SR0759 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0759 LRB095 21726 GRL 51937 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Mercedes Laing; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1956 and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing graduated from Harvard-Radcliffe College in 1977 and took a job thereafter with Proctor and Gamble; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing received her degree from Yale Law School and was the articles editor of the Yale Law Review; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing worked as a clerk for Judge Amalya Kearse on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; Ms. Laing later went on to work at the Holland & Knight law firm, where she was a partner; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing formally headed the African Trade Institute and worked on several Democratic political campaigns as a fundraiser and community organizer; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing worked as an urban issues director for the late Paul Simon; Ms. Laing was responsible for monitoring urban education and school reform and identifying ways that the federal government could help local schools; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing served as a Chicago Community Trust board member from 1996 until 2006; Ms. Laing acted as the board's vice chairman and headed the education committee and management and compensation committee during her 10-year tenure; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing took special pride in the creation of the Chicago Community Trust's African-American Legacy Initiative, which supported emerging organizations in the black community; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing became the director of external affairs for Chicago Public Schools in 2006; Ms. Laing took this job a few months before her cancer diagnosis, yet continued to work until recently; and

WHEREAS, Mercedes Laing, at the young age of 52, lost her battle with cancer on Tuesday, June 17, 2008; Ms. Laing is survived by her sister; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of Mercedes Laing; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Mercedes Laing as an expression of our sympathy.