CLASS NOTES Alumni 1950s In honor of Doris McClatchey Gerner, ’51, and her late husband, James Gerner, ’52, the Park Hill (Mo.) School District renamed its early childhood center the Park Hill Gerner Family Early Childhood Center. The Gerners owned a farm on the property that now includes Park Hill High School, Congress Middle School, the childhood center and the district office. In addition, Doris served on Park Hill School Board from 1972-78.
Felipe E. Bustillo III, ’74, M.D., was appointed by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback as a commissioner of the Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission. He also has been appointed to the Health Occupations Credentialing Technical Committee. Bustillo is the co-founder and owner of Rural Physicians Research Alliance LLC, comprised of 17 practices conducting clinical trials in 14 clinics in Kansas. Susan Kensett McGaughey, ’74, Rich McGaughey, ’73, and Becky Evans Montanino, ’75, traveled together to Italy last fall and shared their Park pride with the world.
Vernon C. Reeves, ’55, retired June 1 after 35 years as a manufacturer representative serving the industrial, construction, highway and safety markets in the Southeast. Vern and his wife, Bobbie Lu, live in Fayetteville, N.C. Mary Ann Offutt Leveton, x56, performs two nights per week playing and singing at a piano bar in Denver where she performs all types of music. She also plays private parties and conventions. She said, “It is a good life!”
1960s Beverly Reece Dame, ’67, retired after more than 50 years in the workforce, including time working in Park University’s mailroom and for the Department of Political Science. She and her husband, W. Page Dame III, will be spending most of their time in the eastern townships of Quebec.
1970s Barbara Inman Beall, x70, wrote Rebel from Back Creek: James Byron Dean (1931-1955). Released in May, the book was published by Aventine Press.
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Francis Campbell, ’78, received two Presidential Volunteer Service Awards from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. The Gold Level Award, recognizing 500 or more service hours in one year, was for his volunteer activities in 2011. The President’s Call to Service Award recognized Campbell’s lifetime accumulation of more than 10,000 volunteer hours. In addition, Campbell received the John Paul II Medal for Outstanding Service to the Knights of Columbus in May 2011.
1980s Jose R. Ruiz, ’83, Ph.D., is president of the University Aviation Association for 2012-13. He is a professor in the Department of Aviation Management and Flight at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He also serves as the department’s airline flight operations internship coordinator.
Michele Hicks, ’89, earned a Doctor of Education with a concentration in Educational Leadership degree from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on June 9. She is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education.
1990s Ernie Lentz, ’92, M.P.A. ’04, is president of the National Water Safety Congress. The NWSC, headquartered in Mentor, Ohio, is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to promoting safe use of both private and public water resources in the U.S. Lentz is a geographic information systems program manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Coldwater, Miss. James E. Davis, ’93, is director of business development at Grant Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio. Davis is charged with growing the hospital through expansion into new geographic areas, expanding clinical services and adding a new health center. Ricky C. Godbolt, ’93, Ph.D., is the director of the Center of Trades and Energy Training at the College of Southern Maryland, La Plata. He represents CTET in the community, directs day-to-day operations of the center, develops courses and services that prepare students for the workforce and oversees instructors and staff. Richard Wells, ’95, is dean of intelligence management programs, Henley-Putman University, Santa Clara, Calif. Brig. Gen. Gregory Mason, M.P.A. ’96, is assistant adjunct general of the Missouri National Guard.