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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 Eunice
4 Kennedy Shriver, who passed away on August 11, 2009; and
 
5     WHEREAS, She was born on July 10, 1921 in Brookline,
6 Massachusetts, to Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald
7 Kennedy; she was the fifth of nine children; in 1943, Eunice
8 Kennedy Shriver received her Bachelor of Arts degree in
9 sociology from Stanford University; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Compelled by a love for her intellectually
11 challenged sister, the late Rosemary Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy
12 Shriver was devoted to improving the lives of people with
13 mental disabilities; she has shown us how, with enough
14 compassion and ambition, one woman can change the world; and
 
15     WHEREAS, In 1961, Eunice Kennedy Shriver saw her first
16 major success as an advocate for people suffering from mental
17 disabilities when the President's Committee on Mental
18 Retardation was established; she continued her campaign to
19 research preventative measures against mental retardation and
20 to improve society's treatment of people with mental
21 disabilities; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Eunice Kennedy Shriver collaborated with Anne
2 McGlone Burke to host the world's first Special Olympics at
3 Chicago's Soldier Field in 1968; over the past 41 years, Eunice
4 Kennedy Shriver's legacy, the Special Olympics, has developed
5 into a powerful and successful movement worldwide; to date,
6 over three million intellectually challenged athletes from
7 more than 180 countries compete in the Special Olympics; her
8 work as a champion for people with mental disabilities has
9 fundamentally changed the way that intellectually challenged
10 people are treated; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Eunice Kennedy Shriver's efforts have been
12 recognized and appreciated across the globe; in 1984, President
13 Ronald Reagan presented her with the Presidential Medal of
14 Freedom, our nation's highest civilian honor; President George
15 H.W. Bush recognized her as a part of the Extra Mile National
16 Volunteer Pathway; Prince Albert of Monaco awarded her the
17 Laureus Sport for Good Award; she also received The Priz de la
18 Couronne Francaise, the Legion of Honor, the AAMD Humanitarian
19 Award, and many more honors and awards; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Many prestigious colleges and universities
21 throughout the United States also recognized Eunice Kennedy
22 Shriver's efforts by awarding her with honorary degrees; Yale
23 University, Princeton University, and Loyola College are three
24 of the institutes of higher education that honored her in this

 

 

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1 way; and
 
2     WHEREAS, As a result of her tireless efforts, the world
3 that Eunice Kennedy Shriver has departed from is a better, more
4 hopeful, and understanding place than the world that she was
5 born into 88 years ago; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Eunice Kennedy Shriver is survived by her husband,
7 Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr.; her five children, Robert Sargent
8 Shriver III, Maria Shriver, Timothy Perry Shriver, Mark Kennedy
9 Shriver, and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver; and her 19
10 grandchildren; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Her son, Timothy Perry Shriver, continues the work
12 of his mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and is the current
13 chairman and CEO of the Special Olympics; therefore, be it
 
14     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
16 commend the Shriver family for their continuing role in the
17 Special Olympics; and that we mourn, along with her family,
18 friends, and all those whose lives have been blessed by her
19 presence, the passing of Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver; and be it
20 further
 
21     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

 

 

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1 presented to the family of Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver as a
2 symbol of our sincere sympathy.