Full Text of HR0937 98th General Assembly
HR0937 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate Barbara
Jean (nee | 4 | | Matthews) Gleghorn on the occasion of her 80th birthday on | 5 | | April 19, 2014; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn was born in the city of | 7 | | Carbondale to an African American railroad worker
named Robert | 8 | | Matthews, who relocated to Carbondale after changing his | 9 | | surname to flee the noose of
intolerance and bigotry in the | 10 | | South, marrying Lou Della Griffin, the daughter of a plantation | 11 | | owner from
Carruthers, Mississippi, they raised 9 children; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn was the 5th child, with the | 13 | | children affectionately calling their parents "Daddie" and | 14 | | "Dea"; due to only having an 8th-grade education, Robert and | 15 | | Lou Della misspelled their daughter's name as "B-A-BR-A" on her | 16 | | birth certificate; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Throughout her youth, Barbara Gleghorn, nicknamed | 18 | | "Bobbie", studied hard to rise
above her station of poverty to | 19 | | become a writer on her school newspaper; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn attended Crispus Attucks School | 21 | | and earned a scholarship in the sport of tennis
allowing her to |
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| 1 | | attend Southern Illinois University in Carbondale as a student, | 2 | | with an English major and
business minor; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn fell in love with a young man, | 4 | | whom she would accept as her fiance, only to mourn his
death | 5 | | after a car train accident and then discovering she was with | 6 | | child; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn welcomed her 1st child into this | 8 | | world in 1953, then at 19-years-old, moved to
Springfield to | 9 | | stay at the boarding house formerly used as the now-historic | 10 | | Colored Folks Orphanage and,
upon marrying Charles Price, | 11 | | subsequently was blessed with 6 other children; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Alan, Evelyn, Charlotte, Charles, Patricia, | 13 | | James, and Jacqueline were reared by their parents
in a loving | 14 | | environment in the city of Springfield while also attending St. | 15 | | John's African Methodist
Episcopal Church for several years | 16 | | before joining St. Paul AME Church; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, For more than 50 years, Barbara Gleghorn has been | 18 | | a member of the little red church at 16th and Stuart
streets in | 19 | | Springfield, where she currently holds the offices of | 20 | | Past-President of the Estella Thompson
Women's Missionary | 21 | | Society, as well as being a member of the Steward Board and | 22 | | serving the Lord in
the adult Gospel Choir; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn's dedication and spirituality | 2 | | called her to serve also as a member, past-President of the
| 3 | | local chapter, Area Chair, and Vice-President of the State | 4 | | Chapter of Church Women United with offices
in the United | 5 | | Nations in New York City, serving the meek and needy citizens | 6 | | of this world; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn supported and became a member of | 8 | | the Jerome Irwin Republican Club in
Springfield and helped her | 9 | | son, Charles Price, to become one of the few black youths to | 10 | | work as a page on
the floor of the Illinois House of | 11 | | Representatives for Republican legislators; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn retired from working for the | 13 | | State of Illinois after 35 years and later periodically
worked | 14 | | for Springfield Public School District 186 as a substitute, | 15 | | retiring again to do charitable work
and with the James Weldon | 16 | | Johnson Literary Guild, founded after members became friends | 17 | | with James Weldon Johnson; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn volunteered with the Parent | 19 | | Helpline to help new mothers learn how to care for their
| 20 | | babies, and is active with AMVETS Auxiliary to ensure that | 21 | | military veterans receive the honors they
deserve; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, After the end of her marriage to Charles, Barbara | 2 | | married Alexander Gleghorn, whom she
loved and cared for until | 3 | | he lost a battle with cancer; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Despite the tragic and heart-wrenching passing | 5 | | away of her fourth child Charles Philip Price,
Barbara Gleghorn | 6 | | holds on to her unfaltering faith in a higher being greater | 7 | | than she professing the words of the
gospel spiritual, "I don't | 8 | | feel no ways tired. I've come to far from where I started from. | 9 | | Nobody told me,
the road would be easy. I don't believe He | 10 | | brought me this far, to leave me," to keep soldiering on; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, On April 18th and 19th, 2014, friends and family | 12 | | including her 6 surviving children, her
step-children, her 22 | 13 | | grandchildren, her 41 great-grandchildren, and her 2 | 14 | | great-great-grandchildren, will fete her
ceremoniously at the | 15 | | Springfield Park District's Erin's Pavilion in Southwind Park | 16 | | with laughter, food,
and fun to honor a woman who, through her | 17 | | charitable work, has helped hundreds of friends who are
known | 18 | | and unknown; therefore, be it
| 19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 20 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 21 | | we honor Barbara Jean Gleghorn on the occasion of
her 80th | 22 | | birthday and wish her well in all of her future endeavors; and | 23 | | be it further
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 2 | | presented to Barbara Jean Gleghorn as an
expression of our | 3 | | esteem and respect.
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