Class Acts
CLASS ACTS Spring 2009 1940’s
Marie Anderson Abney, ’44, Richmond, Ky., was featured in the Richmond Register for her tireless work at the Pattie A. Clay Regional Medical Center same-day surgery unit. She has also volunteered for the American Red Cross and Open Concern, which supplies highquality used clothing to lowincome families in Madison County.
1950’s
Dr. Joy Hager, ’59, Berea, Ky., is professor of physical education at Berea College. She received the Walter H. Mustaine Award from the Kentucky Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She began teaching at Berea in 1961 with a $33 travel budget and no women’s intercollegiate sports program. Today, largely due to her efforts, Berea women compete in eight intercollegiate sports. She served on the executive board of Citizens for Sports Equity and received national recognition for her work in sports equity when she won the Pathfinders Award of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sports. She is married to Paul Hager, ’54, ’62.
1960’s
Dr. Luel Overstreet, ’61, Henderson, Ky., was inducted into the Kentucky Harness Horsemen’s Hall of Fame in September 2008. A veterinarian and a Standardbred owner, he has sent 3,349 of his horses to the winner’s circle. Finishing in the money more than 10,200 times, his horses have totaled a little more than $16 million in winnings in 25,335 starts. He had his greatest success on the track with Dorunrun Bluegrass, the national Horse of the Year in 1990, the same year that Overstreet was
26 Eastern
named Kentucky’s Horseman of the Year. His greatest win in life, though, was surviving an accident on June 6, 2006, when a 4,000-pound hay stacker closed on his neck. He managed to pull free, drive a half-mile to a worker who brought him to a hospital, and return to work three weeks later. Dr. Overstreet was inducted into Eastern’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 1994. James Tanner, ’61, Harrodsburg, Ky., received his Ph.D. in chemistry at University of Kentucky and taught in Carnegie-Mellon’s chemistry department while consulting with NASA in analysis of lunar samples and trace elements in meteorites. In his 30 years at the Food and Drug Administration, he was instrumental in developing safe infant formulas and food labeling databases. He became executive vice president of science for Food Research, Inc. and is now retired with his wife Bonnie. Former players for NAIA Hall of Fame Coach Roland Wierwille, ’61, Berea, Ky., performed in November at Berea College’s Seabury Center arena. The players are now high school coaches invited for the “High School Coaches Challenge,” a benefit for the athletic department. Wierwille coached the Berea Mountaineers from 1972–2002, won 460 games and took teams to the national tournament five times, including three consecutive appearances from 1998-2000. He was named Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) Coach of the Year five times. Deborah Anne Murrell, ’64, Louisville, Ky., is president of Bullitt County Retired Teachers. Rodney E. Gale, ’67, retired in 2002 from the Port Clinton (Ohio) City School System after 35 years. He coached various levels of basketball, football and tennis as athletic director or assistant athletic director for 25 years and in 2003 was honored with the prestigious Northwest Athletic District Mac Morrison Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008 he was elected to the Port Clinton Athletic Hall of Fame. Jane Munson Hogg, ’67, former curator of EKU’s J.T. Morris Museum (1972-l984), is now the innkeeper of the Inn at Glen
Alpine, a B&B set on five acres in the foothills of North Carolina. Susan Ledford, ’67, Stanford, Ky., has been re-elected to the Garrard County (Ky.) Board of Education, having taught in the county for 30 years before joining the Board in 2000. Since then she has seen many positive changes, including improved test scores, renovation of a new high school expected to be complete for the 2010-2011 school year, and a new alignment of classes. Kenneth Harlan Green, ’64, ’68, and Lynn Julian Green, ’65, ’70, live in Johnson City, Tenn. When he retired after 30 years as head football coach at Daniel Boone High School in Gray, Tenn., the field was renamed Ken Green Field. Helen Winburn Gardner, ’69, Shelbyville, Ky., retired in 2002 and now owns Gardner House Antiques and Helen Gardner Realty. Dr. Jeffrey Okeson, ’69, Lexington, Ky., a member of Eastern’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni, recently received the “International Dentist of the Year Award” from the Academy of Dentistry International for his worldwide efforts to promote treatments for Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) and orofacial pain. Dr. Okeson has given 700+ invited presentations throughout the U.S. and in 45 foreign countries. He is professor and chair of the department of oral health science at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry and director of the College’s Orofacial Pain Program.
1970’s
John A. Noland, ’70, of the Fort Myers, Fla., law firm Henderson Franklin, is included in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. He is chair of the commercial litigation practice area and general counsel and is
active in the Florida Bar, having been a member of its Board of Governors. He is a member of the Foundation Legal Assistance to the Poor Committee and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. For three consecutive years, John has been named by Florida Super Lawyers magazine as one of the top attorneys in Florida. Ellen Gutknecht, ’71, Franksville, Wis., has been teaching art at Salem Grade School for 37 years. Margaret J. Baber Hunter, ’71, Lexington, Ky., received her master’s degree in education from Morehead University, taught in Estill County, Ashland Independent, Shelby, Danville and Boyle County Schools and is now retired. Alice A. Tillatson Meador, ’72, Clermont, Fla., retired in 2004 from Fort Knox Community Schools. Robert “Bobby” Trumbo, ’72, retired in 2005 from 33 years at Danville High School in Danville, Ky. Gary Logston, ’73, Arlington, Texas, joined Hanson Professional Services Inc.’s Dallas office, using his more than 30 years’ experience in the industry as senior aviation planner. He will provide project management and administration for all aspects of airport planning and environmental studies. Previously, he worked on planning for airports in Houston, Orlando, Anchorage, Tennessee Airport System, Montréal and Chicago. Christopher “Chris” Moore, ’73, Nicholasville, Ky., was recently elected city commissioner of Nicholasville. Owner of Nicholasville Paint & Decorating, he hopes to help make Kentucky more friendly to small businesses and keep college graduates working and raising their families in Ky. Dennis Preston, ’73, Danville, Ky., former Boyle County High School band director, is now winning contests as a reincarnation of a certain King of Rock and Roll with gigs and competitions throughout the region. He keeps his hair in a black pompadour even when not wearing his $2,500 custom-made