Don Young Day – Mike Dunleavy

WHEREAS, born the center son of Lawhead Younger Sr. and Arlene Younger-Harris on June 9, 1933, in Meridian, California, Donald Edwin Younger was the fourth Congressman to characterize Alaska and the forty fifth Dean of the USA Home of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, after serving within the forty first Tank Battalion from 1955 to 1957, Don acquired an encouraging letter from his father and a reminder of Jack London’s Name of the Wild that impressed him to go away California for Alaska; and

WHEREAS, after transient stints as a schoolteacher, trapper, and riverboat captain, Don was elected to the Alaska State Home of Representatives in 1966, then served within the Alaska State Senate from 1970 till 1973, when he was elected to the U.S. Home of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, as Alaska’s sole Congressman for many of its statehood, Don was the longest-serving Republican in Congressional historical past, and his unwavering dedication and resilient illustration of Alaska on the nationwide stage enabled him to assist laws that benefitted all Alaskans by preserving our panorama and our lifestyle for generations to come back; and

WHEREAS, Congressman Younger handed away on March 18, 2022, whereas touring dwelling to Alaska together with his spouse, Anne, by his facet, and he was laid in state at the USA Capitol on March 29, 2022, to honor the person who devoted almost 5 many years of his life to defending Alaskan assets and values on the highest stage of presidency; and

WHEREAS, on December 21, 2022, the USA Home of Representatives handed a invoice to rename Mount Cerberus – an lively volcano on Semisopochnoi Island – to Mount Younger, and as an additional homage, the measure additionally renamed the federal workplace constructing in Fairbanks and the Job Corps Heart in Palmer to replicate the Don Younger title in his reminiscence; and

WHEREAS, the legacy of Congressman Don Younger encompasses extra than simply his 67 years of service to our nation and our state, and though he was well-known for his gruff exterior, these blessed to know him understood that his coronary heart was as massive because the Alaska that he liked so dearly.

NOW THEREFORE, I, Mike Dunleavy, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF ALASKA, do hereby proclaim March 18, 2023 as:

Don Younger Day

in Alaska, and encourage all Alaskans to have fun and honor the contributions of Congressman Don Younger by his lifetime of service to the State of Alaska and to the USA of America.

Dated: March 18, 2023