HR0351 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0351 LRB098 12105 GRL 45940 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Beatrice Taylor of Rockford, who passed away on May 6, 2013; and

WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor was born on April 19, 1905, in the Gypsum Hills of Blain County, Oklahoma; her parents were Lottie and Clem Smith; and

WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor graduated from high school in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, and then moved to Wichita, Kansas; in 1923, she married Ira Anderson and had 3 daughters, Loretta, Yvonne, and Lavonne; shortly after the passing of her husband Ira, when her children were teenagers, she moved to Rockford in the 1940s to be closer to her mother; in Rockford, she married Thomas Jarvis Taylor and worked as their personal cook for the Todd family, who owned the Rockford Register Star, as well as the personal cook for Maurice McDonald, one of the founding brothers of McDonald's; and

WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor was a member of the Pilgrim Baptist Church; she was also the founder of "The Afternoon Art Club", a women's group that met weekly to make quilts, knit, and crochet, which they sold or donated to help the less fortunate in the Rockford area; she was an active member of the club for more than 25 years; and

WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor was interested in politics for many years; her most memorable experience was voting for Barack Obama for President; as an honored guest at Illinois State Representative Chuck Jefferson's annual Mothers' Day Luncheon, she met then-Senator Barack Obama and was later invited to the White House once he took office; she also met Oprah Winfrey at age 106 and was invited to speak to the audience during the pre-show; and

WHEREAS, Beatrice Taylor was designated as the African-American Woman of the Year by Rockford's Ethnic Heritage Museum; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of Beatrice Taylor; and be it further

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