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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Vater Mae "Gran" Fite of | ||||||
| 4 | Chicago on the occasion of her 100th birthday on September 28, | ||||||
| 5 | 2014; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite was born on September 28, 1914 in | ||||||
| 7 | Carthage, Texas to the late Selma and Marvin
Conners, | ||||||
| 8 | affectionately known as Big Momma and Big Daddy; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite's only brother, Leon "Uncle Leon" | ||||||
| 10 | Conners, is 96 years of age and lives in Maywood with his | ||||||
| 11 | family; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite's older sister, Herese
"Aunt B" | ||||||
| 13 | Buckner, was a school teacher in the Chicago public schools and
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| 14 | a classically trained singer who spread her faith and talent | ||||||
| 15 | throughout the world at the behest of the
Lutheran dioceses; | ||||||
| 16 | Vater and Herese shared the same
birthday and lived as | ||||||
| 17 | bachelorettes in Oak Park until the ages of 89 and 91
when, in | ||||||
| 18 | 2008, Herese fell ill and passed away; and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite's younger sister, the late Inez "Auntie | ||||||
| 20 | Inez" Jones, retired as school
teacher in their hometown and | ||||||
| 21 | remained a lifelong resident of Carthage, Texas; and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite matriculated from Longview Elementary | ||||||
| 2 | and Carthage High School (which only went
up to the 7th grade) | ||||||
| 3 | in 1926; during this time, she attended Mount Zion Christian | ||||||
| 4 | Methodist Episcopal Church where she sang in the choir and | ||||||
| 5 | taught Sunday school; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite's first marriage was to JC Lilly in | ||||||
| 7 | 1929; like so many in the depression, Vater and JC migrated | ||||||
| 8 | north; they eventually made their way to California, where | ||||||
| 9 | Vater was trained as a welder in the shipyards and worked as a
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| 10 | welder during World War II; when the war ended and work became | ||||||
| 11 | scarce, she returned to
her children in Texas; she divorced and | ||||||
| 12 | later married Mr. Fite, to
whom she was happily and briefly | ||||||
| 13 | married; upon his death, she joined her children and
siblings | ||||||
| 14 | in Maywood; she later moved to the Westside of Chicago, where | ||||||
| 15 | she was employed with the State of Illinois as a caregiver | ||||||
| 16 | until her retirement in 1979; she temporarily returned to Texas | ||||||
| 17 | to care for her aging mother; upon her mother's
death, Vater | ||||||
| 18 | returned to Oak Park to live with her
sister and to be close to | ||||||
| 19 | her son and family; and | ||||||
| 20 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite is an active participant in the senior | ||||||
| 21 | community of Oak Park; she became an artist at
the age of 65 | ||||||
| 22 | and has many of her paintings and sculptures
displayed | ||||||
| 23 | throughout Oak Park and Chicago, as well as in the many homes | ||||||
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| 1 | of her relatives
all over the United States; she taught
herself | ||||||
| 2 | to play the violin at the age of 84; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite is an avid reader and particularly a | ||||||
| 4 | fan of murder mysteries and historical fiction; some of
her | ||||||
| 5 | favorite things are a good piece of beef, watching countless | ||||||
| 6 | hours of baseball,
the color blue, and her infamously loud and | ||||||
| 7 | long discussions with her brother Leon on the phone; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite is a sports enthusiast; though her | ||||||
| 9 | first love is baseball, she has followed the exploits of her | ||||||
| 10 | great-grandson, Evan Turner, on the basketball court and | ||||||
| 11 | attended games
throughout the country during his collegiate and | ||||||
| 12 | professional NBA career; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite has travelled throughout the United | ||||||
| 14 | States and, after obtaining her
passport at the tender age of | ||||||
| 15 | 97, she became a literal globetrotter, traveling to various | ||||||
| 16 | locales annually on the family vacation until deciding to
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| 17 | remain stateside this year; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite's children are LeRoy Franklin | ||||||
| 19 | (Barbara) Lilly (deceased), Vater Jo (Robert) Goodman | ||||||
| 20 | (deceased), Billie
June (Felix) Neal (deceased), and Gloria | ||||||
| 21 | Marves (deceased); and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite's grandchildren are
Iris L. James, | ||||||
| 2 | Darius F. Lilly (deceased), State Representative Camille Y. | ||||||
| 3 | Lilly, Brian S. Lilly, Karen (Jasmyn)
Lilly, Jerome (Jerry) | ||||||
| 4 | Goodman, Kevin (Jacqueline) Neal, and April (Vince)
Braggs; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite's great-grandchildren are
Richard | ||||||
| 6 | James, Darius Turner, Evan Turner, Briana Lilly, Vince Braggs | ||||||
| 7 | Jr. (VJ), Briaja
Braggs, and Brian Shawn Lilly II; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Vater Fite is a living legacy and the pride and | ||||||
| 9 | joy of
her family; therefore, be it
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| 10 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 11 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 12 | we congratulate Vater Mae "Gran" Fite as she becomes a | ||||||
| 13 | centenarian and wish her many more wonderful years; and be it | ||||||
| 14 | further
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| 15 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 16 | presented to Vater Fite as an expression of our esteem and | ||||||
| 17 | respect.
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