2009 Assembly Joint Resolution 61
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION
Relating to: the life and public service of Ralph Houghton and honoring his many accomplishments.
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
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
Whereas, Ralph Houghton received his bachelor's degree in music education from Illinois State University; and
Whereas, Ralph Houghton received his master's degree in administration from DePaul University; and
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
Whereas, Ralph Houghton was the Kenosha Unified School District's Director of Music from 1956 to 1979; and
Whereas, Ralph Houghton served as the KUSD Assistant Superintendent of Schools until his retirement in 1987 at the age of 67; and
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
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
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
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
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
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
Resolved by the
assembly, the senate concurring, That the legislature commends the life and public service of Ralph Houghton and mourns his passing; and
Be it further resolved, That the assembly chief clerk shall provide a copy of this joint resolution to Ralph Houghton's wife Jane.
