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| | HR0310 | | LRB099 11411 MST 32311 r |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of |
| 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate Maria Bronny |
| 4 | | Ciesla on the occasion of her retirement from her position as |
| 5 | | President of the Polish Museum of America; and
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| 6 | | WHEREAS, Maria Ciesla is in her tenth year as President of |
| 7 | | The Polish Museum of America (PMA), a
volunteer position; under |
| 8 | | her leadership, extensive renovations occurred at the PMA, |
| 9 | | including The
Paderewski Room, The Stephen and Ann Kusmierczak |
| 10 | | Art Gallery,
the new gift shop, the new entry way, and a new |
| 11 | | rare books collection room; fundraising with new and innovative |
| 12 | | methods increased dramatically; membership tripled; increased |
| 13 | | awareness occurred of the PMA, not only as a museum but as a |
| 14 | | source for academic and
general research; an increase in the |
| 15 | | number of events and exhibits took place; and she oversaw the |
| 16 | | modernization of the reporting systems; she has continued to |
| 17 | | help the museum by becoming the Treasurer; she and her husband |
| 18 | | are life-members of the PMA; and
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| 19 | | WHEREAS, Maria Ciesla was born in a displaced persons camp |
| 20 | | in Butzbach, Germany; she came to the United States with her |
| 21 | | parents in 1948, and her family first settled in Chicago, |
| 22 | | before moving to west central Illinois; she received her |
| 23 | | Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 1969 from Rosary College (now |
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| 1 | | Domnican University); she became active in Chicago's |
| 2 | | Polish-American community and has remained so for 47 years; and
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| 3 | | WHEREAS, Maria Ciesla has held offices in organizations |
| 4 | | such as the Chicago Intercollegiate Council
and the North |
| 5 | | Edgebrook Civic Association, and she has served on the St. Mary |
| 6 | | of the Woods
School Board, on its Parish Council, and as a |
| 7 | | founding member of the St. Mary of
the Woods Fine Arts Council; |
| 8 | | she served as President of the St. Mary of the
Woods Altar and |
| 9 | | Rosary Society, the Loyola Academy Mother's Club, the Mother's
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| 10 | | Association of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, |
| 11 | | the National Ovarian
Cancer Coalition - both of the Illinois |
| 12 | | Division and as national President - the Polish
American |
| 13 | | Scholarship Fund, the Legion of Young Polish Women, and the |
| 14 | | Polish
Women's Civic Club; she is a board member of the Lira |
| 15 | | Ensemble and was a
long-time panelist on the Ovarian Cancer |
| 16 | | Panels of the Congressionally Directed
Medical Research |
| 17 | | Programs through the Department of Defense; in 1982, she was
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| 18 | | named as an "Outstanding Young Woman of America"; she received |
| 19 | | the Community Service Award from the Council of Educators in |
| 20 | | Polonia and the
Northeastern Illinois University Office of |
| 21 | | Alumni Affairs, and she and her husband,
Richard, were the 2009 |
| 22 | | Award of Merit recipients of the Advocates Society,
comprised |
| 23 | | of attorneys of Polish heritage; and
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| 24 | | WHEREAS, Maria Ciesla is also a
Life Member of the Polish |
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| 1 | | Arts Club and a member of the Polish-American Librarians
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| 2 | | Association and the Polish American Historical Association; |
| 3 | | she received the
bronze Gloria Artis medal from the Republic of |
| 4 | | Poland for her contributions to the
cultural life of the |
| 5 | | Polish-American community; she was honored as one of the
10 |
| 6 | | 2012 Outstanding Women in Non-Profits by the Clerk of the |
| 7 | | Circuit Court of Cook
County, and she was honored by the Keep |
| 8 | | On
Keeping On Foundation as its Woman of the Year for 2012, |
| 9 | | which raises funds for equipment for physically challenged
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| 10 | | young people; in May of 2012, she
received the Commander's |
| 11 | | Cross of the Order of Merit, the highest civilian honor
awarded |
| 12 | | from Polish President Boleslaw Komorowski, on his visit to |
| 13 | | Chicago for a
NATO Conference; and
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| 14 | | WHEREAS, Maria Ciesla was a piano teacher for 35 years; she |
| 15 | | has been married to Richard Ciesla,
who is also active in |
| 16 | | Chicago's Polish-American community, for 46 years; they have 4 |
| 17 | | children and 8 grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| 18 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
| 19 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
| 20 | | congratulate Maria Bronny Ciesla on her retirement as President |
| 21 | | of the Polish Museum of America and wish her the best in all |
| 22 | | her future endeavors; and be it further
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| 23 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |