Dr. Don Morehead

OTHS Board Member 1978-present Dr. Morehead received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois in 1949, after serving in the U.S. Navy from 1945-1946. He received his M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School. Later at UIC he received a Masters Degree in Science. He served an internship and completed five years of surgical training at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago. He practiced as a surgeon at the Ottawa Medical Center and was a member of the Medical staff of the Community Hospital of Ottawa, and its predecessor Ryburn-King Hospital from 1959-2003. He served in a number of leadership roles for the medical staff at the hospital, on its Board of Trustees, and for its Foundation. Dr. Morehead has served on the Ottawa Township High School Board of Education for more than thirty years, commencing in 1978, and serving as President of the Board on several occasions. He served on the Board of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, and received its prestigious Leo Parkerson Award in 2005. He was a volunteer with the Boy Scouts, serving as District Chairman and as the W.D. Boyce Council Chairman for 10 years, receiving the Silver Beaver Award in 1969. He was Campaign Chairman of the United Way of Eastern LaSalle County in 1975, and served as Co-Chairman for each campaign from 2002-2007. Dr. Morehead spearheaded the development and establishment of the Health Center of Eastern LaSalle County to provide free health care to the uninsured and those of modest means, and has served as Chair since 2005. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Ottawa Savings and Loan Association and later Ottawa Savings Bank from 1975-2002. As a founder he helped establish a pre-school program, Opportunity School, and has served on its Board of Directors since 1968. In 2003 the LaSalle County Farm Bureau named him Community Volunteer of the Year, and also in 2003 received the LaSalle County Ageless Achiever Award.