EDWARD “SLIP” MADIGAN Class of 1915 Edward Madigan Is Enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame
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OTTAWA HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME 2009 EDWARD “SLIP” MADIGAN Class of 1915 Edward Madigan is enshrined in the College Football 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 Knute Rockne at Notre Dame, where his last season he was a team- mate of George Gipp’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. 50768 we12x15 cit 39x tt 4h/cit 40 tt 4h rosettes cust. pickup 1-19 OTTAWA HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME 2009 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. 50768 we12x15 cit 39x tt 4h/cit 40 tt 4h rosettes cust. pickup 1-19 OTTAWA HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME 2009 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. 50768 we12x15 cit 39x tt 4h/cit 40 tt 4h rosettes cust. pickup 1-19 OTTAWA HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME 2009 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. 50768 we12x15 cit 39x tt 4h/cit 40 tt 4h rosettes cust. pickup 1-19 OTTAWA HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME 2009 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. 45454 we12x15 cit 39x tt 4h/cit 40 tt 4h rosettes cust. pickup 1-10 OTTAWA HIGH SCHOOL HALL OF FAME 2009 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.