Full Text of SR0355 96th General Assembly
SR0355 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of Wanda White Gills of Chicago, who passed | 4 |
| away on June 24, 2009; and
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| WHEREAS, She was born on November 11, 1956 in | 6 |
| Charlottesville, Virginia; she attended college at Virginia | 7 |
| Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, St. Augustine | 8 |
| College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Choir College in | 9 |
| Princeton, New Jersey; and
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| WHEREAS, She served as an Assistant or Deputy Commissioner | 11 |
| for three city departments under Chicago Mayors Harold | 12 |
| Washington, Eugene Sawyer, and Richard M. Daley, the Mayor's | 13 |
| Office of Employment and Training, the Department of Economic | 14 |
| Development, and the Department of Planning and Development; | 15 |
| she was a community based coalition builder, serving with the | 16 |
| Community Workshop on Economic Development (CWED) and the | 17 |
| Women's Self Employment Project (WSEP); and
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| WHEREAS, She was known as the "Mother" of Chicago's | 19 |
| award-winning Empowerment Zone planning process, working | 20 |
| tirelessly in mobilizing low-income communities to participate | 21 |
| in the planning process while serving as the Executive Director | 22 |
| of CWED; after leaving CWED, she became the Development |
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| Director of the Chicago Housing Authority Transition team, | 2 |
| spearheading the Hope VI planning and implementation process | 3 |
| involving public housing residents; and
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| WHEREAS, She was an active member of Progressive Community | 5 |
| Center Church, where she served in a variety of positions, | 6 |
| including Chief Operating Officer and as a member of the Praise | 7 |
| Dance team; and
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| WHEREAS, She was preceded in death by her brother, Clarence | 9 |
| White Ragland; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, She is survived by her husband, Elder Dr. Douglas | 11 |
| Gills; her sons, Wilbur Scott and Raymond Douglas; her | 12 |
| daughter-in-law, Raniece White; her parents, Raymond and Ethel | 13 |
| Ragland; her 3 grandchildren; her adopted sisters, Gail Burton, | 14 |
| Dionne Blackwell, and Maurice Coverson; her adopted brothers, | 15 |
| Timothy Wright, Rev. Dr. Alvin Edwards, and Fred Milton; her | 16 |
| sisters-in-law, Apostle Deborah C. Gills Kornegay and Denise | 17 |
| Eastling; and a host of aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews; | 18 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 20 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 21 |
| her family and friends, the passing of Wanda White Gills; and | 22 |
| be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 |
| presented to the family of Wanda White Gills as a symbol of our | 3 |
| sincere sympathy.
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