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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3learn of the death of Alison O'Hara Barasa of Glenview, who
4passed away on July 20, 2013; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Alison O'Hara Barasa was born on May 9, 1963, in
6Oak Park; she was a graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High
7School; she received her Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College
8and a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado Law School;
9and
 
10    WHEREAS, Alison O'Hara Barasa was the Chairman of the Board
11of the Follett Corporation and a Follett family member; she
12joined the Follett Corporation in the late 1990s as Senior
13Council in the company's legal department, and was later
14promoted to Assistant General Counsel; she was named to the
15Board of Directors in 1999, and in 2011 was elected as the
16first female Chairman of the Board in the Follett Corporation's
17140-year history; in 2012, she became the acting President and
18Chief Executive Officer following the retirement of Chuck
19Follett, and led the search for a successor; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Alison O'Hara Barasa began her public sector law
21career as an Assistant State's Attorney with the Cook County
22State's Attorney Office in 1988, and in 1991, she became

 

 

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1Assistant Attorney General with the Illinois Attorney
2General's Office; from 1995 to 1997, she served as Senior
3Council with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary
4Commission of the Illinois Supreme Court; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Alison O'Hara Barasa also worked in the private
6sector in Chicago during the 1990s; she served as an associate
7at Jackson Lewis and as Co-Chair of the Appellate Department of
8Cassiday Schade; between 1996 and 1998, she was an adjunct
9professor at Loyola University's Chicago School of Law; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Alison O'Hara Barasa life outside of work was
11centered on her family; she enjoyed shopping with her daughter
12Amanda, spring skiing in Idaho, and watching her sons Trevor
13and Tucker attempt to ski for the first time; she treasured her
14time on their boat at Lake Geneva and watching her family go
15"tubing"; her favorite place in the entire world was Sandpoint,
16Idaho, where she would spend time with her family and took no
17prisoners in card games; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Alison O'Hara Barasa is survived by her husband,
19James A. Barasa; her children, Amanda, Trevor, and Tucker; her
20stepchildren, Gina, Eliza, and Jimmy; her mother, Ariel Follett
21O'Hara; her father, J. Philip O'Hara (Patricia); her siblings,
22Keith (Dena), Julie (Dennis White), and John (Amy); and her
23entire extended family including niece, nephews, aunts,

 

 

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1uncles, and cousins; therefore, be it
 
2    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL
3ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
4Alison O'Hara Barasa, and extend our sincere condolences to her
5family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
6further
 
7    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8presented to the family of Alison O'Hara Barasa as an
9expression of our deepest sympathy.