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90_HR0465
LRB9012131KBkb
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Julia
4 Mae Smith Whitfield; and
5 WHEREAS, Julia Whitfield was born in Springfield, Ohio on
6 April 16, 1918; she was the twelfth of thirteen children; her
7 parents were Thomas and Anna Eliza (Cunningham) Smith of
8 Hodson City and Anniston, Alabama; and
9 WHEREAS, Julia Mae learned to play piano from her mother,
10 studying with the late Mrs. Ada House at Antioch College; at
11 the age of ten, and upon the death of her mother, she assumed
12 the job of church musician; she later became directress and
13 special soloist; after meeting Professor Thomas A. Dorsey and
14 Miss Sallie Martin while they were in Springfield promoting
15 gospel music, she accepted their invitation to travel to
16 Chicago; and
17 WHEREAS, In 1941 she arrived in Chicago and became Miss
18 Martin's accompanist, touring with the Sallie Martin Singers;
19 she briefly resided in Los Angeles with the Sallie Martin
20 Singers and then returned to Chicago; after serving briefly
21 as pianist for the W.D. Cook Gospel Choir of Metropolitan
22 Baptist Church, she joined Pilgrim Baptist Church in 1949;
23 she served the church as Church Membership Secretary and as
24 pianist of the Gospel Chorus under Professor Dorsey's
25 direction; she served as Mr. Dorsey's assistant until 1992
26 when she left to care for a sister in Buffalo, New York; and
27 WHEREAS, Julia was nicknamed "Song Bird" by the late
28 Reverend J.C. Austin, Sr. and went on to serve as a member of
29 Dorsey's Celestial Trio; she was the founder of the Julia
30 Smith Choralaires and Directress of the Evangelical Choral
31 Chapter and the Gentlemen of Harmony; she was the organist
32 and pianist for the A.R. Leak Funeral Homes; and she was the
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1 Financial Secretary for the National Convention of Gospel
2 Choirs and Choruses; and
3 WHEREAS, Julia Mae was married to the late Alfred C.
4 Smith in 1950, and they had one daughter; she was later
5 happily married to McHenry "Mac" Whitfield; she is survived
6 by her daughter, Junette Alfreda Smith; her brother, James C.
7 Smith; her grandchildren, Carl Leanard Smith, Dorothy Julia
8 Hill, and Malcolm Xavier Hill; her four great-grandchildren;
9 her godchild, Carolyn Sammons; and a host of nieces, nephews,
10 and countless friends; therefore, be it
11 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13 mourn, along with her family and friends, the death of Julia
14 Mae Smith Whitfield; and be it further
15 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
16 presented to the family of Julia Mae Smith Whitfield.