Bruce Linder Larson 88 of Urbana passed away Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, October 5 at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Urbana; Rev. Robert Rasmus will officiate. Burial will be in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Champaign. Visitation will be held from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Sunday at Renner-Wikoff Chapel and Crematory, Urbana.

Bruce was a professor of biochemistry and nutritional sciences in animal sciences at the University of Illinois (UIUC) College of Agriculture for over 40 years retiring in 1992.

Born June 24, 1927 in Minneapolis, Minnesota he was the younger of two sons of Leif R. and Olive H.R. Larson (Linder). He married Helen Hersleth September 24, 1954.

Preceding him in death were his brother Raeder, 70 in 1995; his wife Marjorie, 80 in 2006 and his youngest son Brian, 22, in 1986. Bruce is survived by two sons, Dr. Eric M. Larson of Urbana born in 1956, David B. Larson of Tustin, California born in 1958, and two granddaughters Katherine and Jennifer Larson. He and Marjorie also had a "bonded" daughter Karen Athy-Penrose who with husband and four daughters were considered family. In 2011 Bruce married Janice Wilson, she survives.

A depression child, Bruce's family moved to Chicago where he contracted polio in 1931 and then back to Minneapolis where crippling effects were overcome. He left high school before graduation in 1944 to enroll in the University of Minnesota receiving a B.S. in 1948 and a Ph.D. in 1951.

Bruce started a teaching and research program in 1951 in Illinois on milk proteins and cellular mechanisms involved in the synthesis of milk. Internal support was augmented by many external grants from the National Science Foundation, National Cancer Institute and other sources. It resulted in over 140 research papers, books and related publications. He edited a four volume comprehensive treatise on lactation authored by international agriculture and medical scientists.

He traveled extensively to many countries. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Argentina in 1965 with family. He was in Russia in 1961, the week the Berlin Wall was constructed. He was with Marjorie in India in 1971 to help dedicate a new nuclear facility and lecture on radioactive fallout and the use if radioisotopes in biological research. Two days after meeting Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, India and Pakistan were at war with each other. After several hectic days, Bruce and Marjorie escaped India by way of Iran.

Bruce served on many campus committees including General University Policy, Promotion and Tenure, Statutes and Procedures, and Dean and Chancellor searches. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of UIUC Athletic Association (AA) around 1990 when the AA Board of Directors and UI Board of Trustees jointly abolished the AA and brought intercollegiate athletics under the campus administration of the Chancellor.

Bruce was an outdoor enthusiast that loved wilderness camping and canoeing in northern Minnesota and Canada. He was an Eagle Scout and later an adult scout leader. He and Marjorie had a cabin on the shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. He early recognized the vulnerability of unique wilderness areas and that there would be a growing need to preserve many of these natural lands for future public benefit. He was involved with the Izaak Walton League of America for over 50 years working for the preservation of native environment including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.

He was elected for 42 years (1967-2009) to the Urbana Park Board of Commissioners and was Board Chairman for 33 years, a State record. Actively involved with land acquisition, the number of parks in Urbana increased from six to over twenty. He was a founder of the Urbana Parks Foundation. In June 2014 the Urbana Park District renamed Wheatfield Park to Larson park in honor of his 42 years of service to the Urbana Park District.

Elected to the Board of the Illinois Association of Park Districts (IAPD), he rewrote its Constitutional By-Laws and was President in 1995. In 1991 he helped establish IPARKS (Illinois Parks Association Risk Services), a self-insuring pool of Illinois park districts. As the first Chairman and on the Board since, IPARKS now insures about half of the 350 Illinois park districts resulting in millions of dollars saved for Illinois tax payers.

Bruce was involved with the University YMCA for many years serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors in 1967-1970. Part of that time he was also the Acting Executive Director. Later he served on the Board of Trustees. Bruce was a long-term member of the Urbana Exchange Club, and was for many years a member of the Champaign County Design and Conservation Foundation.

A member of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Urbana, in the early 1960's he persuaded a land owner on Philo Road in southeast Urbana to sell some land to the congregation where a new church was built in 1964. Years later a promise was kept resulting in more land for the church.

He has received many awards. Of note is a gold medal from the American Chemical Society, Outstanding Board Member of the Year award from the National Park and Recreation Association, Lifetime Conservation award from the Izaak Walton League of America, Funk award from the College of Agriculture and the Resident of Distinction award from the Half Century Club of Urbana.

Memorials may be made sent to the Urbana Park District or to St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Urbana.

Condolences may be offered at www.rennerwikoffchapel.com.