JUDGE JOHN FARR LARSON DIES AT 76 - EX-CHILD WELFARE WORKER, CHURCH LEADER

Judge John Farr Larson, 76, juvenile court judge, child welfare service worker and community and church leader, died Thursday, April 28, 1994, of cancer at his Salt Lake home.

His service to the state began in 1938 when he became a youth probation officer in 1st District Juvenile Court in Ogden and continued over 45 years as he directed the state's child welfare program and worked as a juvenile court and appellate court judge.Judge Larson was a chief probation officer in 2nd District Juvenile Court from 1942 to 1944. Earlier, he supervised foster home placements for the Utah Department of Public Welfare and was director of the Bureau of Services for Children from 1944 to 1963. That included administrative respon- sibility for all the juvenile courts and the probation program in Utah.

He was appointed a 2nd District juvenile court judge in 1963, serving until 1984 when he retired but continued to hear cases as a senior judge. He had been presiding judge of the Utah Board of Juvenile Court Judges and had served for a few months as a state appellate judge.

Judge Larson was born in Taylor, Weber County. After completing his early education in Ogden, he entered Weber State College at age 16 and graduated with an associate of arts degree. He received a law degree from the University of Utah Law School in 1949.

He was a graduate of - and had served on the faculty of - the National College of Juvenile Justice in Reno and was a consultant for the U.S. Children's Bureau on Standards for specialized courts dealing with children. Also, he was a faculty member of the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education, chairman of the Utah Committee for the White House Conference on Children and Youth and chairman of the Governor's Task Force on Juvenile Corrections, whose recommendations resulted in a major overhaul in the state's juvenile corrections program.

In 1984 he was named Utah Judge of the Year by the Utah State Bar. He received a Meritorious Service Award from the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. For his service in Utah and the nation, he received a commemorative award from the secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for "significant contributions in promoting the growth, well-being and development of America's Children."

He was a high priest in the Olympus 8th Ward, Salt Lake Olympus Stake, had served an Eastern States Mission, was a bishop's counselor, a counselor in two stake presidencies, high priest group leader and stake and ward Sunday School counselor and teacher.

Funeral will be at noon Monday, May 2, in the Olympus Stake Center, 4500 S. 2700 East. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 S. Highland Drive, and from 10 to 11:45 a.m. Monday at the church. Burial will be in Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.