SR0092 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0092 LRB100 07025 MST 17079 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Janet Ann "Jan" O'Rourke of Danville, who passed away on January 9, 2017; and

WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke was born in New Haven, Connecticut to Frank W. Flood and Rose Clark Corbett on April 16, 1931; she graduated from Hamden High School in Hamden, Connecticut in 1949 and attended the University of Connecticut; she earned a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from Southern Connecticut State College in 1953; and

WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke began her career in education in Hamden, where she taught at Dunbar Hill School for four years; she worked towards her master's degree at Bridgewater Teachers College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts; in 1957, she taught elementary school at a United States Army base in Zama, Japan, for one year and then on another base in Giessen, West Germany for a year; in 1959, she became Assistant to the Dean of Women at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where she also worked as director of the student center and as manager of the social center; she married John O'Rourke in Hamden on June 24, 1961; and

WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke continued her teaching career in Danville; she taught at the YWCA Pre-School from 1981 to 1989, serving as director from 1986 to 1989; she taught pre-school at St. Paul's Catholic School and at Central Christian Church; and

WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke was active in numerous school and community activities; she served on the school board and was President of the Home and School Board at St. Paul's School; she was the Parents' Club President at Schlarman High School; she was a 4-H group leader and a member of the Vermilion County Bar Association Auxiliary and Birthright of Danville; she was part of the fifth class of the Leadership Danville program; in recent years, she was active in the Danville Garden Club; after her retirement, she planted and tended a beautiful and extensive flower garden at her home each summer; and

WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke enjoyed family holiday celebrations and annual trips to Lake Michigan for Labor Day weekend; she also enjoyed traveling to visit her sisters on the East Coast; and

WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke was preceded in death by her parents and an infant grandson; and

WHEREAS, Janet O'Rourke is survived by her husband of 55 years, Honorable John P. O'Rourke (Ret.); her children, Kerry, Beth (Kevin Reiman), Ellen (Peter McCormack), Amy (Steve Marsey), Peter, and Meg (Jeff Head); her grandchildren, Kate, Erin, and Will Reiman, Mary Margaret and Brigid McCormack, Eli, Jane, and John Marsey, Aubre Jean and Cain O'Rourke, and Simon, Seamus, and Max Head; and her sisters, Marie Merkel, Rosemary Fitzpatrick, Joan Ciaburri, Frances Jack, Virginia Kelly, and Elizabeth Ziter; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Janet Ann "Jan" O'Rourke, and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Janet O'Rourke as an expression of our deepest sympathy.