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2000
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2000 Belleville High School |
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Mildred “Midge” Artley has lived in Belleville for over 80 years. She attended elementary and junior high school when all grades were housed in Belleville High School, located on third street. During her high school years. Midge was an advanced student in the Home Economics Classes (sewing and cooking). She enjoyed extra-curricular activities, playing on the Girls’ Basketball team for four years. She was a member of the Belleville High School Band for 6 years, a member of the Latin Club, and on the staff of the Orange and Black school newspaper. She also helped organize the J-Hop and the Senior Prom, performed in the Junior and Senior class plays, and worked as a Student Assistant in the library. When Midge graduated in 1934, the country was gripped in the Great Depression. She attended night classes at the University of Detroit and the Detroit Business Institute for two years while providing domestic service for a prominent businesswoman. As she recalls, “jobs for young adults were almost non-existent.” Two years later, she went to work as a bookkeeper for the A.F. Fielder Coal Company of Belleville, where she remained for five years. Just before World War II began, she joined the Bendix Aviation Company in Wayne, staying with the company another five years until she moved on to the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation in Willow Run, located in the former bomber plant. Midge was with the K-F plant until it closed, but they asked her to move to their newly purchased Willy’s Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio. She was there until 1955, when she accepted apposition with the Van Buren Public School system as a bookkeeper and paymaster. Midge worked for the school district for 25 years, finally retiring in 1980 after 44 years of continuous employment. Midge has always served her community as well. She was a former member of the Red Cross Blood Mobile, the Wayne Out County Educational Secretaries, and the Planning Commission for the City of Belleville. She is a life time member of the Belleville Area Historical Museum, a Friend of the Fred C. Fischer Public Library, a benefactor of the “Music in the Park.” She has served on the Election Board for the City of Belleville and Van Buren Public School, and the board of the Wayne Out County Teachers Credit Union for twelve years. She has also served on the Strawberry Festival Committee and the Mayor’s Exchange Day for the City of Belleville. She is a member of the First United Methodist Church of Belleville and serves in many areas. She is a member of the Michigan Association of Retired School Personnel, and member of the Ypsilanti Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She supports Belleville High School drama, music, and athletic programs with attendance when possible, and donations, as well as the Scholarship Program and the Girls’ State program, sponsored by the Belleville Business and Professional Women’s Club. Midge has received many awards for her service including the Van Buren Public School award for 25 years service, the Belleville Planning Commission Service Award for 8 years, and the Wayne Out County Credit Union for 12+ years. She was recognized as “Women of the Year” and “Woman of Achievement” by both the local and state Federations of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs. Midge says her “Golden Years” are rewarding “…being with friends and family who care and are loving and giving,” adding “…Belleville is My Town, no better place to live in this Good, Old U.S.A. Belleville School is near and dear to my heart!” Christine Murphy
Class of 1952 Christine Murphy has distinguished herself through over twenty-five years of service to her community and to her profession. After retirement, Murphy continues to make valuable contributions in the lives of others. She is appreciated for the unselfish and loving manner in which she voluntarily gives of her talents. Ms. Murphy was raised in Sumpter Township and attended West Sumpter Elementary School, Airport Community School, and Belleville High School (BHS). During her tenure at BHS, Ms. Murphy was active in several extra curricular activities including, the BHS chorus, the Girl Athletic Association (GAA), the Yearbook Staff, and the Future Nurses Club. In her senior year, she helped design the Banquet program for the “Class of 52”and she presented the class flower at that event. After Murphy graduated from BHS, she furthered her education at the Ann Arbor Practical Nurse Education Center. In 1954, she began her nursing career at Beyer Memorial Hospital in Ypsilanti, MI. As a staff nurse, Murphy worked primarily in the intensive care, cardiac and burn units. She also worked as a scrub nurse in the operating room. Murphy retired from Wayne County General Hospital in Westland after twenty-five years of service. After she retired, Murphy continued to work as a private duty nurse in the school and home setting with physically challenged children and elderly persons. In 1965, Ms. Murphy obtained a license in Cosmetology after graduating from the Stella Buggs School of Cosmetology. Ms. Murphy became an entrepreneur when she opened her own business “Christine’s Hair Fashion” in Detroit, MI. During this time, she continued to work full-time in her nursing career. Ms. Murphy has been actively involved in a number of community organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Association of Female Executives (NAFE), the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA), 4-H, and the Friends of the Inkster Public Library. She has also served a Vestry member of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church. In 1996, Murphy was elected to serve as the Basileus of Gamma Phi Delta Sorority, Inc.(GPD), Omega Chapter, in Inkster, MI. Ms. Murphy has been a member of this organization over twenty years and has held several offices on the local and regional level. She is also responsible for organizing the GPD auxiliary group for young girls (grades 5-8) called the Rosebuds. Murphy is also the undergraduate advisor to the Beta Chi Chapter of GPD at Eastern Michigan University (EMU). Ms. Murphy has received much public recognition and has been the recipient of numerous awards including, the city of Inkster community service certificate, the GPD Bridge Builder Award, and the Rose Pin Award, the highest award given to a Gamma Phi Delta Sorority member. Christine has several hobbies, which include sewing, music and arts & crafts. Christine currently resides in Westland. Ms. Murphy’s motto is “Plan your work, then work your plan.” Her message to BHS Students is to, “Choose a career of your liking and give it your best. Retirement is great when you have accomplished your goals.
