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91_SR0369
LRB9114379KBkb
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to
3 express their sincere condolences to the family and friends
4 of Carl Demma, who recently passed away; and
5 WHEREAS, Carl Demma was born in Chicago on November 2,
6 1931; he grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport community and
7 graduated from Holden High School; and
8 WHEREAS, Six years ago Mr. Demma made the decision to
9 sell his Brighton Park business of forty years to commission
10 and pay for a statue of the Virgin Mary; Mr. Demma is
11 remembered as a religious man who was devoted to the church
12 and attending mass; and
13 WHEREAS, The statue of the Virgin Mary greeted thousands
14 of people on June 25, 2000, at Soldier Field in Chicago
15 during the "Field of Faith" celebration; it was blessed by
16 Pope John Paul II during his trip to St. Louis in 1999 and by
17 Cardinal Francis George on Mother's Day, 1999; and
18 WHEREAS, The statue was a childhood dream of Carl Demma;
19 on a trip to Chicago when he was nine years old, he mistook a
20 statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, on the
21 Chicago Board of Trade building for the Virgin Mary; he
22 pledged from that day to bring a statue of the Virgin Mary to
23 Chicago; 240 churches have asked for the statue to stop in
24 their parish; since May of 1999, 34 churches have been
25 visited by the statue; and
26 WHEREAS, Carl Demma was a member of the Sons of Italy,
27 the Blue Army of Fatima, and a Life Servant of Religious
28 Orders; and
29 WHEREAS, Carl Demma will be missed by those that loved
30 and knew him, especially his wife, Francine; his brother,
31 Joseph Demma; and his sister, Antoinette Gurgone; therefore,
-2- LRB9114379KBkb
1 be it
2 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIRST GENERAL
3 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
4 all that knew this man and were touched by his work of faith,
5 the death of Carl Demma of Oak Lawn, Illinois; and be it
6 further
7 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8 presented to the family of Carl Demma.