OTTAWA HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME 2009

EDWARD “SLIP” MADIGAN Class of 1915 Edward Madigan is enshrined in the Hall of Fame. At Ottawa High he was the star and captain of the 1913 football team, which was Ottawa’s first unbeaten team, finishing with a record of 6-0-2. He was also an outstanding baseball player in high school. He played college football for the legendary at Notre Dame, where his last season he was a team- mate of ’s on Rockne’s first undefeated and untied team. After graduation from Notre Dame he coached one season at Columbia Prep in Portland, Oregon, winning a city championship with a team that a year earlier had not won a game. He then moved to the collegiate coaching ranks, taking over a floundering football program at Saint Mary’s College in California, and within six years had developed it into one of the strongest football programs on the West Coast. Though the school’s enrollment rarely exceeded 500, they became a nationally known football powerhouse, defeating teams like, USC, UCLA, California, and Stanford. In 1938 the Saint Mary Gaels were invited to play in the Cotton Bowl, defeating Texas Tech, 20-13. Edward “Slip” Madigan also coached the Iowa Hawkeyes for two years. In 1992, Sports Illustrated featured Madigan in a ten page article, noting therein that as a result of his celebrity as a football coach, he associated with President Herbert Hoover, Errol Flynn, Spencer Tracy, and Babe Ruth, among others. The article noted also that Knute Rockne refused to schedule Saint Mary’s and that in the midst of the Great Depression, Madigan was the highest-paid football coach in the country with earnings estimated at more than $30,000 annually.

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DR. FRANK BELLROSE Class of 1934 Dr. Frank Bellrose had an outstanding career in ornithology (the study of birds) and waterfowl ecology. He attended the University of Illinois, earning a B.S. degree in Zoology in 1938. He worked professionally with the Illinois Natural History Survey. As the result of his life long dedication and storied career, the Frank C. Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center near Havana, Illinois has been named in his honor. He is known most particularly for his study of the wood duck, and his pioneering work on lead poisoning as a mortality factor among waterfowl is one of his most important contributions and a major factor in the replacement of lead with nontoxic shot. He is known also for his innovative study methods and his ecological findings have made apparent the detrimental effect of sedimentation on the lakes of the Illinois Valley. Dr. Bellrose is a world-renowned author. He has published more than 110 scientific and popular articles. His book Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America has sold more than 350,000 copies and along with the more recently published, Ecology and Management of the Wood Duck, is considered a classic, with each receiving the Wildlife Society’s Publication of the Year Awards. In recognition of his long and productive career, Western Illinois University and McMurray College each awarded him honorary Doctor of Science degrees. He received the Professional Award of Merit from the Illinois Chapter of the Wildlife Society in 1979, and in 1985 The Wildlife Society awarded him the Aldo Leopold Award, its most prestigious award. February 1, 1988, was declared “Frank Bellrose Day” by Illinois Governor James Thompson. In 2001, Dr. Bellrose was selected as a charter inductee into the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame.

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MAJOR GENERAL ALBERT W. SCHINZ, retired Class of 1937 General Schinz completed his primary and secondary education in Ottawa. He began his military career in 1940 in the U.S. Army Air Corps, serving later as a pilot, flight commander, operations officer, squadron officer, and then deputy group commander in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. He later graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1948 with a degree in Business Administration. After graduation his accomplished military career included, serving in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations at the Headquarters of the U.S. Air Force in Washington, D.C., deputy commander 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea, Deputy Director of Operations of the Ninth Air Force, Commander of the 50th Fighter Bomber Group in Europe, Director of Operations and Training at the U.S. Air Forces Headquarters in Europe, Director and Chief of Staff for oper- ations at Headquarters Armed Forces Special Weapons Project in Washington, D.C. Beginning in 1960 he assumed command of various tactical air command organizations, became Chief of the Air Force Advisory Group, U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam, assumed command of the USAF Tactical Air Warfare Center, served as deputy chief of staff of operations of the Tactical Air Command at Langley Air Force Base, and commanded the Twelfth Air Force at Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas. General Schinz had more that 4,000 military flying hours, with decorations including the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star for gallantry in action, Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, and four Distinguished Flying Crosses. Life Magazine, in 1952, highlighted his ordeals endured on a deserted island after being shot down in Korea behind enemy lines.

