Introduced Version






HOUSE

RESOLUTION No. ___




Introduced by: Bauer, Bardon, Day


____________________________________




    A HOUSE RESOLUTION to honor the life of Joan Easley.

    Whereas, Joan Crawford Easley was born on February 21st, 1931, in Detroit, Michigan, and passed away on February 5th of this year in Indianapolis; and,

    Whereas, having graduated from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, Mrs. Easley attended St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, one of the first women's colleges in the country, where she took a degree in home economics, with minors in education and theology; and,

    Whereas, her earliest jobs out of school included teaching home economics, as well as lip reading and speech at the School for the Deaf, and working as a traveling home economist, penning advice columns on topics related to her specialty for small-town newspapers under the pseudonym Susan Low; and,


    Whereas, after several years of travel, Mrs. Easley won herself a job selling advertising time at WFBM radio and TV in Indianapolis, and, as the first woman on the station's staff, was made to prove herself by demonstrating daily her hard work, persistence and talent; and,

    Whereas, owing her evident success at WFBM, Mrs. Easley was given the opportunity investors to start her own marketing consulting business, Community Market Research, and it was in pursuit of this opportunity that she was introduced to John Easley, the man who soon became her husband and the father of her son and daughter; and,

    Whereas, though both Mr. and Mrs. Easley were busy with their separate businesses, they took such an interest in vine-planting and wine-making that they began to invest in small farm wineries, and even to make their own wine in the basement of their North Meridian home, and, with a small group of fellow enthusiasts and the assistance of the Indiana Farm Bureau, Mr. and Mrs. Easley successfully petitioned the Indiana General Assembly to pass the Indiana Small Farm Winery Act in 1971, legislation which allowed the number of small family wineries in Indiana to grow from no more than a handful to several dozen today; and,

    Whereas, Mrs. Easley's many achievements in education, business and farming mark her as a pioneer for women's rights and opportunities in Indiana, and many women working and succeeding today in Indiana owe their success partly to her efforts and the trails blazed by her; and,

    Whereas, although a dedicated business woman, Mrs. Easley never failed to put the needs of her family first, and to dedicate herself to her husband and son and daughter most of all, and her lasting legacy will be her family and the love she felt for them: Therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the

General Assembly of the State of Indiana:



    SECTION 1. That the Indiana House of officially recognizes the remarkable achievements of Joan Crawford Easley, commemorates her as pioneer of women's opportunities in Indiana, and extends the deepest condolences of its members on the sad occasion of her passing.
    SECTION 2. That the Principal Clerk of the House transmit a copy of this resolution to Mrs. Easley's family.





DR 4832/DI ib

2011


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