SR0705 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0705 LRB097 21073 GRL 68420 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Ella Louise Ivy, who passed away on April 1, 2012; and

WHEREAS, Ella Ivy was born on February 1, 1931, in Venice, Illinois; her parents were Harold Jerome and Helen Louise Clemons; and

WHEREAS, Ella Ivy grew up in Venice and attended schools in the Madison school district before graduating from Dunbar High School in 1950; as a child, she worked in her family's ice cream parlor; she was raised to believe in Jesus Christ and, at the age of 15, was filled with the Holy Ghost in the Church of God in Christ; and

WHEREAS, Ella Ivy and her husband, C.B. Ivy, were married on July 16, 1950; the young newlywed couple subsequently returned to Mississippi to live for a short period before becoming a part of the Great Migration of African-Americans from the South to the North in search of better economic opportunities; they later settled back in Venice, where they briefly lived in an apartment converted from a chicken coop before eventually buying a house at 1232 Cleveland Avenue in East St. Louis, where she was a faithful and loving wife and mother to her husband and her 5 children; and

WHEREAS, Ella Ivy served as a faithful member of The Church of Christ the Divine and the Pentecostal Power church organizations in several capacities, including secretary and President of the Young People's Department; as leader of the Young People's Department, she founded the Young People's Willing Workers ministry, a ministry that is still in service today; after her husband was called into the ministry, she began serving in a new capacity as the wife of a District Elder, Pastor, and Bishop; the couple traveled often to various churches under their ministry in Robbins and Sledge, Mississippi, and Oxford, Mississippi, while also maintaining a ministry at 1433 Gross Street in East St. Louis; she was a dedicated church mother, whose mission was to teach and guide women how to conduct themselves as women of God; she was also a devout speaker, teacher, and counselor, guiding women in the way of Godliness and virtuous behavior, as well as a singer in the church's choir; and

WHEREAS, Ella Ivy was preceded in death by her husband, Bishop C.B. Ivy, and her parents; and

WHEREAS, Ella Ivy is survived by her children, Clarence (Donis) Ivy, Christopher (Diane) Ivy, Margaret Ivy, Belynda (Oliver) Hamiliton, and Timothy (Karen) Ivy; her 15 grandchildren; her 19 great-grandchildren; her siblings, Harold (Girthal) Clemons, Margaret Clemons, William (Gwendolyn) Clemons, Lloyd (Inez) Clemons, Anna Ruth Clemons-Shelton, Charles Clemons, Barbara (Charles) Reid, Jacqueline (Leon) Glaster, and Arthur Clemons; and her many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with her family and friends, the passing of Ella Louise Ivy; and be it further

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