Crawford AuSable School District
1135 North Old 27
Grayling, MI 49738
Phone (989) 344-3500 - Fax (989) 348-6822
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"Growing to Greatness"

 Grayling High School Alumni Hall of Fame
2010 Inductees

Front: Melvin Nielson, Mike Pappas, Stephanie Hindmarsh Dennehy, Jon Thompson,
Mike Latusek, James Kucharek
Back: Gary Russell, William Gould, Richard Gould, James Burtch, Steve DuBois,
David Sabin
Not Pictured: Geoff Stancil Bichler, Mark Hamilton, Norma Madill, Steve Olsen,
Nicholas Stancil,
 

Clicking on an inductee's photo below will bring up a larger photo.

Information for the GHS Hall of Fame profiles was taken from the nomination forms. Inductees, family members and/or friends with corrections and/or additions can e-mail those to nlemmen@casdk12.net.

 

 

 


Norma Buck (Johnson) Madill
Class of 1920
Career Pathway: Business, Management, Marketing & Technology

Norma Buck Johnson Madill was nominated by Lewis Madill. 

She was born in Lovells in 1902 and graduated from Grayling High School in 1920. She then attended Bay City Business College. In the days when few women were accepted in the workplace, Norma was employed at several businesses in Bay City and Detroit. Nevertheless, her marriage to Albert Madill had to be concealed because married women were not allowed to continue their employment. 

In 1926, Mrs. Madill, her husband Albert and her brother Carl Johnson founded AuSable Souvenir Works in Frederic. Norma and Carl were the business implementers and innovators while Albert ran the tool and machine shop. During World War II, because the owners of AuSable Woodworking – a principal employer in the Frederic area – were concerned patriots, the plant was retooled to make Bomb Bay door latches for B-25 aircrafts. Later, in the 1950s, the business employed more than 150 people. 

Mrs. Madill’s four children -- Joan, Jim, Diane and Margaret -- all graduated from Grayling High School or Frederic High School. Nine of her 13 grandchildren graduated from GHS; five of her 22 great grandchildren are GHS graduates; and four of her great grandchildren are now CASD students.  

"My grandmother was truly an inspiration to me," wrote Lori Madill Smith. "When I was looking for names for our first daughter, I came across the name ‘Norma,’ and, by definition, it meant ‘a model.’ She was. I learned so much about work, life and family from her. When I started traveling as a salesperson in the early ‘80s, it was unusual for a female to travel alone. But my grandmother had done it 50 years earlier." 

Until her death in 1998, Norma Johnson Madill was esteemed by many as an intelligent and compassionate businesswoman, neighbor and friend.  

~~~

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Melvin Nielson
Class of 1940
Career Pathway: Business, Management, Marketing & Technology
Melvin K. Nielson was nominated by Roger Kesseler, a 2004 inductee into the Alumni Hall of Fame. "Mr. Nielson is probably the most successful business man to ever graduate from Grayling," wrote Mr. Kesseler. 

Melvin was born on the south side of the AuSable River near downtown Grayling in 1922. At Grayling High School, he had roles in the junior and senior plays, lettered in baseball, was a member of the ski jumping team and the GHS band and was assistant editor of the monthly "Newsletter."  

After graduating in June 1940, Melvin managed the Grayling Golf and Country Club. In the fall, he was hired by Mr. John Bruun, president of Grayling State Bank, where he worked until he was called into action by World War II in December 1942.  

After training in Arkansas, Missouri, Arizona and Tennessee, in December 1943, he was shipped to Northern Ireland for more training. He entered France on D-Day + 26 via the Omaha Beach invasion. The war ended for Melvin on May 5, 1945, when his regiment met Russian soldiers at the Elbe River in northern Germany. He was discharged from active military duty in October 1945. He had attained the rank of staff sergeant and was awarded a Purple Heart and four Bronze Stars for his actions in the European Campaigns in the Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge. 

After serving in the United States Army, he received formal education in accounting, tax law and sales at the Lansing School of Business and Accounting and Detroit Business University. After graduation, he returned to Grayling and was rehired by Mr. Bruun. 

Eventually Mr. Nielson started his own accounting and tax company, bought the Grayling Insurance Agency, developed the Sherwood Forest subdivision and the Viking Village complex, became involved in various oil and gas ventures and constructed a new office for his company on M-72 that now houses the Grayling Township offices. He also served for several years on the Crawford AuSable school board under the leadership of Superintendent Joseph Stripe. 

"Mr. Nielson is one of the pioneers in developing the northern Michigan oil and gas industry, and his contributions are unparalled," wrote Roger Kesseler. As president of North Michigan Land & Oil Corporation and with other investors, he had 161 gas wells drilled, and another entity, Nielson Enterprise, drilled 131 wells all within 50 miles of Grayling. 

