Bill Text: IL SR0828 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Mourns the death of Carolyn Bartholf Oxtoby of Springfield.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-03-07 - Resolution Adopted [SR0828 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SR0828-Introduced.html

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SR0828 LRB103 39840 ECR 70527 r
SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
to learn of the death of Carolyn Bartholf Oxtoby of
Springfield, who passed away on January 12, 2024; and
WHEREAS, Carolyn Oxtoby was born to Herbert and Susan
Pasfield Bartholf in Springfield on June 1, 1931; she attended
Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts; she married Robert
Boynton Oxtoby in 1956; and
WHEREAS, Carolyn Oxtoby became a real estate developer and
historic preservationist; she is credited with starting
Springfield's downtown revitalization in the mid-1970s; she
worked on the preservation of the Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices,
the Fisher-Latham building in the 100 block of North Sixth
Street, and the 17-unit Sears Apartment Building in the 400
block of South Seventh Street; she donated $350,000 for the
purchase of the former Masonic Temple that was converted into
the Hoogland Center for the Arts in 2001; she, and businesses
along Sixth Street between Monroe and Adams, commissioned the
design and paid for the construction of new sidewalks with the
concrete paver amenity strips and historic reproduction street
lighting; at one point, she managed approximately 30
apartments downtown and was known as a good and responsive
landlord; and

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WHEREAS, Carolyn Oxtoby, along with Dick Morse and Dick
Hart, was a founding member of the Heritage Foundation, a
not-for-profit arm of Downtown Springfield, Inc. formed to
encourage donations of neglected historic structures that
might otherwise be demolished; and
WHEREAS, Carolyn Oxtoby was named the State Journal
Register First Citizen in 1998 and received a lifetime
achievement award from Landmarks Illinois in 2010; and
WHEREAS, Carolyn Oxtoby was passionate about the
preservation of downtown Springfield and became known as "the
patron saint of Sixth Street"; and
WHEREAS, Carolyn Oxtoby was preceded in death by her
husband; and
WHEREAS, Carolyn Oxtoby is survived by her brother,
Stephen (Carol) Bartholf; her children, Thomas (Judy) Oxtoby,
Michael Oxtoby, and Susan Folkens; her granddaughters,
Ashleigh (Cosimo) Picci and Kristen Oxtoby; two
great-grandchildren; her niece; and two nephews; therefore, be
it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL

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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
Carolyn Bartholf Oxtoby and extend our sincere condolences to
her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
further