John Coll was a pioneer in the fight to provide quality lifestyles for people with mental retardation. He and his wife Betty recruited parents and organized the Parent Association of St. Louis State School and Hospital, now known as Bellefontaine Habilitation Center in 1965. He was instrumental in the many improvements there from removing people from 30 plus locked wards to cottages on the beautiful grounds. He was active in providing the therapeutic swimming pool. He spent many days during his years with McDonnell-Douglas convincing legislators in Jefferson City and St. Louis of the needs of the residents.
John held various offices within the Parent Association and was President from 1990 until his death in 2002. He was cashier at the Thrift Shop that Betty started in 1960 after his retirement. The Shop contributes over $50,000 each year to Bellefontaine. He was instrumental in arranging the 25th anniversary of the Association. He was on the board of RAM for many years and was treasurer at the time of his death. Governor Hearnes appointed him to the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation. John was an avid golfer and played lots of handball. He was very proud of his Irish heritage. He and Betty toured Ireland visiting his Irish relatives with Betty’s sister Ruth and her husband Jim Vondras. He and Betty were married 48 years. They have two sons, Dennis who is married with 1 child, and Patrick who lives at Bellefontaine. John Coll lived an exemplary life and was one of the greatest advocates for people with mental retardation. He wanted a good life for all people with disabilities and worked tirelessly to make it happen. His legacy is the Bellefontaine that we know today.
AM. Spradling, Jr. was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on March 13, 1920. He graduated from Central High School in 1936 and then attended Southeast Missouri Teachers’ College. From there, he went to the University of Missouri Law School where he graduated with a LLB degree in 1942. That same year, Spradling entered on duty as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He served in the FBI until
the death of his father in 1945 (after WWII had ended). ‘While in the FBI, he married Margaret Whyman also an employee of the FBI and they have two children, AM.
Spradling, III, who practices law with his father, and Robet W. Spradling, who is the pastor of Maywood Baptist Church in Independence, Missouri. Following his return to Cape Girardeau, Spradling became City Attorney of Cape Girardeau and served in that capacity from 1948 to 1952 when he was elected at a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by D, XV. Gilmore. At the time of his election, Spradling was the youngest person
ever elected to the Missouri Senate. In 1953, Senator Michael Kinney, Dean of Missouri.Senate and President of same made Spradling the Chairman of a special committee to investigate the Mental Health Department of the State of Missouri. Spradling’s
investigation, with his non-bipartisan committee, made history in Missouri with its report which showed that our mental institutions and our institutions for the retarded citizens were mere “warehouses” for the mentally ill and retarded. This began Spradling’s efforts to clean up not only the Department of Mental Health but also to assist those with retarded children. Spradling was later known in the
Missouri Senate as well as in the State of Missouri as “The Father of Mental Health and Retardation Legislation”. He spent hundreds of hours continuing the Senate investigation of mental health facilities as well as those dealing with retardation and handled every single major piece of legislation dealing with mental health and retardation from 1954 to 1977 when he retired from the Senate. A few of these being the P1(1.1 Testing of all babys born in Missouri for prevention of mental retardation, the Senate bill 40 and Senate
Bill 52 which funds and maintains the sheltered workshops and other programs of the state.
Spradling spent 25 years in the Senate and was the Dean of the Senate for the last six years in office. In 1961, Senator Spradling was elected President Pro
Tem of the Missouri Senate and served in that capacity for four years. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed to the Council of State Governments and later became the Chairman of the Council. The council of State Governments is made up of key legislators in 50 states. In his capacity as Chairman of the Council he visited some 36 state capitols and spoke in 39 different states. Perhaps the most difficult Bill that Spradling handled while a member of the Senate was the “Open Records Law”. The Missouri Press as well as the Missouri Legislature had had extreme difficulty in getting the public records open to the
newspapers, the General Assembly and to the public-at-large. In 1964, the Missouri Press Association approached Spradling to open all of the state records. It was one of the hardest fights that Spradling was ever to
engage in. State agencies did not want the bill passed. Spradling went to then Governor John Dalton who stated that, if the Bill could be passed, he would sign it. It was at that time that Spradling was noted for the “RULE 01 18,,. It took 18 votes (which was a constitutional majority) to pass a Bill through the Missouri Senate and Spradling finally got the 18 votes to pass the Bill. The legislation had a hard time in the Missouri House but eventually it passed and was signed by Governor Dalton in August, 1961. Since then, it has opened the records of not only state agencies, but of counties and cities. Later that year, on November 2, Spradling addressed the school of law and journalism at the University of Missouri for their 4th Annual Freedom of Information Conference. I-lu research was printed in a number of publications and
lu later addressed the Wisconsin Bar Association and other legislative groups throughout the country on the opening of records of states, counties and cities. This also assisted the General
Assembly and the general public insofar as Mental Health and Retardation was concerned in that the records were all open to the general public so that we might ascertain how the state’s money was being spent and the progress that was being
made. Spradling’s last official duty in the Missouri Senate was to Chair a committee that completely remodeled the Senate Chamber. The Missouri Senate Chamber is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the United States. It had fallen in disrepair, its painting and tapestries had deteriorated and, in 1976, the chamber was completely modernized and the tapestries and painting were
saved. During his tenure in office, Spradling received 61 different awards from public agencies and was , in 1978, elected to the Academy of Missouri Squires in grateful recognition of his contribution to the history, honor and prestige of the
State of Missouri and for his work in mental health and retardation. While serving as President Pro Tem of the Senate and with the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor outside the State of Missouri, Spradling served 23 days as Governor of the State. He has recently completed an Oral History of the Missouri Senate for the 25 years he served which is a part of the Oral History Program of the State Historical Society of
Missouri.