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92_HR0417
LRB9209091RHrhA
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to recognize milestone events in
4 the lives of the citizens of the State of Illinois; and
5 WHEREAS, Father John P. Smyth was born on June 5, 1934;
6 he is a 1952 graduate of DePaul Academy and the 1957 graduate
7 of the University of Notre Dame; and
8 WHEREAS, Although he was an NBA First-Round Draft Choice,
9 Father Smyth chose the priesthood; he was ordained on April
10 28, 1962 and was assigned to an aging institution that became
11 Maryville Academy; he has served as the Executive Director of
12 Maryville Academy since 1970; and
13 WHEREAS, For the past 30 years, Father Smyth has given
14 his time, energy, enthusiasm, leadership and his life to
15 service the children at Maryville Academy; in the 1970s he
16 placed Maryville on the road to financial health; and
17 WHEREAS, During the 1980s, Father Smyth established Fresh
18 Start, the Farm Campus Treatment Foster Care, a Witness
19 Protection Program, the Paulina Home, and the
20 Columbus-Maryville Children's Reception Center in response to
21 the increasing number of children who are victims of abuse,
22 neglect, child pornography, teenage prostitution, sexual
23 abuse and family violence; and
24 WHEREAS, In the 1990s, Father Smyth developed the
25 Maryville Parenting-Teen Center, the Haymarket-Maryville
26 Post-Partum Chemical Dependency Program, Herrick House,
27 Maryville-St. John of God, Maryville Residential Treatment
28 Center, and the Maryville Center for Medically Complex
29 Children programs; and
30 WHEREAS, Today, Father Smyth's Maryville Academy is the
31 largest residential child care facility in the State of
-2- LRB9209091RHrhA
1 Illinois, and one of the largest in the nation, providing
2 comprehensive services to abused, neglected, and abandoned
3 children of all races and creeds; and
4 WHEREAS, Father Smyth was the recipient of the 2001 Order
5 of Lincoln Award for his success of providing abused,
6 neglected and abandoned children with a loving, organized and
7 opportunity-filled environment; the Order of Lincoln,
8 presented by the Lincoln Academy is the State's highest award
9 for individual achievement; therefore, be it
10 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
11 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
12 we congratulate Father John P. Smyth for his dedication and
13 commitment to the children of Maryville Academy and on being
14 the recipient of the 2001 Order of Lincoln Award given by
15 Lincoln Academy; and be it further
16 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
17 presented to Father John P. Smyth as an expression of our
18 esteem.