HR1196 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1196 LRB098 21698 MST 60550 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate Fancie L. Windham of Chicago on the occasion of her 100th birthday on June 1, 2014; and

WHEREAS, Fancie Windham (nee Green) arrived in Chicago from Alliceville (Pickens County), Alabama, with 4 small children to reunite with her husband, Matt, Sr. in 1942; and

WHEREAS, Fancie Windham first worked as a beautician at Mrs. Parker's Beauty Salon on East 43rd Street; she then worked as a floor attendant at Cat's Millinery Company on South Water Street in downtown Chicago; she started creating hand-made hats for herself, and, due to requests, started selling them to others; she opened her first hat shop on East 43rd Street in 1942, operating it until 1968; and

WHEREAS, Fancie Windham was a self-taught handmade hat and clothes/accessory designer; she utilized her family members to form a hat modeling troupe; her grandson, Eddie, became her personal hat assistant on stage and at the hat shop; she and her hat models participated in the annual Bud Billiken parade as they rode in a convertible for 35 years; the hat troupe also modeled hats at various church and social events throughout Chicago and surrounding states, including 17 years on the late Isabel Joseph Johnson's Rock of Ages Channel 26 TV show and the Idlewild (MI) Lot Owners' Association annual August week of events finale variety show for 14 years; and

WHEREAS, During the mid-1940s, Fancie Windham joined The Dainty Matrons Social Club, an affiliate group of the Chicago Northern District Association (CNDA) of Club Women and Girls, Inc.; she then joined the Myrtle McKenzie Self-Realization Club; and

WHEREAS, Fancie Windham has received numerous civic, religious awards, and citations, including the late Mrs. Bertha Clifton's "Designers Hall of Fame" award; she traveled with the Chicago Democratic Women on its 'Route 66' Trip to Washington, D.C. as guests of the late President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House; and

WHEREAS, Fancie Windham is semi-retired and services existing hat customers as the country's oldest-known milliner; she is the oldest living member of the Evening Star Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Fancie Windham's grandson created the Fancie L. Windham's Millinery/Accessories Scholarship Foundation for aspiring secondary students who desire to pursue a fashion design degree; the CNDA's building fund is one of the foundations's designated benefactors; and

WHEREAS, Fancie Windham is one of the legendary CNDA members; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Fancie L. Windham of Chicago on her 100th birthday and wish her many more wonderful years; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Fancie Windham as an expression of our esteem and respect.