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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING THE LIFE, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND LEGACY OF MRS. BARBARA H.C. LAWRENCE.
WHEREAS, Almighty God in His infinite wisdom has called Barbara H.C. Lawrence from our midst; and
WHEREAS, As the result of an automobile accident on November 14, 2015, Mrs. Barbara Lawrence passed away on February 20, 2016, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and the news of her passing was received by this Honorable Body with deep regret; and
WHEREAS, Barbara Lawrence was the daughter of physician Dr. Henry N. Cress and Ida Mae Griffin Cress, a teacher with the Chicago Board of Education. She attended Hyde Park High School and completed her college studies at Roosevelt University, and
WHEREAS, Barbara Lawrence met her husband Robert Lawrence in 1952 and they were married in 1958 in Furstenfeldbruck, Germany where Major Lawrence was stationed as a member of the United States Air Force. Major Lawrence was selected for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory in June of 1967, and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Lawrence returned home to Chicago in December of 1967, after the untimely death of her husband who was touted as the Nation’s First Black Astronaut . She began a decades long battle, to have her husband included in the John F. Kennedy Space Center, Astronaut Space Mirror Memorial in Merritt Island, Florida. In December of 1997 she succeeded in her efforts and her husband was inducted as a member of the U.S. Astronaut core at the Kennedy Space Center and;
WHEREAS, Barbara Lawrence was a woman of multiple talents, extraordinary courage and grace with immense devotion to her near south side community. She was employed with the City of Chicago Model Cities program and the Mayor’s Office of Employment and Training, until her retirement in 1993; and
WHEREAS, Barbara Lawrence is survived by her son Tracey Lawrence and her sister Lorne Cress Love.
NOW THEREFORE IT BE RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners of Cook County mourn the passing of Barbara H.C. Lawrence, and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Barbara H. C. Lawrence as an expression of our deepest sympathy.
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