Mr. Nielson is proud of the fact that charitable foundations he helped establish have donated millions to pro-life, Christian and other worthy causes from his hometown to Washington, D.C. and around the world. 

He retired from active duty in his business activities in 1986 at the age of 64. A new company was formed under family control, Generations Management LLC, which continues activities in real estate, oil and gas ventures, property management and various private equities, Pathway Homes and TEAM Services, with Melvin’s support and watchful eye. 

Mr. Nielson has published a book, Man From Grayling, which will be available at the Devereaux County Library, the Grayling Historical Society, the Otsego County Library, the Grand Traverse Area District Library, the GHS library and the Central Michigan University library. 

He and his wife Ruth have three sons who also graduated from GHS: David in 1967, Steven in 1969 and Dale in 1971. 

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James Burtch
Class of 1953
Career Pathway: Business, Management, Marketing & Technology

James E. Burtch was nominated by Diane Burtch. 

Jim moved to Grayling at the age of six and attended the Frederic, Feldhauser and Grayling schools. While in high school, he was a member of the band and the track, basketball and baseball teams. He earned 11 letters and was captain of the basketball team his junior and senior years. He was named to the all-conference second team his sophomore year and the all-conference first team his junior and senior years and was elected captain his senior year. He was also named to the all-state team his senior year, and that year he broke the record for most points scored in a high school career.  

After graduation in 1953, he attended Michigan State University on an academic tuition scholarship and was a walk-on member of the MSU basketball team his freshman year. In his sophomore year at MSU, he was a member of the cross-country team and later became its manager. His team won the 1955 Big Ten and NCAA championships. 

Jim graduated in 1957 with a bachelor of arts degree in economics and an ROTC commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps. He graduated second in his Army’s explosive ordnance disposal school, where he received special training on atomic weapons, including atomic bombs.  

In 1958, he was assigned to the 57th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit at Arlington National Cemetery in Fort Meyer, Virginia. His unit was responsible for the safety of the White House, the Presidential plane, the Russian Embassy, the Nike Ajax Missile System that surrounds Washington, D.C., and checked all the potential explosive ordnance in the Smithsonian, Gettysburg and Manassas museums. In 1960, Jim was honorably discharged from the Army as a captain. 

He then began his banking career at Genesee Bank in Flint, where he helped design Tele-Farm, the first financial record-keeping management program specifically for farmers through Michigan State University, which helped farmers keep better records and consistent information for banking purposes. As a vice president and commercial loans officer, he was responsible for over $50 million in loans and lines of credit to Fortune 500 companies. He also attended the graduate school of banking at the University of Wisconsin, graduating in 1970, and taught accounting in the evenings at Mott College for five years. 

In 1993, Jim was selected by the National Association of Robert Morris Associates as one of ten commercial lenders from the U.S.A. to design and compose an exam to certify commercial lenders, similar to the CPA exam. As a commercial lender, he also helped many businesses start, grow and expand, bringing much-needed employment to the area.  

He continued in the banking business until his retirement in 1997, after 37 years in the business, 14 of them as presidents of Chemical Bank in Albion and Marshall and City Bank of Lansing-St. Johns, which was an over $30 million bank with 15 offices and 125 employees. 

He was a Rotary Club member for over 30 years and served as Rotary Club president several times. He was the president of the Albion Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Flint United Way and secretary-treasurer of the Michigan chapter of Robert Morris Associates.  

He worked the press box at MSU football games, helping to record official NCAA statistic for both teams, from 1986 to 1996, and was in charge of the crew for his last five years. Has has also served on the board of director and as treasurer of the St. Francis Episcopal Church and Thrift Shop. He has been a Crawford County Road Commissioner since 2003 and serves as an executive officer of the 6th Battalion of the Volunteer Defense Forces at Camp Grayling and the president of the GHS Alumni Association. 

Jim has been married to Diane Tompkins Burtch for ten years. They own and operate two car washes and a bed & breakfast in Grayling. 

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Gary Russell
Class of 1962
Career Pathway: Human Services

Gary Russell was nominated by Sherman Neal and Arthur Thayer, who wrote, "Please consider Gary Russell for inclusion in the GHS Alumni Hall of Fame based on his significant and impressive life achievements, as well as honors and awards received, while working on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., for nearly 30 years." 

Gary graduated from Grayling High School in 1962 and earned a bachelor of arts degree with majors in science and history from Central Michigan University in 1966. He then studied for a master of arts degree in educational administration at both CMU and Michigan State University. 

From 1966 to 1973, he taught American Government and other social studies courses in the junior high, senior high and adult education program for the Alma Public Schools. During that time, he won the Outstanding Young Educator Award from the Alma Jaycees, held several leadership positions in the Alma Educational Association and the Michigan Educational Association and became a life member of the National Educational Association. He was the first Big Brother of the Big Brothers of Gratiot County and a member of the Alma Zoning Board of Appeals. 

From 1973 to 1979, Mr. Russell was a legislative assistant and legislative coordinator for U.S. Senator Robert P. Griffin of Michigan, who during most of that time, was the assistant minority leader (or whip). The office was deeply involved in matters involving the transition of Gerald R. Ford from Congressman to Vice President and President and his programs as U.S. President. 

From 1979 to 1982, he was the legislative director for Congressman Carl D. Pursell of Michigan. The office’s primary legislative responsibilities were appropriations for the Departments of Education, Health & Human Services and Transportation.  

From 1982 to 1991, he was the chief of staff for U.S. Senator Rudy Boschwitz of Minnesota, whose office led the Senate in areas of agriculture, Middle East policy and budget matters.  

From 1991 to 1999, Mr. Russell served as senior policy advisor to the assistant secretary for diplomatic security for the United States Department of State.  

He has received several awards, including the director’s award from the Diplomatic Security Service in recognition of his outstanding service and dedication to duty, the secretary’s certificate of recognition for outstanding service in the aftermath of the August 7, 1998, embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the U.S. State Department’s superior honor award for outstanding contributions to the department. 

From 1999 to 2001, he was the chief of staff for U.S. Senator Rod Grams of Minnesota, whose office was very active in the areas of financial securities and the operations of the U.S. Department of State.  

While living in both Michigan and Virginia, Mr. Russell has been active in the United Methodist Church, the Republican Party and various community and charitable organizations. He married Barb Anderson, a fellow CMU graduate, who was an elementary school teacher and librarian for over 30 years. The Russells have two adult daughters and two grandchildren. 

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Steve DuBois
Class of 1967
Career Pathway: Human Services

Steve R. DeBois was nominated by Jim Tobin. 

Steve graduated from Grayling High School in 1968. While attending GHS, he played on the varsity golf team and basketball teams for four years and was named to the all-conference basketball team his junior year. He attended Boys’ State in the summer of ’66 and was active in forensics – he was a state finalist in extemporaneous speaking his junior year – as well as the drama club, Student Council and the National Honor Society. 

He earned a bachelor of arts degree with honors from Albion College in 1971. He then completed earned his juris doctorate degree from Wayne State University’s school of law in two-and-a-half years. He passed his bar exam in March 1974 and was admitted into the Michigan Bar Association in May of that year. 

Mr. DuBois practiced law in Detroit until he moved to Gaylord in October 1975, and he has been in private practice there ever since. He has also been the city attorney for Gaylord since 1982. 

Mr. DuBois is a member of the Michigan Defense Counsel, the Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys and the Michigan Association for Justice. 

He and his wife Paddy have two children, two grandchildren and one grandchild on the way this spring. 

He is the son of Dick and Ann DuBois, who were long-time Grayling residents. His brother Gary is a 1963 graduate of Grayling High School.  

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William Gould
Class of 1968
Career Pathway: 
Health Services
 

Dr. William David Gould was nominated by Jim Tobin. 

Bill graduated from Grayling High School in 1968. While attending GHS, he was a member of the National Honor Society, a three-year track team member and a four-year ski team member under Coach Mike Wieland.  

He attended Ferris State University, where he was a member of the Rho Chi pharmacy honor fraternity. He graduated in 1973 as the class valedictorian with a degree in pharmacy. He then attended Wayne State University’s School of Medicine, where he earned an M.D. degree in 1977. 

During medical school, he was a member of the United States Air Force Reserves and was assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, for his internship. Dr. Gould then completed a family practice residency at the Jacksonville Naval Hospital in Florida and became board-certified in family medicine in 1980. His first post-residency Air Force assignment was at Maxwell Regional Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama, where he spent two years working in family medicine and was chief physician for the Red Team.  

After two years at Maxwell Air Force Base, Dr. Gould was accepted into an occupational and environmental medicine residency at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he earned a master’s degree in public health. 

He also spent a year at the U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency, now the Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. He completed this residency in 1984 and then attended the School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and became a flight surgeon. He also completed the hyperbaric medicine training program and became qualified to dive in hyperbaric chambers.  

After completing his training at Brooks Air Force Base, Dr. Gould was assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center. After one year, he was moved up to the Air Force Logistics Command Headquarters in the command surgeon’s office. He became Chief of Occupational Medicine for the Command, which served over 100,000 active duty and civilian employees throughout the United States. During that time, he also completed combat casualty care courses at Camp Bull, Texas, and was an active flight surgeon. 

After several years at Wright-Patterson, Dr. Gould was re-assigned to Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, where he participated in a teaching program for aerospace medicine physicians. 

Next he was assigned to Brooks Air Force Base as the United States Air Forced Consultant in Occupational Medicine. He was promoted to full colonel in June 1994.  

He was re-assigned to the Wright-Patterson Medical Center in Dayton as Aerospace Medicine Squadron Commander, where he had over 350 airmen in seven Air Force Flights under his command.  

In 2002, Dr. Gould was deployed to Turkey, Afghanistan and Cuba as the medical commander for Operation Enduring Freedom.  

He retired from the United Air Force in 2003 after 26 years of active duty and began work for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Dayton. He is currently employed as a physician at the Dayton Veterans Administration Medical Center. 

Dr. Gould married Lynn Welch from Mt. Pleasant while he was a student at Wayne State University. She and Bill have two sons – Brett, a businessman near Cleveland, and Blair, a junior at Ohio State University.  

He is the son of Lora Gould, who was a long-time Grayling resident. His brother Rick, a fellow Hall of Fame inductee, is a 1972 GHS graduate. 

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James Kucharek
Class of 1969
Career Pathway: Human Services

James E. Kucharek was nominated by Mike Kucharek. 

Jim graduated from Grayling High School in 1969. While attending GHS, he earned two varsity letters in track and one in basketball and participated in drama, forensics and Varsity Club his junior and senior years. 

He graduated from Kirtland Community College in 1976 with an associate of arts degree in police administration. He then enrolled in the Washtenaw County Police Academy in Ann Arbor, where he graduated from the basic program in 1976 and the advanced program in 1977 – earning top honors at both academies. He also graduated summa sum laude – with a 3.8 GPA – from Saginaw Valley State University in 1980 with a B.A. degree in police administration.  

Mr. Kucharek then attended Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, where his law school career was exemplary:
•he won three American Jurisprudence Awards.
•he was named to the National Dean’s List and was a Merit Scholarship recipient in 1985, ‘86 and ’87.
•he received an invitation to the Law Review and one to the Moot Court Honors Program in 1986.
•he won a Corpus Juris Secundum Award for Legal Scholarship and a Yanese Merit Scholarship in 1987.

He graduated in May of 1988 with a juris doctorate degree, ranked 6th out of the 49 students in his class. 

Mr. Kucharek served in the United States Air Force from July 1971 to April 1975, where he performed general law enforcement duties in a position that required a "secret" clearance.  

He was a deputy sheriff with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department from April ’75 to April ’78. Upon his promotion to detective in 1977, he was the youngest detective in the history of the department. 

He then was a deputy sheriff for the Bay County Sheriff’s Department until January 1981, where he worked in the Major Crimes Unit.  

From 1981 to 1988, he worked for the Santa Monica Police Department, where he responded to crime scenes, collected forensic evidence and testified as an expert witness. During part of that time, he was a member of the CAL-ID Technical Subcommittee which advised the Los Angeles County Police Board on the implementation of a statewide automated fingerprint system. He also authored an article on a new chemical fingerprinting process that appeared in Police Magazine

He served as the union president for the 400-member Affiliation of State, County & Municipal Employees for the City of Santa Monica, from May 1985 to May 1987. 

In 1988-89, he worked for Shield & Smith, an insurance defense law firm, where he specialized in employment law.  

In January 1989, he began work as a deputy district attorney for the Humboldt County District Attorney’s criminal division. During his five years in this position, he headed the Major Narcotics Prosecution Unit for two years.  

He was an associate faculty member for the College of the Redwoods in Eureka for 13 years, starting in 1990. He authored California textbook supplements for Family Law. He also served as the chair of the Legal Assistance Advisory Committee from 2000 to 2003. 

From 1994 to the present, Mr. Kucharek has been the director of Child Support Services for Humboldt County. He chairs California’s Working with Tribal Governments workgroup and its Child Support Services Legislative Committee. He also makes numerous outreach presentations concerning child welfare to public and private groups. 

Mr. Kucharek’s mother, Bonnie Boger Kucharek, graduated from Grayling High School, as did his siblings, Julie, Dave and Steve. 

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Richard Gould
Class of 1972
Career Pathway: Human Services

Richard C. Gould was nominated by Jim Tobin. 

Rick graduated in 1972 from Grayling High School, where he lettered in golf. 

He then graduated from Central Michigan University in 1976 with a bachelor of science degree in sociology and secondary education. 

After completing his undergraduate studies, he attended Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, graduating with a juris doctor degree in 1979. He passed the Michigan Bar Examination and was admitted into the practice of law in February 1980. 

Mr. Gould has spent approximately half of his professional career in the private practice of law. He has also served as deputy general counsel and interim general counsel at Ferris State University in Big Rapids and has served as in-house counsel for various private and publicly-owned corporations.  

He was a front runner in the competitive telecommunications field after the Telecommunications Act of 1966 was enacted, assisting start-up companies in gaining a strong foothold into the field and positioning then as viable acquisition corporations. 

