PRINTER'S NO. 1552
No. 112 Session of 1977
INTRODUCED BY MANDERINO, A. K. HUTCHINSON, PETRARCA, SCHMITT,
STAIRS, MISCEVICH, TADDONIO, VALICENTI AND STEWART,
JUNE, 13, 1977
ADOPTED, JUNE 13, 1977
In the House of Representatives, June 13, 1977
1 Our beloved fellow member and good friend, the Honorable John
2 F. Laudadio, Sr. of the City of Jeannette and representing the
3 56th Legislative District in Westmoreland County, died of a
4 heart attack at 60 years of age on Tuesday, June 7, 1977.
5 The Honorable John F. Laudadio, Sr. was born December 26,
6 1916 in the small community of Penn, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland
7 County, the son of the late Frank and Marie (Dreistadt)
8 Laudadio. He attended Jeannette High School, Jeannette Night
9 School and the Carnegie Institute of Technology. It was during
10 the formative years of his youth while hunting, fishing and
11 trapping that John encountered such serious pollution of many
12 fine streams and the devastation of land resources that he
13 became vowed and determined to devote his life and energy to
14 preserving and protecting our clean streams and other valuable
15 natural resources.
16 In 1936, at the early age of 20, John became a member of the
17 Penn Rod and Gun Club, Inc., an affiliate of the Westmoreland
1 County Sportsmen's Clubs, Inc. of Penn, Pennsylvania; became one
2 of its officers in 1938 and continued to be one of its officers
3 until his untimely death. It was with his help and guidance that
4 the Penn Rod and Gun Club developed into one of the most
5 outstanding conservation clubs in the County, State and Nation,
6 including the development of farm and camp facilities in Fulton
7 County comprising 350 prime acres used for hunting and fishing
8 for its members.
9 John was first elected to the House of Representatives in
10 1962 and was reelected every succeeding term thereafter, and as
11 a veteran of more than fourteen years in the House, was serving
12 as Chairman of the House Conservation Committee and Chairman of
13 the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and
14 Conservation Committee at the time of his death.
15 It was not long after John became a lawmaker that he started
16 to implement his boyhood dream and determination to preserve and
17 protect our valuable natural resources. He was the prime sponsor
18 in 1965 of substantial amendments to "The Clean Streams Law,"
19 and in 1970 successfully fought for and had passed sweeping and
20 strengthening amendments to such act which now provide
21 Pennsylvania with perhaps the toughest stream pollution laws in
22 the Nation. In 1966 he was the chief sponsor of "The Bituminous
23 Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act of 1966," which
24 afforded people living in mining areas protection against mine
25 cave-ins. In the 1969-70 Session of the General Assembly, he
26 sponsored and successfully had passed in the House the "All
27 Surface Mining" bill and the "Watershed Management Act," but
28 both bills failed to pass the Senate. Although he lost such
29 bills, he did have a smashing success. In that same 1969-70
30 Session, John became the chief sponsor and moving force on House
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1 Bill 2213 (containing 92 sponsors), which brought into being the
2 Department of Environmental Resources; and he could proudly
3 claim, and rightly so, that he was the "granddaddy of DER." He
4 was one of the cosponsors of the bill amending the Bill of
5 Rights of our Pennsylvania Constitution (Article I, Section 27)
6 which now guarantees to the people of the Commonwealth the
7 "right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the
8 natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the
9 environments." And just the day before his death, John Laudadio
10 had introduced in the House a package of bills to further
11 promote and preserve historic and scenic areas from possible
12 development, degradation or destruction.
13 As a sportsman and conservationist, John Laudadio was a
14 lifetime member and President of the Pennsylvania Federation of
15 Sportsmen's Clubs, Inc., 1964-1966. its Secretary, 1966-1967,
16 President of its Southwest division, 1957-1959, and President of
17 the Westmoreland County Sportsmen's League, 1950-1952. He also
18 served as a member and Chairman of the Westmoreland County
19 Recreation and Park Commission from 1960-1969.
20 John Laudadio received Statewide and national recognition for
21 his humanitarian and conservation activities. In 1965 he was
22 cited by the National Wildlife Federation and the Sears-Roebuck
23 Conservation Foundation as the "Pennsylvania Conservation
24 Legislator of the Year." He received in 1965 a merit award from
25 the Izaak Walton League of America, Inc. In January, 1966 he was
26 honored as the "National Conservation Legislator of the Year" in
27 Washington, D.C., by Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, wife of former
28 President Lyndon B. Johnson. In June of 1971, the Pennsylvania
29 Fraternal Order of Eagles presented John with the "Humanitarian
30 of the Year Award." In 1974 John Laudadio received Governor
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1 Milton J. Shapp's award as "Mr. Conservation of Pennsylvania, "
2 and in 1976 the Westmoreland County Recreation and Park
3 Commission presented him with the "President's Award" for his
4 conservation achievements.
5 But John Laudadio was not only a legislator, conservationist
6 and sportsman, but also a working man and union representative.
7 For over 35 years he was an employee of Westinghouse Corporation
8 from which company he had recently retired. He was also a union
9 representative of Local 601, IUE, AFL-CIO, and a member of its
10 executive board from 1956 until the time of his death.
11 In considering his departure from us, there will be so many
12 things to remember about the late Honorable John F. Laudadio,
13 Sr. We will, of course, remember him now and in the future as
14 one of the leading conservationists of modern times in this
15 State and nation. We will remember him as a humanitarian,
16 working man, union representative, consumer advocate, and
17 dedicated public servant. But most important of all, we believe,
18 is that we shall remember our dear, departed fellow legislator
19 as one who was capable of having great, loyal and lasting
20 friendships with members and others; capable of generosity,
21 humor, affection, and capable of having the understanding of and
22 an abiding concern and dedication to this House of
23 Representatives, its members and the citizens of this
24 Commonwealth.
25 John is survived by his wife, Mrs. Pearl Ferrara Laudadio, a
26 son John F., Jr. of Columbia, Maryland, and three lovely
27 grandchildren. Therefore be it
28 RESOLVED, That as members of the House of Representatives, we
29 not only sadly mourn the passing of a dedicated, much loved and
30 respected fellow member, the Honorable John F. Laudadio, Sr., of
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1 the City of Jeannette who ably represented the citizens of the
2 56th Legislative District, Westmoreland County, but we have the
3 fervent hope that when we too are destined to depart from this
4 earth, as we all must, that we leave it with just a small
5 measure of John Laudadio's outstanding accomplishment for the
6 citizens of this Commonwealth. And be it further
7 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
8 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania extends its heartfelt sympathy to
9 his widow, Mrs. Pearl Ferrarra Laudadio, his son and
10 grandchildren, and that copies of this resolution be sent to his
11 widow, Mrs. Pearl F. Laudadio of Jeannette, Pennsylvania, and
12 his son, John F. Laudadio, Jr., of Columbia, Maryland.
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