SR0581 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0581 LRB100 13038 MST 27376 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Lucille Rose (Kotewa) Msall, who passed away on May 15, 2016, at the age of 87; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall was born to Polish immigrant parents in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood on June 29, 1928; she graduated from Lourdes High School and studied psychology at Loyola University Chicago; she became active in social justice issues on campus and in the city; she met her husband, Emil, during her junior year of college and they married in 1950; 18 years and seven children later, she received her bachelor's degree from Loyola; and

WHEREAS, Before getting her degree, Lucille Msall was active in tutoring and teaching children with special needs, both out of her home and in the homes of her pupils, helping to teach the skills they were not being taught in public schools; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall was an American disability rights activist and was recognized for co-founding some of the United States' first organizations to advocate on behalf of people with Down Syndrome; in 1968, she was the founding director of the Beacon Therapeutic School for children with autism and other special needs, which still operates on Longwood Drive on Chicago's Far South Side; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall helped organize the National Association for Down Syndrome and served as its president from 1974 to 1975; she was inspired to do so when her daughter, Christianne, was born with Down Syndrome in 1969; she helped form the National Down Syndrome Congress, for which she was the first recording secretary and was the organization's president from 1978 to 1979; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall was invited by President Jimmy Carter to participate in the White House conference for the mentally "retarded" in 1980; she became a strong advocate for replacement of the word "retarded" in favor of "developmentally challenged" or "special needs"; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall became a rehabilitation counselor for the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services from 1989 until 2003, where she focused on helping people become independent and having opportunities for fuller lives, including employment; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall's greatest joy of her professional career was helping any child to learn to read and write or to master arithmetic; she believed in the ability of everyone, and she believed that everyone deserved an education and could be educated, and she set out to prove it; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall and her family moved from the South Side of Chicago to Oak Park in 1975 to give her daughter, Christianne, an opportunity to attend a mainstream school; Christianne went on to attend National Louis University and completed a certificate program, fulfilling a life's goal for her mother; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall expected her children to become well-rounded, each learning a musical instrument and becoming involved in outside activities such as 4-H or the Scouts, and to take on part-time jobs; as they got older, she encouraged her children to help those in need by getting involved in projects that would increase their awareness and address some of the inequities in the community; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall encouraged expectations of higher education for her children while they were in high school, resulting in nine of her living children attending college; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Emil B. Msall, and her son, Gerard Peter Msall; and

WHEREAS, Lucille Msall is survived by her loving children, Michael (Karla), Anita, Karin (Steve) Fischer, Mary (Scott) Rogers, Camille, Laurence, Madeleine (Frank Mauceri), Christianne, and Julianne (Christopher) Pegler; 17 grandchildren; and her sister, Joan (Stanley) Vinkler; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Lucille Rose Msall, and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Lucille Msall as an expression of our deepest sympathy.