PA N T H E R PA C K Cheryl Hoffman ’98 of Coudersport is a regional quality, compliance and support specialist for the Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging.
College in Manassas, Va.
Julie Butters ’99 has a new job as a senior accountant at Old Smoky Distillery in Maryville, Tenn.
Kimberly Schroeder ’01 has a new job as a sales associate with Zippo Manufacturing Co. in Bradford.
2000s Devon Eddy Kloss ’00 opened her own State Farm Insurance agency in the Old Post Office in Bradford. Prior to joining State Farm, she had worked 15 years with American Refining Group Inc. in Bradford, most recently as manager of logistics and marketing. Sarah Patton ’00 is a human resources data analyst at Northern Virginia Community
Allison Kunkel ’01 is a clinical athletic trainer with WellSpan Health in York, Pa.
Krista Whitlow ’01 is a special education aid in the Bradford Area School District. She lives in Derrick City, Pa. Melissa Clayson ’02 was promoted to director of accounting for Cutco Cutlery Corp. in Olean, N.Y., where she has been an accounting manager since 2018. She has been employed in Cutco’s accounting department for 20 years.
A man for many eras
Alumni and Family Weekend regulars Greg 73-’75 and Susan ‘72-’74 Otis’s Silvestri welcome Isidro music business spans 70 years Milton Kenner ’66-’68 at the True Blue and Gold reception.
I
sidro Otis ’86 is at home in many eras, from the 1950s to the present day. That’s because of his family business, The Clyde Otis Music Group, of which he is president. His father, Clyde, was a pioneering African American songwriter, music producer and publisher in the 1950s through the 1990s. His first hit song, “That’s all There is to That,” was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1956 after Clyde, who was a taxicab driver, had given it to a passenger who was headed to a New York City party full of people influential in the music business. After that hit, his son Isidro explained, “He could stop driving a cab.” With his day job behind him, Clyde Otis could write and produce music full time, often with Brook Benton, who recorded many of his songs. Other artists Otis collaborated with included Ray Charles, Pat Boone, Aretha Franklin, the Isley Brothers, Ben E. King, Patti Page, Sarah Vaughn, Johnny Mathis, Dinah Washington, B.B. King, Brenda Lee and Wilson Pickett. As a producer and publisher, Clyde Otis amassed a music catalogue that formed the basis for his business. But by the time Isidro Otis came to Pitt-Bradford as a student in 1982
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PORTRAITS
Canyon National Park, where she helped coordinate an international media event to remove the protective, fireresistant wrapping used to help save the General Sherman and General Grant giant sequoia trees, the two largest trees in the world. She lives in Clearfield, Pa.
Kimberly Finnigan Kaschalk ’02 recently became qualified as both a fire effects monitor and public information officer. During the 2021 wildfire season, she used these qualifications on five 14-to 21-day fire deployments to assist in wildfire suppression efforts in California, West Virginia and Virginia. One of those deployments was to the KNP Complex in Sequoia and Kings
James Brumbaugh ’03-’05 was promoted to senior analyst at Spectrum Brands Inc., where he has worked for 17 years. He lives in the Charlotte, N.C., area. Deanna Ragan ’03 is a registered nurse at Einstein Jefferson Health in Willow Grove, Pa. Brad Catale ’04 has a new job as a registered nurse at UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh. Donna Risinger ’04 retired from
during the middle of a national recession, the business’s profits were slipping. After graduating with a business management degree from Pitt-Bradford in 1986, Isidro Otis returned home to Englewood, N.J., to help out with the family business, which was still struggling. It was a song written by Clyde Otis, Belford Hendricks and Brook Benton that would lift the company from its low point. Brook Benton had recorded the song, “It’s Just a Matter of Time,” first in 1959. It twice appeared on the country music charts before Randy Travis took the song to No. 1 in 1989. “That was a real unexpected record,” Isidro Otis said. “We were basically broke at that time, and then the faucets were turned on. We went and signed a ton of new songwriters.” Those hip-hop songwriters whom Isidro Ortis signed with the company’s Randy Travis windfall are still producing income for the group today. The group’s early hip-hop success was based on its writers and producers collaborating with artists to create songs such as “Shoop” by Salt-N-Pepa, which was written and produced by Otis Group writer Mark Spark. Additionally, the group has also been able to capitalize on the popularity of sampling, leading to records by some of today’s popular artists. Sampling is a common practice in hiphop in which an artist uses part of an existing song in a new work. Sampling from songs in the group’s catalog continues to contribute to its bottom line.
summer 2022
