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2007 Osage Distinguished Alumni banquet set April 28
The Osage Education Foundation and All-School Reunion Committee have announced that they will be holding their annual Distinguished Alumni Reception on Saturday, April 28 at the Sunny Brae Country Club. An appetizer buffet will take place from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., with the night's program beginning at 6:30.
Tickets for the reception are $15 per person and will be available at local banks or by mail at "Osage Education Foundation", P.O. Box 82, Osage, IA. 50461.
All alumni and local residents are encouraged to attend. Anyone who has been a part of supporting the Osage School's educational and extracurricular activities in any way would be welcomed at the reception.
Keynote Speaker for the evening will be Tom Fish, class of 1971. For 27 years Fish was involved in education as a teacher, coach, high school principal and superintendent. Currently, he is Vice-President of Marketing for Construction Services, Inc. in Des Moines.
The Osage Community School Distinguished Alumni Award has been established to recognize graduates of Osage High School for outstanding achievements and contributions to society following graduation. The recipients reflect strong role models for current students at Osage High School.
To be selected as a Distinguished Alumni, candidates must meet the following criteria:
* Must have graduated from Osage High School at least ten years prior to nomination.
* Must have contributed to society in an exemplary manner.
* Must have achieved outstanding success in any of the following areas:, the arts, business, community service, humanitarian efforts, or their profession.
This year the Osage Education Foundation is honoring six past graduates: Tom Fish, class of 1971; Pam Norby Johnson, class of 1968; Mike Hanna, class of 1966; James Schweiger, class of 1947; Clarkson Lee Kelly, class of 1943; Oswald Arthur Smith, class of 1942.
Profiles of the six inductees are listed below:
Thomas J. Fish - 1971
Tom Fish was born in Osage and attended school here until graduation in 1971. He is the son of Annabelle Fish and the late Bob Fish.
After graduation Tom entered the University of Northern Iowa and graduated with a degree in mathematics education. He later obtained his Master of Science degree in Educational Administration from Iowa State in 1983. In 1993, Tom received his Educational Specialist degree from Drake. He also earned his Doctorate in Education from Drake in 2002. Tom had a career in education for 27 years in which he served as a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent.
He was a mathematics instructor and coach from 1975-1978 at Maquoketa Valley Schools in Delhi, IA. From 1978-1981, he taught math and coached at Y-J-B High School in Jamaica, IA.
In 1981, Tom moved to Ankeny High School where he taught all levels of math, served as the math department chairperson and was head boy's track coach and an assistant varsity football coach.
Tom moved into an administrative role at Ankeny in 1988 where he served as an associate high school principal and high school Special Education Coordinator until 1994.
In 1994, he accepted the high school principal's job at Norwalk where for four years he was building leader for 600 students and 50 staff members.
In 1998, Tom was promoted to Superintendent of Schools for Norwalk. He was the educational leader for over 2100 students and 330 employees. He remained at Norwalk until 2002.
From 2002 to the present, Tom has served as President/Vice President of Marketing for Construction Services, Inc of West Des Moines. Construction Services, Inc is a construction management company specializing in public school projects. He has served as a project executive for over 20 education projects totaling over $50 million.
Tom has won countless awards in the area of education including the Milken National Educator Award, Iowa Assistant Principal of the Year, IHSAA Outstanding Administrator Award and was a National Honor Society National Board Member.
He has served on a variety of community boards including Red Cross, Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, National Honor Society and many others.
Tom has also been a speaker at numerous educational conventions and conferences during his distinguished career.
Tom and his wife Cindy currently live in Ankeny. Cindy is an events coordinator for the Ankeny Chamber of Commerce. Cindy and Tom were blessed with two daughters, Emily and Lindsay.
Pam Norby Johnson - 1968
Pam Norby Johnson is a 1968 graduate of Osage High School. She grew up on a farm where she developed a deep love of agriculture. Pam is a fifth generation Iowa farmer, the daughter of John and Bonnie Norby. She has been working for 34 years in partnership with her husband Maurice. She has served as a volunteer in many commodity groups throughout the years and has become a strong advocate for agricultural and rural economic development issues on a local, state and national level. Elected by her peers, Pam is an executive director of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, serving as immediate past chair. The ICPB represents farmers across Iowa, with the mission of creating long term profitability for corn growers by developing and defending markets, funding research and providing education about corn and corn products.
