Class Notes

Chantal Helen Robbins ’70 and Clell N. Robbins Jr ’69 met at UPIKE and celebrated their 50 th anniversary in March.

Big I Kentucky, the state’s leading insurance trade association, awarded the 2019 E. Starling Holloway Insurer of the Year Award to James England ’70. This award is given to an individual who has made a significant contribution, enhanced the ideals and reputation of the insurance industry or has made a significant contribution to their community, state and country. England is the Senior Vice President of Peoples Insurance Agency, LLC, in Pikeville. A graduate of Pikeville College, England earned his Accredited Advisor in Insurance (AAI) designation in 2005. During his time with Big I Kentucky, he has been involved in every level of the association, including as president in 2005. Most recently, he became treasurer, a member of the Government Affairs Committee and is co-chair of the Kentucky Agents Political Action Committee.

Former Paintsville Tiger Head Coach Bill Mike Runyon ’78 was voted into the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame by his coaching peers. Runyon says it is an honor and a very humbling experience. Paintsville had not reached the state tournament in 52 years before Runyon’s arrival, but in his tenure, the Tigers won eight 15 th Region titles, eight All “A” Classic titles and 15 57 th District crowns. The coach also led Paintsville to the 1996 Sweet Sixteen state championship. Runyon, who is now the Mayor of Paintsville, finished his 29-year coaching career with a 581-388 record and is 27 th in all-time wins in the Commonwealth’s history. He retired in 2008, but turned his attention to public service as he was a member of Paintsville’s City Council. Mayor Runyon is extremely proud of his team’s record and his community.

Community Trust Bank Inc., was honored for the 11 th consecutive year with the “Gold Lender Award” from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as Kentucky’s Top Volume SBA 7a Community Bank Lender in the federal fiscal year 2018-19. The award was presented Nov. 15, 2019, at the SBA Lender’s Conference at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., to Terry Spears ’84, vice president/ small business banking officer. He says they plan to continue to use all lending tools available to help small businesses grow stronger and to create jobs in the communities they serve in Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee.

Joey Thacker ’97, head girl’s basketball coach for Franklin County High School (FCHS) in Frankfort, Ky., recently celebrated 400 career victories. Thacker came to FCHS in 1999, where he was the football and baseball coach and served as the assistant boy’s basketball coach. He took over the FCHS program in 2003 and is in his 17th year at the school. During Thacker’s tenure at FCHS, the Lady Flyers made three straight state tournament appearances in 2015, 2016 and 2017, finishing as state runners-up in 2016 and 2017. Thacker is currently the president of the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches, the first head girl’s basketball coach to hold the position, and is taking classes to receive his Rank I with plans to become a principal.

We want to hear the latest on your business ventures, career moves, honors, awards and family news. Email your news, along with a high-resolution photo, to alumni@upike.edu. Submit by October 2020, for the Fall/Winter 2020 issue of UPIKE Magazine.

M. Florence King ’02, whose unique background also includes accounting and computer programming, has joined The Orlando Law Group in Orlando as a Senior Attorney. She also co-founded Global Sports & Entertainment Group. Upon receiving her Juris Doctorate, she and her husband, Mark King ’02, relocated from Michigan to Florida. Mark is now the Director of Community Outreach at The Orlando Law Group. He is also the proud owner of the Florida Flight, a minor league basketball team that utilizes the platform of professional basketball to invest in the lives of others. The team won the 2019 Florida Basketball Association Championship.

For his dedication and excellence in patient care, the exclusive medical society of Patient Preferred Physicians and Practitioners proudly named surgeon Chad Brashear, D.O., FACOS, FACS, KYCOM ’07 as a “2020 Patient Preferred Surgeon of the Year” for Kentucky. Board-certified and with more than a decade of achievements in his specialty, Brashear currently serves as the Chief of Surgery and Medical Director of Appalachian Regional Hospital (ARH)/ Restorix Wound Care, treating patients at the ARH Hazard Surgical Clinic and the Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center. Brashear specializes in laparoscopic surgery and surgical procedures to treat conditions affecting the abdomen and related structures, including hernias and tumors. His goal, he said, is to maximize a patients’ independence in all activities of daily living. Patients rate Brashear five-stars and praise his expertise, knowledge and bedside manner.

Robert “Brad” Nicholas ’08 married Paul Jason Tadashi Baker on November 16, 2019. In addition to getting married, Brad also beat testicular cancer.

Casey Keathley ’10 accepted a job as an attorney at Johnson Law Firm. They have offices in Pikeville and Whitesburg, Ky., and handle personal injury cases. Keathley resides in Jenkins, Ky., on a small farm with his family where they raise sheep and chickens.

After graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Marjorie Danielle Kelly ’11 earned her Master in Library and Information Science in 2018 from Kent State University, where her focus was on Academic Libraries and Library Management. She is the first in her family of five older brothers to earn both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Kelly began her UPIKE journey in the fall of 2003, where she did work-study in the Allara Library until 2006 when she was offered a full-time position as night circulation assistant. While attending UPIKE, she met her husband Anthony, who currently works at UPIKE as a help desk manager. They reside in Pikeville with their two boys, Eli (9) and Gabriel (6). In January, Kelly accepted the position as the Medical Librarian and Liaison to the Kentucky College of Optometry.

Codie Kiser ’13 and Meghan Hamilton were married on March 7. The couple resides in Redfox, Ky., where Codie completed his first year at Partners for Education at Berea College.

Hannah Lucas ’14 accepted a new job at Kentucky River Community Care Prevention Center as a youth empowerment specialist. Lucas is working toward her master’s in social work. She lives in Letcher County, Ky., and is currently enrolled in the advanced standing program at Campbellsville University.

Gabriel Penn ’14 MBA ’15 and his wife, Whitney, were married on February 27. For more than five years, Gabriel has managed the Penn Group, an insurance agency. Whitney works as a therapist specializing in substance abuse at Hope in the Mountains, a women’s inpatient treatment center.

Sierra Kiser ’15 married Matthew Patrick on June 22, 2019. They moved to Knoxville, Tenn., where she works as a special education teacher and head volleyball coach at Jefferson Middle School.

Katlin Massie ’15 accepted a position as an account executive covering the Lexington, Ky., market with Toast, Inc. Toast is an exciting company based out of Boston that is revolutionizing the restaurant pointof-sale tech space. Massie says she looks forward to networking and building lasting partnerships throughout the restaurant industry.

Jackson Hussey ’16, who previously played for Wanneroo, Perth, Geraldton and Willetton in the State Basketball League (SBL), has joined the Rockingham Flames, a club based in Rockingham, Western Australia. He says he feels like joining Rockingham was a case of everything being at the right time and the right place for both parties. The shooting guard spent two years at UPIKE, where he averaged 8.6 points per game in his senior year and made more than 50 percent of his shots from the field. He hopes to secure an SBL championship with the Flames while providing leadership and believes his positive shooting game could help take the Flames to the next level.

The Mississippi Optometric Association selected Roya Attar, O.D., FAAO, MBA ’17, University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) assistant professor of ophthalmology, to receive its Helen St. Clair Young O.D. of the Year Award for outstanding contributions to the profession of optometry and visual welfare for the citizens of the state of Mississippi. The annual award is presented by the Southern Educational Congress of Optometry International.