|
Glenville State College will be honoring five individuals at their Alumni Awards Brunch on Saturday, October 16th prior to the Homecoming Game.
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Professor Espy W. Miller
Professor Espy Miller has been chosen to receive this year's Community Service Award because of the many years of service he has given so unselfishly to the Glenville community and to Glenville State College. He has served both with dignity and grace since 1946.
Dr. Miller serves on the West Virginia Board of Medicine that supervises Ambulance Service and Medical Treatment Centers/Hospitals throughout the State and is an active member of the Glenville Rotary, having received his 50-year service pin from that group's district a few years ago. He continues to serve on several Boards and Committees that deal with a variety of issues related to the college and continues to support the area's public schools and his community as well.
Ever present at college and community events, Dr. Miller is a great historian when it comes to GSC and his community. The Gilmer County Historical Society featured him in May of 2004 as their guest speaker, where his presentation was entitled "Moments to Remember: 50 Years of Life in Glenville."
He is a native of Randolph County and a graduate of Tygart's Valley High School. He received his undergraduate degree from Concord College, his master's degree from Northwestern University and his doctorate from Ohio State University.
After a four-year career in the United States Navy during World War II, Dr. Miller joined the English faculty at Glenville State College in September of 1946. He became chairman of the Language Division in 1954 and held that position until his retirement in May of 1976. Dr. Miller is the epitome of a college professor.
As Division Chair, he was a role model for those he recruited and mentored on a daily basis. He set the standard for excellence and lived it in his personal and professional life. While a member of the English faculty, Dr. Miller was elected chairman of the Advisory Council of Faculty to the West Virginia Board of Regents. He served as a member until his retirement.
His wife of 61 years, Rosalea Poling Miller, passed away in 2001. Together they have touched the lives of so many through their dedication to students and education. An inspiration to all of his friends and former students, the Alumni Association is proud to honor Professor Espy Miller with this special recognition.
POSTHUMOUS AWARD
Claude R. Kemper, '33
The 2004 Posthumous Award is being presented to the family of Claude Kemper. This award honors Claude's distinguished life as a master woodcarver and his dedication to Glenville State College.
Claude was best known in West Virginia as the carver of "Birds of My Hollow," a collection of 45 bird species indigenous to the Newberne area of Gilmer County, where he spent his childhood and his summers after he retired from West Virginia University.
Beginning in 1975, he took part in the annual Stonewall Jackson Heritage Arts and Crafts Jubilee fair in Jane Lew, only missing one year between 1975 and 2003. In September of 2004, the fair honored him by dedicating this year's program to him. For decades, he worked alongside his wife of 66 years, Ethel Foster Kemper '32.
At the same booth, where she tracked his orders and helped work the display, Ethel thrilled many with her quilling pictures. When she died in 1998, he then relied on his son Ron and daughter-in-law Lynne to help him with his work. Always a teacher, he also exhibited his personal collection in the annual West Virginia Folk Festival in Glenville where different age groups competed to name the most bird species correctly.
Claude completed the Short Normal Course at Glenville State College, received his BS in Agriculture from West Virginia University and his MS in horticulture also from West Virginia University. He worked 8 years with the US Department of Agriculture and spent 25 years with the WVU Cooperative Extension Service.
Still, it was his appreciation for birds, instead of his schooling, that formed the basis for his bird-carving hobby. This hobby, which he acquired after his retirement, enriched his life and the lives of countless others who enjoyed his work.
Claude departed this life on January 7, 2004, at Hope Hospice House in Cape Coral, Florida, but to so many who have enjoyed his talented carvings, his spirit will live on in their collections and through the continued efforts of his loving son and daughter-in-law as they work to keep his craft alive.
A complete collection of his bird carvings, which he donated to Glenville State College in 2000, is on permanent display in the Claude and Ethel Kemper Room, located in the College's Robert F. Kidd Library. His memory will also live on through the generous scholarship that he and Ethel established at their Alma Mater in 1998.
OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR AWARD
Denver E. Drake, '76
Denver Drake is being recognized as the recipient of the Alumni Association's Outstanding Educator Award. This award is presented to a public school administrator who brings recognition to Glenville State College through a distinguished career.
Known throughout central West Virginia for his exceptional gift of teaching young minds, Denver spent six years as a special needs teacher and 22 years teaching fifth grade in Braxton County Schools. He taught at Gassaway Middle School before the county consolidated to a middle school that serves fifth through eighth grades.
In July of 2004, he left his comfortable classroom at the middle school to serve as the school's new principal and is being heralded as the administrator who can bring stability to a school that has seen six principals in the past twelve years. Mr. Drake has the respect of his faculty, his students and of his students' parents. His goal is for his school "to become a West Virginia School of Excellence within three years."
