HR1438 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1438 LRB095 21860 KXB 52108 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of former State Representative and State Senator Virginia Macdonald of Arlington Heights, who passed away on July 12, 2008; and

WHEREAS, Virginia B. Macdonald was born October 24, 1920, in El Paso, Texas; she attended the University of New Mexico, where she met her late husband; and

WHEREAS, She was a volunteer for President Eisenhower's re-election campaign in 1956 and Richard Nixon's unsuccessful campaign for the presidency in 1960; she also worked on the campaigns of Senator Dirksen and Senator Percy; and

WHEREAS, She was a founding member of St. Simon's Episcopal Church in Arlington Heights; and she was involved in the Girl Scouts; and

WHEREAS, She served in the Illinois House from 1973 to 1983, and the Illinois Senate from 1983 to 1994, representing District 27; she was very active in Illinois politics for more than 40 years and served as delegate to the Illinois Constitutional Convention from 1969 to 1970; she was the only woman who served as a member of the Bill of Rights Committee that created the State's Equal Rights provision at the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention; and

WHEREAS, Her legislative accomplishments include laws requiring hospitals to safely dispose of nonradioactive medical waste and reimbursement for reconstructive breast surgery; she also sponsored bills that brought Lake Michigan water to the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, decentralized the State's juvenile court system, broadened the State's rape law to include the charge of sexual assault, and created property tax caps for suburban Cook County; and

WHEREAS, She was the beloved wife of the late Alan H. Macdonald; the loving mother of Susan (John) Van Bramer and Alan H. Macdonald Jr.; the cherished grandmother of Rebecca, Diana, Michael, and Joseph Van Bramer and Michelle (Christopher) Smudde; and the dear sister of the late Richard and Hendrix Blue; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with her family, friends, and community, the passing of former State legislator Virginia Macdonald; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Virginia Macdonald as a symbol of our sincere sympathy.