SR1235 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Rachel G. Smylie of Oak Park, who passed away on April 7, 2014; and

WHEREAS, Rachel Smylie was born on January 7, 1993 in Oak Park; she attended Whittier and Holmes Elementary Schools, Brooks Middle School, and graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 2011; she was a junior at the University of Michigan at the time of her passing; and

WHEREAS, As a junior in high school, Rachel Smylie became interested in Africa through The Road Less Traveled, a Chicago-based organization that provides young people with opportunities for travel and work on meaningful projects in the United States and abroad while exposing them to new environments and different cultures; the following summer, she traveled with the program to Tanzania, where she worked with children who were victims of HIV/AIDS; as a student at the University of Michigan, she continued to learn about HIV/AIDS through course work and by volunteering at a local clinic; and

WHEREAS, Rachel Smylie later returned to Africa to study at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and planned to volunteer at an HIV/AIDS clinic there; she was traveling in Namibia with several other students when she passed away; and

WHEREAS, Rachel sang in the Oak Park-River Forest Children's Chorus throughout high school, performing in Carnegie Hall and going on several international tours, including to Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Morocco; she also traveled on several mission trips with the Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church youth group and played volleyball and lacrosse at Oak Park and River Forest High School; at the University of Michigan, where she was majoring in anthropology and English, she was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority and a volunteer at the Washtenaw County HIV/AIDS clinic; and

WHEREAS, Rachel Smylie was preceded in death by her grandparents, Melba and Connolly C. Gamble; and

WHEREAS, Rachel Smylie is survived by her parents, Sallie and Mark Smylie; 2 sisters, Anna Smylie and Lauren Smylie Gage (Patrick); 4 aunts, Cathy Smylie McGehee (Read), Beth Smylie Puckett (Ben), Melanie G. Walker (Robert C.), and Rev. Susan Rainey Dankel; an uncle, Frank Raysor; 9 cousins, Eliza McGehee, Jane McGehee, Bonnie Puckett (Michael Levine), Andy Puckett (Emily), Rebecca Puckett McWilliams, Matt McWilliams, Sarah Puckett, Sara Walker, and Robert Walker; and grandparents, Elizabeth and James Smylie; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with her family and friends, mourn the passing of Rachel G. Smylie; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Rachel Smylie as an expression of our sympathy.