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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Mary Elizabeth (nee Kerwin) White of
4River Forest, who passed away on June 2, 2016; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Mary White was born on April 3, 1923, the eldest
6of eight children, and grew up in Elmhurst and Oak Park; she
7attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart boarding school in
8Lake Forest and Rosary College; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Mary White married Gregory White, a family
10practice physician, and was the mother of 11 children; with the
11support of her husband, she decided to start breastfeeding her
12children during a time when most women were using formula and
13public breastfeeding was seen as taboo; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Mary White, along with six other mothers, held a
15breastfeeding support group meeting at her Franklin Park home
16in October of 1956, which led to the founding of the La Leche
17League, an international organization which promotes
18breastfeeding for infant and maternal health; and
 
19    WHEREAS, While the international headquarters remains in
20Chicago, La Leche League's membership has grown from the nearly
2120 women present at the first meeting to millions of women in

 

 

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1over 70 countries today; the founders co-authored "The Womanly
2Art of Breastfeeding", a primer on breastfeeding, which has
3sold two million copies and is in its eighth edition; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Mary White is survived by her daughters, Clare
5Daly, Mary Catherine Thornton, Anne White, Mary Regina Stirton,
6Mary Dooley, Maureen Smillie, and Elizabeth Dillon; her sons,
7Joseph, William, and Michael; her brothers, Michael, Joseph,
8and Paul; 61 grandchildren and 110 great-grandchildren; a host
9of nieces and nephews; and surviving La Leche League founders
10Marian Thompson and Mary Ann Kerwin, Mary White's
11sister-in-law; therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
13ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
14Mary White, and extend our sincere condolences to her family,
15friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
17presented to the family of Mary White as an expression of our
18deepest sympathy.