Pam has been a representative with the United States grain counsel and has negotiated for grain trade in countries such as Russia, Hungary, Mexico and Cuba.
Pam is active in the local Farm Bureau and has served as a county officer.
Pam also represents farmers at the national level by working with other corn grower leaders to formulate farm policy and advocate for research dollars to ensure a bright future for the next generation.
She chairs the research committee at the National Corn Growers Association and serves on a trade team of the United States Grain Council. Iowa's farm community recently recognized Pam by awarding her the 2006 Woman in Ag Award. She also was awarded the Iowa Farm Bureau Ag Spokesman of the Year Award in 2002.
Before farming full-time, Pam worked as a registered nurse. She graduated from the Northwestern Hospital School of Nursing in Minneapolis. Pam has also been very active in her community and is a pianist for her church.
Pam and husband Maurice have hosted many farm tours for the international farm and agricultural industry, including groups from South Africa and Russia.
Pam is very passionate about preserving the concept of the family farm and the future of value added agriculture to sustain and promote the farming industry in rural America.
Pam and Maurice have two sons who have returned to the Osage area to farm, Ben and his wife of Floyd and Andy of St. Ansgar. Pam's brothers Dana, Steve and Randy and families also reside in Osage.
Mike Hanna - 1966
Mike Hanna is the son of Jim and Geneva Hanna. He graduated from Osage High School in 1966. Hanna stated, " I have truly valued my years growing up in Osage and the opportunity to attend Osage Schools up through my graduation in 1966. My educational experiences in Osage, were indeed, an inspiration to my seeking a 36 -year career as a teacher and administrator in Iowa public schools."
Hanna continued, "I was inspired by such OCHS immortals from the 1960's such as Jim Neuwohner, "Granny" Eileen Markham, Lynn Haakenson, Leroy Huegli, Al Swenson and Keith Duncan."
Mike went off to UNI in 1966 to become a teacher. After receiving his BA in English Education in 1970, he taught Language Arts as well as coaching and sponsoring everything from boy's basketball and track to yearbook, newspaper, speech and drama for 12 years in several eastern Iowa school districts.
Mike has also served as a K-12 curriculum director for three Iowa school districts. He also serves as an adjunct instructor at the School of Education for Buena Vista University.
In 1982 Mike received his Master's Degree in Educational Administration from the University of Iowa and began his 25+ year career as a high school principal. Mike is faced with the challenge of administrating the Storm Lake School District where minority students now actually comprise the majority at the school.
Mike is in his 17th year as principal at Storm Lake. The school was awarded one of Iowa's first charter school grants to establish an Early College High School charter targeting minority and low socio-economic Latino, Asian and Sudanese students who make up 49 per cent of the 750 students at Storm Lake.
Mike was recognized as Storm Lake's 2006 Citizen of the Year and serves on the Iowa State Charter Schools Advisory Committee. He also serves on the Iowa Jobs for America's Graduates Board of Directors and on the Board of Trustees of the Sudanese Gambella Relief Organization.
He is a two-time recipient of the Iowa's FINE (First in the Nation in Education) Award and has also been honored with the Recognition Award for comprehensive school programs in 1988 and 1996. He has been selected Iowa High School Press Association Administrator of the Year, Iowa Association of Student Councils Administrator of the Year and Iowa Technology Education Connection Administrator of the Year.
Mike is a 20-year member of the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development and is a current ASCD board member and past secretary, president-elect and president for the group.
Mike has been married for 33 years to wife Pam and the couple has three grown children, Katie, a 7/8 science teacher, Kelly, a free lance court reporter and Kurt, who is finishing up a math teaching and coaching degree at Buena Vista and four grandchildren.
James Schweiger - 1947
Jim is the son of Bill and Louise Schweiger. He first began his educational journey in country school, then graduated from Osage High School in 1947. He fondly remembers his favorite teacher, Blanche Tresmer, who encouraged him to learn to read.
After leaving Osage, Jim attended Loras College in Dubuque and then moved on to the University of Iowa School Dentistry where he graduated in 1954.
Jim spent 1954-56 as a captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corp stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. After his discharge from the Army, he returned to the University of Iowa where he enrolled and completed a residency program in Prosthodontics and earned a Master of Science degree.
From 1956 to 1970, Jim held a variety of positions in the University of Iowa School Dentistry and Medicine. He began as an Assistant instructor and concluded his career as a Professor of Prosthetic Dentistry and Professor of Otolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery. During his time at Iowa he was also a consultant to the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Iowa City.
In 1970 Jim moved to Philadelphia and accepted the position of Professor and Head of the Division of Dentistry, Department of Otolaryngology College of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University.
In 1973, he accepted the position of Clinical Professor of Prosthodontics at Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia and consultant to Wilmington Medical Surgery Center and Dentistry in Delaware.
During his time, he was also Chief of Maxillofacial Prosthetics at the Veteran's Administration Center in Wilmington, Delaware, where, at the request of the Veteran's Administration in Washington, D.C., opened the first maxillofacial clinic for veterans in the eastern half of the United States.
In addition to these commitments, which he held for ten years, Jim became the Chief of Dental Services at the Veteran's Administration in Wilmington, served as a consultant to the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and was also appointed Clinical Professor of Orthodontics and Pedodontics at University of Pennsylvania School Dentistry.
During his tenure at the VA in Wilmington, the program he organized for injuries to the face was recognized in the newspapers. The newspaper article was read by Pierre S. Dupont, a member of Congress, who then submitted a copy of the article to be part of the Congressional Record for June 12, 1975.
Jim's research encompassed improvement in the care of cleft palate patients, use of silicone elastomers in the treatment of head and neck trauma and cancer patients and the development of a technique to use implants in cancer patients.
In 1983, Jim left Pennsylvania and became Chief of Dental Service in the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, a position he held for five years. During that time, he was a consultant to the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, consultant to the U.S. Coast Guard at Governor's Island, New York and Professor of Removal Prosthodontics at New York University School Dentistry.
From 1987 to 1991, he was appointed Chairman and Professor of Prosthodontics at the Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery in New York City. At this time, he was also Chief of Maxillofacial Prosthodontics at the Bronx VA Center in New York.
During his time at Columbia University, he introduced the school to the concept of creating a true specialty division with a strong postgraduate program. Dr. Schweiger implemented educational standards in prosthodontics for pre-doctoral students and formed close ties with Harlem hospital and the Bronx VA Medical Center. The Harlem hospital program has led to the training of a significant number of African-American and Latino prosthodontists.
During his career Dr. Schweiger belonged to numerous professional and educational organizations. He also presented a large number of courses throughout the U.S. on dental care and management of maxillofacial and cancer patients, as well as clinics on cleft palate rehabilitation.
He has also authored over 45 articles in referred dental and medical journals and has written seven chapters in medical textbooks.
After retiring, Jim remained on the faculty at Columbia and has helped establish residency and training programs at the university. On May 7, 2001, Jim was honored by the School of Dental and Oral Surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital with the dedication of the James W. Schwieger Prosthodontic Treatment Room.
Jim and his wife Joyce reside in Fayetteville, PA. His brothers are Don Schweiger and wife Jill of Osage and Bert Schweiger and wife Pat of Marshalltown. His sister was the late Mary Ann Heimer.
Clarkson Lee Kelly - 1943
Clarkson was the son of Clarkson and Marian Walker Kelly, Sr. He graduated from Osage High School in 1943 and joined the Navy V-12 officers program. The Navy sent Clarkson to Saint Lawrence University in Canton, New York where graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. From there, he moved on to the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, which was sponsored by the United States Navy V-12 program.
In 1945 he was united in marriage to Ruth Lybarger at Osage.
Clarkson was drafted and served in the United States Army from 1951 to 1954, where he served as a surgeon while stationed in Germany.
