Full Text of HR0608 103rd General Assembly
HR0608 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | HR0608 | | LRB103 35169 LAW 65140 r |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION | 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of | 4 | | activist, community organizer, and publicist Marilyn Katz, who | 5 | | passed away on October 26, 2023; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Marilyn Katz was born in Chicago; she was raised | 7 | | in Lakeview and graduated from Lake View High School; she | 8 | | attended both Tulane University and Northwestern University; | 9 | | she was a longtime resident of Lincoln Park; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Marilyn Katz left college in 1966 to devote | 11 | | herself to activism, marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. | 12 | | in Marquette Park to protest housing segregation; that same | 13 | | year, she joined the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) | 14 | | to primarily object to the Vietnam War while also bringing | 15 | | attention to civil rights issues; she quickly became a local | 16 | | leader of the organization, and she served as security chief | 17 | | of SDS's National Mobilization Committee to End the War in | 18 | | Vietnam at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; | 19 | | and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Marilyn Katz moved to Los Angeles, California in | 21 | | 1970, where her work included making educational films aimed | 22 | | at helping surgical patients; she returned to Chicago in 1978, |
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| 1 | | working as a director and producer for Goldsholl Design & Film | 2 | | Associates from 1979 until late 1982; she then became a press | 3 | | aide to Harold Washington for his first mayoral campaign in | 4 | | 1983, becoming an integral part of Democratic politics in | 5 | | Chicago in the process; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, Marilyn Katz founded the public relations firm MK | 7 | | Communications in April 1984, serving as a strategist and | 8 | | consultant to clients in various fields, including government, | 9 | | housing, and nonprofits; she assisted in numerous political | 10 | | campaigns, including Harold Washington's second mayoral | 11 | | campaign in 1987 and Barack Obama's successful presidential | 12 | | runs; over the years, she handled a diverse client list that | 13 | | included the Morton Arboretum, the Chicago Park District, the | 14 | | Chicago Children's Museum, Park National Bank, the National | 15 | | Railway Equipment Co., and the City of Chicago; through her | 16 | | work, she became well-known as a behind-the-scenes influence | 17 | | in Chicago politics for decades, and she was noted for her | 18 | | extraordinary ability to galvanize and organize people with, | 19 | | at times, opposing interests; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Marilyn Katz maintained her antiwar stance | 21 | | throughout her life, organizing efforts against the Iraq War | 22 | | in the early 2000s; she belonged to several organizations and | 23 | | served on the board of J Street, a pro-Israel advocacy group, | 24 | | for many years and co-chaired Chicago Women Take Action, which |
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| 1 | | was established after President Donald Trump's election in | 2 | | 2016; she also served as a consultant for the musicians' union | 3 | | to settle a strike at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2019; | 4 | | and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Marilyn Katz was passionate, intelligent, | 6 | | persuasive, humorous, and moral; she loved cooking, especially | 7 | | when making Sunday dinners for family and close friends; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Marilyn Katz was an active and engaged citizen | 9 | | who was the ultimate disrupter for the best causes; she will be | 10 | | remembered for fighting for what she believed in and standing | 11 | | by her convictions in an effort to make things better for the | 12 | | City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and the nation; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Marilyn Katz is survived by her husband, Scott | 14 | | Chambers, and her children, Grady Chambers and Halley | 15 | | Chambers; therefore, be it | 16 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 17 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 18 | | we mourn the passing of Marilyn Katz and extend our sincere | 19 | | condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved | 20 | | her; and be it further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
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| 1 | | presented to the family of Marilyn Katz as an expression of our | 2 | | deepest sympathy. |
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