MOUNT VERNON – On the same night that Dick McLarnan joined the Knox Educational Service Center board of governors – virtually at the same hour – millions of Americans were chuckling at the antics of leather-jacketed Fonzie on ABC’s “Happy Days.”
Over on CBS, Archie Bunker led the laughs in “All in the Family.”
It was 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 1975.
Forty-seven years later, “Happy Days” and “All in the Family” are distant prime-time television memories.
McLarnan, on the other hand, is still going strong as he nears a half century on the ESC board and 45 years on the Knox County Career Center board of education. He serves as president of both.
McLarnan, a 1952 graduate of Centerburg High School, was honored recently at the Ohio School Boards Association’s Central District spring conference “for continued dedication and commitment to the craft of being a model board member.”
His service began when he filled a vacancy on the ESC board.
“When Lee Dill announced that he was going to resign as the representative from the Centerburg area, my dad said, ‘Why don’t you apply?’” McLarnan recalled. “I thought about it, then decided to try it.
“When I got started on the board, the main thing for me was that I had kids in school. I wanted to make a contribution to the schools.”
Today, the Knox ESC office in Mount Vernon develops, implements and operates cooperative, shared educational services for the Centerburg, Clear Fork Valley, Danville, East Knox, Fredericktown and Mount Vernon City school districts, as well as the Knox County Career Center.
“A couple of years after I was appointed to the ESC board, I also joined the Career Center board,” McLarnan said. “I was on the committee when the Career Center and Knox Technical Center were built.
“I spent a lot of time in the schools and enjoyed it very much.”
Dr. Timm Mackley, Knox ESC superintendent, has worked with McLarnan for nearly 11 years.
“Dick McLarnan has been presiding over ESC functions for so long that the ESC might not be able to function without him,” Mackley said. “Fortunately, we don’t need to worry about that because Dick has no plans for retirement.
“On a personal level, Dick is humble, kind, friendly and sensible. I have never known a better board president or a more agreeable person.”
While McLarnan is among the longest-serving board members in Ohio, the longest tenure belongs to Robert Whitney, president of the Lexington Local Schools board. His service has spanned 57 years.
McLarnan shows no sign of slowing down as he leads the monthly meetings of the ESC and KCCC boards.
“It has been an enjoyable situation for me,” he said. “There have been ups and downs, but I have always enjoyed serving on both boards.
“I think it has kept me younger.”
