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 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS,  The  members  of  Senate  of  the  Ninety-Third
 3    General Assembly of Illinois were saddened to  learn  of  the
 4    death  of Eleanor "Sis" Daley on Sunday, February 16, 2003 at
 5    her home in her Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago at the age
 6    of 95; and

 7        WHEREAS, Mrs. Daley has been fittingly  called  Chicago's
 8    matriarch  because she was the wife of the late Mayor Richard
 9    J. Daley and the mother of three politically prominent  sons,
10    two  of whom, John and Richard M., served in this body before
11    holding their respective current political  offices  of  Cook
12    County  Commissioner  and  Mayor  of Chicago, the third being
13    William, the former United State's Secretary of Commerce; and

14        WHEREAS, Mrs. Daley was never greatly  impressed  by  the
15    trappings  of  high  office,  preferring  to  be  out  of the
16    political limelight, where  she  provided  her  husband  with
17    shelter from his governmental and political duties and raised
18    her  seven  children  in  a  strict  but  loving manner, in a
19    household where religion, education, and respect  for  others
20    shared equal attention; and

21        WHEREAS,  Mrs.  Daley  was born on March 4, 1907, sharing
22    her birthday with Chicago, which was incorporated as  a  city
23    on  that  day  in  1837; she was the eighth of 11 children of
24    Patrick and Nora Guilfoyle; and

25        WHEREAS, Both of her parents were Chicago-born immigrants
26    from Ireland, her father working as a butcher in the  Chicago
27    Stockyards  while  the  family  lived in a home at 2949 South
28    Troop Street; and

29        WHEREAS, Mrs. Daley was introduced to Richard J. Daley by
30    her brother Lloyd at a softball game when she was a  teenager
31    and  Daley  was  a  law  student, playing second base for the
 
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 1    Hamburg Athletic Team Club; and

 2        WHEREAS, By the time they started dating, Mrs. Daley  had
 3    graduated  from  St.  Mary's  High  School  and St. Bridget's
 4    Commercial and was working as a secretary when their six-year
 5    courtship began; and

 6        WHEREAS, Mrs. Daley and her husband were married in  June
 7    1936,  and their two-week honeymoon was taken in the midst of
 8    Daley's first political campaign, which was a successful  run
 9    for State Representative; and

10        WHEREAS, The family's home, a bungalow at 3536 South Lowe
11    Avenue  in the heart of their native Bridgeport, was built by
12    them in 1939 and would expand over the years  to  accommodate
13    their  growing  family,  which  would include seven children:
14    Patricia, Mary Carol, Eleanor,  Richard,  Michael,  John  and
15    William; and

16        WHEREAS, When Richard J. Daley was elected mayor in 1955,
17    little  changed for Mrs. Daley, who concentrated on raising a
18    family, taking care of her home, and  providing  Mayor  Daley
19    with  a  secure  and  peaceful refuge from the demands of his
20    public schedule; and

21        WHEREAS,  When  the   Daley's   celebrated   their   40th
22    anniversary  in  1976,  the  former  Mayor  Daley  shared his
23    feelings about his wife at a  press  conference  as  follows:
24    "The secret is to get a good wife and a good companion. We've
25    had  a  very  happy  marriage  and we have a great family and
26    there's been no great differences between us."; and

27        WHEREAS, Less than a year later,  the  late  Mayor  Daley
28    suffered  a  fatal heart attack, and when thousands of people
29    gathered in bitter cold to pay their  respects at the wake in
30    Bridgeport's Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church on December
31    21, 1976, Mrs. Daley stood by her husband's bier and  thanked
 
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 1    each person for coming; and

 2        WHEREAS,  After her husband's death, Mrs. Daley continued
 3    to participate in the city's cultural and civic life; and

 4        WHEREAS, In 1989, Mrs. Daley celebrated her  son  Richard
 5    M.  Daley's  victory  as  Mayor  of  Chicago after playing an
 6    active role in his campaign for that office in both 1983  and
 7    1989; and

 8        WHEREAS,   Mrs.   Daley  again  moved  largely  into  the
 9    background after her son's election as  mayor,  enjoying  the
10    visits     of     her     children,     grandchildren,    and
11    great-grandchildren to her home in Bridgeport; and

12        WHEREAS, Mrs. Daley's public appearances have been few in
13    recent years; on March 4,  2000,  she  acted  as  hostess  of
14    Chicago's  163rd  birthday  party at the Water Tower on North
15    Michigan Avenue; and

16        WHEREAS, In  her  90s,  Mrs.  Daley  continued  to  enjoy
17    listening  to  music  and  reading,  rooting  for her beloved
18    Chicago White Sox, visiting her husband's grave twice a week,
19    attending church, and taking pride in the accomplishments  of
20    her  children  and  their children's children, which included
21    watching her son William be named Secretary  of  Commerce  by
22    President Bill Clinton; and

23        WHEREAS,  Mrs.  Daley  will long be remembered by all who
24    knew her as a warm and unassuming person, with a  good  sense
25    of   humor   and   an   abiding  love  for  her  family,  her
26    neighborhood, and Chicago; and

27        WHEREAS, Mrs. Daley's passing will be deeply felt by  all
28    who knew and loved her, especially her four sons, Richard M.,
29    John, William, and Michael; her two daughters, Mary Carol and
30    Patricia;   and   her   several   grandchildren   and   great
31    grandchildren; therefore be it
 
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 1        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD GENERAL
 2    ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of
 3    Eleanor "Sis" Daley; and be it further

 4        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
 5    presented  to  the  members of her family as an expression of
 6    our sorrow for their loss.