SR0955 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0955 LRB103 40406 LAW 72711 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Linda Rae Nelson Dillard of Springfield, who passed away on February 8, 2024; and

WHEREAS, Linda Dillard, the daughter of Roy Winfred Nelson and Thelma Jacobson Nelson, was born in Mayville, North Dakota on May 29, 1938; she was raised in Fargo, North Dakota and attended Fargo High School; she studied nursing at North Dakota State University, where she was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority; she married Jim Dillard in 1959, and he preceded her in death in 2003; when her first child was born in 1961, she became a full-time mother and homemaker; she and her family later moved to Springfield, Illinois in 1978; and

WHEREAS, Linda Dillard was an active member and leader in both the communities of Fargo, North Dakota and Springfield, Illinois; she served as president of the Fargo branch of the Junior League, a nonprofit women's volunteer organization, and as president of the Springfield chapter of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a U.S.-based, international women's organization that focuses on providing educational opportunities to women worldwide; while in Springfield, she was also an active member of King's Daughters, an organization aiding the elderly in the community, served as president of Friends of Memorial, which coordinates all volunteer activity at Memorial Hospital, and was actively involved in the opening of the first Ronald McDonald House in the city, where she led volunteer efforts for the first year of its operations and continued to volunteer and bring bags of fresh fruit weekly to the home's guests in later years; and

WHEREAS, Linda Dillard was an active member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Springfield for more than 40 years, forging many friendships in the congregation; she enjoyed belonging to a book club in Springfield and being a member of Illinois Questers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the study, preservation, and restoration of historical objects and landmarks; and

WHEREAS, Linda Dillard spent summers at her lake cottage on Lake Melissa in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and she spent winters in the small fishing town Barra de Navidad on Mexico's Pacific coast; wherever she was, she maintained active groups of friends; and

WHEREAS, Linda Dillard will be remembered for her unfailingly positive energy and kindness; and

WHEREAS, Linda Dillard is survived by her daughter, Christine (Bill); her sons, James (Christina) and John (Gabriella); and her grandchildren, Vincent, Grace, Eloise, James, Henry, and Philip; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Linda Rae Nelson Dillard 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 Linda Dillard as an expression of our deepest sympathy.