Full Text of SR1207 99th General Assembly
SR1207 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Bruce Linder Larson of Urbana, who passed | 4 | | away on September 30, 2015; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on | 6 | | June 24, 1927 to Leif R. and Olive H.R. Larson (nee Linder); | 7 | | his family moved to Chicago for a time before returning to | 8 | | Minneapolis; he received his Bachelor of Science in 1948 and | 9 | | his Ph.D. in 1951, both from the University of Minnesota; he | 10 | | married Helen Hersleth on September 24, 1954; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson was a professor of biochemistry and | 12 | | nutritional sciences in animal sciences at the University of | 13 | | Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Agriculture for more | 14 | | than 40 years, retiring in 1992; he started a teaching and | 15 | | research program in 1951 in Illinois on milk proteins and | 16 | | cellular mechanisms involved in the synthesis of milk; it | 17 | | resulted in more than 140 research papers, books, and related | 18 | | publications; he edited a 4-volume comprehensive treatise on | 19 | | lactation authored by international agriculture and medical | 20 | | scientists; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson traveled extensively to many | 22 | | countries; he was a Fulbright Scholar in Argentina in 1965 with |
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| 1 | | his family; he was in Russia in 1961, the week the Berlin Wall | 2 | | was constructed; he was with Marjorie in India in 1971 to help | 3 | | dedicate a new nuclear facility and lecture on radioactive | 4 | | fallout and the use of radioisotopes in biological research; 2 | 5 | | days after meeting Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, India and | 6 | | Pakistan were at war with each other; after several hectic | 7 | | days, he and Marjorie escaped India by way of Iran; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson served on many campus committees, | 9 | | including General University Policy, Promotion and Tenure, | 10 | | Statutes and Procedures, and dean and chancellor searches; he | 11 | | was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UIUC Athletic | 12 | | Association (AA) around 1990 when the AA Board of Directors and | 13 | | U of I Board of Trustees jointly abolished the AA and brought | 14 | | intercollegiate athletics under the campus administration of | 15 | | the chancellor; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson was an outdoor enthusiast who loved | 17 | | wilderness camping and canoeing in northern Minnesota and | 18 | | Canada; he was an Eagle Scout and later an adult scout leader; | 19 | | he and Marjorie had a cabin on the shore of Lake Superior in | 20 | | Minnesota; he recognized early the vulnerability of unique | 21 | | wilderness areas and that there would be a growing need to | 22 | | preserve many of these natural lands for future public benefit; | 23 | | he was involved with the Izaak Walton League of America for | 24 | | more than 50 years, working for the preservation of native |
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| 1 | | environments, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area | 2 | | Wilderness in Minnesota; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson was elected for 42 years (1967-2009) | 4 | | to the Urbana Park Board of Commissioners and was Board | 5 | | Chairman for 33 years, a State record; he was actively involved | 6 | | with land acquisition, helping to increase the number of parks | 7 | | in Urbana from 6 to more than 20; he was a founder of the Urbana | 8 | | Parks Foundation; in June of 2014, the Urbana Park District | 9 | | renamed Wheatfield Park to Larson Park in honor of his 42 years | 10 | | of service to the Urbana Park District; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson was elected to the Board of the | 12 | | Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD); he rewrote its | 13 | | constitutional by-laws and served as President in 1995; in | 14 | | 1991, he helped establish IPARKS (Illinois Parks Association | 15 | | Risk Services), a self-insuring pool of Illinois park districts | 16 | | for which he served as the first Chairman and on the Board; | 17 | | IPARKS now insures about half of the 350 Illinois park | 18 | | districts, resulting in millions of dollars saved for Illinois | 19 | | taxpayers; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson was involved with the University YMCA | 21 | | for many years, serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors | 22 | | from 1967 to 1970; part of that time, he was also the acting | 23 | | Executive Director; later, he served on the Board of Trustees; |
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| 1 | | he was a long-term member of the Urbana Exchange Club and for | 2 | | many years was a member of the Champaign County Design and | 3 | | Conservation Foundation; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson was a member of St. Matthew Lutheran | 5 | | Church in Urbana; in the early 1960s, he persuaded a land owner | 6 | | on Philo Road in southeast Urbana to sell some land to the | 7 | | congregation, where a new church was built in 1964; years | 8 | | later, a promise was kept resulting in more land for the | 9 | | church; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson received many awards, including a | 11 | | gold medal from the American Chemical Society, the Outstanding | 12 | | Board Member of the Year award from the National Park and | 13 | | Recreation Association, the Lifetime Conservation award from | 14 | | the Izaak Walton League of America, the Funk award from the | 15 | | College of Agriculture, and the Resident of Distinction award | 16 | | from the Half Century Club of Urbana; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson married Janice Wilson in 2011; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson was preceded in death by his brother, | 19 | | Raeder; his first wife, Marjorie; and his son, Brian; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Bruce Larson is survived by his wife, Janice; his | 21 | | 2 sons, Dr. Eric M. Larson and David B. Larson; and his 2 |
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| 1 | | granddaughters, Katherine and Jennifer Larson; he and Marjorie | 2 | | also had a "bonded" daughter, Karen Athy-Penrose, who with her | 3 | | husband and 4 daughters were considered family; therefore, be | 4 | | it
| 5 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | 6 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 7 | | Bruce Linder Larson, and extend our sincere condolences to his | 8 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 9 | | further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 11 | | presented to the family of Bruce Larson as an expression of our | 12 | | deepest sympathy.
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