Nearly 40 District U46 graduates will be honored Thursday night during a dedication of Elgin High School’s Alumni Hall of Fame.
The celebration intends to recognize the efforts graduates who rank among the nation’s top scientists, actors and journalists, some of which will be posthumously inducted while others will attend the event, which coincides with homecoming week.
“This Wall of Fame reflects the strong legacy of EHS and shows how far we’ve come,” said EHS Principal Jerry Cook, also an EHS alum in a news release. “Our esteemed alumni inspire today’s students and it’s extremely exciting to be able to share this program with our students, staff, graduates, and especially the families of our inductees who have shared their loved one’s journey.”
In 1980, former Elgin High School teacher Richard Felicetti first began urging the U46 community to recognize the efforts of graduates from the school, which was founded in 1869.
It wasn’t until later when former principal Dave Smiley met five members of the Class of 1960 that the effort got underway, the release said. Together, the volunteers started archiving historical artifacts, including newspaper clippings, sports programs and yearbooks.
Cook, a Class of 1991 graduate, has led the effort to complete the Hall of Fame by adding plaques to the wall, to account for the 38 graduates who will be inducted in 2016, the release said.
A number of Elgin High School alumni will be honored on Thursday.
Class of
1883 - Max Adler
Benefactor of Adler Planetarium, Vice-President of Sears & Roebuck, Concert violinist
5/12/1866 – 11/4/1952
1901 - Jennie Christine “Jane” Peterson
Internationally Renowned Painter and Artist
1876 - 8/14/1965
1907 - Helen Miller Malloch
Founder of the National Federation of Press Women
11/8/1888 - 6/1963
1908 - Edna D. Geister
National Recreation Director of the YWCA
1917 - Mildred A. Engelbrecht
Bacteriologist, University of Alabama
1918 - Gail M. Dack, Ph.D, MD
Bacteriologist (Univ. of Chicago), internationally known authority on food borne diseases
1920 - John M. Qualen
Character Actor in over 100 films and Television Actor
1921 - Frank O'Beirne
Vice Admiral U.S. Navy, Director of Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1922 - Trygve Rovelstad
Renowned Sculptor & Medalist
1923 - James M. Roche
CEO of General Motors Corporation
1927 - Paul F. Flory
Polymer Chemist and Recipient of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
1934 - John R. Tobin
Dean Emeritus of Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine
1935 - Alfred Y. Kirkland, SR., JD
U.S. Federal Judge
1945 - Charles “Chick” L. Peterson
World Class Water Color Artist
1946 - Ray A. Barnhart
Federal Highway Administrator & Texas politician
1946 - James P. Kramer
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Research Entomologist
1946 - John P. Kramer, Ph.D
Entomologist & University Professor, N.C.State Cornell
1946 - John R. Mink, Ph.D
Founding faculty member of the Dental School at University of Kentucky
1946 - Charles E. Swanson
President of Encyclopedia Britannica
1948 - Marshall I. Goldman, Ph.D
Wellesley & Harvard University Professor (Economics), Author & Researcher
1949 - Dietrich “Jack” C. Bauer
Microbiology Scientist, Indiana University
1949 - John “Jack” S. Shales & Marlene “Kane” Shales
Philanthropist and Civic Leader
1951 - Douglas B. Nash
NASA Geologist, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Division of Space Sciences, Pasadena California
1951 - John W. Teets
CEO Greyhound, Dial & Armour
1953 - Wesley K. Foell, Ph.D
Environmental Scientist/Scholar, University of Wisconsin
1955 - Samuel A. Werner, Ph.D
Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of Missouri
1960 - Sara Melissa Hart
Miss Elgin - 1962 & Second City Alumni & Leading Character in the traveling production of “Cabaret” & a Tony Award nominated actress
1962 - Tom W. Shales
Television Critic for the Washington Post & 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
1963 - Brian Oldfield
Olympic Shot Putter and World Record Holder
1965 - Richard M. Hoover
Tony Award Winning Production Designer
1969 - Daniel M. Brewbaker
Renowned Composer
1969 - Richard “Rick” W. Sund
NBA Executive
1971 - Deborah A. Lathen, JD
Bureau Chief at the FCC
1972 - Harold “Hal” Getzelman
NASA’s Capsule Communicator Chief Engineer
1973 - Jay Geldmacher
Executive Vice President of Emerson Electric
1974 - Joseph Incandela
Ph.D, American Particle Physicist
1976 - George A. Lesieutre, Ph.D
Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
1978 - Nina Burleigh
Journalist and Best Selling Author