DeVilbiss Hall of Fame
10/11/2007DeVilbiss Hall of Fame inductees, including two team physicians; a coach, and several outstanding graduates from the 1950s to the 1970s, will be honored during special activities Oct. 26.
The DeVilbiss Hall of Fame inducts alumni and staff members from three areas: outstanding athlete while attending DeVilbiss; distinguished achievement in career and/or community or outstanding school service.
The 2007 inductees are:
•Dr. William Garrett Henry, DeVilbiss Class of 1938, and Dr. Ned B. Hein, a graduate of Scott High School, Posthumous Inductions for Outstanding School Service.
The physicians were athletic team doctors for DeVilbiss and other city schools in the 1950s and 1960s. They attended games and conducted physicals for team members, and embodied the value of service to the community.
•James Riggs, of Denton, Texas, Class of 1959, for Distinguished Achievement in Career. A music professor at the University of North Texas, he is internationally recognized for his talents in both teaching and performing.
•Dr. Charles Balch, of Annapolis, Md., Class of 1961, for Distinguished Achievement in Career. A professor of surgery and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he is a leading melanoma expert.
•Phil Kahler, of Rochester, N.Y., men's basketball coach during the 1960s at DeVilbiss, for Special School Service.
Mr. Kahler, who has coached women's basketball for 33 years, has had more wins than any coach in NCAA history. At DeVilbiss, he coached the Tigers' 1964 district championship team.
•Dr. Janet Roof Bruner, of Houston, Class of 1967, for Distinguished Achievement in Career. She is chairman of the Department of Pathology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
•Jack Zouhary, of Toledo, valedictorian of the Class of 1969, for Outstanding Achievement in Career. A federal judge since 2006, he was an attorney in private practice for more than 20 years. He is a former Lucas County Court of Common Pleas judge.
•Jean Merritt Gianfagna of Westlake, Ohio, Class of 1972, Outstanding Achievement in Career. She is president and founder of Gianfagna Marketing & Communications, Inc., in Cleveland, an award-winning marketing communications firm that serves Fortune 500 companies and other firms.
The committee also will pay tribute to Friends of DeVilbiss, a parent/teacher/community group that played an important role in efforts to keep DeVilbiss open.
Although the school has closed, "we find the interest and appreciation of the school, its staff, the athletics is very much alive in the community and among all graduates. It is our pleasure and commitment to strive to keep the memories of this great school alive," said Tina Twining Moffat, Class of 1964, a member of the DeVilbiss alumni committee, which is hosting the Hall of Fame banquet.
Alumni are pleased that the school building now houses three school programs, she said. Hall of Fame induction plaques are displayed in the building.
DeVilbiss alumni as well as supporters of the school are welcome to attend the banquet. Social hour will begin at 5:30 p.m. and a sit-down dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Inverness Club on Dorr Street.
Dee Heywood Talmage, Class of 1957 and Hall of Fame member, will be mistress of ceremonies.
Reservation forms are available at the Sanger Branch Library.
For additional information, contact: DeVilbiss Alumni, P. O. Box 2448, Toledo, OH 43606; halloffame@devilbissalumni.org, or www.devilbissalumni.org. Tickets are $42 per person for registrations postmarked by Oct. 15, and $47 after that date. Registrations are due Oct. 20.