2020 -- H 8022

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LC005353

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING DEEPEST SYMPATHY ON THE PASSING OF VIRGINIA COATES

CHAFEE, FORMER FIRST LADY OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Mattiello, Shekarchi, and Kennedy

     Date Introduced: June 17, 2020

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, It is with profound sadness that this House has learned of the passing of

Virginia Coates Chafee, the beloved wife of the Honorable John H. Chafee, former Rhode Island

Governor and United States Senator; and

     WHEREAS, Mrs. Chafee was the daughter of Jane and W. Shelby Coates, Sr. She was

born at the family farm in Dublin, New Hampshire, and summered there for much of her youth.

She grew up in the village of Bayville on the north shore of Long Island, New York, and was a

graduate from Finch College in Manhattan. From her earliest years, Mrs. Chafee was immersed in

the cultural arts, and carried a deep and abiding pleasure for artistic and enlightening pursuits

throughout her lifetime; and

     WHEREAS, A few years after her marriage in 1950, Mrs. Chafee and her husband settled

in Warwick where they built a home along Greene River. Equipped with a barn, numerous farm

animals and a large organic garden, their home was a perfect and blessed environment to raise

their six children, Zechariah Chafee, the Honorable Lincoln Chafee, former Governor of the State

of Rhode Island and United States Senator, John Chafee, Georgia Chafee Nassikas, Quentin

Chafee, and the late Tribbie Chafee; and

     WHEREAS, In addition to making a wonderful and welcoming home and hosting

memorable homecooked dinners and small parties for her family and friends, Mrs. Chafee's

boundless nurturing nature extended to environmental causes, and inspired her husband to

preserve and protect the environment and open spaces, most notably the 336 acres of woodland

along the Potomac River, which became Burling Park; and

     WHEREAS, Virginia Chafee was an utterly devoted wife, and the kind of mother,

grandmother, and great grandmother that every child deserves. She was a loyal and truly caring

friend, who left an indelible mark on the lives of those she knew and loved and she will be deeply

missed and always remembered; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby expresses its heartfelt condolences on the passing of Virginia

Coates Chafee; 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 Zechariah Chafee, the Honorable Lincoln

Chafee, John Chafee, Georgia Chafee Nassikas, and Quentin Chafee.

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LC005353

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