Full Text of HR0986 94th General Assembly
HR0986 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
HR0986 |
|
LRB094 19711 BDD 56259 r |
|
| 1 |
| HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, The
members of the House of Representatives of the | 3 |
| State of
Illinois learned with regret of the death of Edna | 4 |
| Burrell Perry, an influential educator in the City of Chicago; | 5 |
| and
| 6 |
| WHEREAS, She was born in Washington, D.C., to Annie and | 7 |
| Harold F. Burrell; she married Sidney L. Perry in 1954; and | 8 |
| WHEREAS, Education always played a major role in Mrs. | 9 |
| Perry's life; at the age of 15, she was hired at the Library of | 10 |
| Congress as a clerk in the Russian transliteration department; | 11 |
| later, she taught a business class at her high school while she | 12 |
| was a student there; and
| 13 |
| WHEREAS, In 1952, Mrs. Perry enrolled at Howard University | 14 |
| in Washington, where she sang in the choir and studied music | 15 |
| education; she graduated first in her class in 1956, and she | 16 |
| later earned a master's degree in early childhood education | 17 |
| from Roosevelt University; and
| 18 |
| WHEREAS, Mrs. Perry and her husband, Sidney, moved to | 19 |
| Chicago in 1957, and she began her teaching career in 1958 at | 20 |
| Healy Elementary School in Bridgeport; and
| 21 |
| WHEREAS, When she started at Healy Elementary School, Mrs. | 22 |
| Perry was the first African-American teacher at any school in | 23 |
| Bridgeport, where, initially, some students' parents took them | 24 |
| out of her class, but after many of her pupils excelled, | 25 |
| parents were fighting to get their children in her classroom; | 26 |
| and
| 27 |
| WHEREAS, In 1962 she moved to Wacker Elementary School, | 28 |
| where she taught second grade; she eventually became assistant | 29 |
| principal and was principal for several years until she retired |
|
|
|
HR0986 |
- 2 - |
LRB094 19711 BDD 56259 r |
|
| 1 |
| in 1994; and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, A woman born ahead of her time, she had a strong | 3 |
| entrepreneurial spirit and a keen interest in nutrition and | 4 |
| alternative methods of healing; her involvement as a health | 5 |
| care products distributor became a vehicle for an international | 6 |
| multicultural team with a mission to improve the health of | 7 |
| others; prior to the popularity of nutritional counseling she | 8 |
| stressed the importance of daily vitamin and herbal | 9 |
| supplementation and the connection between the foods consumed | 10 |
| and the body's overall wellbeing; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, Her pursuits where not limited to her career, but | 12 |
| also included involvement in a number of organizations: Delta | 13 |
| Sigma Theta Sorority, National Pharmacists Association | 14 |
| Auxiliary with two terms as President (1977-1979 and | 15 |
| 1990-1993), Chicago Pharmacist Association Auxiliary President | 16 |
| (1969-1974), American Cancer Society, and the Black Creativity | 17 |
| Gala Committee of the Museum of Science and Industry, General | 18 |
| Chairperson (2003); and | 19 |
| WHEREAS, After retiring, Mrs. Perry continued to serve as | 20 |
| minister of music at Church of the Good Shepherd, as she had | 21 |
| since she and her husband moved to Chicago; she held the | 22 |
| position for 47 years and was the church's longest continuous | 23 |
| employee; and | 24 |
| WHEREAS, The passing of Edna Burrell Perry will be felt by
| 25 |
| all who knew and loved her, especially her husband, Sidney L. | 26 |
| Perry Jr.; her daughters, Angela Perry (Michael Banks) and | 27 |
| Andrea Perry-Williams (Lemuel Williams); her sister, Edith | 28 |
| Henderson; her Brother James Burrell (Doris); her | 29 |
| granddaughters, Lauren R. Banks and Michelle R. Williams; her | 30 |
| sister-in-law, Hortense Canady (Dr. Clinton Canady); her | 31 |
| father-in-law, Jones E. Franklin; her brother-in-law, Kevin E. | 32 |
| Franklin; her uncle, Smallwood Harrison; her aunt, Odessa |
|
|
|
HR0986 |
- 3 - |
LRB094 19711 BDD 56259 r |
|
| 1 |
| Harrison (Clarence); and her many nieces, nephews, cousins, and | 2 |
| friends; therefore, be it
| 3 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 4 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 5 |
| that
we mourn, along with all who knew and loved her, the death | 6 |
| of Edna Burrell Perry; and be it further
| 7 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
| 8 |
| presented to the family of Edna Burrell Perry as an expression
| 9 |
| of our sympathy.
|
|