HR0111 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0111 LRB096 11248 GRL 21662 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor Melvin J. Larson for his 54 years of dedicated service as a board member and founder of United Cerebral Palsy of Will County, now UPC of Illinois Prairieland; and

WHEREAS, Melvin Larson was born on May 28, 1914 on a farm in the rural Red River Valley of northwestern Minnesota; he attended and graduated from a one-room school of 30 students for all 8 grades; he left school at age 14 to work on the family farm; he entered high school at the age of 21 and graduated in 1938 at the age of 25; and

WHEREAS, Melvin Larson attended college at Concordia College in Morehead, Minnesota, receiving his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1942; he then performed graduate studies at the University of Minnesota, and then attended the University of Chicago, where he received his master's degree in higher education in 1952; and

WHEREAS, Melvin Larson was employed as a research chemist with the Lindsay Chemical Company from 1942 to 1945; and

WHEREAS, Melvin Larson has had a long and distinguished career in education; he began his career as an instructor in chemistry at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, serving from 1946 to 1948; he served as the chairperson of the chemistry department at Waldorf Junior College in Forest City, Iowa from 1948 to 1949; he was the assistant to the academic dean at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota from 1949 to 1951; he served as an instructor of chemistry at Joliet Junior College from 1954 to 1956, chairman of the college's Department of Chemistry from 1956 to 1965, and chairman of the college's Department of Physical Sciences from 1965 until 1979, when he became a professor emeritus at the college; and

WHEREAS, Melvin Larson is the proud founder and 54-year member of the United Cerebral Palsy affiliate in Will County and was responsible for the organization's initial inquiries of local families of children with cerebral palsy and the initiation of grassroots community efforts to provide essential services for the children; starting out as a classroom for six children in a Joliet grad school, the organization now operates a school for 60 children between the ages of 3 and 22 which provides comprehensive educational and therapeutic programs for children with profound developmental disabilities; Mr. Larson has served on the organization's Board of Directors since 1955 and has served in all of the organization's offices; and

WHEREAS, Melvin Larson is a member of numerous professional and community organizations, including the American Chemical Society, the American Association of University Professors, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, the Elks Club, and the Joliet Family Counseling Agency; and

WHEREAS, Melvin Larson serves as a model of hard work, integrity, and dedication for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor Melvin J. Larson for his many years of dedicated service with United Cerebral Palsy of Will County and wish him continued success and happiness in his future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Melvin Larson as a symbol of our esteem and respect.