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HR0026 |
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LRB096 04817 GRL 14882 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of |
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| Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of
Helen K. |
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| Kmiec, who passed away on January 19, 2009; and
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| WHEREAS, Helen Kmiec was born on December 5, 1915 in |
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| Chicago; her parents were the late Stanislaw and Bronislawa |
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| Kwiecien; and
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| WHEREAS, Helen Kmiec graduated from St. Fidelis Grammar |
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| School, then attended Holy Family Academy's two-year business |
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| course while helping her parents in their neighborhood grocery |
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| store; afterwards, she spent a year at the University of Poland |
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| in Warsaw; she then spent another in Poland in scouting, when |
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| she attended the 1937 World Scout Jamboree and met Robert |
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| Baden-Powell, the founder of scouting, and General Wladyslaw |
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| Sikorski before returning home; and
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| WHEREAS, After she returned home, Helen Kmiec continued |
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| helping her parents in their grocery store; in 1939, she |
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| attended the World's Fair in New York; in 1941, while |
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| volunteering at the Polish Museum of America, she served as an |
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| usher at Orchestra Hall in Chicago when Ignacy Paderewski, the |
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| first premier of Poland and great pianist, came to the United |
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| States; and
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HR0026 |
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LRB096 04817 GRL 14882 r |
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| WHEREAS, Upon America's entrance into World War II, Helen |
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| Kmiec followed three of her brothers into the U.S. Navy, |
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| serving with the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service |
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| (WAVES) and Naval Intelligence as a Slavic Language Translator |
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| in Washington, D.C. from 1944 to 1946; and
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| WHEREAS, After World War II, Helen Kmiec returned to |
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| Chicago and worked various jobs; she became involved in the |
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| Polish Legion of American Veterans (P.L.A.V.) and held the |
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| offices of Post Treasurer, Adjutant, and Commander; she also |
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| served as the group's Illinois State Adjutant and National |
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| Adjutant; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1948, Helen Kmiec married a man from her |
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| neighborhood, Mitchell, and settled in the same house her |
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| parents had their store; there, she raised her two children, |
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| Charles (Chuck), born in November of 1949, and Mitchelle |
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| (Mitch), born in September of 1951; and
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| WHEREAS, In the late 1950s, Helen Kmiec became a Democratic |
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| Precinct Captain under then-Aldermen Joseph and Daniel |
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| Rosenkowski and future Alderman Thomas Keane; she then went to |
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| work part time to help pay for her children's Catholic school |
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| education, first for the Cook County Record's Department, then |
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| the City of Chicago Finance Committee, and finally the Cook |
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HR0026 |
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LRB096 04817 GRL 14882 r |
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| County Highway Department, where she worked until her |
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| retirement at the age of 78; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1991, Helen Kmiec was presented with the Cook |
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| County Public Service Award; while working at the Cook County |
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| Highway Department, she became involved in the Edgar A. |
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| Lawrence Highway Post, holding the position of Treasurer, |
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| Adjutant, and eventually Post Commander; she was also awarded a |
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| Life Membership from the organization; and |
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| WHEREAS, Helen Kmiec was an active member of the St. |
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| Fidelis Ladies Sodality; the American Legion, where she served |
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| as Post Adjutant, Treasurer, and Commander and was a Life |
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| Member; the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America; the Polish |
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| National Alliance; and the Polish Women's Alliance; and
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| WHEREAS, Helen Kmiec was an avid traveler; she cruised on a |
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| transatlantic ocean liner before World War II, long before |
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| cruising became popular; she kayaked the lakes and hiked |
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| through the Tatra Mountains in Poland; she rafted on the |
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| Vistula/Danube Rivers in Poland; she sailed in a feluka |
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| (sailboat) on the Nile River; she canoed up the Amazon; in |
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| total, she visited 6 of the 7 continents; and
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| WHEREAS, Helen Kmiec was the beloved wife of the late |
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| Mitchell P.; the loving mother and best friend of Mitchelle H. |
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HR0026 |
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LRB096 04817 GRL 14882 r |
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| and the late Charles M.; the sister of the late Thaddeus (late |
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| Estelle), the late Chester (the late Helen), the late Eugene |
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| (the late Edwina), and Richard (Helen) Kwiecien; and the dear |
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| friend of many; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of Helen |
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| K. Kmiec; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| presented to the family of Helen Kmiec as an expression of our |
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| sympathy.
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