|
|
|||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | ||||||
| 3 | learn of the death of Claudia Mary Nash-Thomas of East St. | ||||||
| 4 | Louis, who passed away on March 16, 2007; and
| ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Claudia Nash-Thomas was born in East St. Louis on | ||||||
| 6 | July 5, 1918; she attended school in School District 189 and | ||||||
| 7 | graduated from Lincoln School; she attended Southern Illinois | ||||||
| 8 | University after graduation; she taught in Sparta at Vernon | ||||||
| 9 | Grade School for three years, and then came to School District | ||||||
| 10 | 189, where she taught for three years; and
| ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, Her sister, Frances, interested her in becoming a | ||||||
| 12 | mortician, and she enrolled in St. Louis College of Mortuary | ||||||
| 13 | Science; following graduation she was licensed in Illinois and | ||||||
| 14 | Missouri and worked with her father and sister in the business; | ||||||
| 15 | while working at the funeral home, she met Walter Lee Thomas | ||||||
| 16 | and they married on March 27, 1947; and
| ||||||
| 17 | WHEREAS, She was a life member of St. Luke A.M.E. Church; | ||||||
| 18 | she served on the Board of Directors for the Comprehensive | ||||||
| 19 | Mental Health Center of St. Clair County from 1976 to 1991, as | ||||||
| 20 | a charter member of the East St. Louis Volunteers for Police | ||||||
| 21 | Safety, as a board member for the Children's Center, and she | ||||||
| 22 | was very active with the NAACP, becoming a Life Time Member and | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | serving as President in the 1940s; she was the first Black | ||||||
| 2 | President of the YWCA of St. Clair County, and served in many | ||||||
| 3 | other clubs and organizations as well; and
| ||||||
| 4 | WHEREAS, Claudia Nash-Thomas received the Profile of | ||||||
| 5 | Providence Award for Metro East Women of Achievement in 1980; | ||||||
| 6 | she received a citation from the 82nd General Assembly of the | ||||||
| 7 | State of Illinois for Community Service; and many other honors | ||||||
| 8 | and awards; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, Claudia Nash-Thomas was preceded in death by her | ||||||
| 10 | parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. (Emma C. Edwards) Nash; her | ||||||
| 11 | sister, M. Frances Nash Terrell; and her brother-in-law, Mr. | ||||||
| 12 | Edward Terrell; and
| ||||||
| 13 | WHEREAS, Mrs. Claudia Nash-Thomas leaves to cherish her | ||||||
| 14 | memory her loving and devoted daughter, Claudia E. Thomas- | ||||||
| 15 | Nash; her loving sister, Fredericka J. Nash; her extended | ||||||
| 16 | family, Mrs. Priscilla Holliway, Mrs. Princetta Farries, and | ||||||
| 17 | Mrs. Michelle Buchannan; her very close friends, Mrs. Wastic | ||||||
| 18 | "Brownie" Brown, Mrs. Ossie Kersee, and Dr. Helen Hudlin; her | ||||||
| 19 | church family, club members, and her friends; therefore, be it
| ||||||
| 20 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL | ||||||
| 21 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | ||||||
| 22 | her family and friends, the passing of Claudia Mary | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | Nash-Thomas; and be it further
| ||||||
| 2 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 3 | presented to the family of Claudia Mary Nash-Thomas as a symbol | ||||||
| 4 | of our sympathy.
| ||||||