SR1884 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1884 LRB099 21912 MST 48857 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Maxine V. Kempf of Crystal Lake, who passed away on February 10, 2016; and

WHEREAS, Maxine Kempf was born in Edmore, North Dakota to Carl and Bessie Benson on September 11, 1914; she attended Jamestown College in North Dakota on a music scholarship with a concentration in English literature and music; and

WHEREAS, Maxine Kempf began teaching in North Dakota high schools as an English and music instructor; following World War II, she and her husband, Adolph, moved to Chicago; in 1950, she and her husband and their two children moved to Des Plaines and then to Crystal Lake, where she lived for 66 years; and

WHEREAS, Maxine Kempf renewed her teaching career and began a 24-year career with the Crystal Lake Public Schools, where she taught language arts and developed special expertise in the teaching of literacy and reading; she earned a master's degree in Reading Education at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb; for the last half of her career, she served outside the classroom as the Crystal Lake School District Curriculum Coordinator and Language Arts Specialist in teacher training, diagnostic evaluator of student reading problems, and as an assistant to her lifelong friend, Leon Lundahl, who served as school superintendent; she also served as piano accompanist to several young school musicians; in addition to her teaching and administrative work, she served for a number of years as an adjunct professor at the National College of Education in Evanston and at Northern Illinois University; and

WHEREAS, For 50 years, Maxine Kempf belonged to the Delta Kappa Gamma honorary education Society; she was a longtime member of the Illinois Retired Teachers Association and the PEO Sisterhood; she was a 60-year member of the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, and when younger, she was the church organist and music director; after retirement, she served for a number of years as a board member of the Crystal Lake YMCA and the American Heart Association; and

WHEREAS, Maxine Kempf is survived by her two children, Ann Dahm and James (Tomoko) Kempf; her four grandchildren, Matthew (Christine) Dahm, Mandy Dahm, Kathryn Kempf (Dan) Burke, Michael (Emma) Kempf; and her four great-grandchildren, Lleyton and Caroline Dahm and Jackson and Dillon Burke; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Maxine V. Kempf, and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

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