Chicago City Council Approves Resolution Honoring the Life of Angela Turley

 In August, I discussed the passing of my mother, Angela Turley, just shy of her 98th birthday. Through decades of social work and philanthropy, my mother left a lasting impact on the city that she loved so deeply.  I am now able to share the resolution from the City Council honoring her memory and legacy in Chicago. On behalf of our entire family, I would like to thank the city for this kind gesture and particularly 46th Ward Alderwoman Angela Clay and her staff for drafting and finalizing the resolution.

A coal miner’s daughter from Yorkville, Ohio, my mother married my father, Jack Turley, after he returned from service in World War II.

Wanting to be an architect, they decided to go to Chicago so he could study under the most famous architect of the time: Mies van der Rohe, who developed the modern steel-and-glass structures that transformed cities.

The two arrived late on a snowy night in Chicago with $1.37 in their pockets. They stopped in a shop and ordered the only thing that they could afford: a cup of coffee. Before they left that night, my mother had a job as a waitress. She would work to support the family as my father completed his studies on the GI bill.

My father would become one of Mies’s closest associates and, after his death, a partner at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, who helped design some of the most famous buildings in Chicago and around the world.

They would both create a variety of groups to help the poorest and most vulnerable in the city. They also helped support the arts community, including the founding of the St. Nicholas Theater.

My mother would serve as the president of Jane Addams Hull House and the founder of an array of organizations that fought for better housing, education, and safety for the poorest of the city. She helped create one of the first shelters for abused women and a group to maintain support for our public schools.

She ran for city council in the 46th Ward, and the Chicago Tribune described her as the “scrapper” from Uptown seeking to transform the poorest areas into decent places to live.

Some of the organizations that she helped establish are referenced in the city council resolution. They include one of the first and most successful community credit unions in the country.

Both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune also wrote about her legacy.

This is the second resolution honoring her life. The City Council passed the first in 2002. (This resolution was passed earlier, but I just received the official signed copy).

We all still feel a tremendous void in our lives after losing our matriarch, particularly at Christmas (the holiday that she most cherished in life). However, it is a great solace to see that the city still remembers her lifetime of service and contributions.

Thanks again to Alderwoman Clay and the Chicago City Council for their kind efforts to honor my mother.

Here is the new resolution: Angela Turley Resolution.