He has been a trial attorney throughout most of his professional career and has argued matters before many of the State of Michigan district and circuit courts, the federal courts for Eastern and Western Michigan, the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Supreme Court and the Federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  

Since 2003, he has been the sole practitioner in the Law Office of Richard C. Gould in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Mr. Gould wrote: "I note that one of the purposes of the Hall of Fame is to encourage and assist students in realizing that their career goals are within their grasp. If I can do it, I encourage all to determine what their career goals are and to follow through. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. I remember talking with my high school guidance counselor (long retired) at Grayling High School after taking an aptitude test, and he told me to get a job in a factory as I would never make it in college. I worked hard and have had a satisfying legal career for 30 plus years." 

He has been married for over 30 years and has two children who are both joining the Americorps this year. 

He is the son of long-time Grayling resident Lora Gould. His brother Bill, a fellow Hall of Fame inductee, is a 1968 GHS graduate. 

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Jon Thompson
Class of 1975
Career Pathway: Human Services
 

Jon Thompson was nominated by Jim Tobin. 

Jon graduated from Grayling High School in 1975. While attending GHS, he played five sports – baseball, basketball, football, tennis and golf – and was editor of the high school newspaper. 

Jon said he had good English teachers at Grayling High School, including Michael Delp, Chuck Spencer and Rob Woodland, who influenced him to continue his study of English. 

Jon graduated cum laude from Alma College in 1980 with a bachelor of arts degree and a major in English. He earned a master of arts degree in English from Central Michigan University in 1993.  

From 1981 to 1986, Mr. Thompson worked as a reporter for the Crawford County Avalanche, and in 1986 he was named editor and general manager of the newspaper. He held that position until 1994, when he joined the faculty of Kirtland Community College as a writing instructor. 

In 1998, he worked with a Michigan State University professor and instructors from Delta College and Northwestern Community College to design on-line training modules for advanced composition students. 

He earned a doctorate degree in educational leadership from Central Michigan University in 2006. His dissertation was entitled "Adapting the Process Communication Model to Higher Education Writing Connecting to Personality Types." 

Dr. Thompson has co-authored three books – two about the history of the AuSable River Canoe Marathon and one on the history of Kirtland Community College – and has had many articles and photographs published in magazines and newspapers throughout the state. 

He continues to enjoy participating in sports, including basketball, running and paddling. He has competed in many Michigan Canoe Racing Association events and will race in his tenth AuSable River International Canoe Marathon this coming July. 

Dr. Thompson has been active in community organizations, including vice president of the Crawford County chapter of the American Red Cross, vice president of the Michigan Canoe Racing Association, vice president of the Grayling Regional Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Crawford County Planning Commission and the Grayling Township Planning Board, a board member and coach for the Grayling Little League and Grayling Junior Basketball programs, director of the Cornell Tennis Tournament, publicity chair for the Grayling Winter Sports Festival and a director of the Grayling Basketball League. 

Both of his sons, Jason and Eric, graduated from Grayling High School. Jason was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004. His wife, Ellen O’Mara Thompson, was also a GHS graduate, as were his father, Ross Thompson; his mother, Phyllis Schmidt Thompson; his brother Joe and his niece Candy Grigsby. 

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Steven Olsen
Class of 1977
Career Pathway: -----

 

Steven J. Olsen was nominated by Jim Tobin. 

Steve graduated from Grayling High School in 1977 as class salutatorian. While attending GHS, he played varsity baseball, basketball, football and golf. 

He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Hope College in Holland in 1981 with a major in business administration. While a student at Hope, he played golf and baseball and participated in an honors spring semester in Washington, D.C., where he clerked with the lobbying office of a paper company and the executive personnel office of the White House during the Iran hostage crisis. 

Following undergraduate school, Steve attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he earned his juris doctorate and master of business administration degrees in 1985. He also was admitted to the Georgia Bar Association the same year. 

Mr. Olsen has lived in Atlanta since 1981. He was a partner of a mid-sized firm until he joined the international commercial real estate services firm, Cushman & Wakefield, as regional counsel in 1992. 

He then co-founded Withrow, McQuade & Olsen, LLP, a boutique law firm with expertise in the practice areas of commercial real estate and healthcare. He has focused his practice on commercial real estate, leasing and finance.  

For 25 years, he has counseled clients in the acquisition, development, operation, leasing and disposition of real estate throughout the Southeast. However, he said that "helping a couple adopt a Native American baby in my first year of practice may have been my most complicated, satisfying and fruitful ‘transaction.’"  

Steve says his only boast in life is that, "By God’s grace alone, I was rescued by his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 

He and his wife Mary Jo have been married for 24 years and have four children.  

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Geoff (Stancil) Bichler
Class of 1979
Career Pathway: Human Services

Geoffrey (Stancil) Bichler was nominated by Jim Tobin. 

In high school, Geoff was active in student government, represented GHS at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference, was a member of the National Honor Society and lettered in baseball, football, track and basketball. A stand-out in basketball, his senior year he was named MVP, was selected for the all-conference first team, received all-state honorable mention and was the leading scorer in the conference. 