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PAUL A. GERDING Class of 1939 Paul Gerding received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois. He began his professional career as a mechanical engineer for the Ottawa Silica Company, rising to the level of vice president of operations. He later purchased Bellrose Sand Company, renaming it Bellrose Silica Company and served as the company president through a prosperous 20 year period until the company was sold to Unimin Corporation. He was a longtime director of the First National Bank of Ottawa. He chaired with Andrew O’Conor a committee to raise funds for the construction of Community Hospital of Ottawa, at its current location. He continued to serve on the CHO Board of Governors for 21 years. Paul Gerding also served on the Ottawa Township High School Board of Education, the Mental Health Board, the Campfire Board, the YMCA Board of Trustees, and the Scouting Museum Board. In 2004 he received the Distinguished Alumnus award from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois. He received the Jaycees Citizen of the Year Award in 1968. He headed a Blue Ribbon Committee which was established to alleviate flooding problems at OTHS.

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LOUIS BOWMAN Class of 1947 Louis Bowman graduated from the University of Illinois in 1951 with a degree in Engineering, and then served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1951 to 1953. Following his service, he worked in Chicago for Albert Benesch and Associates until he retired in 1989. Subsequently, he and an associate formed their own company, Bowman, Barrett and Associates, Inc., where he has served as Chairman of the firm with offices in downtown Chicago. The firm is a design engineering firm. Louis Bowman is a notable authority on transportation and engineering issues. Louis designed the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge in Ottawa, Illinois and portions of U.S. Interstate 80, including the design of the Interstate 80 bridge spanning the Fox River near Dayton, Illinois. A project of Mr. Bowman’s currently under construction is the modern- ization of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. He is a registered professional engineer in seven states, a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, member and past Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Planning and Design Division of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, and a member of the Board of Directors for University of Illinois Civil Engineering Alumni Association, among other memberships. He was awarded the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2006 Civil Engineer of the Year Award and is a recipient of the March of Dimes 2008 Transportation Award.

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CHARLES ALIKONIS Teacher/Coach Charles Alikonis, was a science instructor at Ottawa Township High School for 38 years. He received his Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science degrees, along with further advanced education attending Illinois Wesleyan University, University of Michigan, Tulane University, Southern Illinois University, Western Washington State College, and Boston College. He served OTHS as the Science Department Chair as well as teaching general science, biology, and advanced biology. His program was known for the annual flower, leaf, and insect collections required of all beginning Biology students, and which were both dreaded and enjoyed. His students that chose to continue their post-secondary education in the sciences routinely and consistently complimented the quality of preparation and instruction that they had received at OTHS. A student- initiated effort resulted in the tribute of having his former classroom, room 808, named in his honor in 1997. In his early years of employment, Charles Alikonis also coached football at the school. He was instrumen- tal in the decision to include a greenhouse in the Shannon Building addition, unusual and innovative for the time. Charles Alikonis was uni- versally acknowledged by other educators, school administrators, students, and the community at large as epitomizing the ideal of a professional teacher, inspiring and encouraging life-long learning, relating to his students while maintaining high expectations for achievement, and continually enhancing his own skills in order to prepare his students for future success in the sciences, and other fields of endeavor.

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DR. PHILLIP HEEMSTRA Class of 1959 Dr. Heemstra has become one of the world’s foremost ichthyologists, a branch of zoology that deals with fishes. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Zoology from the University of Illinois in 1963, his M.S. degree in Marine Biology from the University of Miami in 1968, and his Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the University of Miami in 1974. Dr. Heemstra is the Curator Emeritus of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB). He co-edited the comprehensive Smiths’ Sea Fishes with Margaret Smith and is widely recognized as a leading international authority on marine fishes. He has published numerous other papers and scientific treatises in the field. His latest book, produced with his wife Elaine, is entitled Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa. The scientific efforts of Dr. Heemstra and Elaine Heemstra to understand, illustrate, and explain the fishes of the Indian Ocean to scientists and the general public have been recognized by naming an entire fish species heemstraorum in their honor. Dr. Heemstra received the J.L.B. Institute of Ichthyology Council Award for Exceptional Accomplishments by an Institute Employee in 1988, the Bill Venter Book Award in 1990 for his work on Smiths’ Sea Fishes, the South African Foundation for Research Development Special Merit Award for Museum Scientists in 1993, and in 2000 the Director’s Award of the JLB Smith Institute for exceptional achievement, among other professional accomplishments.

