Jefferson High School Hall of Fame - 2002
The biographies listed here were current at the
time the honoree was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Karen Casey-Elliott
1957
While a student at Jeff, Elliott's
activities were in the Card Section, the Latin Club, and Yearbook. While
at Purdue University she was active in Alpha Xi Delta Sorority. Elliott
was chosen as A Woman of Distinction by Alpha Xi Delta, her college sorority
in 2000.
Elliott graduated from Purdue
in 1962. Elliot( received an MA. in American Studies from the University
of Minnesota. She received a Ph.D. in American Studies in 1979. Her teaching
career began in Lafayette where she taught for three years at Oakland Elementary
School. In 1973, she eared an MA. in American Studies from the University
of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in 1979. While completing her degree she taught
many courses at the University of Minnesota.
Prior to the publication of her
first book in 1982, she was a managing editor at the Hazelden Foundation
in Center City, Minnesota. She eventually became the Publisher and Vice
President of Hazelden Educational Materials. Elliott's first book, Each
Day A New Beginning. sold more than 3 million copies and was followed by
14 more books. Her life story and 15 books have been featured in the St.
Paul, MN Pioneer Press, the Naples (Florida) Daily News, and The Quill,
(her college sorority quarterly magazine). Her books have appeared on the
cover of Publishers Weekly. More than 20 titles are available in foreign
languages throughout the world.
She has done radio interviews
for stations throughout the United States and Canada and has been featured
twice on NBC affiliate KARE in Minneapolis. She has been a keynote speaker
for many conferences dealing with Addictions and Recovery over the years
and has done many workshops and retreats for people seeking guidance in
recovery issues.
James P. Fields
1974
Fields was a student athlete at
Jefferson High School and lettered four years. Earning all state honors
in baseball, he was a member of the State Championship baseball team in
1974. He also lettered three years in basketball and was a member of the
1974 Final Four team. Jim served as President of the Fellowship of Christian
Athlete and Vice President of his senior class. He was elected to the 25
year Silver Anniversary Team for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Jim's
father is Spider Fields, who is an Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame member
and former head baseball coach at Lafayette Jefferson High School.
Fields serves as Vice President
of Business Development for Menlo Worldwide Logistics, a CNF Company, where
he is responsible for managing all global sales and marketing activities
for the logistics company. He also serves as an elected officer of Menlo
Worldwide, holding that position the past three years. Before his promotion
to Vice President in May 1996, Fields served as Director of Sales and Marketing
for Menlo. During his 20 year tenure with CNF, formerly Consolidated Freightways,
Inc. Fields has held various operations and sales positions within the
company.
Prior to joining Consolidated
Freightways, Fields taught high school business for three years at Muncie
Central and Southside High Schools respectively. He has earned a bachelor's
degree in business education, and a master's degree in secondary education
and supervision from Ball State University. After graduating from Ball
State University he had a short but successful tenure as basketball coach
at Muncie Central for three years, working with Bill Harrell.
Jim has kept very active in athletics,
mainly as a coach of basketball and baseball teams. He has served as head
coach and general manager of the North Oakland Reds, an advanced-play travel
baseball club for the past 5 years. His team finished 8th in the USSSA
World Series this past year. Most recently he has been a guest radio analyst
for WLBC Muncie, for the Ball State University basketball games played
at Eastern and Central Michigan.
Joseph N. Heath, Jr.
1953
Joe attended Xavier University
on a basketball scholarship. Due to an athletic injury his basketball career
was shortened and he transferred to Purdue University where he received
his bachelor's degree in 1957 and his master's degree in 1959. He completed
additional administrative graduate studies at Purdue. Joe spent over forty
years in public education as a teacher, coach, and administrator. He taught
and coached at Francisville, Winamac and Elwood before returning home to
Jefferson High School.
While in high school, Joe participated
in basketball and baseball. He has the distinction of being the only individual
in the state of Indiana to serve as a student/athlete, coach, teacher,
director of athletics and principal at the same school. In 1953 Joe was
the recipient of the Exchange Club's Sportsmanship Awards, and in March
1993 he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
Through the years, Joe had been
involved in a variety of groups at the local, state and national level.
He has served as a board member of the YMCA, Junior Achievement, United
Way and Police Merit Board locally. At the state level, Joe has served
as a board member, vice president and president of the Indiana State Coaches'
Association, Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame as a member, vice president,
executive vice president and president. Nationally, he served as a board
member, president-elect and president of the National Federation of Interscholastic
Coaches Association. His colleagues have recognized him for his service
by selecting him as the recipient of The District Service Award, IBCA 1992;
District 1 Athletic Director of the Year 1992-93; Indiana Athletic Administrator
of the Year 1993; Indiana Association of Educational Office Professionals
Administrator of the Year 1997; Midwest Athletic Director of the Year 1994;
National Federation Citation Award Winner 1995 and the Charles Maas Distinguished
Service Award 2001.
