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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Susan | ||||||
4 | "Sue" Duncan of Chicago, who passed away on July 9, 2024; and | ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, Sue Duncan was born to Betsey and William Morton | ||||||
6 | in Winchester, Massachusetts on December 31, 1934; she | ||||||
7 | received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Smith College in | ||||||
8 | 1955 and a Master of Arts in English from University of | ||||||
9 | Wisconsin in 1957; she became a resident of Hyde Park in | ||||||
10 | Chicago in 1959; she married Starkey Duncan Jr., Ph.D., and | ||||||
11 | they had three children, later divorcing in 1995 after 35 | ||||||
12 | years of marriage; and | ||||||
13 | WHEREAS, For over 50 years, Sue Duncan served as an | ||||||
14 | educator and mother figure to thousands of children from some | ||||||
15 | of the poorest neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side; she | ||||||
16 | initially taught high school English in Cleveland for two | ||||||
17 | years and at City Colleges of Chicago for one year; after | ||||||
18 | witnessing the inequities in education faced by many Black | ||||||
19 | children in Chicago, she opened the Sue Duncan Children's | ||||||
20 | Center at a church in the Kenwood neighborhood in 1961; over | ||||||
21 | the years, she moved the after-school program between several | ||||||
22 | church basements before eventually settling into three | ||||||
23 | classrooms at Jackie Robinson Elementary School in 2003, |
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1 | expanding her program to include six teachers, four | ||||||
2 | assistants, 12 work-study students, and a cadre of volunteers | ||||||
3 | and the establishment of a board of directors; and | ||||||
4 | WHEREAS, Sue Duncan donated her time and personal | ||||||
5 | resources while operating the Sue Duncan Children's Center; | ||||||
6 | she enriched her students' lives through tutoring, fulfilled | ||||||
7 | their basic needs through supplying clothing and food when | ||||||
8 | needed, and ensured they had better educational opportunities | ||||||
9 | through arranging scholarships; in the process, she instilled | ||||||
10 | the values of consistency and hard work in her students, with | ||||||
11 | many becoming positive influences on society as engineers, | ||||||
12 | doctors, lawyers, educators, philanthropists, police officers, | ||||||
13 | firefighters, servicemen and women, athletes, actors, | ||||||
14 | musicians, community leaders, and business owners; she | ||||||
15 | continued to actively serve the center until her retirement in | ||||||
16 | 2011; post-retirement, and despite memory loss, she could | ||||||
17 | still be found assisting the program in various ways, | ||||||
18 | including passing out gifts to children during the holidays | ||||||
19 | and attending the center's annual Fall Fete fundraiser; and | ||||||
20 | WHEREAS, Sue Duncan was the recipient of a number of | ||||||
21 | accolades, including receiving a UNICEF Humanitarian Award and | ||||||
22 | being the focus of Remember Me Sue, a 2014 documentary | ||||||
23 | exploring her life and work; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, Sue Duncan was an extraordinary, modest, and | ||||||
2 | courageous individual whose impact on education in Chicago and | ||||||
3 | the lives of her former students will reverberate for | ||||||
4 | generations; and | ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, Sue Duncan is survived by her children, former | ||||||
6 | U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Sarah Duncan, and | ||||||
7 | Owen Duncan, and nine grandchildren; therefore, be it | ||||||
8 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
9 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
10 | we mourn the passing of Susan "Sue" Duncan and extend our | ||||||
11 | sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew | ||||||
12 | and loved her; and be it further | ||||||
13 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
14 | presented to the family of Sue Duncan as an expression of our | ||||||
15 | deepest sympathy. |