Unit 4, she was designated as | 12 | | the teacher for gifted fifth grade students; her expertise was | 13 | | soon recognized and she served as a demonstration teacher for | 14 | | the Illinois State Board of Education, spending weekends | 15 | | conducting workshops in the area of gifted education for | 16 | | teachers across east central Illinois; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, In 1971, Hester Suggs was selected as the | 18 | | principal of Booker T. Washington Elementary School in | 19 | | Champaign Unit 4; the school was established as a magnet | 20 | | program in partnership with the University of Illinois in the | 21 | | desegregation plan for Champaign schools; in collaboration | 22 | | with her staff, she created an innovative humanities and | 23 | | arts-based curriculum attracting students from all over the | 24 | | community; in 1980, she successfully secured a grant from the |
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| 1 | | United States Department of Education to establish programs | 2 | | emphasizing foreign languages, music, cultural and performing | 3 | | arts, and interpretive thinking for children in kindergarten | 4 | | through fifth grade; the school hosted several | 5 | | artist-in-residence programs for dance, established an art | 6 | | design lab and foreign program, and earned a reputation as a | 7 | | premier magnet program and elementary education organization, | 8 | | pioneering a multi-disciplinary approach to learning; she | 9 | | retired from the school in 1993 after 22 years of service; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Following her retirement, Hester Suggs continued | 11 | | her community service volunteering with the local Illinois | 12 | | Retired Teachers Association and serving as a member of the | 13 | | Champaign County African-American History Committee; she was a | 14 | | lifelong member of Bethel AME Church of Champaign and was at | 15 | | one time a member of the Helping Hand Club and the choir; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, In 1988, Hester Suggs received the Service | 17 | | Recognition Award for Administrators from the Illinois | 18 | | Alliance for Arts in Education recognizing her exemplary work | 19 | | in developing an arts and humanities-based curriculum that | 20 | | enhanced student academic performance at Booker T. Washington | 21 | | Magnet School; in 1989, she was recognized by the Illinois | 22 | | Congress of Parents and Teachers with an honorary life | 23 | | membership in appreciation for her service to children and | 24 | | youth; in 1997, she received the Booker T. Washington Award for |
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| 1 | | education; in recognition for her commitment to | 2 | | humanities-based education, the Champaign Urbana Schools | 3 | | Foundation established the Hester Suggs Endowment Fund to | 4 | | provide grants that expand the Arts and Humanities for children | 5 | | in Champaign Unit 4; she was also the recipient of "A Living | 6 | | Legend" award from the Champaign County Section of the National | 7 | | Council of Negro Women in 2012; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Hester Suggs was a lifelong member of the Gamma | 9 | | Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., serving four terms | 10 | | as president for the graduate chapter of Epsilon Epsilon Omega | 11 | | and as a graduate adviser to Gamma; in 1997, she was accorded | 12 | | the designation of "Golden Soror" by the sorority; she was | 13 | | honored for "extraordinary sisterhood and exemplary service" | 14 | | to the chapter at the 2014 Centennial Celebration of the Gamma | 15 | | Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha; in September of 2015, she | 16 | | received the Winding Ivy Epsilon Epsilon Omega Living Legacy | 17 | | Award in recognition of her dedication to Alpha Kappa Alpha; | 18 | | and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Hester Suggs served on the boards of the Community | 20 | | Foundation of Champaign County, Mercy Hospital, the Girls Club, | 21 | | and the Illini Rebounders; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Hester Suggs enjoyed cooking, arranging family | 23 | | dinners, gardening, sewing, painting, and University of |
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| 1 | | Illinois football and basketball; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Hester Suggs was preceded in death by her husband, | 3 | | Raymond; her parents; and her brothers, Cecil D. Nelson Jr. and | 4 | | Earnest Nelson; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Hester Suggs is survived by her children, Barbara | 6 | | Elaine (Frederick) Mason, Danny Jerome (Catherine), and Ramona | 7 | | Gay (William) Winrow; her grandsons, William Winrow III, Mason | 8 | | James Reinhart-Suggs, Justin Paul Winrow, Raymond Nelson | 9 | | Winrow, Frederick Eugene Kwame Mason, Ryan Daniel Suggs, and | 10 | | Logan Patrick Suggs; her sisters, Eleanor Conrad, Estelle | 11 | | Merrifield, and Eunice Rivers; and many cousins, nieces, | 12 | | nephews, extended family members, and friends; therefore, be it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | 14 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with her | 15 | | family and friends, mourn the passing of Hester Barbara Nelson | 16 | | Suggs; and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 18 | | presented to the family of Hester Suggs as an expression of our | 19 | | sympathy.
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