Full Text of HR1135 95th General Assembly
HR1135 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Dr. | 4 |
| Gwindelle Wilson Ponder of Chicago, who passed away on January | 5 |
| 30, 2008; and
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| WHEREAS, Dr. Gwindelle Wilson Ponder, an award-winning | 7 |
| distinguished educator who championed education as a high | 8 |
| school teacher, college professor, and devoted mother proudly | 9 |
| celebrated her 80th birthday at The Congregational Church of | 10 |
| Park Manor in June of 2007 with more than 200 fellow church | 11 |
| members, former colleagues, sorors, friends, neighbors, and | 12 |
| family; this joyous celebration reflected her unwavering | 13 |
| commitment to her family, church, and community, as well as | 14 |
| theirs to her; and
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| WHEREAS, She was the daughter of the late Reverend and Mrs. | 16 |
| (Flossie Farmer) Dennis N. Wilson, who both nurtured her | 17 |
| spiritual growth and development; Reverend Wilson, the | 18 |
| patriarch of the prominent Wilson family, was the preeminent | 19 |
| minister of Ebenezer AME Church for 10 years; Flossie Farmer | 20 |
| Wilson, a college-educated, successful minority female | 21 |
| business owner, owned a home-based beauty shop and was a top | 22 |
| award-winning entrepreneur for Sarah Coventry, the first | 23 |
| direct selling fashion company in the world; Flossie Farmer |
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| Wilson was related to James Farmer, one of the founders and | 2 |
| leaders of the civil rights organization, Congress of Racial | 3 |
| Equality (CORE); in 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded James | 4 |
| Farmer the Congressional Medal of Freedom; and
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| WHEREAS, Dr. Ponder grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, | 6 |
| where she graduated from Avery Institute in 1944; she received | 7 |
| a B.A. in mathematics from Fisk University in 1948, an M.A. in | 8 |
| mathematics from Columbia University in New York in 1951, and a | 9 |
| Ph.D. in mathematics/education from Heed University in Broward | 10 |
| County, Florida in 1978; and
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| WHEREAS, She married Alvin F. Ponder II and three children | 12 |
| were born to this union: Dr. Alvin F. Ponder III, Mr. Darryl D. | 13 |
| Ponder, and Anita J. Ponder, Esq; although this union did not | 14 |
| survive the test of time, she was always devoted to the | 15 |
| education, development, and success of each of her children; | 16 |
| she touched the lives of countless persons from all walks of | 17 |
| life who benefited from her caring guidance, support, humor, | 18 |
| and splendid candor; and
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| WHEREAS, Dr. Ponder taught mathematics in the Chicago | 20 |
| Public School system for 16 years, 11 of which were at Wendell | 21 |
| Phillips High School; she was subsequently a mathematics | 22 |
| professor at Kennedy-King College for 19 years; she achieved | 23 |
| the rank of professor in 1985 and had bestowed upon her the |
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| Distinguished Professorship Award in 1988-89; a Distinguished | 2 |
| Professor from each City College is selected by the faculty and | 3 |
| administrators of that college and is awarded for the | 4 |
| professor's outstanding achievements in teaching, creative | 5 |
| leadership, dedicated service, and the enhancement of the | 6 |
| intellectual and cultural life of the academic community; and
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| WHEREAS, Some of Dr. Ponder's noteworthy accomplishments | 8 |
| at Kennedy-King include service on the Faculty Council | 9 |
| Committee, Rank Committee, Registration and Recruitment | 10 |
| Committee, Faculty Evaluation Committee, Mentor Advisor for | 11 |
| Retention Committee and Convocation Committee; she coordinated | 12 |
| the mathematics laboratory, tutored students, and cochaired | 13 |
| the Welch Memorial Mathematics Competition; she frequently | 14 |
| arranged for successful persons to speak to her classes to | 15 |
| share their professional experiences and to supplement the | 16 |
| students' intellectual and motivational enrichment; and
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| WHEREAS, Dr. Ponder had an impressive civic and community | 18 |
| service record, serving on the Stewardship Council, the June | 19 |
| Circle and the Music Committee of The Congregational Church of | 20 |
| Park Manor; she co-chaired the Membership Committee of the | 21 |
| Chicago Area Fisk University Alumni Association; and she was a | 22 |
| judge for Chicago Public Schools Academic Olympics; she chaired | 23 |
| the Ninth Annual Tea of the Women's Auxiliary Board of | 24 |
| Provident Hospital, and she raised the largest-ever amount of |
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| funds for the hospital at a single event; she was the Vice | 2 |
| President of West Chesterfield Garden Club; a member of Alpha | 3 |
| Kappa Alpha Sorority, Theta Omega Chapter; a member of the | 4 |
| Vernon Park Community Council; a member of the Women's Board of | 5 |
| DuSable Museum of African-American History; the Vice President | 6 |
| of the Chicago Area Fisk University Alumni Association; and a | 7 |
| member of the American Rose Art and Charity Club; she also | 8 |
| served as a community representative for the first Local School | 9 |
| Council at Harlan Community Academy; and
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| WHEREAS, Beyond the educational arena, Dr. Ponder had other | 11 |
| noteworthy interests and talents, including being an | 12 |
| outstanding cook and hostess, an enthusiastic gardener, an | 13 |
| accomplished seamstress, a competitive bridge player, an avid | 14 |
| world traveler, an African-American art collector and one of | 15 |
| the best dressed-women in Chicago; because she lived life to | 16 |
| its fullest and enjoyed every moment of it, her death, despite | 17 |
| her age, seems quite untimely to those who knew and loved her; | 18 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Surviving Dr. Ponder are her daughter, Anita J. | 20 |
| Ponder, Esq.; her two sons, Dr. Alvin F. Ponder III and Mr. | 21 |
| Darryl D. Ponder; her grandson, Mr. Brian Ponder; her three | 22 |
| sister-in-laws, Dr. Mildred Ponder Stennis, Ms. Ann Wilson, and | 23 |
| Ms. Gladys Wilson; her nieces and nephews, the Honorable Denise | 24 |
| Wilson-Taylor, Dr. Dennis Norman Wilson (Marva), Decatur Ward |
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| Wilson II (Cheryl), Mr. Dexter Norman Wilson (Renee), and Dr. | 2 |
| Lynette Wilson-Phillips (Jonathan); her grandnieces and | 3 |
| grandnephews; her cousin, Vivienne Cornell; her mother's | 4 |
| adopted granddaughter, Mrs. Jamesetta Boyd Nichols (Raymond); | 5 |
| and numerous other relatives and friends; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 7 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 8 |
| mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of Dr. | 9 |
| Gwindelle Wilson Ponder; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 |
| presented to the family of Dr. Gwindelle Wilson Ponder as an | 12 |
| expression of our sincere sympathy.
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