SR0888 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0888 LRB096 22643 KXB 41968 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of former State Representative Mary Lou Cowlishaw, who passed away on June 23, 2010; and

WHEREAS, She was born February 20, 1932, in Rockford, to Donald George and Mildred Corinne (Hayes) Miller; she graduated as valedictorian from West Rockford High School; she majored in and received her Bachelor of Science degree in journalism at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and did post-graduate studies at Northwestern University; and

WHEREAS, Her honorary degrees included a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from North Central College in 1999 and from Benedictine University in 2000; at the time of her passing, she was an Adjunct Professor of Education at North Central College; and

WHEREAS, She married Wayne Cowlishaw on July 24, 1954; they had three children, Beth (David) McDaniel, John (Jane) Cowlishaw, and Paula (Andrew) Rader, and eight grandchildren, Jacob McDaniel, Zachary, Maxwell, Alexandria, and Rachel Green-Cowlishaw, and Emily, Elizabeth, and John Paul (J.P.) Rader; she was preceded in death by her parents and her son, John; and

WHEREAS, She had been a Naperville resident since 1958; she served on the Naperville District 203 Board of Education from 1972-1983; prior to her election to the Illinois General Assembly in November of 1982, she was a member of the editorial staff of the Naperville Sun; in 1981, she won the first place annual award for investigative reporting from the Illinois Press Association and authored the book "This Band's Been Here Quite a Spell..." about the history of the Naperville Municipal Band; and

WHEREAS, She served as the Representative from the 41st District from 1983 to 2003; during her 20 years in the legislature representing Naperville, she sponsored countless proposals, including the Chicago School Reform legislation, which became a model for the nation; she also sponsored the Education for Homeless Children Act and the legislation creating the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy; she sponsored changes regarding hospital districts that ultimately enabled Naperville's Edward Hospital to go from public to private status; she was later credited for "saving" the hospital; and

WHEREAS, House committees she served on during her time in the legislature included the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, Public Utilities Committee, Mental Health and Patient Abuse Committee, Higher Education Appropriations Committee, and the Select Committee on Aging; and

WHEREAS, She was a member of many of Naperville's civic organizations; she, along with friends, spearheaded the creation of the Naperville Park District; she was a member of the Community United Methodist Church for 50 years; she was the recipient of many legislative and public service awards, including the one that was most special for her, the naming of a new elementary school in 1997 in Indian Prairie School District 204 as the "Mary Lou Cowlishaw Elementary School"; she also received the "Golden Apple" award four times from the Illinois Association of School Boards; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with her family, friends, and former constituents, the passing of Mary Lou Cowlishaw; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Mary Lou Cowlishaw as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.