SR0031 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0031 LRB098 06055 GRL 36094 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Dianne Ruth Jones, who passed away on December 31, 2012; and

WHEREAS, Dianne Jones was born on March 24, 1928 and was raised in New York City; in 1949, she came to Chicago and attended Roosevelt University; she married Linzey D. Jones Sr. in 1950; and

WHEREAS, Dianne Jones and her husband became actively involved in the growing civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s; she was actively involved with the NAACP in Chicago and the south suburbs and helped to organize two NAACP chapters; she also led efforts to desegregate Chicago's Rainbow Beach and participated in the 1963 March on Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, Dianne Jones began her career as an educator in the 1950s, teaching primarily in West Harvey School District No. 147; in 1968, she led efforts to establish one of the first teacher unions in the State of Illinois, West Harvey Federation of Teachers Local 1698; she served as President of Local 1698 from 1972 to 1978; she also served as an Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) Vice-President for 8 years and chairperson of the Illinois Right-to-Read Advisory Council; after her retirement from teaching in 1979, she took on a larger role in serving the interests of educators and children as an IFT Field Service Director with IFT Local 604 until 1991; in that capacity, she was responsible for organizing and bargaining for teachers and staff in Sauk Village, Peotone, Channahon, Wilmington, Homer, Joliet, Tinley Park, Steger, and many other communities; she also worked on teacher training and school reform initiatives of the IFT until her retirement from the IFT in 1993; and

WHEREAS, Dianne Jones was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 55 years, Linzey D. Jones Sr.; and

WHEREAS, Dianne Jones was the loving mother of Leslie Ann Jones (Tom Johnson) and Judge Linzey D. Jones, Jr. (Gloria) and the grandmother to Linzey George Jones and Ben, Charlie, and Jake Johnson; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of Dianne Ruth Jones; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Dianne Jones as an expression of our sympathy.