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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Boyse Edwards, Jr.; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Boyse Edwards, Jr. was born on October 26, 1948;
5his parents were Boyse Edwards, Sr. and Christine Edwards; he
6was raised in the Henry Homer Homes; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Boyse Edwards, Jr. attended Birney Elementary
8School, McKinley Upper Grade Center, and Crane High School,
9where he graduated in 1967; he also attended the DeVry
10Institute, the United States School of Law Enforcement, John
11Marshall Law School, and Loyola University, where he received
12many certificates and degrees; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Boyse Edwards, Jr. worked at the Chicago Area
14Project from 1979 to 2015; he worked at the Youth Service
15Committee of the Westside from 1969 until his passing and was a
16founding board member and executive director of the James
17"Major" Adams Youth and Family Development Academy from 1990 to
182002; he was also a registered barber; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Boyse Edwards, Jr. was an avid community activist,
20focusing on juvenile delinquency prevention and gang
21intervention; he worked and assisted in many different

 

 

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1community service organizations, such as the Chicago
2Intervention Network, the 13th District Youth Net at Marshall
3and Crane High Schools, and the Malcolm X College Annual
4Kwanzaa Celebration "Community Stepping Stones"; he also
5produced the community-based educational and informative
6CAN/T.V. programs "The Real Deal, Makes You Wanna Holla!" and
7"Speak on It".; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Boyse Edwards, Jr. had a great love for music; he
9was the "Maestro" and co-founder of the renowned "Ladies and
10Gentlemen of Leisure"; he was a member of the Henry Homer
11Hornets Drum and Bugle Corps under the direction of James
12"Major" Adams; under the instruction and mentorship of Major
13Adams, he began his commitment to community services as a
14leader, helping young people and families with his special
15gifts of compassion to serving the disenfranchised and
16disconnected; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Boyse Edwards, Jr. was preceded in death by his
18parents and his siblings, Dorothy, Willie, Emma, Foster, Verna,
19and Napoleon; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Boyse Edwards, Jr. is survived by his daughter,
21Mia "Puff" Walker (Greg Walker, Sr.); his sons, Jawann Deloney,
22Reginald Bradley, and Fontain Lykes; his grandchildren,
23Gregory "Roe" Walker, Jr., Ariana Walker, Randall Bradley, Asia

 

 

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1Bradley, and Kaylee Houston; his sisters, Nedra, Sandra,
2Brenda, and Anastasia; his special friend, Faye Parker; and
3many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends;
4therefore, be it
 
5    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
6ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with his
7family and friends, mourn the passing of Boyse Edwards, Jr.;
8and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10presented to the family of Boyse Edwards, Jr. as an expression
11of our sympathy.