[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
92_SR0504
LRB9217832RHrh
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to
3 express our sincerest condolences to the family and friends
4 of the Reverend Doctor Clarence Clarke, who passed away on
5 August 29, 2002; and
6 WHEREAS, The Reverend Doctor Clarence Clarke was born on
7 July 4, 1913 in Fairhope, Alabama to the union of Will and
8 Rebecca Clarke; and
9 WHEREAS, Reverend Clark was educated in the public school
10 of Fairhope; at the age of seventeen, he was baptized and
11 appointed as a young missionary in the Christian Valley
12 Baptist Church of Fairhope; in 1932, he was called into the
13 Ministry; and
14 WHEREAS, Reverend Clarke was a resident of North Chicago
15 for 52 years; he united with First Corinthian Baptist Church,
16 where he became the assistant to Reverend James Porter for
17 seven years; and
18 WHEREAS, Reverend Clarke was the founder and Pastor of
19 Christian Valley Baptist Church for 39 years; upon retiring
20 for a short period of time, he served as pastor of Christian
21 Valley Baptist in Fairhope, Alabama for five years; and
22 WHEREAS, Reverend Clarke graduated from the Easonian
23 Baptist Seminary of Birmingham, Alabama; he attended the
24 Chicago Baptist Institute and the Moody Bible Institute of
25 Chicago; he was an active member of the Civil Rights Movement
26 led by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and a lifetime
27 member of the NAACP; he has been a voice of reason in North
28 Chicago fighting for the rights of humankind, the poor, and
29 the neglected; he is one of the founding members of the North
30 Shore Ministers Alliance; and
31 WHEREAS, Reverend Clarke receive the most influential
-2- LRB9217832RHrh
1 Black American Award of Lake County twice in his life; he was
2 active in numerous religious organizations; he was regarded
3 as the oldest Pastor preaching the word of God in Lake
4 County; and
5 WHEREAS, Twenty-Fourth Place in North Chicago was renamed
6 as Reverend Clarence Clarke Drive in his honor; and
7 WHEREAS, The passing of the Reverend Doctor Clarence
8 Clarke will be deeply felt by all who knew and loved him,
9 especially his wife of 64 years, Fannie P. Clarke; his
10 brother, L.D. Clarke; his niece, Jean Smith; his nephews,
11 Joseph Alphonce (wife, Celestine) Clarke, Frank Clarke, and
12 Willie Thompson; his cousin, Rebecca Charles; his friend,
13 Lizzie Borden; and a host of other relatives and friends;
14 therefore, be it
15 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SECOND GENERAL
16 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the death of
17 the Reverend Doctor Clarence Clarke of North Chicago; and be
18 it further
19 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20 presented to the family of the Reverend Doctor Clarence
21 Clarke with our sincere condolences.