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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to  
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learn of the death of
Felicia Munn Galas Brenner, who passed 
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away on May 23, 2008; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Felicia Brenner survived the ravages of the Lodz 
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(Poland) ghetto, the death camps of Auschwitz and 
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Bergen-Belsen, and the Salzwadel work camp, which 
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unfortunately claimed the lives of her parents and six brothers 
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and sisters; and

 
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    WHEREAS, After she was liberated in 1945, Felicia Brenner 
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met her first husband, Tibor Munk, at an American hospital in 
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Frankfurt, Germany; Felicia and Tibor found his mother, Roza, 
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who also survived Auschwitz; together, the three of them 
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immigrated to the United States in July of 1946; and

 
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    WHEREAS, In 1955, Felicia Brenner and her husband moved to 
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Skokie, where they raised their two daughters and where she 
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developed her reputation on the North Shore for her beautiful 
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handmade draperies and bedspreads; and

 
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    WHEREAS, After remarrying in 1985, Felicia Brenner and her 
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husband, Gershon Brenner, became founding members of the 
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Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center; being a gifted 
 


 






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speaker, she was invited numerous times to speak to children 
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and university students about her war experience, doing so with 
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unfailing candor, grace, and eloquence; and

 
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    WHEREAS, In 2005, Felicia Brenner was named Mayor Daley's 
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Speaker of the Year at Chicago's annual Holocaust Memorial 
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event; and

 
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    WHEREAS, Felicia Brenner was the beloved wife of Gershon 
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Brenner, the cherished mother of Debbie Long and Judy Shiffman, 
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the loved mother-in-law of Courtney Long, the stepmother of 
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Brian (Judy) and Warren Brenner; and the revered grandmother of 
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Rebecca and Jori Shiffman and Jennifer Long; and
 
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    WHEREAS, Felicia Brenner and her speeches inspired the many 
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who heard her moving words; everyone who knew her was touched 
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by her struggles to overcome the incredible challenges of her 
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life and admired her indomitable will to survive; therefore, be 
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it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL 
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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with 
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her family and friends, the passing of Felicia Munn Galas 
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Brenner; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
 


 






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presented to the family of Felicia Brenner as an expression of 
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our sympathy.