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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3to learn of the death of Annie Katherine (Griffin) Betts; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Annie Betts was born to Irene Spruill Griffin and
5Tom Griffin in Macon, Mississippi on September 27, 1948; she
6was raised in Macon and was a member of St. Mark CME Church;
7she attended Liddell Middle School and graduated from Liddell
8High School in 1966, where she was a member of the Drama Club,
9crowned homecoming queen of the Carnation Ball, and was an
10advocate for Black students seeking to host a parade, a first
11for the school; she earned her Bachelor of Science in
12Elementary Education from Rust College, a historically Black
13college in Holly Springs, Mississippi, where she joined the
14Iota Gamma Chapter of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and was
15crowned Miss Phi Beta Sigma during the Rust College Miss Phi
16Beta Sigma Scholarship Pageant in 1969; she married Sammy
17Betts at Grant Memorial AME Church in Chicago on August 17,
181969, and they moved to Chicago in 1970; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Annie Betts was a respected and valued third and
20fourth grade teacher at Emerson Elementary School in Maywood,
21starting in 1970; during her tenure, she earned her master's
22degree in reading from Roosevelt University in Chicago in
231985; over the course of her career, she was noted for serving

 

 

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1her students above and beyond, becoming family in the process;
2while working at Emerson, she developed and managed three
3organizations, the liturgical dance group Sunshine System, the
4competitive dance troupe The Smart Girls, and the singing
5group Vision, which performed at the Apollo Theater in New
6York; she also instituted the Miss and Mr. Emerson Pageant and
7was the head of the Emerson Drama Club and Emerson Speech Club;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, Annie Betts became a trailblazing educator at
10Emerson Elementary School, risking her position to fight for a
11Black history program at the school, which was successful; she
12became a consultant for Black history programs and
13performances at various schools and events; she additionally
14acted as a performance consultant for her sister Mary Jean's
15students at Metropolitan Primary Academy in Chicago; and
 
16    WHEREAS, After retiring from Emerson Elementary School in
172004, Annie Betts became the director of Tutorial
18Curriculum/Program at Neighborhood United Methodist Church in
19Maywood from 2008 to 2014; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Annie Betts gave her time to several
21organizations; she served Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. for 55
22years; she joined Daughters of Honor 622 of the Improved
23Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World in 1981,

 

 

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1receiving the Past State President's Degree in Peoria in 1982
2and the Past Grand Daughter Rulers Honors, the organization's
3highest honor, in Miami, Florida in 1983; she was given the
4distinguished honor of being appointed Grand District Deputy
5over several temples in the State of Illinois in 1990; she
6became a member of Heliotrope Temple #29 in 2005, where she was
7a member until it regretfully folded, before joining Mary
8McLeod Bethune Temple #1183, remaining a member until her
9passing; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Annie Betts continued to play an active part in
11Black history, from her days at Liddell High School to riding a
12bus from Chicago to Washington, D.C. to witness the
13inauguration of the first Black president of the United
14States, Barack Obama; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Annie Betts was an unforgettable and proud Black
16woman known for her loving soul, her willingness to do
17anything for those she held dear, and her devotion to her
18family; she will be remembered for her service as a champion to
19and for her people; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Annie Betts was the wife of Sammy for 54 years,
21the mother of Sana Sierra and Samuel Rilan, and the
22grandmother of Kyla and Addison; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
3Annie Katherine (Griffin) Betts and extend our sincere
4condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved
5her; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
7presented to the family of Annie Betts as an expression of our
8deepest sympathy.