LRB-3000/2
SRM:nwn:jf
2009 - 2010 LEGISLATURE
July 8, 2009 - Introduced by Representatives Pope-Roberts, Berceau, Kessler,
Hintz, Sinicki, Hebl, Milroy, Black, Vruwink, Roys, Pasch, Benedict,
Hilgenberg, Steinbrink, Cullen, Turner, Richards, Bernard Schaber,
Mason, Pocan, Jorgensen
and Townsend, cosponsored by Senators
Erpenbach, Miller, Holperin, Carpenter, Vinehout, Lassa, Risser, Taylor
and Lehman. Referred to Committee on Rules.
AJR64,1,1 1Relating to: the life and public service of Linda Farley.
AJR64,1,32 Whereas, Linda Farley, a lifelong advocate and champion of health care reform,
3passed away at the age of 80 on Tuesday, June 9, 2009; and
AJR64,1,74 Whereas, as a young girl growing up in a working class neighborhood in
5Rochester, New York, Linda cultivated her ambition to improve the health care field
6by becoming a doctor while reading novels about the heroic work of doctors in
7Appalachia; and
AJR64,1,108 Whereas, in order to realize her dream, Linda worked for Eastman Kodak, and
9later as a nurse's aide, so that she could afford her medical school tuition at the
10University of Rochester in New York, where she met her husband Gene; and
AJR64,2,211 Whereas, after graduating medical school, Linda began her career with an
12internship at the University of Colorado, Denver General Hospital, a mostly
13inner-city facility that served many poor and uninsured, followed by a two-year
14period working on a Navajo reservation, a brief stint training nurses in Jamaica with
15her husband, and a return to her native state and the Denver area to practice rural

1medicine before she finally settled in the Madison area to practice, teach at the
2University of Wisconsin-Madison, and continue her advocacy; and
AJR64,2,63 Whereas, Linda credits her time on the Navajo reservation with the
4development of her philosophy and attitude toward the medicinal field, which
5cultivated in her a greater understanding of community and cross-cultural
6medicine; and
AJR64,2,127 Whereas, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Linda served as an
8assistant professor and later as an emeritus assistant professor in Family Health
9and was awarded for the impact she had in this capacity with the Society of Teachers
10of Family Medicine Task Force Appreciation Award in 1993, the Wisconsin State
11Medical Society Physician Citizen of the Year in 1995, and the American Academy
12of Family Physicians President's Award in 2001; and
AJR64,2,1613 Whereas, Linda will be known best for her dedication and advocacy for health
14care reform and her desire to bring this message to the people by sharing, with her
15pleasant and level-headed demeanor, her intimate knowledge of the medical field;
16and
AJR64,2,2017 Whereas, it was for this work that a few years ago, Congresswoman Tammy
18Baldwin nominated Linda to be honored as part of the National Library of Medicine's
19Local Legends program, describing her as Wisconsin's passionate crusader for health
20care reform; and
AJR64,2,2421 Whereas, Linda, almost always accompanied by her husband Gene, built a
22network of followers that believed in her dream of a single-payer health care system
23which eventually changed the dynamics of health care politics in the Dane County
24area; and
AJR64,3,3
1Whereas, through her work to advance health care reform, Linda helped to form
2Physicians for a National Health Program, an activist group that now claims more
3than 16,000 physician members; and
AJR64,3,54 Whereas, Linda is survived by her husband Gene, her sons Jonathan, Tillman,
5Shedden, and Joshua, and her grandchildren; now, therefore, be it
AJR64,3,10 6Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That that the members
7of the Wisconsin legislature commend Linda Farley for her tireless service to the
8health care field, her work to champion health care reform, and her lifelong devotion
9to the medically underserved, express their deep sorrow at her death, and extend
10their sincere condolences to her family and friends; and
AJR64,3,13 11Be it further resolved, That the assembly chief clerk shall provide a copy of
12this joint resolution to Linda Farley's husband Gene Farley and her sons Jonathan,
13Tillman, Shedden, and Joshua Farley.
AJR64,3,1414 (End)
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