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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Margaret Sandner Eyre, who passed away on
4January 13, 2016; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre was born on May 9, 1918 to Ed and
6Elisabeth Sandner, Austrian immigrants who arrived in the
7United States just before World War I; she attended Immaculate
8Conception Grammar School and was inducted into the National
9Honor Society at York High School; upon her graduation in 1936,
10she attended Gregg Business College; she married Leonard W.
11Eyre in 1943 in Norfolk, Virginia and they settled in Elmhurst;
12and
 
13    WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre's first job was working for the
14Donnelley Publishing Company; later, she became the office
15manager for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in
16Elmhurst; she and her husband ran a successful general
17contracting business; they became licensed real estate brokers
18and were honored with recognition and publicity about the
19beautiful homes they built in LaGrange, Western Springs,
20Hinsdale, and Burr Ridge; in 1970, they moved to Woodstock and
21started a small rental business that has continued for 45
22years; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre was a member of the Mothers Club,
2the membership secretary of the Fine Arts Club at the Opera
3House, and was a volunteer at the Woodstock Hospital; she and
4her friend, Donna Strain, became the first female Elks (not
5Does) at the Elks Club in Woodstock; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In 1988, Margaret Eyre became active in her son's
7business, Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery; her specialty was
8hostas and she propagated the plants and sold them for Heifer
9International; she raised over $500,000 for world hunger,
10allowing Heifer to buy farm animals for people around the world
11with the agreement that those farmers would give what they
12received and pass on the gift to others in their communities;
13some of those funds were donated to the Heifer International
14Foundation, where the funds remain in perpetuity and the
15interest is given to projects in Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda,
16Haiti, and Bolivia; she received a Gill Ark Award in 2004 for
17her Hosta Happening Sales and the Heifer Certificate of Service
18Award in 2010; she had an army of volunteers to help her in the
19hosta patch and she had her own regular customers who came to
20purchase her hosta varieties; she was known as the "Hosta
21Queen"; she was thrilled when Tom Michiletti, former President
22of the American Hosta Society, hybridized a hosta and named it
23"Margaret Eyre"; she worked every day at the nursery until she
24was 93 years old; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, On December 21, 2015, Mano a Mano International
2presented Margaret Eyre with a plaque for a school in Sora
3Sora, Bolivia, dedicated in her honor for her years of work on
4behalf of the people of Bolivia; the school is scheduled to be
5completed by April of 2016; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre was preceded in death by her
7husband, Leonard; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Margaret Eyre is survived by her son and his wife,
9Richard and Susan Eyre; many cousins, nieces, and nephews; and
10numerous friends and customers; therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
12ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
13Margaret Sandner Eyre, and extend our sincere condolences to
14her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
15further
 
16    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
17presented to the family of Margaret Eyre as an expression of
18our deepest sympathy.