HR0099LRB100 10488 MST 20702 r


  
1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

  
 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of 
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Dallas 
4Burke who passed away on January 27, 2017, at the age of 90; 
5and
  
 
  
6    WHEREAS, Dallas Burke served seven terms as the Madison 
7County Coroner from 1972 to 2000; she was the first female 
8coroner in Illinois; and
  
 
9    WHEREAS, Dallas Burke was at the forefront of modernizing 
10death investigations; in the early 1990s, she  opened the first 
11county-operated morgue and autopsy facility in downstate 
12Illinois; she moved the office from a volunteer-oriented 
13operation to one that employed full-time death investigators; 
14she  was on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week; her cases 
15ranged from the complex and complicated to
the simple and 
16routine, but each and every one was equally respected; and
  
 
17    WHEREAS, Dallas Burke knocked on many
doors, delivering 
18news that no one wanted to hear and quietly endured the anger 
19that comes with grief and offered solace to the
bereaved; and
  
 
20    WHEREAS, Dallas Burke never was thought of as an 
21"ex-corner"; her influence remained with the office long after 
 
 
HR0099- 2 -LRB100 10488 MST 20702 r

1she stepped down; therefore, be it
  
 
2    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE 
3HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we 
4mourn the passing of Dallas Burke, and extend our sincere 
5condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved 
6her; and be it further
  
 
7    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
8presented to  the family of  Dallas Burke as an expression of our 
9deepest sympathy.