In memory of Mary Rose Oakar.

As Adopted by the House

136th General Assembly

Regular Session

H. R. No. 255

2025-2026

Speaker
Huffman, Representatives Isaacsohn, Abdullahi, Abrams, Baker,
Barhorst, Bird, Brennan, Brent, Brewer, Brownlee, Callender,
Claggett, Click, Cockley, Craig, Creech, Daniels, Dean, Deeter,
Demetriou, Dovilla, Ferguson, Fischer, Fowler Arthur, Ghanbari,
Glassburn, Grim, Gross, Hall, D., Hall, T., Hiner, Holmes, Hoops,
Humphrey, Jarrells, John, Johnson, King, Kishman, Klopfenstein,
Lampton, LaRe, Lawson-Rowe, Lear, Lett, Lorenz, Manning, Mathews, A.,
Mathews, T., McClain, McNally, Miller, J., Miller, K., Miller, M.,
Mohamed, Moore, Mullins, Newman, Odioso, Oelslager, Peterson,
Piccolantonio, Pizzulli, Plummer, Rader, Ray, Richardson, Ritter,
Robb Blasdel, Robinson, Roemer, Rogers, Russo, Salvo, Santucci,
Schmidt, Sigrist, Sims, Somani, Stephens, Stewart, Swearingen,
Sweeney, Synenberg, Teska, Thomas, C., Thomas, D., Thomas, J., Tims,
Troy, Upchurch, White, A., White, E., Williams, Willis, Workman,
Young

A R E S O L U T I O N

In
memory of Mary Rose Oakar.

WHEREAS,
The members of the House of Representatives of the 136th General
Assembly of Ohio were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Mary
Rose Oakar and pay tribute to her memory; and

WHEREAS,
Mary Oakar will be remembered fondly by all those who knew her, and
her absence will leave an irreparable void in our society. A teacher
at Lourdes Academy and Cuyahoga Community College before being
elected to the Cleveland City Council in 1973, she was celebrated for
her integrity, her dedication to women’s economic equality, and her
ability to break barriers, and she brought a wealth of knowledge and
a heart for the public welfare into all of her endeavors to benefit
the State of Ohio; and

WHEREAS,
In 1977, Mary Oakar was sworn into the Ohio House of Representatives,
and over the course of her sixteen-year tenure, she served on the
Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Committee, the Banking
Subcommittee on Economic Stabilization, the House Select Committee on
Aging, the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and the House
Administration Committee, sponsored legislation to improve public
housing, fight elder abuse, and secure federal funding for breast
cancer research, and advocated for the NASA Glenn Research Center,
the protection of Lake Erie, and the campaign to bring the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland. Indeed, she garnered the respect of
her peers as well as her constituents, and her stalwart legacy to our
state will endure as a testament to her passion for community service
as well as her positive philosophy to public life; and

WHEREAS,
Also a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and the White
House Conference on Aging, Mary Rose Oakar made a lasting impression
through her leadership, and she exemplified the belief that the power
of elected officials to enrich and strengthen the communities they
represented would be best achieved by working together. Without a
doubt, she will be remembered for her visionary example of
citizenship and her life’s work, which has exponentially benefited
the State of Ohio; therefore be it

RESOLVED,
That we, the members of the House of Representatives of the 136th
General Assembly of Ohio, in adopting this Resolution, offer our
heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mary Rose Oakar
and express a profound sense of loss and sincere regret on the
sorrowful occasion of her death; and be it further

RESOLVED,
That the Clerk of the House of Representatives transmit a duly
authenticated copy of this Resolution to the family of Mary Rose
Oakar.