Resolution Commemorating the 100th Birthday of Ms. Evelyn Rhodes
WHEREAS, Evelyn Lavern Rhodes was born on May 16, 1920 in Memphis, Tennessee on a Sunday morning to her beloved parents Lula Tyler and Lennie Rhodes. Lennie Rhodes, a World War I veteran, died from tuberculosis when Evelyn was three and Lula moved the family to Chicago soon after; and
WHEREAS, Evelyn graduated from Wendell Phillips Academy High School, class of 1938 and went on to study at Hershel Junior College. An avid writer, Evelyn's poetry landed her a place on the Wendell Phillips Academy's former student Hall of Fame, with other notable Academy members such as Nat King Cole and Gwendolyn Brooks; and
WHEREAS, After college, Evelyn and her mother and brother moved to Detroit, Michigan where she eventually gave birth to her son, Barry Rhodes. Evelyn and her mother raised Barry as his father was a jazz musician who traveled and was unable to raise a family; and
WHEREAS, Evelyn never married and has remained a fiercely independent woman her entire life, working for the United States Postal Service for 34 years, followed by several years in the women's accessory department of J.L. Hudson's. Into her 90's, she was a gifted volunteer for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, a member ofthe Detroit Black Writer's Guild and attended St. Thomas Aquinas Parish; and
WHEREAS, In 2015, Evelyn moved back to Chicago be closer to her granddaughter and currently resides in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, she is still fiercely independent, waking up every day "happy to be alive" and continues to enjoy reading and corresponding with friends; and
WHEREAS, A beloved family matriarch, Evelyn's greatest blessings are her son Barry, daughter-in-law, Peggie and brother Lennie (all who are deceased); grandchildren Celia (Florin), Eve (RV) and Mark, and great-grandchildren, Jelani and Judah and over 200 extended family members and friends who call her "Grandma Evelyn" ; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor, and...
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