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91_SR0053
LRB9106165CBcb
1 SENATE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Senate were saddened to learn
3 of the death of Mary Priscilla Bates of Chicago on Tuesday,
4 February 16, 1999; and
5 WHEREAS, She was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on March
6 6, 1918, the daughter of the late Marie and Dr. Harry Jordan,
7 and moved to Chicago at an early age; and
8 WHEREAS, She married William Bates on September 18, 1946;
9 he preceded her in death in 1989; and
10 WHEREAS, Mary Bates will be remembered for her many years
11 of charitable community service; she served as President of
12 Gelespie Elementary and Harlan High Schools' P.T.A.s; and
13 WHEREAS, She traveled to the State Capitol in Springfield
14 to fight for school funding and was instrumental in the
15 construction of two new high schools, George H. Corliss and
16 Percy Julian High Schools; and
17 WHEREAS, In the 1970s, she joined the Metropolitan Area
18 Housing Alliance in the fight against HUD during the widely
19 publicized FHA scandal, when she appeared on the front page
20 of the Chicago Tribune; in 1975, she was honored with the
21 Mother of Roseland Award and was the first black elected
22 President of the Greater Roseland Organization; and
23 WHEREAS, Mary Bates assisted the transitional College
24 Preparatory Program at Chicago State University and, in 1989,
25 she was inducted into the Senior Citizens Hall of Fame; and
26 WHEREAS, Her passing will be deeply felt by her family
27 and countless friends, including her sons, William Jordan,
28 Benjamin, and Harry; her daughter-in-law, Betty; her
29 grandchildren, Harry E., Langston, Eve, and Taylor; and a
30 daughterly friend, Georgia Johnson; therefore, be it
-2- LRB9106165CBcb
1 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIRST GENERAL
2 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we note with sorrow
3 and regret the death of Mary Priscilla Bates and extend our
4 sincere condolences to her family and friends; and be it
5 further
6 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
7 presented to the family of Mary Priscilla Bates.