Joe probably is best known for
his love of young people, generosity, honesty, sports and devotion to his
family and friends. As an educator he maintained a simple philosophy that
you follow the rules, teach by example and reflect the highest standards
of professionalism.
Norman
R. Hertzer, MD
1960
Dr. Hertzer was salutatorian of
the class of 1960. While at Jeff, he was a member of the NCC champion varsity
tennis team, played saxophone and oboe in the band and orchestra, and was
president of his class and the Student Council. He also was the student
manager of the varsity basketball team and was the manager of the Indiana
All Star basketball team in 1960 and 1961.
Dr. Hertzer received his undergraduate
and medical degrees with distinction from Indiana University, where he
was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha scholastic honor societies.
He trained in General Surgery and in Vascular Surgery at the Cleveland
Clinic Foundation, and after serving in the Us. Army Medical Corps at Fort
Hood, Texas, he was appointed to the Cleveland Clinic staff in the Department
of Vascular Surgery in 1976. He later became the Chairman of this department,
a position he held for many years.
Dr. Hertzer is the author of nearly
200 scientific journal articles and textbook chapters in the field of Vascular
Surgery. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Vascular Surgery and
has been president of the Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society and the
national Society for Vascular Surgery. He is a member of many other professional
organizations and has been selected as an honorary member of the New England
Society for Vascular Surgery, the Southern Society for Vascular Surgery,
and the vascular section of the Australian/Asian College of Surgeons. In
the year 2000, Indiana University presented him with its Distinguished
Alumnus Award.
Jack
A. King
1954
While a student at Jefferson High
School, Jack King was one of a few who at that time participated in both
sports and music. In 1953, he was a member of the Lafayette American Legion
Post 11 state championship baseball team. His high school music career
was highlighted by four consecutive first place finishes in the state ensemble
drum contests.
King graduated from
Indiana University in 1958 with a B. S. in Business Finance. After earning
his J. D. in law
from I U in 1961, King returned to Lafayette and was a partner in the firm
of Ball, Eggleston, King & Bumbleburg from 1961 until 1970. At the
age of 33, King was appointed by Governor Edgar Whitcomb as the first judge
of Superior
Court No.2 of Tippecanoe County. He was the youngest trial court judge in Indiana
at that time and was twice re-elected without opposition. During his tenure
on the bench, Judge King was appointed as a Special Judge, both by the Indiana
Supreme Court and
the Court of Appeals.
In 1978, he moved
to Scottsdale, Arizona where he became Vice President and General Counsel
for several
insurance companies transacting business nationally. Over the next twenty
years, King was responsible for the resolution of several cases having
national prominence. Some of the most notable of which were the "People's
Temple" mass suicides and murders in Jonestown, Guyana; multiple class
actions in several states against the Denny's restaurant chain, emanating
from alleged racial discrimination; and one of the first lawsuits brought
by the tobacco industry against ABC- TV resulting from media reports on
nicotine addiction. An interesting and diverse career in the law has taken
King into state and federal courts in Indiana, Arizona, Texas, Colorado,
and California.
In 1998, King was appointed Executive
Director of the Arizona Insurance Guaranty Funds. These entities, which
are divisions of the Arizona Department of Insurance, provide assistance
to consumers by paying claims on behalf of insolvent insurance companies.
As Executive Director, King had oversight responsibility for significant
litigation involving the Guaranty Funds and personally resolved major lawsuits
in which millions of dollars were at stake. After inheriting an organization
embroiled in controversy, King brought about major reform, ethics, economy,
and stability, for which he was commended upon his retirement from this
position in October 2001.
Dr. John Postlethwait
1962
While at Jefferson High School Dr.
Postlethwait served as president of the Junior Class, president of the NFL.,
and president of Hi- Y in his junior and
senior year. He was a Boys State delegate. Dr. Postlethwait received his B.
A. in Biology in 1966 from Purdue University and completed his Pre-doctorate
in Developmental Genetics from the University
of California, Irvine. In 1970 he received his Ph.D. in Developmental Genetics
from Case Western Reserve University. His Post-doctorate was in Molecular Genetics
at Harvard University.
Dr. Postlethwait is Professor of
Biology at the University of Oregon, where he teaches General Biology for
non majors and Genetics and Evolution, the introductory
course for biology majors. His research on the genetic mechanisms of embryonic
development is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American
Heart Association. For three one-year periods, Dr. Postlethwait conducted research
supported by Fulbright grants at the Institut fur Molekular Biologie in Salzburg,
Austria, the Laboratorie de Genetique Moleculaire des Eucaryotes in Strasburg,
France, and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in Oxford, England. In 2000 Dr.
Postlethwait received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Purdue University.
Dr. Postlethwait has been involved in numerous publications over the years.
A recipient of the Ersted Distinguished Teaching Award, Dr. Postlethwait encourages
active participation of undergraduates in research and includes them as coauthors
on publications. Currently Dr. Postlethwait is participating in the federally
funded University of Oregon Workshop Biology program for innovative teaching
of biology.
Top of Page
