Full Text of HR0955 97th General Assembly
HR0955 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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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 Theodis | 4 | | R. Leonard, Sr., who passed away on April 8, 2012; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, He was born February 3, 1934, in Schlater, | 6 | | Mississippi, to Joseph Richard and Lelia Leonard; he graduated | 7 | | from Mileston High School in Tchula, Mississippi in 1953 and | 8 | | enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he served 4 | 9 | | years, obtaining the rank of Staff Sergeant, and receiving a | 10 | | special commendation for inventing a hand tool to service | 11 | | airplanes; he was honorably discharged in 1957; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, After leaving the Air Force, he married his high | 13 | | school sweetheart, Essie Tate, and moved to Chicago's North | 14 | | Lawndale community; he enrolled at Crane Junior College, where | 15 | | he received his AB degree in education; he later received his | 16 | | Master's degree in guidance and counseling from Chicago's | 17 | | Teachers College (now Chicago State University); he completed | 18 | | additional coursework to obtain his Type 75 certification (to | 19 | | qualify for school principal) at Governor's State University; | 20 | | and | 21 | | WHEREAS, He began teaching at Gregory School in 1965, and | 22 | | was promoted to guidance teacher and later to Assistant |
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| 1 | | Principal; early on in his career, he served as a program | 2 | | director for a summer youth outreach program based in the Urban | 3 | | Progress Center; he was a mentor to young teachers and was | 4 | | instrumental in bringing programs such as Project CANAL and | 5 | | Adopt A School to help teachers develop professionally and to | 6 | | supplement the school's public resources; he served as | 7 | | Principal of Paderewski School until his retirement in 2001; | 8 | | and | 9 | | WHEREAS, He encouraged several parents to get involved with | 10 | | the PTA and Local School Council, and to go back to school to | 11 | | become teachers; he served as a representative to the Chicago | 12 | | Teachers Union; he was instrumental in getting a representative | 13 | | from the West Side appointed to the Chicago Board of Education | 14 | | and helped organize students, parents, and faculty to keep | 15 | | Gregory School from closing in the late 1980s; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, He networked with a broad cross section of | 17 | | community based organizations, including the Midwest Community | 18 | | Council and Better Boys Foundation; he was an active member of | 19 | | the PTA for Daniel J. Corkery School; he was a founding member | 20 | | of the North Lawndale Learning Community, a network of | 21 | | principals, educators, and North Lawndale residents; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, He was a member of the Carey Tercentenary AME | 23 | | Church for over 50 years; he served in a number of capacities, |
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| 1 | | including Sunday School Superintendent, a member of the Usher | 2 | | Board, Class Leader, member of the Steward Board, and member of | 3 | | the Board of Trustees; he was the co-chairman of a scholarship | 4 | | drive in which the church sold subscriptions, enabling several | 5 | | members of the church to get scholarships to offset college | 6 | | expenses; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, He was appointed President of the Layman's | 8 | | Organization, a position to which he was elected and re-elected | 9 | | for over 30 years; under his leadership, the organization | 10 | | organized a tutoring program to help students with their | 11 | | reading and math skills while enabling student teachers to get | 12 | | hands on experience; the organization was one of the first | 13 | | church auxiliaries in the City of Chicago to develop a computer | 14 | | training program, using TRS-80s and the Commodore 64 computers | 15 | | in the 1980s; the organization started the Carey Cardinals | 16 | | baseball team, which was the West Side's only official Little | 17 | | League affiliate at the time; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, The Laymen's organization also sponsored sewing | 19 | | classes where students learned to sew and showed off their | 20 | | creations with an annual fashion show; the organization | 21 | | developed a Black History Bowl, in which youth and adults | 22 | | competed on teams to answer trivia questions concerning Black | 23 | | History; he was active at the City, 4th District (regional), | 24 | | and Connectional (national and international) levels of the |
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| 1 | | Laymen's organization, focusing on educational issues and | 2 | | raising funds for scholarships; the last project he spearheaded | 3 | | was raising funds for a lift for the church to make services | 4 | | accessible to the elderly and disabled church members and | 5 | | visitors; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, He was very engaged in the civic affairs of North | 7 | | Lawndale, serving as an informal advisor to a number of elected | 8 | | officials, including Congressman Danny K. Davis, former State | 9 | | Representative Arthur L. Turner, and Cook County Commissioner | 10 | | Robert Steele; he networked with other community activists from | 11 | | North Lawndale and the AME Church on voter education and | 12 | | registration drives, candidate forums, and election campaigns | 13 | | for the late Mayor Harold Washington; he also worked with the | 14 | | Carey Tercentenary AME Church Laymen's organization to | 15 | | coordinate North Lawndale's first political rally for State | 16 | | Senator Barack Obama in his quest for United States Senate; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, He was a lifetime member of the NAACP, Retired | 18 | | Teachers Association, and the Principals and Administrators | 19 | | Association; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Theodis R. Leonard, Sr. leaves to cherish his | 21 | | memory, his wife, Essie; his children, Renee (Floyd) Turner, | 22 | | Valerie F. Leonard, Theodis R. Leonard, Jr., and Curtis Allan | 23 | | Leonard; his special family friend, Kyshia Thompson; his |
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| 1 | | brother, William Humphrey (Juanita) Leonard; his | 2 | | brother-in-law, Thomas Stepp; his Godson, Dr. Raymond H. | 3 | | O'Neal, Jr.; his aunt, LB Holmes; his 10 grandchildren; his 8 | 4 | | great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, | 5 | | and friends; therefore, be it
| 6 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 7 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 8 | | we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of | 9 | | Theodis R. Leonard, Sr.; and be it further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 | | presented to the family of Theodis R. Leonard, Sr. as a symbol | 12 | | of our sincere sympathy.
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