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| | SR0374 | | LRB100 12184 MST 24603 r |
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1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to |
3 | | learn of the death of Carolyn A. Rush, who passed away on March |
4 | | 13, 2017; and
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5 | | WHEREAS, Carolyn Rush was born to Beulah Mae (DeWitt) |
6 | | Maxwell and Tommie James Thomas on May 27, 1949; she grew up in |
7 | | Rossville, Tennessee, where she was a member of DeWitt Temple |
8 | | Church of God in Christ; her family moved to the Chatham |
9 | | neighborhood of Chicago and she attended Betsy Ross Elementary |
10 | | School; she was baptized at the Greater Canaan Missionary |
11 | | Baptist Church and graduated from Hirsch High School in 1967, |
12 | | with honors; she married firefighter Eddie Long in the late |
13 | | 1960s; and
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14 | | WHEREAS, Carolyn Rush worked a variety of jobs in her teen
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15 | | and young adult years at places such as Woolworth
Department |
16 | | Store, Illinois Bell, Marshall Fields,
First National Bank, and |
17 | | the Ford Motor Company; later, she worked at the University
of |
18 | | Illinois,
the Prudential Insurance Company, the Art Institute
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19 | | of Chicago, and the State of Illinois, where she
served under |
20 | | Illinois Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka; and
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21 | | WHEREAS, Carolyn Rush married United States Congressman |
22 | | Bobby Lee Rush on May 2, 1980; she worked alongside her husband |
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1 | | selling insurance and served as his first administrative |
2 | | assistant when he was elected to the Chicago City Council in |
3 | | 1983; it was at her encouragement that he ran for Congress in |
4 | | 1991; she was a leader with the Congressional Black Caucus |
5 | | Spouses and served as Secretary for the Illinois Electoral |
6 | | College in 1992; and |
7 | | WHEREAS, Carolyn Rush and her husband
founded the Beloved |
8 | | Community Family
Wellness Center, the only federally qualified
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9 | | medical facility in Englewood, the Rebirth of
Englewood Local |
10 | | Development Corporation,
and the Beloved Community Family |
11 | | Services
Corporation - all of which served poor people
and the |
12 | | greater Englewood community; as First Lady of Beloved Community |
13 | | Church
COGIC, she was active in developing
social service |
14 | | programs to address issues arising from poverty, drug |
15 | | addiction, and
violence; and |
16 | | WHEREAS, Carolyn Rush graduated from the American College |
17 | | of Florists and was a certified florist; she and her husband |
18 | | enjoyed traveling to Africa, Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, |
19 | | and across the United States; and |
20 | | WHEREAS, Carolyn Rush was a member of Operation P.U.S.H. |
21 | | and several other organizations that work to eradicate |
22 | | discrimination in banking and employment; and |
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1 | | WHEREAS, In honor of his beloved wife, U.S. Representative |
2 | | Bobby L. Rush established the Carolyn A. and Bobby L. Rush |
3 | | Scholarship,
to be awarded to underrepresented minority |
4 | | students interested in
pursuing a career in health sciences |
5 | | through the Rush University
College of Health Sciences program; |
6 | | and
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7 | | WHEREAS, Carolyn Rush was preceded in death by her son, |
8 | | Huey; and
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9 | | WHEREAS, Carolyn Rush is survived by her husband, Elder and |
10 | | Pastor,
U.S. Representative Bobby Lee Rush; her sons, Michael |
11 | | (Sharon)
Long, Steven (Tiffany) Long, Jeffery Rush,
and Flynn |
12 | | (Melissa) Rush;
her daughters, Fanon (Donald) Tyler, and Kacy
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13 | | Rush; her sisters, Vanessa Dennis,
Stephanie Lemon, Sheila |
14 | | Thomas-Mahon, Kathryn
Thomas-Whaley, and Cora Marie
Hall; her |
15 | | brothers, Kenneth
Shields, and Eric Thomas; her grandchildren, |
16 | | Carlysha, Kaelin,
Hannah-Grace, Walter, David, Darius,
Jordan, |
17 | | Nia, Jonathan R., Joshua, Sanii, Aiden, and Arianna; her |
18 | | mother, Beulah Mae
Maxwell; her father, Tommie James (Geneva)
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19 | | Thomas; her good friend,
Rosemary Hall; and a host of nieces,
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20 | | nephews, cousins, in-laws, extended
family, friends, |
21 | | colleagues, constituents,
and Congressman Rush's congressional |
22 | | staff; therefore, be it
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23 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL |
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1 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of |
2 | | Carolyn A. Rush, and extend our sincere condolences to her |
3 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it |
4 | | further
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5 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
6 | | presented to the family of Carolyn Rush as an expression of our |
7 | | deepest sympathy.
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