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2017 SESSION


SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 134
Celebrating the life of Madison Montgomery Shinaberry.
 
Agreed to by the Senate, February 9, 2017
 

WHEREAS, Madison Montgomery Shinaberry of Rockingham, a gifted ballerina, passionate advocate for organ donation awareness, and aspiring public servant, died on December 16, 2016; and

WHEREAS, Madison “Maddie” Shinaberry, a daughter of Curtis and Ellen Shinaberry, was born in Harrisonburg on February 28, 1995; and

WHEREAS, when she was in the seventh grade, Maddie Shinaberry was diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension, a rare disease, and, in October 2008, was told she needed a double-lung transplant to live; and

WHEREAS, in January 2009, when she was a high school freshman, Maddie Shinaberry received a double-lung transplant at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and spent a month there recovering, and, when she had regained her strength, she returned to dancing, which is what she loved most; and

WHEREAS, from an early age, Maddie Shinaberry was a gifted ballerina and a member of the Rockingham Ballet Theatre in Bridgewater; she was invited to train with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Young Dancer’s program in New York City at age 11, and, after undergoing the double-lung transplant, was one of 20 dancers selected to attend ABT’s summer intensive program in Bermuda; and

WHEREAS, Maddie Shinaberry attended Massanutten Regional Governor’s School and graduated with honors from Turner Ashby High School in 2012; she attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, where she was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority and Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society; and

WHEREAS, Maddie Shinaberry studied politics in college and spent a semester studying abroad at the International Institute of Business in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was an intern on Capitol Hill for Congressman John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, Maddie Shinaberry became a passionate lobbyist for organ donation awareness, and she successfully led a charge to make the Virginia Board of Education include organ donation education in the ninth grade physical education curriculum; and

WHEREAS, Maddie Shinaberry continued to promote organ donation awareness from her platform as Miss Southwestern Virginia, a crown she won in 2014, although health challenges prevented her from participating in the Miss Virginia contest; and

WHEREAS, Maddie Shinaberry had aspirations of going to law school and becoming the first woman governor of the Commonwealth; in her 21 years, she touched the lives of many organ donation advocates and legislators who are carrying on her legacy and torch today; and

WHEREAS, Maddie Shinaberry will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by her parents, Curtis and Ellen; a sister, Elizabeth; and a host of other family members and treasured friends whom she inspired in so many ways; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the Senate of Virginia hereby note with great sadness the loss of Madison Montgomery Shinaberry, a gifted ballerina, passionate advocate for organ donation, and aspiring public servant; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Madison Montgomery Shinaberry as an expression of the Senate of Virginia’s respect for her memory.