A 1976 graduate of Glenville State College, he received his master's degree in Education Administration from West Virginia University. He is listed in Who's Who of American Educators, was the recipient of the 1998 VFW Citizenship Education Teacher Award and received the Alumni Association's 2000 Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award. He belongs to the West Virginia Principal's Association and to the W.Va. Education Association. He is a past member of the Gassaway Public Library Board and a past trustee of the Braxton County Memorial Hospital.
Denver enjoys traveling abroad and within the continental United States. In planning his trips, he is always watchful for a historic angle to the trip and incorporates this into the classroom experience. He served as a USA representative for Rotary International when he traveled to Australia in 1988 and has been to Egypt and Israel. In 2002, he was an Exchange Teacher for Braxton County Middle School students when he took them to Russia. He expects students from Russia to visit his school this year.
Denver is an active member of the Gassaway United Methodist Church, where he serves as chairman of the Administrative Council and is very active in the church choir. A Braxton County native, he resides in Gassaway.
ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Larry G. Gainer, '66
Larry Gainer has been selected to receive the Alumni Achievement Award for his distinguished career as an educator, administrator and tireless civic leader. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Pleasants County Development Authority, a position he has held since 2002. In this position, he facilitated a downtown revitalization project for the city of St. Marys that was in excess of $750,000.
While president of the Development Authority, he coordinated the purchase and early development of the Pleasants County Industrial Center, utilizing funds from the sale of sand and timber and monies raised from state and federal government sources as well as private entities.
A 1966 graduate of Glenville State College, Larry received his master's degree in the Supervision of Curriculum and Instruction from West Virginia University and has completed post-graduate studies in Administration at West Virginia University.
After early teaching positions in Gilmer and Wood Counties, Mr. Gainer was named the Federal Programs Coordinator for Pleasants County Schools in 1972 and the following year, that county's superintendent, a position that he held for the next decade.
During that ten year period, all of his bond and levy issues were passed and he authored the first Pleasants County Schools Comprehensive Facilities Plan resulting in the construction of the PRT Vocational-Technical Center, the Pleasants County Middle School, the St. Marys Elem. School Kindergarten Unit, and renovations to other schools in the county as well.
Additionally, his county school system was recognized as one of the three most outstanding in West Virginia by the historic Recht decision.
From 1983-1999, Mr. Gainer continued to devote his time and expertise to Pleasants County Schools in the positions of Administrative Assistant, Curriculum Coordinator and Technology Coordinator. Among his accomplishments were the leadership he provided to complete written curriculum's for all areas of study interfaced with State Learning Outcomes and the coordination/early implementation of the Basic Skills and SUCCESS technology programs.
Larry is married to the former Sharon Bumgarner Meade, '67 who is an educator in her own right. They reside in St. Marys and are the parents of one adult son, Lance, who works as a CPA.
ALUMNA OF THE YEAR
Judith Elkin Shoemaker Johnson, '71
Judy Johnson will receive this year's Alumna of the Year award for her outstanding personal accomplishments and for her exemplary service in the fields of autism, mental retardation and related disabilities.
In July of 2002, Dr. Johnson was appointed by the Board of Directors as President/CEO for Babcock Center, Inc., a private non-profit corporation supporting people with life-long disabilities. She has provided outstanding service to individuals with mental retardation and related disabilities for 32 years.
Judy began her career as a Special Education teacher at the Colin Anderson Center in St. Marys, West Virginia. In 1980, she relocated to Columbia, South Carolina to accept the position of Administrator for Residential Programs at Coastal Center.
Dr. Johnson worked for the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs for more than 16 years, serving as Assistant Superintendent, Deputy Commissioner, and Deputy Director of Regional Centers, before joining the private sector in 1996.
Prior to accepting the President/CEO position at Babcock Center, Inc., she was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of American Habilitation Services, Inc., a large, multi-state private provider serving people with disabilities.
A 1971 graduate of Glenville State College, she received her master's degree in Education from Ohio University and her doctorate in Education from West Virginia University. Dr. Johnson has served as a professional consultant for more than 20 years, has written more than thirty publications, published six articles and presented numerous workshops on disabilities-related issues.
She received the Outstanding Woman Professional of the Year in 1985, the Outstanding State Employee Award in 1986, AAMR Fellowship Status in 1992 and the Richard B. Dillard Leadership Award from SEAAMR in 1994.
Dr. Johnson has two adult children and eight grandchildren. She resides in Irmo, South Carolina.
SATURDAY'S EVENT
The class of '79 will be recognized on this date as well.
This 11:30 a.m. brunch, which is open to the public but requires prior reservations, will be held at the Gilmer County Recreation Center because of renovations underway to the Heflin Student Center on the College's campus.
To make reservations at $10 each, or for more information about this very special event, contact Debbie Nagy, Coordinator of Alumni Affairs at (304) 462-4122, local or (866) 239-0285, toll free.
| 
