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2006 SESSION

069398828
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 189
Offered February 1, 2006
Celebrating the life of Alan M. Voorhees.
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Patrons-- Ticer, Colgan, O'Brien and Puller; Delegates: Bulova, Callahan, Caputo, Ebbin, Englin, Hugo, Hull, Poisson, Scott, J.M. and Sickles
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WHEREAS, Alan M. Voorhees of Alexandria, distinguished engineer, philanthropist, and successful businessman, died on December 18, 2005; and

WHEREAS, Alan Voorhees' career as a civil engineer began with his service in the United States Navy during World War II as a member of Underwater Demolition Team 11; and

WHEREAS, during the war, Alan Voorhees helped map the shoreline attack routes for the Allied invasion of Okinawa and Borneo in the Pacific Theatre; he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and the Presidential Unit Citation for his major contributions to the war effort; and

WHEREAS, after his military service, Alan Voorhees received an undergraduate degree from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and a master's degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and

WHEREAS, in 1961, Alan Voorhees began a transportation consulting firm, Alan M. Voorhees and Associates, and was responsible for the planning of most of the metropolitan and local transportation systems built in the 1960s and 1970s, including the transportation and subway systems in four national capitals, including Washington, D.C.; and

WHEREAS, since the early 1970s, Alan Voorhees collected historic maps of Virginia and donated 15 priceless Virginia maps to the Library of Virginia and many other maps to the Virginia Historical Society and the Library of Congress; in all, he collected over 300 maps that document the growth of Virginia since the 16th century; and

WHEREAS, Alan Voorhees was an enthusiastic supporter of the book, Virginia in Maps: Four Hundred Years of Settlement, Growth, and Development, published by the Library of Virginia in 2000, which maps the history of the Commonwealth; he also was invaluable in the establishment of the Civil War Maps Digital Image Project, a joint effort by the Library of Congress, the Library of Virginia, and the Virginia Historical Society to digitize Civil War maps for the Library of Congress's American Memory website; and

WHEREAS, Alan Voorhees became involved in development in the late 1980s and built the European-style Berkeley Hotel in Shockoe Slip in Richmond, and also established the Westmoreland Berry Farm; and

WHEREAS, Alan Voorhees will be fondly remembered for his generosity, as well as his vast knowledge and diverse talents, and will be sorely missed by his family, his numerous friends and admirers, and the citizens of the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of an outstanding Virginian, Alan M. Voorhees; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Alan M. Voorhees as an expression of the General Assembly's respect for his memory.