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St. Louis City Resolution Number 165 November 2, 2012 |
| Resolutions adopted during the 2012 session by the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen
have been converted to electronic format by the staff of the St. Louis
Public Library. This electronic version has been done for the interest and convenience of
the user. These are unofficial versions and should be used as unofficial copies. Official printed copies of St. Louis City Ordinances may be obtained from the Register's Office at the St. Louis City Hall. |
Tillie's Corner
WHEREAS, Mrs. Lillie Velma Pearson was born on April 17, 1915 in Weldon, Arkansas. She met Mr. Charles Pearson and they were married on November 14, 1934 and after the birth of their fifth child moved to St. Louis, Missouri; and
WHEREAS, following the untimely death of her husband in 1948, Mrs. Pearson had to support her young children and learned of a store for sale at Garrison and Sheridan Avenues on the north side of St. Louis; and
WHEREAS, the store she owned and operated became "Tillie's Food Shop." "Ms. Tillie" was the name used by the customers and the community in addressing Mrs. Pearson. Tillie was also the nickname of her oldest daughter, Glendora; and
WHEREAS, "Ms. Tillie" operated the food shop for 40 years (1948-1988). She worked long hours to "make ends meet," and she did not close the store until 11:00 p.m. every night. "Ms. Tillie" taught her children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchild how to work in the store. She was active in the community with the PTA, solicited memberships with the NAACP, and held backyard carnivals for the Muscular Dystrophy Association; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Pearson always told people how the Lord helped her along the way and she and her granddaughter, Carla Alexander, worked to restore Tillie's Corner up until the day she passed away at the age of 91 years old on November 30, 2006. Carla and her husband, Miguel continue to work to restore and preserve Granny's store after a partial structural collapse of the building after a storm.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Louis that we pause to recognize Tillie's Corner and we further direct the Clerk of this Board to spread a copy of this Resolution across the minutes of these proceedings and to prepare a copy for presentation on Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, this Resolution will be presented honoring this historic landmark.
Introduced on the 2nd day of November, 2012 by:
Honorable Freeman Bosley, Sr., Alderman 3rd Ward
Adopted this the 2nd day of November, 2012 as attested by:
_____________________
David W. Sweeney
Clerk, Board of Aldermen____________________________
Lewis E. Reed
President, Board of Aldermen