Geoff graduated from Grayling High School in 1979 and summa cum laude from Nova Southeastern University 1983 with majors in history and political science. At NOVA Southeastern, he was captain of the varsity basketball team. 

He graduated magna cum laude with a master of arts degree in history from the University of Miami in 1986. Then he earned his juris doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law in 1989. 

In 1996, Mr. Bichler founded Bichler & Kelley, P.A., in Orlando to provide high quality legal representation for firefighters, police officers and correctional officers with difficult disability claims. Since then, the firm has expanded throughout the Florida and has consulted nationwide on cases.  

He was a keynote speaker for the International Association of Firefighters at the Redmond Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona, just weeks after the 9/11 tragedy. Throughout his career, he has lobbied and litigated on behalf of first responders and has been an active and outspoken leader on behalf of the rights of all injured workers. 

He has been recognized as one of the most knowledgeable and creative practitioners of presumptive legislation, which creates special protection for first responders, and he has been featured as one of the "Best Lawyers in Orlando" by Orlando Magazine every year since 2004. He was selected by Florida Trend magazine for its "legal elite" edition recognizing the best attorneys ion the state. He has been AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell -- the highest possible peer rating available for both competence and ethics – since 2004. He has also been selected by Best Lawyers in America as one of the preeminent experts in the field of workers’ compensation every year since 2004. He was elected to the board of directors for the Florida Workers’ Advocates and the executive counsel of the Florida Bar Workers compensation section in 2009. 

Mr. Stancil owns Grayling’s Rialto Theatre, which is currently in its 95th consecutive year of operation by his family. 

He has competed in over 100 marathons (including the Boston three times) and 50 triathlons, including the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2008. 

He lives in Winter Park, Florida, with his wife Deanna and their four children. 

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Mark Hamilton
Class of1982
Career Pathway: Human Services

Mark Hamilton was nominated by Marilyn Rosi. 

Mark graduated from Grayling High School in 1982. While attending GHS, he was active in the theatre program. 

He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and design from Michigan Technological University in Houghton in May 1987. 

In 1993, he joined the United States Peace Corps, teaching mathematics to secondary school students in Cameroon, West Africa. 

He returned to West Africa – to the Republic of Guinea as a mathematics resource teacher with the Peace Corps from 1995 to 1998. While there, he initiated a mathematics teaching project that benefited 110 teachers and 2,800 students.  

He worked in Conakry, Guinea, from 1980 to 2000 as a teacher trainer. During this time, he volunteered to develop and lead learning activities in mathematics with elementary school teachers and students in the Futa Jalon region.  

In 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03, he was the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship recipient at Michigan State University.  

In 2004, Mr. Hamilton received a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship award for a year-long study of how the people in rural communities in Guinea participate in education and development. 

He completed his Ph.D. program in education and international development at Michigan State University in May 2007. His practicum research was entitled "’Living On My Own’: Self-Sufficiency Among Sudanese Male Refugees in the Midwestern United States," and his dissertation was entitled "Success, Participation and Development: Marking the Progress of Education Reform in the Republic of Guinea." 

Since then, Dr. Hamilton has trained teachers and principals of schools in Egypt and Turkey to help students develop problem-solving, career-planning and other life skills.  

For the past two years, he has been teaching and doing research and development work with the University of Dar es Salaam College of Education in Tanzania. He is currently leading a research project in that country to study the development of science, mathematics and technology education for UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization.  

He is fluent in French, speaks the West African Fulfulde-Pular language and is learning Kiswahili. 

Dr. Hamilton is the son of Bill Hamilton of Arizona and Phyllis Hamilton of Grayling. His siblings – Michael, Tina, Kirk, Sherry and Laura – also graduated from Grayling High School. 

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Stephanie (Hindmarsh) Dennehy
Class of 1986
Career Pathway: 
Arts & Communications

Stephanie Hindmarsh Dennehy was nominated by Jini Hindmarsh. 

Stephanie graduated from Grayling High School in 1986. While in high school, she was active in band, theatre, forensics, dance, Student Council and basketball and was a member of the National Honor Society.  

She graduated from Western Michigan University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and musical theatre.  

Since then, Ms. Dennehy has pursued her childhood dream of being a performer. With her abilities as an actor, dancer and singer, she is a "triple threat" on stage in works by William Shakespeare to Neil Simon to Stephen Sondheim. She has had leading roles in Kiss Me, Kate; Nunsense; A Chorus Line; Guys & Dolls; Godspell; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; Chess and many other plays and musicals. 

She has appeared onstage at the Crosswell Theatre in Adrian, the Tipping Point Theatre in Northville, the Toledo Repertory Theatre, the Windsor Light Opera House and the Jewish Ensemble Theatre in Detroit; the Adrian Symphony and in Christmas productions at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. She has worked as an auto company spokesperson for Porsche and Maybach at the Los Angeles Auto Show and has appeared in numerous television commercials.  

