MUNCY - Muncy High School will induct John Lawrence Hall, a 1945 graduate of Muncy High School, into the Academic Hall of Fame on Friday.
Hall turned 17 years old on Jan. 1, 1945, the same day he reported to the United States draft board and told them it was his 18th birthday. Being in the midst of World War II the draft board did not question him about his age nor did they ask for any proof.
The principal of Muncy High School, did not question the academic credentials of Hall, allowing him to leave school early that year for his induction into the Army in April 1945.
After his service to the country, education became his priority again. Over the course of the next five years, he earned a bachelor's degree from Penn State in June 1951 and a master's degree in forestry from Yale University, New Haven, Conn., in June 1952.
He continued to work for the U.S. Forest Service and serve the environment for the next 60 years.
He worked as a forester, district ranger and assistant forest supervisor for the National Park Service in the beginning of his career in Alaska and Montana.
In 1980, he founded Taiga Resource Consultants, in his home of Girdwood, Ala., and has been the owner and president of this company for more than 30 years.
Hall and his wife, Carol, were married in 1954.
They had five children and four grandchildren.
Because Hall is unable to make the long trek from Girdwood to Muncy, his sister, Rita Dugan, will accept his induction award on Friday.
