Frank Polaski (December 19, 1904 – July 1, 1996) was a Democratic member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

Early life and education

He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in 1929 and Northwestern University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1933. He served in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

from April 1942 to October 1945 and became a staff sergeant."Record of Burial Place of Veteran", Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Military Affairs, July 9, 1996.

Career

He was first elected in 1964, bringing a keen awareness of the needs of working people and of the environment to his legislative responsibilities. He introduced the first legislation to protect the waters of Pennsylvania and to provide funds to clean up existing water pollution. He introduced and enacted legislation for economic development in the State and the Erie area during a time of economic restructuring. He initiated legislation supporting public housing and measures upgrading facilities of Edinboro State College and Behrend Campus of

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. He sponsored legislation supporting civil rights, student loans and scholarships, consumers' rights, and Vietnam War veterans' bonuses and was among the first in the Pennsylvania legislature to advocate using dedicated resources from the

Pennsylvania Lottery The Pennsylvania Lottery is a lottery operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on August 26, 1971; two months later, Henry Kaplan was appointed as its first executive director. The Pennsy ...

to support programs and services to senior citizens. After his retirement he was active with the Emmaus Soup Kitchen and the

Second Harvest Food Bank The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of Northwest Pennsylvania. He is buried at Trinity Cemetery, Erie, Pennsylvania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polaski, Frank 1904 births 1996 deaths Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni Politicians from Erie, Pennsylvania United States Army Air Forces non-commissioned officers University of Michigan alumni 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly