High School News Archive 2010-2011: South Houston High News

SOUTH HOUSTON HS PHOTO: Students Perform at Hobby Center Summer Showcase

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500

South Houston High students enrolled in the Harris County Department of Education's Cooperative for After-School Enrichment program (CASE) performed onstage at the Hobby Center during the Kid's Day celebration on June 30.
Students Juan Torres, Tony Cortez, Andres Cortez and Lucio Vasquez provided a laser art film featuring the four students directed by local artist Che Rickman.
The summer event showcased dancing, puppetry, theater, music, poetry and more from local elementary through high school students and provided opportunites for students to meet and interact with various artists. Event photo follows.

South Houston High students demonstrate
their laser art works during Kids' Day celebration
at the Hobby Center.

SOUTH HOUSTON HS PHOTO: Trojan Faculty Fares Well In Softball

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The Trojan faculty softball team finished second to Queens Intermediate during a recent district team game.

Trojan faculty softball members are (back row) Humberto Garcia, Rose Pettijohn, Julie Kusian, Kyle Teeples, Ben Wheeler and Tim Laza;(front) Jamie Fontenot, Ester Mata, Melody Shelton and Vicki Talton.

SOUTH HOUSTON GRADUATION ALBUM: June 3, 2011

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500

South Houston graduates toss their caps into the air at the conclusion of their commencement ceremony.

Kenneth Fuentes, South Houston's valedictorian, prepares to lead the Class of 2011 down the tunnel and into Hofheinz Pavilion.

The South Houston NJROTC provides a salute to seniors as they hit the floor at Hofheinz.

South Houston senior Cierra Ramirez, a Top 10 graduate.

Senior Lisa Guidino takes part in the processional.

Seniors Mariela Garcia and Karla Garcia enter Hofheinz Pavilion.

Senior Valeria Martinez walks to her chair.

Dr. Steve Fullen, South Houston's principal, delivers the introduction of guests.

Senior Anessa Rios delivers the commencement address.

South Houston's Class of 2011 lines up to receive diplomas.

Seniors Stephanie Zendejo, Esmeralda Soriano and Viviana Salinas, all members of Homeroom 12-01, take a deep breath after receiving their diplomas.

Senior Ignacio Barcena smiles as he leaves the stage, diploma in hand.

Senior Marcos Elizondo crosses the stage.

Dr. Steve Fullen, South Houston's principal, congratulates Kelsey Smith, the school's salutatorian.

South Houston graduate Andres Rangel flashes the No. 1 sign as he celebrates with classmate Roel Ramirez.

Senior Charles Fairchild receives his diploma from Dr. Steve Fullen.

Senior Dayra Gonzalez walks up the steps to the stage to receive her diploma.

Seniors Francisca Ruiz and Monica Sanchez move forward to receive their diplomas.

SOUTH HOUSTON HS: Shining Stars Album

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The top 10 South Houston High School seniors from the Class of 2011, honored at the Shining Stars Gala on Tuesday night. Presenters in each photo are (left) Jeanne Newberry and (right) Melissa Buell and Bill Barmore. Newberry and Buell are representatives of Dell Computers. Barmore serves as president of the Pasadena ISD Education Foundation.
Each senior is in the middle of the photo with the distinquished educator chosen by that student standing second from the left.

Senior Laura De La Garza and South Houston High biology teacher Paul Gutierrez

Senior Mary Finan and South Houston High choir director David Patterson

Senior Kenneth Fuentes and South Houston High calculus teacher Motee Abunima

Senior Stephanie Guei (could not attend) and South Houston High English teacher Susan DeWolfe

Senior Michael Ijeh and South Houston High DECA sponsor Charlotte Spencer

Senior Heladio Mendez and South Houston High English teacher Elizabeth Alaniz (could not attend)

Senior Ada Morales and South Houston High government teacher Donald Wood

Senior Juliana Munoz and South Houston High family development teacher Kellye Hollins

Senior Cierra Ramirez and South Houston High physics teacher Christopher Stewart

Senior Kelsey Smith and South Houston High math teacher Jerry Gullick

Susan Duff To Assist Jannettes' Saturday Parking Lot Sale

Wed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Efforts by the South Houston High dance team to raise money for summer camp will receive a major boost on Saturday from a face familiar to both Trojan alumni and to pop music fans.
Susan Cobb Duff, a 1971 South Houston graduate and the mother of entertainment stars Hilary and Haylie Duff, will take part in a giant garage sale this Saturday in the front parking lot of the high school.
Proceeds from the sale will help the school's Jannette dance team attend the Showmakers Dance Camp at Blinn College in Brenham, which begins on Sunday.
The sale starts at 6 a.m. and is scheduled to conclude at noon.
Duff, herself a former Jannette, has enlisted the help of friends in the business community to donate hundreds of items for the sale.
"I'm coming in to sweat with the Jannettes," Duff said. "We're going to help these girls get to camp."
"Our kids are overjoyed," said Saranya Taylor, South Houston's dance team director. "You know she has such a busy life, and for her to come all the way across the country and give up her time, it's just a real honor for us."
Duff grew up in Freeway Manor and in an apartment complex just three blocks from the school. In addition to drill, she contributed to the newspaper staff her junior and senior years.
In March, she was included in a group of inaugural inductees named to the school's Hall of Honor. She attended the ceremony, spoke to student leaders and was told of the dance team's need to raise funds for camp.
She immediately pledged her help to the garage sale effort.
Duff raised her daughters in Houston and San Antonio. While both were still young girls, the family relocated to Hollywood to allow the girls to train and audition for roles on TV and in motion pictures.
Hilary won an audition for the Disney-produced "Lizzie McGuire" show and quickly blossomed into an internationally known acting and recording star. Haylie also landed several TV and movie roles, including a spot in the surprise hit "Napoleon Dynamite."
Together, the Duff girls have starred in several movies and participated in several joint productions.
Susan Duff served as manager and a co-producer for many of the girls' early projects.

SOUTH HOUSTON HS PHOTO: Three Seniors Compete in Energy City of the Future

Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Three South Houston High seniors last week participated in the Energy City of the Future/2050 competition, an event organized by Harris County Department of Education's Cooperative for After-School Enrichment.
Students created a scale model of an energy-efficient city of Houston and also a PowerPoint presentation to market their design.
The competition was sponsored by Consumer Energy Alliance and supported with in-kind contributions from Houston Community College, Northeast Campus Energy Institute and the Greater Houston Partnership.
(Below) South Houston participants Roel Ramirez, Eusebio Romero and Liz Luna; after-school coordinator Lee Ann Aluotto and science teacher Dan Waddell.

HALL OF HONOR PLAQUE DISPLAY

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0600

SHHS Dedicates Hall of Honor in Joyous, Tearful Ceremony

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0600

South Houston senior Getzani Mogul, a member of the school's NJROTC, prepares to deliver a bouquet of roses to one of the family members representing a SHHS graduate killed in the line of duty. Seated to the right are family members of fallen graduates and other members of the first class of inductees to the school's new Hall of Honor. All photos on this page by Candace Ahlfinger, Britta Gamino and Alex Gladney-Lemon.

'Acknowledging Our Legacy,' Trojans Pause to Pay Tribute

LINK TO VIDEO REPLAY

LINK TO PLAQUE DISPLAY

John Hartman, a 1970 South Houston High School graduate, wasn't able to attend his alma mater's Hall of Honor dedication at the school on Thursday night. Confined to a wheelchair, Hartman watched the ceremony at his Pasadena home on his computer via a live Internet feed.
As the names of 55 esteemed South Houston graduates were called, Hartman was inspired to write a poem about his school. He shared it with friends and old schoolmates on Facebook. His final verse read:
Most of us did,
as we were expected to do,
Graduating after four,
without much of a clue,
Each going separate ways,
to try something new.
For in each of us,
Crimson and Gray flows through… Trojans Forever!
Thursday night, those "separate ways" converged for scores of South Houston grads in a ceremony that was at times joyful, poignant and solemn -- and altogether innovative.
Just four hours before the event, South Houston video tech teacher Scott Cundiff and campus technology guru Paul Hartweck completed work on an Internet hookup that allowed other alumni, such as Hartman, to view the ceremony live.
An estimated 450 people turned out to watch as 55 graduates -- most from the 1960s and 1970s -- were inducted into the school's new Hall of Honor. Even on short notice, at least 50 others logged on to watch the event via the Internet.
With Pasadena ISD Superintendent Dr. Kirk Lewis and five school board members in attendance, the Trojans paid tribute to a starry cast of honored doctors, lawyers, educators, judges, reporters, religious leaders and former athletes, and several others who have excelled in other areas.
"This night," said South Houston principal Dr. Steve Fullen," is about acknowledging our legacy."
Bob Fawcett, a former South Houston High assistant principal who served as emcee for the event, said the Hall of Honor represents an "unbroken chain of men and women who provided a past worth celebrating, and an inspiration for the future of this school."
Thirty-six of the 47 living inductees attended the event. Several others were represented by family members.
Emotions spilled over at the end of the reading of the roll of inducted graduates when the names of six fallen soldiers were read, all former South Houston students who were killed in action while serving in the military. Four of the six were represented by family members.
Rose bouquets were presented by cadets from the South Houston NJROTC to Cleotilde Soriano and Gwynn French, both mothers of fallen soldiers. Mrs. Soriano's son, Armando Soriano, was killed in 2004 while serving in the army in Iraq. Mrs. French's son, Douglas French, was killed in Vietnam in 1966 while serving in the Marine Corps.
Douglas French's brother Randy also attended.
Two sets of sisters also received roses. Edgar Page, killed in 1968 while serving in the army in Vietnam, was represented by his sisters, Alma Page Calk and Betty Page White.
Austin Haverkamp, who died in Vietnam in 1968 while serving in the army, was represented by two sisters, Suzanne Londenberg and Janet Suarez, as well as a brother, Eugene Haverkamp.
Those on stage and in the audience gave the family members a standing ovation after all were introduced.
Inductees and guests later moved to the hallway adjacent to the school's Reinartz Center for the formal unveiling of the 30-foot wall featuring plaques of all the honored grads.
As NJROTC cadets removed the curtain covering the wall, the South Houston choir song both verses of the school's alma mater. The second verse, apparently dropped sometime in the late 1970's, was sung in public for the first time in over 30 years.
Cadets then rang the school's Victory Bell in a final, one-minute tribute.
Dr. Fullen earlier offered the main address.
"Tonight we set aside a portion of this building to remind us of where we have been," Dr. Fullen said. "In so doing, it is my hope that current students, and generations of students to come, will walk down that Hall of Honor and have a stronger sense of where they are going."
A response on behalf of the honorees was offered by Emory Gadd, inducted as a Hallof Honor member from the Class of 1965.
"We, on this stage, are just a few representatives of the hundreds of graduates who went before some of us and the hundreds and thousands of those who have followed after us," said Gadd, now the youth minister at Sagemont Church.
"As we have considered this distinction, each of us have thought about many of our classmates who were just as deserving and in many cases more deserving, in our eyes, of this honor."
Said Gadd: "The inductees tonight thank you for remembering us and knowing our names... As each of us here continues to do life, let the Victory Bell ring in our heart -- and continue to ring the sound of victories, value, and purpose."
The school also formally opened its new Class Gallery at the far end of the Hall of Honors. Panorama photos dating back to the school's first graduating class in 1959 were recently retrieved from storage and mounted on several wall sections. Photos from all but two classes from 1959 to 1999 were on display Thursday night.
School officials are still trying to locate a photo from the Class of 1989, the only one needed to complete the collection. Seventeen photos were missing when the project began. Alumni helped fill in the gaps by donating photos or loaning them for reproduction.
Selections to the Hall of Honor were made by the school's baccalaureate committee, which is assigned the task of adding at least one, and no more than five, additional inductees each year. The committee will soon begin taking nominations for inductees to be added in May.
Fawcett, now the director of student services for the Pasadena ISD, said this first group of inductees will now fill a role as important as any they have taken on in the past.
"There are generations of future students we will never know by name or by face," Fawcett said. "They will enter the doors of this campus, walk these hallways, and they will learn in these classrooms. They will - as they look at the pictures and read the stories of these graduates in the Hall of Honor - they will know us."
At his home in Pasadena, as the names of his former schoolmates were being read, John Hartman put a title on his poem. He called it "One and All."
It begins:
Classmates one,
classmates all.
We stand together,
forever tall.

Hall of Honor inductees rise in a standing ovation for family members of four South Houston graduates killed in military service. Family members (left to right) are Gwynn and Randy French, the mother and brother of Douglas French; Cleotilde and Enrique Soriano, the parents of Armando Soriano; Suzanne Londenberg, Eugene Haverkamp and Janet Suarez; siblings of Austin Haverkamp; and Alma Page Calk and Betty Page White, sisters of Edgar Page.

Cleotilde Soriano, the mother of Armando Soriano, and Betty Page White, the sister of Edgar Page, get their first view of memorial plaques to fallen service personnel.

(Left) Mary Zanowiak, mother of Hall of Honor inductee Paul Zanowiak, Class of 1965, accepts a bouquet of roses in memory of her late son, while her granddaughter, Zanowiak's daughter Kendall Antonelli looks on; (middle) members of the NJROTC present colors while Randy French, brother of fallen hero Douglas French, and Cleotilde and Enrique Soriano, parents of fallen hero Armando Soriano, rise to attention in the background; (right) Don Meador, Class of 1959, rises as his name is first to be called.

Ceremony emcee Bob Fawcett introduces Karen Sherman Dorris, Class of 1969, for the invocation.

(Left) Noted attorney Joel Swanson, Class of 1963, answers to the roll call; (right) Karen Sherman Dorris, Class of 1969, offers the invocation.

Inductees answer to the call of names: Cheryl Williams Bolen, Class of 1964; Bob Allen and Emory Gadd, both from the Class of 1965.

Herman Williams, Class of 1964, listens as a summary of his career achievements and contributions to the community is read aloud.

Is there a lawyer in the house? Legal eagle inductees included retired State District Court Judge Suzanne Covington, Class of 1967; former Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Richard Willard, Class of 1965; Southern California intellectual properties attorney Mike Lindsey, Class of 1969; and U.S. District Bankrupcy Court Judge Marvin Isgur, Class of 1970.

More inductees from the 1960's: Class of 1968 scholarship director Herman Munster III; UH-Downtown professor Jane Hickerson Thielemann-Downs, Class of 1968; Pasadena community leader Terry Brotherton, Class of 1969; and The Rev. Karen Sherman Dorris, Class of 1969.

(Left) San Jacinto College coaching and administration icon Ron Rucker, Class of 1960; (right) noted Air Force and Boeing test pilot Wayne Lutz, Class of 1968.

Moving into the 1970's: former college basketball coach Gary Moss, Class of 1970; nursing researcher Lupita Palos, Class of 1971; semiconductor innovator and company start-up specialist James Carter Hall, Class of 1976.

Channel 13 reporter Cynthia Cisneros, Class of 1978; noted estate attorney Ken Vanway, Class of 1970; and Susan Cobb Duff, the mother/manager of actress/singers Haylie and Hilary Duff, Class of 1971.

Former Pasadena City Councilwoman and community leader Dana Johnson Philibert, Class of 1985.

Two NJROTC cadets present roses to Suzanne Londenberg and Janet Suarez, sisters of Austin Haverkamp, one of the fallen soldiers inducted into the Hall of Honor.

Randy French comforts his mother, Gwynn French, as inductees and audience members pause in silence to honor her son, Douglas French, killed in Vietnam in 1966.

John O. Harris, Class of 1978, with Jean Harris, a proud mom.

South Houston orchestra director George Crandall leads a reception performance for arriving guests.

Guests gather in the Reinartz Center before the start of the Hall of Honor dedication ceremony.

Susan Cobb Duff, Class of 1971 and a Hall of Honor inductee, poses with South Houston student helpers.

South Houston senior Janeth Cervantes helps a guest browse through a Palladium yearbook. Each year's Palladium was on display in the Reinartz Center.

Portions of the Hall of Honor, just beyond the main entrance at South Houston High School.

(Left) Judge Suzanne Covington, Class of 1967, receives a red-carpet escort from the NJROTC; (right) visitors examine photos in the new class panorama section of the Hall of Honor.

(Left) SHHS faculty member Danette Jolliff, Class of 1985 (third from left) joins students at the sign-in table; (right) cadet sentries stand guard in the Hall of Honor prior to the unveiling.

(Left) Emcee Bob Fawcett and (right) Dr. Steve Fullen, SHHS principal, at the podium.

(Left) Guests get their first view of the Hall of Honor; (right) guests gather in the Reinartz Center.

Guests crowd into the Hall of Honor after the unveiling.

New SHHS Hall to Honor 55 Esteemed Grads

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0600

MARCH 3 CEREMONY WILL ENSHRINE NOTABLES
IN A VARIETY OF FIELDS, HONOR FALLEN SOLDIERS
A former assistant attorney general of the United States, a renowned physicist, a Himalayan adventurer, an opera singer and a major-league catcher are among a group of 55 esteemed South Houston High School alumni who will be inducted into the school's new Hall of Honor in a campus ceremony set for tonight (March 3).
The Hall of Honor will feature a display of inductee plaques on a 30-foot wall adjacent to the Reinartz Center just beyond the front entrance to the school. Nearly $3,000 -- much of it provided by alumni donations -- has been invested in the project.
South Houston opened its doors in 1957 and graduated its first class in 1959.
"This Hall of Honor will be a constant reminder of the impact that our alumni have had upon the community, the nation, and the world," said Dr. Steve Fullen, South Houston's principal.
"Our job is to prepare our students to move on to bigger and better things. With the dedication of the Hall of Honor, our students will have visible examples of just what 'bigger and better' means."
A reception is set for 6:30 p.m. at the school with dedication ceremonies beginning at 7.
Most of the initial honorees graduated during the school's first two decades. Six of the 55 plaques will honor servicemen who gave their lives in combat operations - four in Vietnam and one each in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The inductees were selected by the school's baccalaureate committee, a group of faculty members who are also charged with selecting an honored alumnus and an honored former faculty member each spring for the school's baccalaureate ceremony.
The committee spent nearly a year consulting with alumni groups, checking records and screening candidates before settling on an inaugural Hall of Honor class of 55.
Committee bylaws call for the selection of from one to five additional honorees each year. The committee will meet in late spring to consider new inductees.
All 47 surviving members of the first group of inductees - as well as family members of seven deceased honorees - have been invited to attend the Hall of Honor dedication ceremony on March 3 in the Reinartz Center. Pasadena ISD officials, members of the Pasadena ISD Education Foundation and other school and community officials are expected to attend.
The ceremony will conclude with the formal unveiling of the plaque display.
"Our students will now feel a connection with the past," Dr. Fullen said, "and they will see how they have the same opportunity to shape the world. At the same time, it is my hope that those chosen to be members of the Hall of Honor will feel connected to our current students and experience a desire to renew their involvement with South Houston High School."
The inaugural class includes individuals highly accomplished in such fields as medicine, education, religion, entertainment and the law.
The list includes Richard Willard (Class of 1965), who served as assistant attorney general of the U.S. under President Ronald Reagan. It includes the late Dr. Nathan Isgur (1964), a Presidential Scholar as a South Houston senior who went on to become one of the world's foremost theoretical physicists.
Isgur's brother Marvin (1970), a U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge in Houston, will also be inducted.
Five inductees have previously been honored by the Pasadena ISD for their career achievements.
James R. Smith (1960), a long-time teacher and administrator in the district, was named the district's Distinguished Alumnus in 2008. The late Dr. Paul Zanowiak (1965), a prominent dentist and Himalayan adventurer, was selected as Distinguished Alumnus in 2004.
Local businessman Herman Williams (1964) was selected as the district's Distinguished Citizen in 2007. Emory Gadd (1965), youth minister at Sagemont Church, was honored as Distinguished Citizen in 2005. Local businessman Terry Brotherton (1969) was chosen as Distinguished Citizen in 2009.
Entertainment notables include Mary Bowen (1991), a mezzo soprano with the New York City Opera; Donella Coffey (1970), a Hollywood production assistant with credits that include the hit TV show "Ally McBeal," and Susan Cobb Duff (1971), the mother/manager of acting and singing celebrities Hilary and Haylie Duff.
Athletes include Chris Tremie (1988), a former major-league catcher for four teams, including the Houston Astros; and Wes Hubert (1976), regarded as one of the best offensive linemen ever to play for the Texas Longhorns.
Two reporters for Channel 13 News - Deborah Wrigley (1969) and Cynthia Cisneros (1978) -- will also be inducted.
The South Houston High School Class of 1970 contributed nearly $1,100 to the project with funds collected during its 40th reunion celebration in Galveston last summer.
Event organizers expect most of the inductees to attend the dedication. RSVPs have already been received from as far away as Los Angeles and Key West.
"When South Houston opened its doors over fifty years ago, those first students were proud to be Trojans," Dr. Fullen said.
"They worked diligently to develop rich traditions that live on today. Today's students share those same values, customs, and traditions, and their chests still swell with the same pride as those very first Trojans, with whom they share a common identity."

SOUTH HOUSTON HIGH SCHOOL
HALL OF HONOR INDUCTEES
(Graduation class in parentheses)
1959-69
Donald Meador (1959): Senior pastor, John Wesley Methodist Church, Houston; Leadership Council, Texas United Methodist Church Conference.
Dr. Ron Rucker (1960): National championship basketball coach and vice-chancellor, San Jacinto College; past chairman, Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.
James R. Smith (1960): Pasadena ISD teacher, principal and administrator; Pasadena ISD Distinguished Alumnus for 2008.
Larry Crow (1962): Former police chief and mayor of the City of La Marque.
Dr. Harriet Durr Romo (1962): Sociology professor and researcher, University of Texas-San Antonio; director, UTSA's Mexico Center; wife of Ricardo Romo, UTSA president.
Genia Long Ripley (1962): Manager, Pasadena ISD Police Department operations.
Timothy Shaunty (1962): Agricultural researcher and economics teacher, Texas A&M and South Houston High School; president, Texas Council on Economic Education.
Norton White (1962): Businessman; South Houston High School Scholarship Executor for the Class of 1962.
R. Joel Swanson (1963): Senior partner, Baker Botts, Houston; listed among Texas Super Lawyers.
Dr. Nathan Isgur (1964): Renowned theoretical physicist; winner of the 2001 Sakurai Prize in physics; member, the Royal Society of Canada; honored posthumously.
Cheryl Williams Bolen (1964): Journalist and author of historical romance novels.
Herman Williams (1964): Real estate investor and businessman; co-owner of Rountree Williams Mens Wear; past chairman, Pasadena Chamber of Commerce; member, Pasadena ISD Education Foundation; Pasadena ISD Distinguished Citizen for 2007.
Bob Allen (1965): College football standout, Texas Tech University; businessman and South Houston High School benefactor.
Emory Gadd (1965): Youth minister and community counselor, Sagemont Church; Pasadena ISD volunteer; Pasadena ISD Distinguished Citizen (2005).
Richard Willard (1965): Assistant attorney general of the U.S. from 1983-88 under President Reagan; Chief of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice; currently a law partner, Steptoe & Johnson, Washington.
Dr. Paul Zanowiak (1965): Dentist, humanitarian and Himalayan adventurer; founder, The Smile Store; established free dental clinics in Third-World areas; Pasadena ISD Distinguished Alumnus (2004); honored posthumously.
Cynthia Bryant (1966): Professor, University of Texas Law School; child and family advocate; task force member, Texas Supreme Court.
Lois Williams (1966): Director of oil and gas lease management, Amoco Corp.
Wayne Adams (1967): Former principal, Pasadena High School; member, Pasadena ISD Education Foundation.
Suzanne Covington (1967): State District Court Judge, Austin.
Dr. Darrell Harris (1967): Minister, affiliated with the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies in Orlando, Fla.; founder of Star Song Communications, a prominent Christian music recording company in Nashville, later acquired by music giant EMI.
Dr. Janie Hickerson Thielemann-Downs (1968): Professor, author, consultant for teaching training, University of Houston-Downtown.
Wayne Lutz (1968): Lt. Colonel, U.S. Air Force (retired); former chief test pilot, Boeing; aerospace faculty, Texas A&M.
Herman Munster III (1968): Scholarship executor for South Houston High School, Class of 1968; chairman, Greater Houston Youth For Christ.
Dr. Marvin Baza (1969): Optometrist; founder and director of the Pasadena Eye Center.
Terry Brotherton (1969): Real estate investor; member, Pasadena ISD Education Foundation; past chairman, Pasadena Chamber of Commerce; Pasadena ISD Distinguished Citizen (2009).
Michael Lindsey (1969): Partner, corporate development, Paul Hastings Law Firm, Los Angeles; Authority on anti-trust and intellectual properties issues.
Dr. Karen Sherman Dorris (1969): Senior pastor, Faith United Methodist Church, Richmond; Director, Texas United Methodist Church Conference.
Deborah Wrigley (1969): Reporter, KTRK-TV, Channel 13, Houston.
1970-79
Donella Coffey (1970): Production assistant, TV and movie projects, Los Angeles.
Marvin Isgur (1970): Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge, Houston.
Dr. Mary Lund (1970): Author, lecturer and specialist in family counseling and dispute resolution matters, Los Angeles.
Gary Moss (1970): College basketball coach and high-school principal; member, Sam Houston State University Athletics Hall of Honor.
Ken Vanway (1970): Authority on estate and corporate planning; the Vanway Law Firm, Austin.
Susan Cobb Duff (1971): Motion picture producer; mother and manager of singer/actresses Haylie and Hilary Duff.
Dr. Lupita Palos (1971): Assistant professor and researcher, M.D. Anderson Center, Houston.
Dr. Gregory Fuller (1972): Professor of pathology, chief of neuropathology, M.D. Anderson Hospital, Houston.
Susan Spurlock Keiser (1972): Global head of trust and securities, LaSalle Bank Corp., a division of Bank of America; president, LaSalle National Trust of Delaware; board chairman for ABN AMRO Trustees Ltd. for both London and Dublin.
James Carter Hall (1976): Innovator and patent-holder in semiconductor systems; company start-up specialist.
Wes Hubert (1976): College football standout, All-Southwest Conference center, University of Texas; named to the school's All-Decade Football Team.
Cynthia Cisneros (1978): Reporter, KTRK-TV, Channel 13, Houston.
John Davis (1978): Member, Texas House of Representatives, District 129.
John O. Harris (1978): Real estate developer and entrepreneur; owner, John O. Harris Properties, Pasadena.
1980-89
Dr. Ann Lutz Pearson (1981): Author and editor; English professor, San Jacinto College.
Dana Johnson Philibert (1985): Businesswoman, Philibert Allstate Insurance Agency; former Pasadena City Councilwoman; member, Pasadena ISD Education Foundation; current chairman, Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.
Chris Tremie (1988): Major league baseball player; catcher for the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros.
1990-99
Mary Bowen (1991): Internationally known mezzo soprano, New York City Opera and other companies.
Jason Jolliff (1992): Major, U.S. Marines, F-18 fighter pilot; decorated Iraqi theater veteran.
Dr. Justin Regner (1993): Surgeon, professor of surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; innovator in medical devices and procedures.
THE FALLEN
Edgar D. Page (1961): Specialist, U.S. Army, killed in action, Vietnam, April 28, 1968.
Austin William Haverkamp (1962): Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, killed in action, Vietnam, Sept. 28, 1968.
Douglas Robert French (1965): Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, killed in action, Vietnam, July 21, 1966.
Gerald Edward Blalock (1969): Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, killed in action, Vietnam, May 17, 1968.
Zarian Andre Wood (1999): Petty Officer, U.S. Navy, killed in action, Afghanistan, May 16, 2010.
Armando Soriano (2002): Private First Class, U.S. Army, killed in action, Iraq, Feb. 1, 2004.

SHHS to Honor Fallen Service Members as Part of Hall Dedication

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Fallen service members to be inducted into the South Houston High School Hall of Honor: Edgar Page, Class of 1961; Austin Haverkamp, Class of 1962; Douglas French, Class of 1965; Gerald Blalock, Class of 1969; Zarian Wood, Class of 1999; and Armando Soriano, Class of 2002.

Six fallen heroes -- all former students of South Houston High School who gave their lives in service to their country -- will be honored tonight (March 3) when the school dedicates its new Hall of Honor and pays tribute to 55 of its most esteemed graduates.
Plaques will be unveiled for the six fallen soldiers - four from the Vietnam War era and one each from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts - in a special section of the new hall.
Four of the soldiers will be represented by parents and family members at the ceremony. They are Army Specialist Edgar Page, Class of 1961; Army Staff Sgt. Austin Haverkamp, Class of 1962; Marine Lance Cpl. Douglas French, Class of 1965; and Army Pfc. Armando Soriano, Class of 2002.
Page, who was killed in Vietnam in 1968, will be represented by his sisters, Alma Page Calk and Betty Page White. His niece, Mae Smythe Elementary Principal Quita Brown, will also attend.
Haverkamp, who was killed in Vietnam in 1968; will be represented by his brother, Eugene Haverkamp of Waco, and two sisters: Suzanne Londenberg of China Spring, and Janet Suarez of Humble. All are South Houston graduates.
French, who was killed in Vietnam in 1966, will be represented by his mother, Gwynn French, and his brother Randy French, Class of 1967. Mrs. French still lives in South Houston. Randy French is the police chief of Shore Acres.
Soriano, who died in Iraq in 2004, will be represented by his mother and father, Cleotilde and Enrique Soriano, both residents of Pasadena.
"From the time the Hall of Honor project was first proposed, it was our intent to pay tribute to those who have defended our nation's sovereignty and our right to pursue our dreams," said Dr. Steve Fullen, South Houston's principal.
"As future generations of Trojans pass down this Hall, it is our hope they will fully comprehend and appreciate how these fallen Trojans sacrificed their lives to defend our students' freedom to pursue their education."
The other fallen service members to be honored are:
• Army Spec. 6 Edgar D. Page, Class of 1961, killed in action in Vietnam, 1968.
• Marine Pfc. Gerald Blalock, Class of 1969, killed in action in Vietnam, 1968.
• Navy Petty Officer Zarian Wood, Class of 1999, killed in action in Afghanistan on May 16, 2010.
"This will be a special event for me personally," Eugene Haverkamp said, "and not just because of my brother. Douglas French was in my homeroom. And although he was a little bit younger, I was good friends with Gerald Blalock."
The school originally planned to honor five fallen service members. But when the Hall of Honor dedication was announced earlier this month, a South Houston graduate contacted the school district to provide information about Page. His plaque will be included with the others for the dedication.
"One of the great benefits of this project is the on-going process of discovery," said Al Carter, Communications Specialist for the Pasadena ISD, a 1970 graduate of South Houston and project coordinator for the Hall of Honor.
"So much information about our graduates has been muted by the passing of time. The deeds of so many are known to only a few. Part of our task has been to find those voices who know the full story of South Houston's legacy and give it amplification."
Information on Haverkamp, for instance, was provided by Norton White, a Hall of Honor inductee and a member of the same 1962 graduating class.
French's name appeared on a list of those inscribed on the Vietnam Wall in Washington. His brother, Randy, was then located through a South Houston alumni directory.
Blalock was killed the year before his South Houston class graduated in 1969. He left school early to join the Marines and died shortly after his arrival in Vietnam. He was memorialized in the school's 1969 Palladium yearbook.
The Hall of Honor dedication promises to be one of the biggest on-campus events in the 54-year history of the school. Dozens of government, business and education officials are expected to attend as well as dozens of additional South Houston graduates.
Of the 47 living inductees, 37 have confirmed that they will attend. Six others will be represented by family members. Inductees Dr. Nathan Isgur and Dr. Paul Zanowiak, both deceased, will be presented by family members.
Dr. Isgur, a 1964 graduate who gained international fame as a theoretical physicist, will be represented by his brother, Marvin Isgur, a 1970 graduate who is also being inducted. Marvin is the U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District.
Dr. Zanowiak, a 1965 graduate who combined dentistry with his love of travel to provide clinics in Third World areas, will be represented by his mother, Mary Zanowiak, and his daughter, Kendall Antonelli of Austin.
Among the other inductees expected to attend are Richard Willard, Class of 1965, who served as Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. in the Reagan Administration; Michael Lindsey, Class of 1969, a noted anti-trust and intellectual properties attorney based in Los Angeles; Susan Cobb Duff, Class of 1971, the mother and former manager of actress/singers Hilary and Haylie Duff; and two Channel 13 reporters - Deborah Wrigley, Class of 1969, and Cynthia Cisneros, Class of 1978.
Another inductee from the Class of 1978, State Rep. John Davis, will also attend.
Inductee Emory Gadd, a 1965 graduate who serves as youth minister of Sagemont Church in the South Belt area, will deliver an acknowledgement address on behalf of all the inductees.
The Hall of Honor will feature a display of inductee plaques on a 30-foot wall adjacent to the Reinartz Center just beyond the front entrance to the school.
The inductees were selected by the school's baccalaureate committee, a group of faculty members who are also charged with selecting an honored alumnus and an honored former faculty member each spring for the school's baccalaureate ceremony.
The committee spent nearly a year consulting with alumni groups, checking records and screening candidates before settling on the inaugural Hall of Honor class of 55.
Committee bylaws call for the selection of from one to five additional honorees each May. The committee will meet in late spring to consider new inductees.
If additional fallen service members are confirmed, Carter said, they will be added to the Hall of Honor immediately.