Full Text of HR0644 99th General Assembly
HR0644 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate Myrtle Rice on the | 4 | | occasion of her 100th birthday on June 30, 2015; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Myrtle Rice was born on June 30, 1915, the ninth | 6 | | of the 10 children born in her family; she was always | 7 | | persistent, even from a young age; in 1920, at the age of 5, | 8 | | she spent time in a darkened, lonely room in the Peoria | 9 | | Pestilence House fighting small pox; while there, she remembers | 10 | | being fed from trays pushed under a small opening at the bottom | 11 | | of the doors; her caretakers waited to see if the little girl | 12 | | would make it, which she did; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Myrtle Rice taught herself to drive a car in 1929, | 14 | | at the age of 14, observing carefully from the back seat how | 15 | | others did it; when her father needed a driver, she volunteered | 16 | | and he said "show me", which she did; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Myrtle Rice married the love of her life, Bob | 18 | | Rice, in 1946; the marriage lasted more than 64 years until its | 19 | | end after Bob's battle with Alzheimer's disease with his loving | 20 | | wife by his side; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Myrtle Rice had 2 sons at the ages of 17 and 19; |
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| 1 | | her second son was one of the first to be delivered by | 2 | | caesarean section at a Peoria hospital in 1934; her son Tom | 3 | | passed away at the age of 63, and her son Jim survives and is 80 | 4 | | years old; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, In her mid-20's, Myrtle Rice headed to San | 6 | | Francisco, working in the city's naval shipyards for 4 years | 7 | | during World War II; she worked as a driver for naval officers | 8 | | and occasionally drove semi-trucks to pick up the returning | 9 | | sailors from the docks; she read a lot of books while she | 10 | | waited in the jeep for the naval officers she drove for; the | 11 | | country had asked for her help and she obliged; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, It was a proud moment in Myrtle Rice's life to | 13 | | have shaken hands with both John and Bobby Kennedy on the | 14 | | campaign trail when they stopped at her family's restaurant in | 15 | | East Peoria in 1960; she remembers the Kennedy boys' | 16 | | handsomeness; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Myrtle Rice lived a full and independent life in | 18 | | her central Illinois home, cutting the grass on her riding | 19 | | mower, until just last year; however, her heart issues and | 20 | | pulmonary problems have not seemed to slow her down much; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, On June 1, 2015, Myrtle Rice moved to an | 22 | | independent living facility in Pekin; in the same month, she |
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| 1 | | once again passed her driver's license test; she didn't need a | 2 | | driver's license when she began driving in 1929; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Myrtle Rice was a dedicated, loving daughter to | 4 | | her mother, who passed away in 1971; she has worked hard and | 5 | | productively her whole life and remains fiercely independent; | 6 | | she is blessed with many grandchildren and | 7 | | great-grandchildren, who threw her a party to celebrate her | 8 | | first 100 years at the end of June of 2015; therefore, be it
| 9 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 10 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 11 | | congratulate Myrtle Rice on the occasion of her 100th birthday | 12 | | and wish her many happy and healthy years to come; and be it | 13 | | further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 15 | | presented to Myrtle Rice as an expression of our esteem and | 16 | | respect.
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