Representative Patrick Henry Donlon View All Years

HONORABLE P. H. DONLON

MR. SPEAKER: Your committee, appointed to prepare suitable resolutions commemorating the life, character and public service of the Honorable P. H. Donlon, a former member of the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth and Forty-fifth Extra General Assemblies of Iowa, begs leave to submit the following:

Patrick Henry Donlon was born in Braidwood, Illinois, March 12, 1861. He received his early education in his home community. At the age of fifteen he worked in a coal mine and attended night school. This continued for three years. When he was twenty-one years old he became principal of a grade school. Later he attended the Illinois State Normal school and the University of Illinois.

Mr. Donlon came to Palo Alto county, Iowa, in July, 1883. He taught country school for four years and spent the summer months in farming. In 1888 he was elected superintendent of schools in Palo Alto county, serving until 1894. He then served for three years as cashier of the bank at Graettinger and then twelve years as an employe of the Emmetsburg National Bank.

Shortly after the election of President Woodrow Wilson in 1912 Mr. Donlon served as deputy revenue collector under the department headed by the late Senator Louis Murphy, of Dubuque. Following this service he was appointed postmaster of Emmetsburg and served for two terms.

In 1922 he moved back to his farm near Ruthven, where he remained until his death.

In 1930 Mr. Donlon was elected as a Democrat to represent Palo Alto county in the Forty-fourth General Assembly. He served with distinction through two regular sessions and one special session.

It will be interesting to note that P. H. Donlon had much to do with the origin and growth of different movements in Palo Alto county. He inaugurated the well known Labor Day celebration at Graettinger which has developed into one of the outstanding annual events of the state. He was active in commercial and patriotic activities, was a member of the Emmetsburg Civic Club, was an organizer of farmers’ institutes and assisted in establishing lodges such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Columbus. He was a member of the original A. O. H. band, at one time one of the best in northern Iowa.

Mr. Donlon was, more than any other individual, responsible for the formation and passage of the Iowa Old Age Pension law. As a member of the legislature he contributed much of his time and talents to further the cause of agriculture.

Three years prior to his death Mr. Donlon suffered a sunstroke while working in his garden. He recovered for a time but the effects of the stroke gradually caused his health to decline and he passed away at the home of his sister, Miss Mary Donlon, at Ruthven, Iowa, June 23, 1938. The funeral services were held at Ruthven, Monday morning, June 27. The Rev. Father E. L. McEvoy was celebrant at the solemn requiem high mass at the Catholic Church. Interment was in the parochial cemetery.

Mr. Donlon never married. He is survived by a brother, John, and a sister, Miss Mary, of Ruthven, Iowa; a sister, Mrs. M. J. Churchill, resides at Mason City, Iowa; and another sister, Mrs. Margaret Gleason, resides at Livingston, Montana.

The glory of his life was his living; the test of his worth was his serving; his life and service were his success—there is no greater, there is no other. His life and his service may be silent in the grave, but his influence will go on until time itself shall be ended.

Therefore, Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Forty-eighth General Assembly of the State of Iowa, in Regular Session, That in the death of P. H. Donlon the people of Palo Alto county and the state of Iowa have sustained a great loss. He was a man of vision and courage, of high ideals, of honor, of trustworthiness and of sterling worth, as well as a man whose character was at all times above reproach.

Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be spread upon the Journal of the House, and that the Chief Clerk be directed to forward an enrolled copy to the relatives of the deceased.

GEO. H. KEENEY,

L. C. BOWERS,

GUSTAVE ALESCH,

Committee.

Unanimously adopted, April 12, 1939.