Irv, as he is called by most everyone in town, was born in Rensselaer Indiana, graduated from Brook High School, and then went on to Porter Business College in Indianapolis, Indiana. Later he attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute.  

A proud veteran, Irv served our country in the army from 1968–1971, a year of that in Vietnam. When he came home, he married Mary Hajny in 1971 and they had four children; Irvin II, Albert, Brett, and Becky. They have 11 grandchildren.

In the fall of 1977, Irv and Mary moved to Chillicothe, and Irv began working as an office manager at city hall until 1983. In 1985 he decided to get into local politics and ran for mayor and won. After a successful four year term he was re-elected as mayor in 1989 for another four years. As Mayor, Irv promised the city council; “to not stand in the way of the council, but to stand ready to help them solve problems of the city and plan for its future.”

His accomplishments during his two terms as mayor are too numerous to list, but a few of them are; established a sewer maintenance program, had a balanced budget eight consecutive years, oversaw many street improvements, 911 dispatch center, city beautification program, stoplight at the Cloverdale intersection, and improvement of the Walnut stoplight, and annexing over 1200 acres of land that doubled the size of Chillicothe while securing over $300,000 in grants for the city. Irv also relocated the Police Department to its current locale and helped administrate one of the most successful T.I.F. districts in the state. These are just a few of the  accomplishments while in office. When asked what he thought was his greatest accomplishment, he replied, “Bringing the traveling Vietnam wall to Chillicothe. After his eight year stint as mayor of Chillicothe, he was appointed and served as city treasurer.

In addition to working at city hall, Irv worked at Northrup Oil and later at the Apollo Oil Company. In 1989 Irv started working as a sales rep in the Video Industry and went on to own and operate five video stores. As the video market began to fade, Irv got into real estate and built several shopping centers in town; Goose Creek, River Landing, the O’Reilly’s building, and also brought Alco to our town.

Besides all the things he has done for this city, he has over the years been President of the Rotary and Optimist clubs, St. Edwards athletic program, Summer Youth Activities, and the Community Needs Agency.

Irvin, a humble man, stated,” I believe the accomplishments listed are not mine alone, but a result of teamwork, with mayors, the city council, economic developers,  aldermen, and many citizens. The result has been a better community in which we can all live.”

Now retired, he and his wife Mary have a home in Chillicothe and a home in Arizona where they spend their winters relaxing and playing golf.

Thank you Irv for all your hard work and dedication in making Chillicothe the beautiful, thriving city that it is today.

Arizona’s Chillicothe Resident’s Reunion

Several years ago, when Harry and Marion Crull had a home in Mesa, AZ, they started a Chillicothe Reunion get together for residents of Chillicothe that were snow-birding in Arizona. It has grown over the years and now Irv Latta and his wife head it up and want to get the word out to anyone from Chillicothe that would like to join them. 

The 2023 Chillicothe Reunion luncheon will be Wednesday, February 8th at The Golden Corral Restaurant in Gilbert, AZ  (1318 N. Cooper Rd. Ph: 480-507-3331). The reunion reservations are for 11:30am under the name of “Chillicothe Reunion.”

There are probably many former Chillicotheans living in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area who aren’t aware of this annual reunion and Irv would like to get this information to them. If you know someone from the Chillicothe area who lives in the Phoenix area or will be visiting at this time, please let them know of this special gathering.

Irv has already emailed reminders to past attendees, so if your email address has changed since last year, please email him the change. If you don’t have an email address anymore, then please call him with your information.

Please let Irv know if you plan on attending and how many will be in your party by Friday, February 3rd so that he can give a count to the restaurant. RSVP to [email protected] or call/text him at 309-231-4532.