Robert Thorne
Class of 1971 Bob Thorne is an outstanding leader in the Belleville-area communities. He is a well-known spokesman on behalf of children, especially those who are suffering life-threatening diseases. Little Stephanie Smith was only 8 years old when she faced a terminal illness that baffled her doctors. Bob was Stephanie’s T-ball coach, and he admired her courage as she continued to play, even with an amputated leg. Inspired by her bravery and his own inner light, Bob led the community in raising over a half million dollars for a stem cell transplant to save her. He established a special fund in her name with a national organ transplant organization, and went to work, assisted by hundreds of others throughout the state and even the nation. The incredible total was raised in 60 days. Since that remarkable experience, Bob made it a personal mission to help the families of Harold Hemphill, Noelle Rowlett, Kathy Hammons, and Christopher Deets raise funds for organ or tissue transplants, a procedure not always covered by insurance. In addition, Bob took the lead to raise community support for the 1998 school millage, which passed with a large majority after being defeated three times before he assumed leadership. Bob has lived his entire life in the Belleville area. He attended Rawsonville Elementary as a child and later South Middle School. During his years at BHS, Bob says he was an average student with little time for extracurricular activities. He was on the JV swim team until, at age 15, he decided to pay his own way at home. He went to work, and has worked ever since. After graduation, Bob wasn’t really expected to attend college, but he went to Washtenaw Community College anyway, working full time to cover the cost. Bob joined General Motors Powertrain in 1973, handling project engineering related to automatic transmissions. He was soon supervising other engineers. He decided to return to college to broaden and diversify his business experience. He graduated from the University of Michigan-Dearborn in 1992 with Honors and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in General Studies, majoring in Political Science, Sociology and Communications. Twenty years after starting at GM, Bob decided to leave, once again seeking to expand his professional horizons. He spent the next seven years of his career working for Teleflex Automotive in senior management positions. In 1998, he led a team that brought to market a new Power Adjustable Pedal System, which generated millions of dollars in new business for his company. In recognition, Bob and his team received the Automotive News/Ernst and Young Pace Award, and the Ford Customer Driven Quality Award. One very special team that remains close to his heart was recognized with the "Stephanie’s Team" Award conferred by the Wayne County Commissioners. Bob’s effort on behalf of others was recognized by the City Council of Belleville in 1999. He also received the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award. Bob even received a letter of commendation from President Bill Clinton. Bob continues to share his special gift for organizing and inspiring others, despite his busy life. He has recently left the corporate world to once again follow his heart. He currently serves as Director of Fundraising at Cornerstone Schools in Detroit, where he now makes a difference for children every day. He has been the Little League T-Ball Baseball Manager since 1985. He is a past volunteer member of the Board of Directors at the SOS Community Crisis Center, a member of the Van Buren Township Parks and Recreation Committee, Friends of the Belleville Library, the Belleville High School Band Boosters, and the U of M Alumni Association. Bob lives with his family in Belleville. He and his wife, Carol, have four children, Shawna, Brandon, Alaina, and Derek. Brandon is a current member of the National Honor Society. Alaina is being inducted into the National Honor Society today.
