Full Text of HR0895 95th General Assembly
HR0895 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the | 3 |
| Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the | 4 |
| death of
Reverend Barbara Jean Allen of Chicago, who passed | 5 |
| away on November 13, 2007; and
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| WHEREAS, Rev. Barbara Jean Allen was born on January 15, | 7 |
| 1934 in Chicago; she was the second child of Herbert Spencer | 8 |
| Salone Sr. and Anna Rae (Johnson); she married S.L. "Sam" Allen | 9 |
| on October 12, 1957; and
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| WHEREAS, Rev. Barbara Jean Allen was raised in Chicago; she | 11 |
| attended Doolittle Elementary School and Dunbar Vocational | 12 |
| High School, where she was recognized as an exceptional | 13 |
| student; it was at Dunbar that she met her future husband, S.L. | 14 |
| "Sam" Allen; and
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| WHEREAS, After graduating from Dunbar in 1951, Rev. Barbara | 16 |
| Jean Allen accepted a full-time position as an accounting clerk | 17 |
| at the Illinois Bell Telephone Company; she became a pioneer | 18 |
| within the company, becoming one of the first African-American | 19 |
| women to be hired as a stenographer before being promoted to | 20 |
| become one of the first African-American women to be a service | 21 |
| representative at Illinois Bell Telephone; she also held the | 22 |
| distinction of being one of the first five African-American |
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| level managers and one of three African-American second level | 2 |
| managers in the company, as well as serving as the first | 3 |
| African-American manager of Illinois Bell Telephone's new | 4 |
| Equal Employment Opportunity Department; and
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| WHEREAS, Rev. Barbara Jean Allen was raised in the Church | 6 |
| of the Living God CWFF; in 1962, she and her husband relocated | 7 |
| to the South Side of Chicago and became members of Trinity | 8 |
| United Church in Christ, under the leadership of Dr. Kenneth B. | 9 |
| Smith; and
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| WHEREAS, Soon after becoming a member of the Church of the | 11 |
| Living God CWFF, Rev. Barbara Jean Allen became active in many | 12 |
| of the church's programs; she joined the church's Christian | 13 |
| Education Department and became the backbone of the Sunday | 14 |
| School Department; she was elected to the Board of Christian | 15 |
| Education of Trinity; she was instrumental in the design and | 16 |
| development of a Church School curriculum for the church's | 17 |
| students; in 1977, she was commissioned as the Director of | 18 |
| Christian Education of Trinity at United Church of Christ and | 19 |
| was licensed as the first African-American female minister in | 20 |
| the Chicago Metropolitan Association of the Illinois | 21 |
| Conference of the United Church of Christ's history; she then | 22 |
| served as Assistant Pastor, followed by Executive Minister, | 23 |
| where she oversaw the operation of the church and its programs | 24 |
| for over 25 years; and
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| WHEREAS, Under the guidance of Rev. Barbara Jean Allen, the | 2 |
| Church of the Living God CWFF greatly expanded its choir | 3 |
| programs from its original three choir groups into its current | 4 |
| incarnation, which includes the Sanctuary Choir, the Women's | 5 |
| Chorus, the Men's Chorus, Imani Ya Watume, the Little Warriors | 6 |
| for Christ, and Walaika; under her tutelage, over 8,000 new | 7 |
| members were taught the ways of the church and 35 seminarians | 8 |
| were supervised in their studies from beginning to end; | 9 |
| inspired by her battles with cancer, she founded the | 10 |
| Can-Cer-Vive Ministry; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, Rev. Barbara Jean Allen is survived by her loving | 12 |
| husband of 55 years, S.L. "Sam" Allen; her children, Michael | 13 |
| and Sandra; her siblings, James (Gerry), Gail, Debra (Alvin), | 14 |
| and Mark (Valee); her grandchildren, Mikie, Alleyah, and Kayli; | 15 |
| her loving and supportive church family; and her many nieces, | 16 |
| nephews, other relatives, and friends; and
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| WHEREAS, Rev. Barbara Jean Allen will be remembered by all | 18 |
| who knew and loved her as a loving, patient, and gentle woman | 19 |
| who was always loyal to her family and obedient to God; | 20 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 22 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of | 2 |
| Reverend Barbara Jean Allen; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 4 |
| presented to the family of Reverend Barbara Jean Allen as an | 5 |
| expression of our sympathy.
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