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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of our friend and former colleague, Dawn
4Clark Netsch, who passed away on March 5, 2013; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Dawn Clark Netsch was born on September 16, 1926,
6in Cincinnati, Ohio; after attending public schools throughout
7the Depression and World War II, she graduated from
8Northwestern University in 1948 and subsequently enrolled in
9the University's law school, where she graduated first in her
10class in 1952; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Dawn Clark Netsch dedicated herself to a lifetime
12of service to the people of the State of Illinois and the
13nation at large; after working for Adlai Stevenson during his
141952 presidential campaign, she worked with a Washington, D.C.
15law firm for 2 years before returning to Chicago, where she
16served as a clerk for Judge Julius Hoffman; she again worked
17for Stevenson's presidential campaign in 1956, and afterwards
18became an active member of the Committee on Illinois
19Government, a group of independent Democrats that sought to
20carry on Stevenson's legacy; she then worked for 4 years in a
21Chicago law firm before beginning her service as an assistant
22to Governor Otto Kerner from 1961 to 1965; in 1965, she joined
23the Northwestern University School of Law faculty, becoming one

 

 

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1of the first group of women law professors in the United
2States; in 1969, she was elected as a delegate to the Illinois
3Constitutional Convention; and
 
4    WHEREAS, In 1972, Dawn Clark Netsch was elected to serve as
5State Senator; she served in the Senate until 1991 and quickly
6became one of the most prominent members of the body; during
7her tenure, she served as a stalwart champion of numerous
8issues, including the Equal Rights Amendment, ethics reform,
9the merit selection of State judges, the reform of State
10revenue and finance, and many issues related to gender
11equality; and
 
12    WHEREAS, In 1990, Dawn Clark Netsch was elected to serve as
13the Illinois State Comptroller, where she served with integrity
14and dedication during a time of severe budget constraints in
15the State and achieved the distinction of being the first woman
16elected to a State constitutional executive office in Illinois;
17in 1994, she ran against Governor Jim Edgar for the
18governorship, once again making history as the first woman to
19run for governor of Illinois as the candidate of a major
20political party; during the election, she advocated for a raise
21in the State income tax coupled with a decrease in individual
22property taxes in order to restore fiscal health to the State's
23school system; following her defeat in the gubernatorial
24election, she began serving on the faculty of the Northwestern

 

 

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1University School of Law; despite her exit from State politics,
2she remained involved in a variety of worthwhile causes,
3including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Ethics Reform Task
4Force, and gained a great and deserved reputation as one of the
5State's most respected elder statesmen; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Dawn Clark Netsch was preceded in death by her
7dear husband, Walter Netsch; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Dawn Clark Netsch's legacy of honest governance
9and great dignity and integrity will be dearly missed by the
10members of this body, the people of the State of Illinois, and
11her friends and admirers throughout the nation; therefore, be
12it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
15her family and friends, the passing of our friend and
16colleague, Dawn Clark Netsch; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18presented to the family of Dawn Clark Netsch as an expression
19of our sympathy and great respect for Dawn Clark Netsch's life
20and legacy.