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Dr. S. John Dackawich was born into poverty in West Virginia and grew up in a poor Detroit neighborhood. A self-described “juvenile delinquent” before turning his life around, John has achieved significant honors in a distinguished career as a Professor of Sociology at several universities, including University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and California State University, Long Beach where he became Department Chairman. While at Long Beach (1959 – 1970), John’s own experiences prompted his studies of major poverty areas and the improvement of interracial relations. In the process, his passionate desire to help others and “contribute to communities” kindled an answering spark in his students. John inspired 1200 undergraduate majors and 80 graduate students to study under his guidance, creating the largest sociology department in the history of the university. He later served at California State University, Fresno, as Professor and Department Chairman from 1970-1994, and remains on the faculty as Professor Emeritus. John’s family moved to the City of Belleville when he was fourteen years old. John describes this period in his life as a ‘critical turning point’ when he began to understand his own potential and turn away from earlier negative influences. During his years at BHS, John lettered in four sports, but gave his heart to football. He says his greatest thrill was scoring a last minute touchdown to break a Flat Rock High School 32 game winning streak, making it possible for Belleville to win the Class B State Championship in 1941. John earned a 3.5 GPA at BHS, and graduate at age 16 with the highest score in his class on the Stanford Binet test. He enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps when he was 17, serving three years. After discharge, he attended the University of Maryland, where he was a member of the academic honor society, Phi Kappa Phi. He received his Ph.D. in the same field from the University of Colorado in 1958. John’s prodigious abilities have been recognized several times by his colleagues. He was unanimously selected three times at two universities to serve as department chairman. He served a President of the Faculty Association at California State University (CSU), Long Beach, and received the CSU Fresno School or Social Sciences award for Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring, and the Research and Creative Activity Award. He has been selected every year since 1970 for inclusion in Who’s Who in America. His research in the Long Beach area was the basis for several changes in the city’s policy. His work led to the integration of a middle school, and the establishment of a neighborhood improvement center, a facility donated by the UAW. An avid sports enthusiast, John has served on the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, the policy making body of college sports. He has served as Presiding Clerk for the Quaker organization Fresno Friends, leading several of their community works. He is published author in his field, having written several articles for various periodicals and journals, writing on such topics as citizen needs and aged. John considers community service a valued part of his life. He organized the “Neighbor to Neighbor Program” in Long Beach, dedicated to harmonious race relations, and served as YMCA boys’ group leaders. He has also served as Commissioner on the Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission, which became a national model. He also served as President of the Los Alamitos Democratic Club, and a member of the California State Democratic Central Committee. He has helped arrange and returned to Belleville to attend five class reunions. He also helped to organize the 50th Year Recognition ceremonies for the 19841 Class B State Champions held during the 1991 Home Coming. John lives with his wife, Shirley, in Visalia California. They have one son, Robert and one daughter, Nancy.
John Rouster has lived a remarkable life that began on a dairy farm in Michigan and continues today furthering a missionary effort on the African continent. John’s life began in a house on Lenmore Road in Belleville. He attended elementary school when it was housed in the west wing of the building which is now Belleville High School. John ran Varsity Cross Country and Track for Belleville High School for 2 years, and was a member of Varsity Club. He graduated in 1959, intending to pursue his first love--farming. Co-Director of the Every Child Ministries (ECM) with his wife Lorella since 1997, John’s personal calling began with a commitment to Jesus Christ he made in 1972. Soon following, John became a member of the North Sharon Bible Church in Grass Lake, Michigan. John and his family moved to a farm in Fremont, Indiana in 1975. Five years later, John was called to missionary service. He was accepted by Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel, (AMG) International, to serve as a missionary in what was known then as Zaire, Africa, but he had to raise the financial support on his own for himself and his family. In 1981, he took his family to Nkara Ewa, Zaire, where, for the next three years, he procured supplies for the AMG International Mission and supervised a medical dispensary, a feeding program for orphans, and the construction of a nurse’s home. During this time, John saw a need for children’s ministries. He and his wife started 16 village Sunday schools, an effort that led them to found Every Child Ministries in 1985, a mission dedicated to helping African churches teach the Christian faith to the new generation of their continent. Around this time, John accepted a position as Field Representative for Associated Milk Producers of Northwest Indiana and Illinois. He continued to serve without pay as a member of the Board of Directors and President of Every Child Ministries, helping establish an International Office in Hebron, Indiana, and traveling many weekends to represent the mission to local churches. In 1990, he returned to Zaire, as ECM’s African Field Director to establish the African Leadership Training Center. He and his family lived in a mud hut with dirt floors and a grass roof without electricity or running water for six years while they planned and built several permanent buildings. These included an educational complex with solar powered electricity containing offices, classrooms and a library, a medical clinic, a student dormitory, a woodshop, and homes for the teaching staff. All furniture for the buildings was built from rough-cut lumber, hand-sawn in the surrounding forests. Supplies were trucked 400 miles over deteriorating roads, or by river boat. In 1994, he received his Adult Bible Study Certificate, the culmination of years of evening, summer and correspondence classes. During this time, John and his family survived the civil war in Zaire, now Congo, and never stopped seeking support and funding for their mission. In 1997, John and his wife were given a salary for the first time to assume ECM co-directorship. At the end of the millennium, John reports over 1300 Sunday schools have been established in Central Africa, and new missionary work has begun in Ghana, West Africa. The ECM Teacher Training Manual has been translated into six African languages, and a Children’s Health Manual in four. A new website is on-line (ecmafrica.org), and financial support to the mission has nearly doubled. John and Lorella spend a month or more every year in Africa checking on the growing work there. John continues to serve in his community of Merrillville, Indiana as well, ushering at Hillside Community Church and helping at Sunday school. He is a member of the Association of Christian Development Professionals. He and his wife have four children, Carrie, Sharon, John, and Kristianne Kikula Somo, adopted in 1982. They have seven grandchildren.
