AJR61: Joint Resolution Text

LRB-3040/2

SRM:nwn:jf

2009 - 2010 LEGISLATURE

2009 Assembly JOINT RESOLUTION 61

June 26, 2009 - Introduced by Representatives Barca, Steinbrink, Turner and Kerkman, cosponsored by Senator Wirch. Referred to Committee on Rules.

AJR61,1,2 Relating to: the life and public service of Ralph Houghton and honoring his many accomplishments.

AJR61,1,4 Whereas, Ralph Houghton was born on April 14, 1920 in Hoopeston, Illinois and died on June 1, 2009 in Kenosha, Wisconsin at the age of 89; and

AJR61,1,7 Whereas, Ralph Houghton served in World War II as an army infantry captain and was captured by the German army at the Battle of the Bulge, but escaped and was honorably discharged in 1945; and

AJR61,1,9 Whereas, Ralph Houghton received his bachelor's degree in music education from Illinois State University; and

AJR61,1,11 Whereas, Ralph Houghton received his master's degree in administration from DePaul University; and

AJR61,1,13 Whereas, Ralph Houghton was a loving husband for 63 years to his wife Jane, father of five, grandfather of 16 and great-grandfather of nine; and

AJR61,1,15 Whereas, Ralph Houghton was the Kenosha Unified School District's Director of Music from 1956 to 1979; and

AJR61,2,2 Whereas, Ralph Houghton served as the KUSD Assistant Superintendent of Schools until his retirement in 1987 at the age of 67; and

AJR61,2,5 Whereas, Ralph Houghton initiated the Band-O-Rama, the Great Lakes Band Championship, the Orchestra Festival, the Choral Festival, and over a dozen annual music events; and

AJR61,2,9 Whereas, Ralph Houghton helped combine the competing Tremper High School and Bradford High School bands to form the Band of the Black Watch, which won many national awards and became nationally recognized, and founded the Band Boosters as a network of band support for parents and the community; and

AJR61,2,14 Whereas, Ralph Houghton was instrumental in having Kenosha Unified music programs known throughout the nation and as a result many Kenosha Unified music students have gone on to careers as music teachers at schools and colleges across the country, as members of professional symphony orchestras, and as stage and studio musicians; and

AJR61,2,17 Whereas, in 2008, he received the Anderson Arts Center 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award and was presented the last two portraits done by renowned Wisconsin artist George Pollard; and

AJR61,2,20 Whereas, Ralph Houghton was a founding member of the Kemper Center board of directors and established a high school music honors program for the Wisconsin School Music Association; and

AJR61,2,23 Whereas, in 2008, the sheet music and recording archive at the Wisconsin Center for Music Education, in Waunakee, was named the Ralph Houghton Honors Library; now, therefore, be it

AJR61,3,3 Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the legislature commends the life and public service of Ralph Houghton and mourns his passing; and

AJR61,3,5 Be it further resolved, That the assembly chief clerk shall provide a copy of this joint resolution to Ralph Houghton's wife Jane.

AJR61,3,6 (End)