MEMORIAL RESOLUTION
TO THE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF CHICAGO:
WHEREAS, LaVergne Grose Celestine was born on September 15, 1918 at Provident Hospital in Chicago and passed away on March 10, 2011, at the age of 92-1/2; and
WHEREAS, LaVergne Grose Celestine was the fourth and youngest child of Ida Theodosia and John Grose and early in her life she showed a streak of independence which would lead to her charting her life's course and her many accomplishments during the course of her well-lived life, and
WHEREAS, La Vergne Grose Celestine attended Lucy Flower High School, Carter Elementary School, Peters Business College and Wilson Junior College and worked as a dress patternmaker and shipping clerk for Edward L. Weis until she enlisted in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) and served from 1942 through 1946; where she became a platoon sergeant at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, and a supply sergeant and first sergeant at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, and after the war, she became a WAC recruiter because of her professionalism and her ability to communicate with recruits, and
WHEREAS, La Vergne Grose Celestine made history, in 1945 as the first Black woman to become a Master Sergeant in the Army during WWII; she left the Army Reserves in 1951 with the rank of Master Sergeant, and
WHEREAS, La Verge Grose Celestine met her life long love Sydney Celestine, from Grenada playing tennis in Washington Park; he courted her with love poetry he wrote himself; they were married in 1951 and were together until he passed away in 1983, and
WHEREAS, La Verge Grose Celestine worked over 31 years for the federal government at the Postal Service, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Treasury Department, where she rose through the ranks to the position of Deputy Director of the Chicago Disbursing Center, guiding employees through changes in computer systems before her retirement in 1975, and
WHEREAS, La Verge Grose Celestine won a myriad of awards for both her military and federal service, including an "Award of Honor" for her military service from Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly, the W.W. II Victory Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the Women's Army Corps Service Ribbon, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Albert Gallatin Award and the Secretary's Award from the U.S. Department of Treasurer, and
WHEREAS, La Verge Grose Celestine was a person confident in her strengths and aware of her weaknesses; a survivor of multiple cancers, she used her faith to persevere; she led by example and was the epitome of a lady in her sense of decorum. In relationships she was the gardener who cultivated her friendships and allowed her friends to be the beautiful blossoms of the love she planted in her attention to them. She\leave,s--a host~of dear friends and relatives to cherish her memory. nm" jn^i'"-'; > <n
WEREAS, this august body has been informed of the passing of La Verge Grose Celestine by the Honorable Leslie A. Hairston, Alderman of the 5 th Ward; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, that we the Mayor and members of the City of Chicago City Council assembled here do hereby express our sincerest sorrow upon the passing of La Verge Grose Celestine and extend our deepest condolences to her many family members and friends, and .
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this resolution be prepared and presented to the family of La Verge Grose Celestine,
Leslie A. Hairston, Alderman, Fifth Ward