Later, during his residency, Clarkson treated coal miners in West Virginia, served as one of the physicians for the University of Pennsylvania football team and also was a substitute physician for the Philadelphia Eagles.
In 1958, Clarkson and Ruth moved to Charles City where he began his practice as a general surgeon.
Wife Ruth died in 1971. Clarkson remarried in 1972 to Phyllis Stalker Friedrich.
While practicing at Charles City, Clarkson was Board Certified in general surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. During his years in medical practice he drove to Cresco, Osage and New Hampton to perform surgery and help other physicians.
He was also a member of the Floyd County Medical Society, the Iowa Medical Society and the American Medical Association, serving as an Iowa delegate to the AMA from 1986-1995.
His civic achievements included serving on the Board of Directors for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa and South Dakota and being named as Director Emeritus of Blue Cross and Blue Shield in 1997. Clarkson was a member of the Board of the Floyd County Veteran's Memorial Hospital for 1965-1972 and was instrumental in the construction of the present Floyd County Memorial Hospital. He also served as chairman of the Comprehensive Systems Foundation of Charles City.
From 1997-2003 he was a member of the Iowa Board of Regents.
Clarkson will be remembered as a staunch supporter of the Republican Party and over the years, he donated his time and talents to civic, school and church projects.
His interests included his devotion to his work, reading, golfing, cooking, hunting and fishing. Clarkson always looked forward to spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren.
Dr. Clarkson Kelly died on January 30, 2007. He is survived by his wife Phyllis, children Clarkson, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Christopher, Tom, stepson James Friedrich, five grandchildren, four step-grandchildren and three brothers, Thomas, James and William.
Oswald Arthur Schmidt - 1942
Oswald Schmidt was the third of four children born to Karl and Helena Schmidt. Oswald prepared for his eventual life around the globe through the lessons of diligence and faithfulness he learned in Oasge while growing up during the Depression years. He spent his summers with his brothers harvesting corn and potatoes on a leased lot in order to help feed the family. He and his brothers learned to create toys and gadgets out of old dry cell batteries, John Deere crating and old Model T spark coils.
Oswald's life changed in 1943 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After graduating from Osage High, he was drafted into the army. Oswald served with the 85th infantry in Italy.
He was wounded in battle by enemy fire and earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
After his eventual discharge from the army hospital, Oswald enrolled at Valpariso University. After two years, he transferred to Purdue University and graduated in 1950 with a degree in Civil Engineering.
After graduation from Purdue he worked for four years for the New York Central Railroad.
Oswald then embarked on a 40-year career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Los Angeles. While there, he met and married Audrey Lundy.
In 1963, he moved his family to Seattle, where he continued his work with the Corps. In 1968, Oswald accepted an assignment in Nuremburg, Germany where he was promoted to Deputy Post Engineer at Camp Darby. He also served on the Board of Governors of the Bavarian-American Hotel. His forty years with the Corps in the area of design and construction led to a variety of assignments, including jobs in Italy, Saudi Arabia and Kaiserlautern, Germany. The Corps awarded him the Commander's Medal for his years of government service.
Oswald held many other positions over the years including: Chief of Building and Grounds, North Bayern Engineering District in Germany, Designer at Edwards and Vandenberg Air Force bases, Hydraulic Engineer, Flood Control Planning Branch in Los Angeles, Specifications Writer for many large military and civil works projects, Chief Architect and Engineer for Contract Section in Seattle, Washington and Project Manager for the Safeguard Missile System construction in Montana.
Oswald's voluteer work included service on the board of Concordia Lutheran School in Seattle, Alaska outdoor ministry chairmen Of the Lutheran Laymen's League, chairman of the Laymen's camp and Habitat for Humanity volunteer.
He and Audrey now reside in Locust Grove, Virginia. They have a daughter Laurie who also lives with her husband in Virginia and has four children and a step-son John who resides in Alaska with his wife and two children.
--by Warren Haacke, Press-News Reporter
Story created Mar 27, 2007 - 12:24:46 CDT.
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