Ms. Dennehy was the understudy for two roles at Jeff Daniels’ Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea and appeared in one of his movies, Super Suckers, about a vacuum cleaner salesman. And she received an “Excellent Performance in a Musical” award for both Little Women and Songs For a New World from the Ohio Community Theatre Association. 

She has worked as a director and choreographer at theatres and schools in southern Michigan and northern Ohio. She has also coached and mentored other directors and performers for the Ohio Community Theatre Association and the Williams County Playhouse. 

She has taught dance at the Toledo High School for the Performing Arts and has shared her love of the theatre by mentoring young people at a summer camp at Bowling Green University. Currently, she teaches at DANCE FX Studios in Toledo. 

She is married to fellow actor Joe Dennehy, and they are the parents of two boys. Ms. Dennehy is the daughter of Wayne and Jini Hindmarsh and the granddaughter of Jess and Betty Bennett. Her brother Ryan also attended Crawford AuSable Schools until his family moved when he was in the eighth grade. 

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Nicholas Stancil
Class of 1995
Career Pathway: Human Services

Nicholas G. Stancil was nominated by Jim Tobin. 

Nick graduated from Grayling High School in 1995. While attending GHS, he was active in student government, Youth in Government (his bills were ratified at the 1994 and 1995 simulations), sports, theatre, journalism (The Norseman and the Crawford County Avalanche), and he was president of the National Honor Society.  

He graduated from the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science and Arts with a bachelor of arts degree in history in August of 1999. 

He worked as a staff assistant in the office of Senator Carl Levin in Washington, D.C., from January to August 2001, where he drafted floor speeches on gun control that were submitted to the Congressional Record, assisted the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations during its hearings on money-laundering vulnerabilities in U.S. financial services institutions, compiled data regarding constituent inquiries and issue interests into weekly reports , attended Armed Services Committee hearings regarding missile defense and reported findings to senior staff members, and conducted legislative research on a broad range of issues.  

Mr. Stancil graduated from the University of Denver College of Law in Denver with a juris doctor degree in May 2004. During his years in law school, he participated in Moot Court, the International Law Society, the ACLU and Amnesty International and in Moot Court Client Counseling and Negotiations competitions. He was vice president of the Young Democrats in 2002-03 and received an Award for Scholastic Excellence.  

He was a research assistant for a law professor at the University of Denver College of Law from May 2002 to December 2003. He worked as a research assistant at the R.M. Grant Center in Centennial, Colorado. And he was a student attorney for the Criminal Representation Clinic at the University of Denver College of Law from August 2003 to February 2004.  

In 2003 to 2004, he worked as a law clerk by Wolf & Slatkin, P.C. in Denver. In 2004 to 2008, he worked as an associate attorney with Wolf, Slatkin & Madison, P.C.  

Since February 2008, Mr. Stancil has been an assistant attorney general to Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. In his current position, he advises all public institutions of higher education in the state, including community colleges, colleges and all the universities in the state system. He also represents the State Board of Education and serves as general counsel to the Colorado Historical Society. 

Outside the workplace, he was a campaign volunteer and precinct captain in the 2000, 2002 and 2004 elections and has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. He enjoys skiing, hiking, traveling and reading. 

Many members of his extended family have attended Crawford AuSable Schools. Mr. Stancil’s brother Jordan and his uncle Dick Joseph were inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004. His mother, Marilyn Joseph Stancil, and his father, George Stancil, also graduated from Grayling High School.

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David Sabin
Class of 1997
Career Pathway: Health Services

Dr. David B. Sabin was nominated by Jim Tobin. 

Dave graduated from Grayling High School in 1997. While attending GHS, he played basketball and football and ran track.  

He graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor of science degree in human biology in May of 2002. He then graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago with a doctorate in optometry in 2006. He completed an optometric residency in hospital-based primary care at the University of Florida and NOVA Southeastern University in Gainesville, Florida. 

He did his third-year clinical experience in 2004-05 at the Illinois Eye Institute; an externship in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2005; an externship at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center-Mountain Home in the fall of 2005; an externship at the VA MC-Huntington in West Virginia in the winter of 2005-06; an internship at the Illinois Eye Institute in the spring of 2006; and a residency at the VAMC-Gainesville in the summer of 2007. Dr. Sabin was certified by the National Board of Examiners in Optometry and also the Florida Board of Examiners. 

His literature reviews include one on non-infectious anterior uveitis at the Illinois College of Optometry in 2005 and one on non-functioning pituitary adenoma at Gainesville VAMC in 2007. He was a member of grand round presentations at the Gainesville VAMC in 2006, the VISN 8 Conference in Orlando in 2006 and the Daytona VAMC in 2007.  

