Dr. Larsandrew Dolan Award - 1997
Our organization took great pride in nominating John Hanson, Sr. to be the first recipient of the Dr. Larsandrew Dolan Award. John joined the Board of Directors in 1959. He served for over 30 years and was President from 1961 to 1964. He was also the Board’s attorney, donating thousand of hours and working quietly, behind the scenes to help implement Dr. Dolan’s dream for the organization.
Born in Iowa, John attended the University of Iowa and the University of Kansas for his undergraduate work. In 1947, he received his law degree from Northwestern University, and was a partner at the law firm of Brown, Stine, Cook & Hanson. He was a past alderman of Park Ridge, and past director and president of Norwegian American Hospital.
In Loving Hands and Kind Hearts, the books that tells the history of the first 100 years of our organization, John comments (Chapter 23: Looking to the Future) in response to the kind of offerings and facilities that should be available, “We ought to furnish a complete service . . . in various stages of aging. We have to remain competitive in all levels of care.” This was John’s dream for the future mission of our organization and we hope that he would be proud of the way our mission has developed to meet the changing needs of older adults in our community. We think perhaps he would be!