Bill Text: IL SR2298 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Mourns the death of Hester Barbara Nelson Suggs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-11-16 - Resolution Adopted [SR2298 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-SR2298-Introduced.html

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SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
learn of the death of Hester Barbara Nelson Suggs, who passed
away on October 2, 2016; and
WHEREAS, Hester Suggs was born on April 30, 1928 in
Champaign; her parents were Cecil D. and Carrie Nelson; she
married Raymond Eugene Suggs in June of 1948; and
WHEREAS, Hester Suggs attended Gregory Elementary School
and Champaign Junior High; in 1945, she graduated from
Champaign High School, where she was active in the Girls
Athletic Association, the Glee Club, and the Vocalettes; she
entered the University of Illinois in the fall of 1945; and
WHEREAS, Hester Suggs led a life committed to providing
exemplary education to children for over 30 years and service
to the Champaign-Urbana community; in the late 1940s, she
served as a teacher in the Douglass Center Kindergarten
Association, an independent, community-based organization that
provided early childhood education for African-American
children in Champaign-Urbana during the time of a segregated
school system; in the early 1950s, she concentrated on raising
her family and assisting her husband with his plastering and
photography businesses; and

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WHEREAS, In 1961, Hester Suggs resumed her career as an
educator, serving as the afternoon kindergarten teacher at
Booker T. Washington School; after earning her bachelor's
degree in elementary education from the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign in 1963, she completed her student teaching
at Leal Elementary School in Urbana, where she was later
employed; after earning her master's degree in elementary
education at the University of Illinois in 1967, she joined
Champaign School District Unit 4 as a fifth grade teacher at
Dr. Howard School; with the establishment of Project
Creativity, the gifted program in Unit 4, she was designated as
the teacher for gifted fifth grade students; her expertise was
soon recognized and she served as a demonstration teacher for
the Illinois State Board of Education, spending weekends
conducting workshops in the area of gifted education for
teachers across east central Illinois; and
WHEREAS, In 1971, Hester Suggs was selected as the
principal of Booker T. Washington Elementary School in
Champaign Unit 4; the school was established as a magnet
program in partnership with the University of Illinois in the
desegregation plan for Champaign schools; in collaboration
with her staff, she created an innovative humanities and
arts-based curriculum attracting students from all over the
community; in 1980, she successfully secured a grant from the

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United States Department of Education to establish programs
emphasizing foreign languages, music, cultural and performing
arts, and interpretive thinking for children in kindergarten
through fifth grade; the school hosted several
artist-in-residence programs for dance, established an art
design lab and foreign program, and earned a reputation as a
premier magnet program and elementary education organization,
pioneering a multi-disciplinary approach to learning; she
retired from the school in 1993 after 22 years of service; and
WHEREAS, Following her retirement, Hester Suggs continued
her community service volunteering with the local Illinois
Retired Teachers Association and serving as a member of the
Champaign County African-American History Committee; she was a
lifelong member of Bethel AME Church of Champaign and was at
one time a member of the Helping Hand Club and the choir; and
WHEREAS, In 1988, Hester Suggs received the Service
Recognition Award for Administrators from the Illinois
Alliance for Arts in Education recognizing her exemplary work
in developing an arts and humanities-based curriculum that
enhanced student academic performance at Booker T. Washington
Magnet School; in 1989, she was recognized by the Illinois
Congress of Parents and Teachers with an honorary life
membership in appreciation for her service to children and
youth; in 1997, she received the Booker T. Washington Award for

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education; in recognition for her commitment to
humanities-based education, the Champaign Urbana Schools
Foundation established the Hester Suggs Endowment Fund to
provide grants that expand the Arts and Humanities for children
in Champaign Unit 4; she was also the recipient of "A Living
Legend" award from the Champaign County Section of the National
Council of Negro Women in 2012; and
WHEREAS, Hester Suggs was a lifelong member of the Gamma
Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., serving four terms
as president for the graduate chapter of Epsilon Epsilon Omega
and as a graduate adviser to Gamma; in 1997, she was accorded
the designation of "Golden Soror" by the sorority; she was
honored for "extraordinary sisterhood and exemplary service"
to the chapter at the 2014 Centennial Celebration of the Gamma
Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha; in September of 2015, she
received the Winding Ivy Epsilon Epsilon Omega Living Legacy
Award in recognition of her dedication to Alpha Kappa Alpha;
and
WHEREAS, Hester Suggs served on the boards of the Community
Foundation of Champaign County, Mercy Hospital, the Girls Club,
and the Illini Rebounders; and
WHEREAS, Hester Suggs enjoyed cooking, arranging family
dinners, gardening, sewing, painting, and University of

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Illinois football and basketball; and
WHEREAS, Hester Suggs was preceded in death by her husband,
Raymond; her parents; and her brothers, Cecil D. Nelson Jr. and
Earnest Nelson; and
WHEREAS, Hester Suggs is survived by her children, Barbara
Elaine (Frederick) Mason, Danny Jerome (Catherine), and Ramona
Gay (William) Winrow; her grandsons, William Winrow III, Mason
James Reinhart-Suggs, Justin Paul Winrow, Raymond Nelson
Winrow, Frederick Eugene Kwame Mason, Ryan Daniel Suggs, and
Logan Patrick Suggs; her sisters, Eleanor Conrad, Estelle
Merrifield, and Eunice Rivers; and many cousins, nieces,
nephews, extended family members, and friends; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with her
family and friends, mourn the passing of Hester Barbara Nelson
Suggs; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the family of Hester Suggs as an expression of our
sympathy.