Herbert Robb
Honorary Graduate Dr. Herbert Robb is still fondly remembered by many Belleville area residents as "the old country doctor," who made many visits to the homes of the ill and ailing. However, no matter what the time of day or night, he also invited folks to "come to the back door of the office," where, impeccably dressed and warmly welcoming, he greeted every patient as an important individual, worthy of his time and attention. He will be forever remembered as never turning down a person in need. His story is a fascinating glimpse into the history of our community and our society. Dr. Robb was born in Detroit on February 21, 1891. Six years later, his family moved to Belleville. He attended elementary school and high school in the three story building that stood on Third Street, where the Oakwood Healthcare Center stands now. However, records do not indicate that Herbert Robb ever graduated from Belleville High School. The reason may be that in 1903, lightening struck and burned the building to the ground. Family legend has it that before the high school was rebuilt, Herbert’s parents sent him to school elsewhere. A check of the Lincoln, Nebraska, and Ypsilanti school districts, the two schools he most likely would have attended, have no records that date back before 1930. There is a record of Herbert Robb’s admittance into the Detroit College, but the space is left empty that would indicate the source of his high school diploma. It is quite likely that he was accepted at Detroit College without one, since many high schools were ill-equipped at the time to adequately prepare a student for medical study. In an interesting side note, there is also no record of Herbert Robb’s graduation from Detroit College, yet he was accepted into the Detroit College of Medicine on September 13, 1913. Records show he graduated on June 2, 1917. Two years later, he married Katherine Kriegor on July 7, 1919. Herbert Robb’s medical practice began in 1920 in the Belleville area and continued for over forty years. He strongly believed in "Service Above Self" and continued to serve the greater good of the community even beyond his profession. He was extensively involved in the Belleville Rotary Club and its many projects throughout the community. He was a published author who kept abreast and even ahead of the developments in his field and the world as he traveled widely. He often expressed the conviction that a thorough educational grounding was the hallmark of a true servant to all. His friends and neighbors in the community rewarded his generosity, intelligence, and warmth with affection and respect. Dr. Robb died on April 4, 1964. In light of Dr. Robb’s humanitarian service to the Belleville Area community and his demonstrated educational grounding as a man of science, the BHS Distinguished Graduate Award Selection Committee decided to honor Dr. Robb as a Distinguished Graduate of Belleville High School. In order that Dr. Robb meet the qualifications of graduation from BHS, the Distinguished Graduate Award Steering Committee petitioned then-superintendent James F. Richendollar to award an Honorary Diploma posthumously to Dr. Robb. It is obvious that Herbert Robb possessed the necessary knowledge to succeed in intellectual endeavors. Thus, his academic standing is clearly exemplary. Superintendent Richendollar recently notified Dr. Robb’s family that he would indeed confer upon Dr. Herbert Robb an Honorary Diploma "with the utmost pride and satisfaction." Dr. Herbert Robb will receive the Honorary Diploma today, before the Distinguished Graduate Award is presented. His posthumous honors will be received in his name by his son and namesake, Dr. Herbert Robb of Bloomfield Hills. |
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