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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

  
 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of  Beatrice 
4Taylor of Rockford, who passed away on May 6, 2013; and
  
 
5    WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor was born on April 19, 1905, in the 
6Gypsum Hills of Blain County, Oklahoma; her parents were Lottie 
7and Clem Smith; and
  
 
8    WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor graduated from high school in 
9Kingfisher, Oklahoma, and then moved to Wichita, Kansas; in 
101923, she married Ira Anderson and had 3 daughters, Loretta, 
11Yvonne, and Lavonne; shortly after the passing of her husband 
12Ira, when her children were teenagers, she moved to Rockford in 
13the 1940s to be closer to her mother; in Rockford, she married 
14Thomas Jarvis Taylor and worked as their personal cook for the 
15Todd family, who owned the Rockford Register Star, as well as 
16the personal cook for Maurice McDonald, one of the founding 
17brothers of McDonald's; and
  
 
18    WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor was a member of the Pilgrim 
19Baptist Church; she was also the founder of "The Afternoon Art 
20Club", a women's group that met weekly to make quilts, knit, 
21and crochet, which they sold or donated to help the less 
22fortunate in the Rockford area; she was an active member of the 
 
 
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1club for more than 25 years; and
  
 
2    WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor was interested in politics for 
3many years; her most memorable experience was voting for Barack 
4Obama for President; as an honored guest at Illinois State 
5Representative Chuck Jefferson's annual Mothers' Day Luncheon, 
6she met then-Senator Barack Obama and was later invited to the 
7White House once he took office; she also met Oprah Winfrey at 
8age 106 and was invited to speak to the audience during the 
9pre-show; and
  
 
10    WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor was designated as the 
11African-American Woman of the Year by Rockford's Ethnic 
12Heritage Museum; therefore, be it
  
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 
14NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that 
15we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of 
16Beatrice Taylor; and be it further
  
 
17    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
18presented to the family of Beatrice Taylor as an expression of 
19our sympathy.