HR0611

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HOUSE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
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Representatives were saddened to learn of the death of Rev. 
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Dean P. Rice of Chicago on December 14, 2003; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Father Rice's 45-year tenure as rector of The 
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Church of the Atonement set the record for the longest-held 
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post in the Chicago Episcopal Diocese; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Father Rice was born in 1932 to a Methodist family 
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in Danville; he graduated from Georgetown High School in 1950; 
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three years later, he received a bachelor's degree from 
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Millikin University in Decatur; and

 
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    WHEREAS, He received a master of divinity degree from 
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Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, an Episcopal seminary in 
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Evanston in 1956; in 1958, he was installed as rector of The 
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Episcopal Church of the Atonement, where he stayed until June 
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of this year; and

 
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    WHEREAS, In the 1970s, when the church's Hispanic 
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congregation began to grow, Father Rice helped establish The 
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Parent-Child Latino Center, which offered social services with 
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an emphasis on education; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Out of this ministry grew St. Augustine's College, 
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which moved out of the church in 1979, the same year the 
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Hispanic congregation formed the Mission of Cristo Rey; Father 
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Rice served on St. Augustine's governing board from 1980 to 
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1988; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Father Rice was a board member and part owner of 
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Paxton Wholesale Grocery Co., a family-owned business in 
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southern Illinois; he also traveled extensively and boasted a 
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collection of crystal; and

 

 


 









HR0611
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LRB093 15378 KEF 40980 r







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    WHEREAS, The passing of Father Rice will be deeply felt by 
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many, especially his niece, Nanette Rice Mellen; and his 
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nephew, James M. Rice; therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
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NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we 
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mourn the passing of Rev. Dean P. Rice along with all who knew 
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and loved him and extend our sincere condolences to his family, 
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friends, and community; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the family of Rev. Dean P. Rice as an expression 
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of our deepest sympathy.