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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Sandra
4Gildersleeve-Freeman of Chicago, who passed away on March 3,
52011; and
 
6    WHEREAS, She was born on July 28, 1956 to Albert and Zola
7Gildersleeve; she professed her faith in God and was a member
8of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church; she was a proud and loyal
9member of the Inspirational Choir; and
 
10    WHEREAS, She attended Betsy Ross Elementary School and
11Englewood High School; in high school she was involved with the
12Army ROTC program and was named the 1972 ROTC Queen, received
13the Superior Cadet Award, and the 1974 Lieutenant Colonel Army
14ROTC Commander in Chief of Battalion; she attended Earlham
15College in Richmond, Indiana with a four-year Pullman Academic
16Scholarship; while in college, she studied abroad in Rodez,
17France; she received her Bachelor of Arts degree with a double
18major in Sociology/Anthropology and a minor in
19African-American studies; and
 
20    WHEREAS, She later received a Master's degree in
21Corrections and Criminal Justice and worked towards her Ph.D.
22at Loyola University and DePaul University in the areas of

 

 

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1Social Work and Sociology; and
 
2    WHEREAS, She met and later married her true love, Larry
3"Dobbie" Freeman; and
 
4    WHEREAS, She was employed at Chicago State University in
5the Financial Aid Department; she was later promoted to the
6Military Science Department; her true passion was writing and
7poetry; she was the founder of Kenyatta Publications and is
8remembered as a poet, writer, educator, and songwriter; and
 
9    WHEREAS, She was a member of the Academy of American Poets,
10the African-American Publishing Association, the International
11Platform Association, the International Society of Poets, the
12International Black Writers Conference, and the Women in
13Literature Networking Audience; she received many awards,
14including the Silver Poet Award, the Poet of Merit award, the
15Golden Poet Award, and others; and
 
16    WHEREAS, She was preceded in death by her parents; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Sandra Gildersleeve-Freeman is survived by her
18husband, Larry; her children, Lawrence and Zola; her
19mother-in-law, Eula (Isaac) Spann; her brothers, Winfred
20(Michelle) Boyd and Albert (Barbara) Gildersleeve; her
21sisters, Shirley (Robert) Harris and Beverly Catherine; her

 

 

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1brothers-in-law, Melvin Freeman and Campanella (Queen)
2Freeman; her sisters-in-law, Angela Carter, Shirley (Wendell)
3Sanders, Catherine (Bennett) Hall, and Anita Freeman; her
4special nephew, Michael Bland; her special nieces, LaTanya
5Burton, Dietrich Graham, and NaTasha Harris; as well as a host
6of other nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends; therefore, be
7it
 
8    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
9NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
10we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of
11Sandra Gildersleeve-Freeman; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
13presented to the family of Sandra Gildersleeve-Freeman as a
14symbol of our sincere sympathy.