While he was a student at MSU, he was a resident assistant from 2001 to 2003. He was a tutor at the Illinois College of Optometry in 2004, an optometric technician at the Illinois Eye Institute in 2005 and a teaching assistant in Clinical Skills at the Illinois College of Optometry in 2005. Dr. Sabin has been an optometrist with Eye Specialists in Sarasota since July 2007, with Vision Care Specialists since March 2008 and with Optical Outlets since November 2008. 

Dr. Sabin is the son of David and Sherry Sabin. His sisters Lisa Radebaugh and Samara Sabin also graduated from Grayling High School. 

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Michael Latusek
Class of 2000
Career Pathway: Engineering/Manufacturing & Industrial Technology

Dr. Michael Latusek was nominated by Jim Tobin. 

Mike graduated from Grayling High School in 2000 among the top ten graduates. At GHS, he was a member of the National Honor Society and played golf his senior year  

He took three Advanced Placement courses in high school – U.S. History, Calculus and Chemistry. He earned a 3 on the AP History exam, a 4 on the on the AP Calculus exam and a 5 on the AP Chemistry exam.  

"A 5 is the highest score attainable, so I was pretty proud of that one in particular," said Dr. Latusek. "It enabled me to skip the entire first year of chemistry in college and start at sophomore-level chemistry." 

He graduated summa cum laude from Michigan Technological University in Houghton in May of 2004 with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering.  

The next fall he started work on his Ph.D. in chemical engineering, also at Michigan Tech. He earned a doctorate degree in December of 2008. During his years in graduate school, he had three papers published in peer-reviewed journals, on two of which he was the lead author. His Ph.D. thesis was entitled, "Directed Synthesis and Characterization of Supported Bimetallic Overlayer Catalysts." 

After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Latusek landed a job at First Solar, Inc. in Perrysburg, Ohio. The company is currently the world’s largest thin-film solar panel manufacturer, one of the largest solar companies in any technology and producer of the lowest cost solar panels of any company in the world. 

His current title is metallurgical engineer. He performs basic research on semiconductor materials used to make their solar panels to help advance the strategic goals at First Solar. "I wish I could elaborate," he wrote, "but my research is very secretive." As of today, he has celebrated his one-year anniversary with the company. 

Several members of Dr. Latusek’s family are GHS graduates: father Tony in 1972, brothers Scott in 2002 and Danny in 2006, cousins Jeremy in 2000 and Sasha in 2002, as well as other relatives on his father’s side. 

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Michael Pappas
Class of 2000
Career Pathway: Human Services

Michael N. Pappas II was nominated by Barbara Febey, who wrote, "I am proud to nominate Mike Pappas to the Alumni Hall of Fame. I had Mike as a student at GHS 12 years ago. He always gave 110 percent to everything he attempted. See his attached resume. It shows that he still believes in that high standard of excellence!"

Mike graduated from Grayling High School in 2000. While attending GHS, he was a member of National Honor Society, an active participant in GHS athletics and the valedictorian of his graduating class. He was awarded the Hans Lantzsch Scholarship and MEAP and ACT scholarships. 

In May 2004, he earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Michigan with a major in psychology with high distinction and high honors and a minor in statistics. He was named a James B. Angell Scholar two consecutive semesters for a 4.0 GPA, earned high honors in psychology for his honors thesis and graduated in the top five percent of his class.  

He earned a juris doctorate degree from the Wayne State University Law School in May 2007, graduating magna cum laude. During his time in law school, he was elected to The Order of the Coif, was editor-in-chief of The Journal of Law in Society, received the Best Complaint Award in Legal Research and Writing and earned the Highest Final Grade Awards in four courses. Again, he graduated in the top five percent of his class.  

As an independent contractor for The Southwestern Company in Nashville, Tennessee, from fall 2001 to summer 2003, he worked 85-plus hours a week selling educational books door to door. He showed himself to be in the top 50 in sales of over 3,000 students and had a personal sales total of over $55,000 in a 12-week period. 

Mr. Pappas was the head research assistant for the University of Michigan Psychology Department from summer 2003 through fall 2005.  

He worked as a student lawyer in the felony division of the Washtenaw County Public Defender’s Office in Ann Arbor in the summer of 2005 and as a summer associate for Pepper Hamilton, LLP, in Detroit in 2006.  

Since September 2007, Mr. Pappas has been employed by Kerr, Russell & Weber, PLC, where he has worked on a $6 million receivership action and several medical malpractice cases and also concentrates on health care reform and regulatory matters. 

He enjoys playing soccer, running, weight training, international travel and teaching statistics and finance and investing. 

He is the son of Michael Pappas and Brenda Gibbs. His sister, Rachel Gibbs, is a 2007 GHS graduate. He and fiancé Sara Wacklawek. who is in attendance today with her parents, Richard and Kristina, will be married on May 29.  

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