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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Hester Barbara Nelson Suggs, who passed
4away on October 2, 2016; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Hester Suggs was born on April 30, 1928 in
6Champaign; her parents were Cecil D. and Carrie Nelson; she
7married Raymond Eugene Suggs in June of 1948; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Hester Suggs attended Gregory Elementary School
9and Champaign Junior High; in 1945, she graduated from
10Champaign High School, where she was active in the Girls
11Athletic Association, the Glee Club, and the Vocalettes; she
12entered the University of Illinois in the fall of 1945; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Hester Suggs led a life committed to providing
14exemplary education to children for over 30 years and service
15to the Champaign-Urbana community; in the late 1940s, she
16served as a teacher in the Douglass Center Kindergarten
17Association, an independent, community-based organization that
18provided early childhood education for African-American
19children in Champaign-Urbana during the time of a segregated
20school system; in the early 1950s, she concentrated on raising
21her family and assisting her husband with his plastering and
22photography businesses; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, In 1961, Hester Suggs resumed her career as an
2educator, serving as the afternoon kindergarten teacher at
3Booker T. Washington School; after earning her bachelor's
4degree in elementary education from the University of Illinois
5at Urbana-Champaign in 1963, she completed her student teaching
6at Leal Elementary School in Urbana, where she was later
7employed; after earning her master's degree in elementary
8education at the University of Illinois in 1967, she joined
9Champaign School District Unit 4 as a fifth grade teacher at
10Dr. Howard School; with the establishment of Project
11Creativity, the gifted program in Unit 4, she was designated as
12the teacher for gifted fifth grade students; her expertise was
13soon recognized and she served as a demonstration teacher for
14the Illinois State Board of Education, spending weekends
15conducting workshops in the area of gifted education for
16teachers across east central Illinois; and
 
17    WHEREAS, In 1971, Hester Suggs was selected as the
18principal of Booker T. Washington Elementary School in
19Champaign Unit 4; the school was established as a magnet
20program in partnership with the University of Illinois in the
21desegregation plan for Champaign schools; in collaboration
22with her staff, she created an innovative humanities and
23arts-based curriculum attracting students from all over the
24community; in 1980, she successfully secured a grant from the

 

 

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1United States Department of Education to establish programs
2emphasizing foreign languages, music, cultural and performing
3arts, and interpretive thinking for children in kindergarten
4through fifth grade; the school hosted several
5artist-in-residence programs for dance, established an art
6design lab and foreign program, and earned a reputation as a
7premier magnet program and elementary education organization,
8pioneering a multi-disciplinary approach to learning; she
9retired from the school in 1993 after 22 years of service; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Following her retirement, Hester Suggs continued
11her community service volunteering with the local Illinois
12Retired Teachers Association and serving as a member of the
13Champaign County African-American History Committee; she was a
14lifelong member of Bethel AME Church of Champaign and was at
15one time a member of the Helping Hand Club and the choir; and
 
16    WHEREAS, In 1988, Hester Suggs received the Service
17Recognition Award for Administrators from the Illinois
18Alliance for Arts in Education recognizing her exemplary work
19in developing an arts and humanities-based curriculum that
20enhanced student academic performance at Booker T. Washington
21Magnet School; in 1989, she was recognized by the Illinois
22Congress of Parents and Teachers with an honorary life
23membership in appreciation for her service to children and
24youth; in 1997, she received the Booker T. Washington Award for

 

 

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1education; in recognition for her commitment to
2humanities-based education, the Champaign Urbana Schools
3Foundation established the Hester Suggs Endowment Fund to
4provide grants that expand the Arts and Humanities for children
5in Champaign Unit 4; she was also the recipient of "A Living
6Legend" award from the Champaign County Section of the National
7Council of Negro Women in 2012; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Hester Suggs was a lifelong member of the Gamma
9Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., serving four terms
10as president for the graduate chapter of Epsilon Epsilon Omega
11and as a graduate adviser to Gamma; in 1997, she was accorded
12the designation of "Golden Soror" by the sorority; she was
13honored for "extraordinary sisterhood and exemplary service"
14to the chapter at the 2014 Centennial Celebration of the Gamma
15Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha; in September of 2015, she
16received the Winding Ivy Epsilon Epsilon Omega Living Legacy
17Award in recognition of her dedication to Alpha Kappa Alpha;
18and
 
19    WHEREAS, Hester Suggs served on the boards of the Community
20Foundation of Champaign County, Mercy Hospital, the Girls Club,
21and the Illini Rebounders; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Hester Suggs enjoyed cooking, arranging family
23dinners, gardening, sewing, painting, and University of

 

 

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1Illinois football and basketball; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Hester Suggs was preceded in death by her husband,
3Raymond; her parents; and her brothers, Cecil D. Nelson Jr. and
4Earnest Nelson; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Hester Suggs is survived by her children, Barbara
6Elaine (Frederick) Mason, Danny Jerome (Catherine), and Ramona
7Gay (William) Winrow; her grandsons, William Winrow III, Mason
8James Reinhart-Suggs, Justin Paul Winrow, Raymond Nelson
9Winrow, Frederick Eugene Kwame Mason, Ryan Daniel Suggs, and
10Logan Patrick Suggs; her sisters, Eleanor Conrad, Estelle
11Merrifield, and Eunice Rivers; and many cousins, nieces,
12nephews, extended family members, and friends; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with her
15family and friends, mourn the passing of Hester Barbara Nelson
16Suggs; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18presented to the family of Hester Suggs as an expression of our
19sympathy.