Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SR0029
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Full Text of SR0029  100th General Assembly

SR0029 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


  

 


 
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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Janet Elaine Obenchain, who passed away
4on January 2, 2017; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Elaine Obenchain was born on March 22, 1934; she
6grew up in Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids, Michigan and
7Evanston, where she graduated from Evanston Township High
8School; she spent two years at DePauw University, where she was
9a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, and two years at the
10University of Minnesota, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in
11Psychology in 1955; and
 
12    WHEREAS, After college, Elaine Obenchain moved back to
13Evanston and worked as a claims adjuster in Chicago; she
14married Ralph Obenchain in October of 1957 and they settled in
15Evanston; they moved to Wilmette in 1966 and to rural Woodstock
16in 1980; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Elaine Obenchain was a lifelong scholar and an
18accomplished writer; in 1977, she published the "Complete
19Catalog of Ampico Reproducing Piano Rolls" and she wrote and
20illustrated a five-volume set of books on McHenry County
21cemeteries, published by the McHenry County Illinois
22Genealogical Society; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Elaine Obenchain loved animals, especially Rocky
2Mountain horses, cats, and beef calves; she was an avid flower
3and vegetable gardener and a gifted photographer who won
4several awards for her photos at the McHenry County Fair; she
5was an avid fisherwoman, landing several muskies that weighed
6more than 20 pounds; she had many talents, ranging from sewing
7her daughter's wedding dress, to re-upholstering furniture, to
8making the best Yorkshire pudding in the world; in her later
9years, she translated Spanish-language books on Asturian
10horses into English and mastered pedal kayaking; her greatest
11joy was watching her grandchildren learn to fish, tube, ski,
12play bean bag, shoot, and drive tractors and boats at her rural
13home in Woodstock and her cottage in northern Wisconsin; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Elaine Obenchain was the dearly loved wife of 57
15years of the late Ralph R. Obenchain Jr.; the beloved mother of
16R. Riley Obenchain, Edith Obenchain, Samuel (Denise)
17Obenchain, Valerie McLeer, and Abigail Obenchain (William
18Cole); the adored grandma to Mason and Avery Cole, Jax and Eli
19Obenchain, Krista and Sammy Obenchain, and Milo and Skyler
20McLeer; the cherished daughter of the late Janet and H. Ralph
21Higgins; the sister of Frances Proctor, and Brian Higgins; and
22the sister-in-law of Gloria O. Russell, Nancy Obenchain, and
23Mary Higgins; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
3Janet Elaine Obenchain, and extend our sincere condolences to
4her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
5further
 
6    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
7presented to the family of Elaine Obenchain as an expression of
8our deepest sympathy.