Introduced By: Representatives Thompson, Rose, Coelho, Slater and Sullivan
Date Introduced : March 23, 1999
Referred To: Read and Passed
WHEREAS, It is with great sadness that this House of Representatives has learned of the passing of State Representative Rose Larisa, District 87; and
WHEREAS, Rose, after losing her 1996 race by a scant 271 votes, won her race in 1998 by over 400 votes and began her stint as a State Representative; and
WHEREAS, Born and raised in Pawtucket, Rose was the daughter of the late Samuel and Ida Ruth (Dash) Smile and resided in East Providence for the past 34 years; and
WHEREAS, Rose served with distinction on the Health, Education, and Welfare Committee and the Joint Commission on Veterans Affairs. She attended Bryant College and was an x-ray technician at Memorial Hospital, Sturdy Memorial Hospital and Chapin Hospital. She was a teacher's assistant at Waters School in Riverside and a CCD teacher at Saint Brendan Church School from 1972-1978; and
WHEREAS, Active in her community, Rose was the organizer of a movement to save the historic Looff Carousel at Crescent Park, forming a commission in 1982. She was co-founder of the East Providence KEEP Association and a member of the East Providence Conservation Land Trust Commission. She was also part of a citizens crusade to fight off an attempt to replace East Providence's city manager form of government with a strong-mayor form of government; and
WHEREAS, Rose was also a member of Rhode Island State Right To Life and the Rhode Island Organ Donor Awareness Commission, was active in the Republican Fourth Ward Committee and a member of the Barrington Republican Town Committee; now therefore be it
RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations hereby extends its sincerest condolences to her sons, Paul and Joseph, Mayor of the City of East Providence, her daughter, Lisa, her sisters Helen and Donna, and her brothers George and Thomas. She was deeply admired and respected and we will never forget her short but enthusiastic stay in the House; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he is hereby authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mayor Joseph S. Larisa, Jr.