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DR. SUSAN CAREY Class of 1960 Susan Carey received her B.A. degree from Radcliffe College. She proceeded to teach school in Tanzania, then won a Fulbright Fellowship to London University, before moving to Harvard University for graduate school. She earned her PhD from Harvard in experimen- tal psychology in 1971. After previously teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and New York University, Dr. Carey joined the Harvard University faculty in 2001. She holds a named professorship and serves as Chair of the Department of Psychology at Harvard. Dr. Carey has been awarded the 2009 Rumelhart Prize, the highest honor awarded in the field of Cognitive Science, for her career of field-changing theoretical and empirical work on cognitive development. She is a member of the most prestigious honorary society for scientists in the United States, the National Academy of Sciences, as well as the British Academy and numerous other esteemed selections and appointments. Dr. Carey is the author of an extensive number of published articles, books, and chapters in compiled books and texts. Her research concerns conceptual development, seeking to explain the human capacity to think thoughts so beyond the reach of other animals. She studies the minds of non-human animals and humans to help uncover the hidden working of the minds of human infants, young children, and adults. Her studies have been widely acknowledged for their contribu- tions in advancing cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and the comparative study of human and non-human primates.

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R.C. JOHNSON Class of 1960 R.C. Johnson was a standout athlete during his high school years. He was the MVP and Captain of the 1959 football squad coached by Bill Novak that finished 8-0-1. He was also a starter on the 1960 basketball team coached by Gil Love that went to the Elite Eight and finished 31-2, the best record still to date in the history of OTHS basketball. R.C. Johnson competed in five sports at OTHS, was Freshman class president and vice president during his Senior year. He moved on to collegiate football at the . He entered football coaching as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa, Northern Iowa, and Mankato State University, then moved on to coach at Youngstown State University before continu- ing his career as Director of Athletics at the collegiate level – first at Northern Iowa, then Eastern Illinois University, Miami University, Temple University, and the University of Memphis. At Temple, he directed a pro- gram with more than 500 student-athletes competing in 20 men’s and women’s sports, including nationally visible programs in men’s basketball and football. At the University of Memphis he has structured a very suc- cessful array of coaching staffs and has brought the athletic program into national prominence. He has lead very successful capital campaigns for the University of Memphis, bringing the programs in excess of $20 mil- lion, as well as negotiating lucrative multimedia rights to benefit the school. A strong believer in academic excellence, under his guidance Memphis boasts an 89 percent graduation rate of all student-athletes com- pleting their eligibility, and ranks in the top 30 percent nationally for the NCAA’s Annual Progress Rates measurement of academic performance.

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AMY (JOHNSON) DEVERTEUIL Class of 1993

Amy Johnson was an outstanding athlete at Ottawa High. She is the all time leading scorer in basketball, both boy’s and girl’s, with 1,781 points as a four year varsity starter for the Girl’s basketball program. She is also the all time leading girl’s rebounder with 730 rebounds. She averaged 17.3 points per game during her career, with the record for most points in a single game, 45. The Lady Pirates were 23-4 her senior year, and she was named All-State and played in the IBCA all-state game. Amy Johnson also played softball for three years and volleyball for two, leading the softball team in hitting her freshman year. She earned a basketball scholarship to the University of Michigan, where she started 63 games, averaging nine points a game for the Big Ten Wolverines. Her career high at Michigan was a 31 point game. She also competed for the Michigan track team, earning a varsity letter as a javelin thrower, thereby lettering in two sports at the Division I university.

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