HR0630 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0630 LRB099 12975 MST 36854 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to honor Dr. Gerhard Malcharek for his service to his country and his many years of practice as a dentist at the Murray Developmental Center in Centralia; and

WHEREAS, Gerhard Malcharek was born in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) in 1932; and

WHEREAS, In the summers of 1943 and 1944, school boys in seventh and eighth grades were utilized by the German Army to prepare fortifications for the retreating German soldiers of the Eastern Front; when the summers were over, the boys returned to their respective schools; at the age of 13, Gerhard Malcharek was pushed into service with the German Army, who lied about his age to make him enlist; he was given tank training and assigned as a tank driver; and

WHEREAS, Gerhard Malcharek was wounded in battle when Soviet forces attacked his tank unit, causing shrapnel injuries to his right foot and left leg; and

WHEREAS, After the war, Gerhard Malcharek was sent back to the Soviet Union as a Prisoner of War to help the nation rebuild until 1947, when he returned home to Czechoslovakia; his family was subsequently forced out and they immigrated to Germany; and

WHEREAS, Gerhard Malcharek was prohibited from entering school because of his service in the war, placing a pause on his lifetime dream of being a dentist; an American soldier befriended the young Dr. Malcharek, encouraging him to go to the United States, where he could go to school as much as he wanted; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Malcharek was 21 years old in 1951 when he immigrated to the United States, moving to Chicago; within 30 days of him arriving on American soil, he enlisted in the United States Army as a Combat Engineer; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Malcharek served 2 tours in Korea with his company building bridges and bunkers, creating mine fields, and doing demolition work; in 1952, he was injured by shrapnel from a land mine explosion and received the Purple Heart; he retired as a Colonel; and

WHEREAS, After the Korean War, Gerhard Malcharek returned to Chicago and used the G.I. Bill to enroll at a junior college; he later transferred to Western Illinois University to finish his bachelor of science; and

WHEREAS, Gerhard Malcharek still dreamed of becoming a dentist, but faced difficulty being accepted to a dental school because he was a poor immigrant; refusing to be deterred, he took a job as a teacher at Marshall High School, near the University of Illinois School of Dentistry in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, In 1961, Gerhard Malcharek's persistence paid off and he was admitted to the University of Illinois School of Dentistry in Chicago; he worked nights at an area hospital to help pay for his education and went with little sleep between long nights at work and long hours in the classroom; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Gerhard Malcharek's dream became a reality in 1966 when he was hired out of dental school to work for the recently established Murray Center in Centralia; Dr. Malcharek was the only dentist to care for the nearly 700 residents; Dr. Malcharek and his wife then moved to Irvington, where they still live today, and he practiced dentistry at the Murray Developmental Center for 27 years until his retirement in 1992; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Gerhard Malcharek also practiced at a medical center in Irvington 2 nights a week and on Saturdays; he also served as a military reserve dentist for the 102nd Army Reserve Command in St. Louis for 23 years; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Gerhard Malcharek and his wife have 2 children who are also in the medical field; their daughter, Marianne McDaniel, is an optometrist and their son, Paul Malcharek, is a physician; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Gerhard Malcharek has overcome countless obstacles in his life but never faltered from achieving his dream to be a dentist; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor Dr. Gerhard Malcharek for his service to his country and living his dreams alongside his wonderful family through the practice of dentistry; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Dr. Gerhard Malcharek as a symbol of our esteem and respect.