2014 -- S 3033

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LC005768

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING SINCERE CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF CARLA CHRISTINE

HANSEN

     Introduced By: Senators Nesselbush, Miller, Ottiano, and Crowley

     Date Introduced: May 27, 2014

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, It is with utmost sadness that this Senate has learned of the passing of Carla

Christine Hansen, beloved partner of Gigi DiBello for twenty-four years, and the devoted mother

of Zoe Marika Hansen-DiBello, and her fiancé Jake Gamache, and Francesca Rina Hansen-

DiBello; and

     WHEREAS, Carla was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on November 15, 1946, to Dr.

Robert Schilling and the late Mariam Alan Hansen Schilling. She is survived by her father,

Robert Schilling, her stepmother, Marilyn Jean Carbon Schilling, her siblings, Robert, Fredricka,

Richard, and Anne, her parents-in-law Alba and Patrick DiBello, and sister-in-law Alyssa Diz,

and her nieces and nephews Robin, Michael, Rachel, Andrea, Dana, Antonio and Isabella; and

     WHEREAS, A graduate of University of Wisconsin, Carla received her undergraduate

and graduate degrees in social work. She was a well-respected psychotherapist and had practiced

for over 40 years in the areas of adoption, sex education, sexual assault and domestic violence.

Through her compassion, knowledge, and work ethic, she not only earned the respect of her

peers, but also was deeply appreciated by the many people she had helped; and

     WHEREAS, In addition to her work in psychotherapy, Carla was an Associate Dean of

Student Life and the Graduate School at Brown University, where she counseled, mentored and

transformed the lives of many students; and

     WHEREAS, For Carla, the personal was always political. Involved in a "consciousness

raising group" in the 70's and 80's, Carla developed a deep commitment to feminism, the civil

rights movement, education and more recently, the movement for LGBTQ civil rights. Carla had

a fierce sense of right and wrong. She worked tirelessly for social justice and used her razor sharp

intellect to fuel a love of words and grammar that she often used with humor to educate,

encourage, and touch all who were lucky enough to know her; and

     WHEREAS, Devoted to building and nurturing a family, Carla became a first-time

mother at the age of 40, when she adopted her daughter Zoe. Gigi became a part of Carla and

Zoe's lives three years later, and subsequently gave birth to Francesca, to make their family

complete. In 1993, they were all legally united when Carla and Gigi set legal precedent in Rhode

Island by becoming the first lesbian partners to co-adopt their children; and

     WHEREAS, Carla's warm personality and tremendous capacity for friendship and love,

created and nurtured relationships that flourished, and a home that was warm and welcoming.

There is no doubt that this warm and gifted woman left an indelible mark on the lives of those she

knew and loved. She will be dearly missed; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby expresses our deepest sympathies on the passing of Carla Christine Hansen; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Gigi DiBello and the Hansen-DiBello Family.

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LC005768

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