Background
Solon was born in Duluth in 1931.
Solon was born in Duluth in 1931.
He graduated from Duluth Central High School in 1949 and served in the United States. Army from 1952 to 1954. He earned his Bachelor of Surgery in Education in 1958 from the University of Minnesota in Duluth.
A Democrat, he served in the legislature for over 30 years, 28 of those years in the senate. He died of malignant melanoma in 2001. After graduation, he worked as a high school teacher and coach.
He also served as chair of Duluth"s alcoholic beverage board from 1967 to 1970.
From then on, he faced scant opposition, defeating most opponents by better than 70 percent. While in the senate, Solon chaired the Health, Welfare, and Corrections committee from 1981 to 1982, then chaired the Commerce Committee in its various incarnations from 1983 until his death.
He was also chair of the Education Subcommittee for Assessment and Accountability from 1975 to 1976, and of the Commerce Subcommittee for Banking from 1977 to 1980. Through the years, Solon"s special legislative concerns included health and welfare, education, economic development, higher education, seniors, drugs and crime, health insurance, and employment.
He helped attract the Northwest Airlines maintenance base and the construction of a new aquarium.
He was also the primary sponsor legislation mandating the extension of Interstate 35 through downtown Duluth. In August 2001, the University of Minnesota in Duluth honored his contributions to the school by naming a campus center after him.
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, Democratic Party.
He was an appointed member of the Minnesota Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board from 1979 to 2001.