[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 16, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO BOB LARSON, FOUNDER OF NORTHWOODS AIRLIFELINE

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                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 16, 2001

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Michigan 
resident Bob Larson, a man who turned his own passion for flying into a 
non-profit, lifesaving organization that serves the Upper Peninsula of 
Michigan.
  Bob is the prime mover behind Northwoods Airlifeline, an organization 
of pilots who volunteer their time and aircraft to help obtain medical 
assistance unavailable in Upper Michigan. Since Bob conceived the 
service in 1989, Northwoods Airlifeline has flown more than 1,100 
missions--all free of charge, Mr. Speaker--to destinations all around 
the Midwest.
  Northwoods Airlifeline fills a gap in critical services by 
transporting patients who may be financially distressed, who may be 
unable to travel by car or commercial transportation, or who for 
medical reasons may face severe time constraints.
  The primary need of individuals served by Northwoods Airlifeline has 
been organ transplants, since there is no facility in Upper Michigan to 
perform this procedure. The service has also met the needs of 
chronically-ill people who cannot afford to fly or drive long 
distances, and it has transported medical patients who are beyond 
medical help to be with their loved ones.
  Bob Larson, a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a World War II 
Navy veteran, took flying lessons after he left the service and went to 
work in Chicago, where he bought his first plane in 1958.
  But Bob, along with Ruth, his wife of 57 years, who is a registered 
nurse, eventually moved back to the North Woods, settling in the small 
town of Witch Lake in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Larsons 
shared a dream of forming an air medical service to assist friends and 
neighbors in times of medical emergency.
  From these two caring, giving, loving individuals Northwoods 
Airlifeline was born, and it is still coordinated by Bob today. The 
organization recruits volunteer pilots, operates a dispatching network 
to receive and fill requests for transportation, and conducts community 
education and fund raising programs for its services. There are no 
salaried personnel or rental expenses. Pilots and volunteers absorb 
fuel costs and other expenses, and all donations go toward the 
administrative costs of transporting those in need.
  The high regard in which the service is held can be summed up in the 
comments of a man who was flown out of state for a surgical procedure, 
``Well, I have met some real-life angels, wings included,'' he said, 
``only their wings are attached to the airplanes they fly.''
  Bob Larson is being honored on Oct. 20 by Iron Mountain Chapter #44, 
Order of the Eastern Star, which has selected him as the 13th recipient 
of the annual Eastern Star Community Service Award. The purpose of the 
award is to recognize an individual, not affiliated with any Masonic or 
Masonic-related organization, who has shown unselfish dedication for 
the betterment of the community and the world in general.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage you and all our House colleagues to go on 
the World Wide Web at www.northwoodsairlifeline.org and read about the 
other men and women who make this vital service possible, and read the 
wonderful stories of the families that Northwoods Airlifeline has 
assisted.
  We say that dreamers have their heads in the clouds, Mr. Speaker, but 
maybe it's up in the clouds, where Bob Larson spent so much time, that 
one gains the best perspective of the world and the place of each 
individual in it. So I ask you to join me in celebrating the 
accomplishments of two dreamers, Bob and Ruth Larson, and the wonderful 
volunteer organization they have brought into being.

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