Bill Text: SC H4808 | 2015-2016 | 121st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Inez Louis Reid Abel
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 78-46)
Status: (Passed) 2016-02-02 - Introduced and adopted [H4808 Detail]
Download: South_Carolina-2015-H4808-Introduced.html
A HOUSE RESOLUTION
TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND SORROW OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UPON THE PASSING OF INEZ LOUIS REID ABEL OF RICHLAND COUNTY AND TO EXTEND THEIR DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HER LARGE AND LOVING FAMILY AND HER MANY FRIENDS.
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives were saddened to learn of the death of Inez Louis Reid Abel at the age of ninety-two on Wednesday, January 20, 2016; and
Whereas, born in Augusta, Georgia, on September 18, 1923, she was the only child of Gonzales and Geraldine Reid and moved with the small family at a young age to Chicago, Illinois; and
Whereas, after graduating from Chicago Commercial College, Mrs. Abel spent eight years as the secretary to the industrial relations' director of the Chicago Urban League and organized the Urban League Junior Women's Auxiliary; and
Whereas, she served as the secretary to the executive editor of the Chicago Defender for ten years and worked with Roi Ottley who authored The Abbott Years, the story of the founding of the Chicago Defender. In 1986, a copy of the book was donated to the Mann Simons Cottage Museum Library; and
Whereas, following desegregation in the workplace, Mrs. Abel was the first black person hired by the Sanitary Water Board of the Illinois Department of Public Health and served as the administrative assistant to the chief engineer for ten years. She also volunteered with the NAACP, YWCA, Chicago Urban League, and AME Church before moving to California in 1970; and
Whereas, Mrs. Abel moved to Columbia in 1983 and was an active and faithful member of Northminster Presbyterian Church where she served with the Church Women United and Coordinating Team and as a literacy tutor. She contributed more than two hundred articles titled "In His Presence" for the church's newsletter, The Flame; and
Whereas, she received the Church Women United Human Rights Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award, and she was a Presbyterian Women of Faith honoree; and
Whereas, Mrs. Abel served as a master tutor in the Laubach Literacy Program at the Richland County Public Library and a member of The Voice of Unity, a local inspiration message line. She was an instructor in the Commercial Driver Training Program to assist truck drivers for the Department of Public Works and a member of the board of trustees for the Mann Simons Cottage Museum; and
Whereas, she was devoted to her beloved husband of thirty years, the late Jepsie T. Abel, Jr.; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the life and legacy of Inez Abel and for the example of excellence and kindness she set for all who knew her. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, express their profound sorrow upon the passing of Inez Louis Reid Abel of Richland County and extend their deepest sympathy to her large and loving family and her many friends.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to the family of Inez Louis Reid Abel.
