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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to honor Melvin J. Larson for his
4 54 years of dedicated service as a board member and founder of
5 United Cerebral Palsy of Will County, now UPC of Illinois
6 Prairieland; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Melvin Larson was born on May 28, 1914 on a farm
8 in the rural Red River Valley of northwestern Minnesota; he
9 attended and graduated from a one-room school of 30 students
10 for all 8 grades; he left school at age 14 to work on the family
11 farm; he entered high school at the age of 21 and graduated in
12 1938 at the age of 25; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Melvin Larson attended college at Concordia
14 College in Morehead, Minnesota, receiving his bachelor's
15 degree in chemistry in 1942; he then performed graduate studies
16 at the University of Minnesota, and then attended the
17 University of Chicago, where he received his master's degree in
18 higher education in 1952; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Melvin Larson was employed as a research chemist
20 with the Lindsay Chemical Company from 1942 to 1945; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Melvin Larson has had a long and distinguished

 

 

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1 career in education; he began his career as an instructor in
2 chemistry at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota,
3 serving from 1946 to 1948; he served as the chairperson of the
4 chemistry department at Waldorf Junior College in Forest City,
5 Iowa from 1948 to 1949; he was the assistant to the academic
6 dean at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota from 1949 to
7 1951; he served as an instructor of chemistry at Joliet Junior
8 College from 1954 to 1956, chairman of the college's Department
9 of Chemistry from 1956 to 1965, and chairman of the college's
10 Department of Physical Sciences from 1965 until 1979, when he
11 became a professor emeritus at the college; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Melvin Larson is the proud founder and 54-year
13 member of the United Cerebral Palsy affiliate in Will County
14 and was responsible for the organization's initial inquiries of
15 local families of children with cerebral palsy and the
16 initiation of grassroots community efforts to provide
17 essential services for the children; starting out as a
18 classroom for six children in a Joliet grad school, the
19 organization now operates a school for 60 children between the
20 ages of 3 and 22 which provides comprehensive educational and
21 therapeutic programs for children with profound developmental
22 disabilities; Mr. Larson has served on the organization's Board
23 of Directors since 1955 and has served in all of the
24 organization's offices; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Melvin Larson is a member of numerous professional
2 and community organizations, including the American Chemical
3 Society, the American Association of University Professors,
4 the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Rotary Club,
5 the Lions Club, the Elks Club, and the Joliet Family Counseling
6 Agency; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Melvin Larson serves as a model of hard work,
8 integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of
9 Illinois; therefore, be it
 
10     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
11 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
12 honor Melvin J. Larson for his many years of dedicated service
13 with United Cerebral Palsy of Will County and wish him
14 continued success and happiness in his future endeavors; and be
15 it further
 
16     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
17 presented to Melvin Larson as a symbol of our esteem and
18 respect.