SR0154 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0154 LRB097 11357 KXB 53557 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Frances Hrovatin Troha of Waukegan, who passed away on March 20, 2011; and

WHEREAS, She was born on January 27, 1910 in Waukegan, to Slovenian immigrants Mary (nee Opeka) and Jacob Hrovatin; she married the late August Robert Troha in 1947; and

WHEREAS, Cultural activities at Waukegan's Slovenic Hall were the hub of her childhood; she became a life-time member and later, an officer of the SNPJ Society; she was also an active member and officer in the Waukegan Women's Club; her strongest affiliation was her membership in Christ Episcopal Church in Waukegan, where she taught Sunday school for forty years and was an active participant in numerous Outreach programs; through the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, she established and administered a Naturalization Education and Testing Center at Christ Episcopal Church; she also served as a member of the Hunger Task Force and worked actively for Heifer Project International; and

WHEREAS, Family hardships did not allow her to complete her high school education when she was a teen; through determination and perseverance, she later earned a GED and diplomas from dance schools in Chicago, which enabled her to establish her own dance studio in Waukegan; she later taught children's tap and ballet in her home, gave eighth grade graduation dance lessons, and taught Ballroom Dance for the Waukegan Adult Evening School; having earned many college credit hours, she was asked to add GED and Adult Basic Education courses to her Evening School teaching load, while working in telephone sales at Sears Roebuck; and

WHEREAS, By 1963, she earned a Provisional Teaching Certificate and began teaching in the North Chicago Public Schools; she received her BS in Education from Carthage College in 1969 and transferred her teaching skills to the Waukegan Public Schools; she earned her Masters Degree in Education from National Louis University and retired in 1975; she continued to teach evening school courses at the College of Lake County until her mid-eighties; and

WHEREAS, She actively enjoyed family gatherings, dining at restaurants, traveling, walking, watching Channel 11, reading, drawing, and communing with nature; and

WHEREAS, She was preceded in death by her sisters, Mary (Mitzi) Courser and Estelle Watts; and her brothers, Frank, John, and Victor Hrovatin; and

WHEREAS, Frances Troha is survived by her sister, Christine (Tina) Henriksen; her many nieces and nephews; and her children, Maryfrances Troha (Greg Thompson) and Thomas (Tim) Troha, II (Rita); she was "Nana" to her granddaughters, Meredith Maseman (Brian), Christina Harris (Don), Ashley Butler-Troha, and Tess Troha-Thompson; and her 5 great-grandchildren, Madelyn and Brayden Maseman, Abigail and Jackson Harris, and Scarlett Butler-Troha; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of Frances Hrovatin Troha; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Frances Hrovatin Troha as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.