SR0635 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0635 LRB093 22860 KEF 52695 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Myra Virginia Park on July 6, 2004; and

WHEREAS, Virginia was born in Chicago in 1909, and was raised on the North Shore; she graduated from Evanston High School in 1927, and from The Principia College in St. Louis with an associate of arts degree in 1929; for the next four years, she served as a housemother on the campus of The Principia; and

WHEREAS, In 1938, she married William Brown Park and they built a home in a part of Prairie View, which is now included in Long Grove; in 1944, she co-founded the Community Club, an organization which sought to include the entire community in activities centered at the school; this group later became the Kildeer Community Club, when four one-room schools were consolidated into the Kildeer Countryside School, at the time a pioneer in new school design; she served as a judge of elections for more than 40 years; she was the founder and first president of both the Vernon Township Historical Society and the Long Grove Historical Society; and

WHEREAS, Her book about the history of Long Grove, "Long Grove, Lore and Legend", was awarded first place for books on Illinois history by the Illinois Congress of Historical Societies and Museums in 1978; in 1992, she co-authored with her husband "With Rhyme and Reason", a compilation of poetry and prose; she was listed in "Who's Who of American Women" in 1968-1969; she served as producer and distributor from 1961 to 1990 of the Landenberg Paper Equivalenter and Metric Calculator, a circular slide rule for the paper trade that was invented and sold by her father, Ralph Landenberger; and

WHEREAS, She was the Long Grove columnist for the Barrington Courier for several years in the 1950s; she purchased the Vernon Town Crier in 1961 and expanded this four-page developer's newsletter from the Lincolnshire area into a 20-page weekly newspaper serving seven villages with a great deal of local political coverage; the Illinois Press Association awarded her the Best Local Editorial Award in 1964 and an award for general excellence in 1965; she sold the paper in 1967 but continued to write for the Lakeland Publishers and occasionally also for the Daily Herald into the early 1990s; and

WHEREAS, For a lifetime of service to the schools of Vernon Township, she and her husband were the first recipients, in 1988, of the Heritage Award given by A.E. Stevenson High School for major contributions to education in the community; and

WHEREAS, Virginia embraced country living, getting to know the farmers who lived in the area; she grew a victory garden during World War II and enjoyed her orchard and berry gardens and vines; she kept a weather journal for many years; she was an avid swimmer well into her eighties, as well as a seamstress and homemaker; her interest in local life and ways was often expressed in her "Hear Ye! Hear Ye!" columns in the Vernon Town Crier, offering younger folk the opportunity to see a different side of life in Lake County; elementary and high school classes heard her talks on historical subjects; and

WHEREAS, The passing of Myra Virginia Park will be deeply felt by many, especially by Drusilla Park Jones and Deborah Park Mynatt; and her grandchildren, Jon Giles Jones, Robin Penuel Jones, Gwyneth Jones Spangler, Abraham Duncum Mynatt, and Grace Park Mynatt; and

WHEREAS, In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her son, Daniel Boone Park; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Myra Virginia Park along with all who knew and loved her and extend our sincere condolences to her family and friends; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Myra Virginia Park as an expression of our deepest sympathy.