XENIA — The Xenia Community Schools Hall of Honor will induct six members during ceremonies Saturday, April 22.
The 2017 Hall of Honor inductees are John E. Bowen, XHS class of 1973; Douglas Kent Cope, XHS class of 1984; R. Greggory Cross, XHS class of 1967; Janet Kindred, XHS class of 1971; Kathleen Seagraves McCormick, XHS class of 1983 and William (Bill) “Schu” Schumacher, XHS class of 1974
Bowen attended Xenia Schools for seven years. He was 14 when he started working to help his family, which included seven children, while saving for college. He became the first and only person in his family to go to college. He attended Wilmington College and graduated with a degree in business in 1977. He has had a successful career in the credit union industry and has served on the boards and/or supported programs of the Xenia YMCA, Xenia Kiwanis Club, Board for Greene County Domestic Violence and his church.
Cope, attended Xenia schools for 13 years and retired from the Xenia Fire Division in 2015 as a captain. He is a 30-year veteran of the fire service and started his career as a professional firefighter/paramedic in 1989. He has served in a number of different roles including the Miami Valley Technical Rescue Team as a canine search specialist, and as a search team manager or task force leader with Ohio Task Force One and has responded to multiple large scale disaster incidents. These assignments include the 2000 Xenia tornado, the 9/11 World Trade Center Collapse, the Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster, and hurricanes Isabel, Ivan, Katrina, Gustav, Hanna, Ike, Irene, Sandy, and Matthew. He has received several commendations for his service and is a member of multiple professional organizations.
Cross was the 1967 recipient of the prestigious Rocky Thomas Scholarship, and was a successful athlete, an officer in student council, and president of his Hi-Y organization. Cross played football at Central State University and basketball at Wright State University. He was a 1972 WSU graduate with a degree in sociology and in 1975 received his teaching certificate. He was a teacher in Beavercreek schools for 35 years in the fields of world geography and American government. He served as a Beavercreek assistant and head football coach for 19 years. He was honored numerous as the most influential teacher by the valedictorians and salutatorians, received the 2005 Teacher of the Year and the 2005 Beavercreek Educational Foundation’s Outstanding Teacher award as well as the 2009 WSU Sociology Department’s Alumnus of the Year. As a charter member and chairman of the Xenia Athletic Hall of Fame, Cross has been instrumental in its fundraising and promotional agenda.
Kindred attended Xenia Schools for 13 years and returned to teach elementary school for 35 years. She has been a lifelong resident of Xenia. She has continued, after retirement, to volunteer for and to guide students, parents, teachers and schools. She was salutatorian of the XHS class of 1971. She received her bachelor of science in education from Wright State University in 1974, and her Master’s in Education in 1980. She has served as a mentor for many teachers and volunteered her time on projects and numerous school district committees including the XCS Key Communicator Team and the Xenia School Workforce Diversity Committee and Plan. She has received multiple recognitions including: 2010 Ohio Lottery Teacher of the Month, and the 2003 Western Ohio Education Association, Federal Children and Public Education Donor and Executive Club Award Winner.
McCormick attended Xenia Schools for 12 years. She excelled in track and basketball. She was recruited to play basketball at Urbana College, and graduated in 1987, after four successful years of achieving academically and playing basketball, with a degree in business administration. She enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1987 and served in various assignments areas, while progressing in rank, over the next 24 years until retirement as a master sergeant in 2011. She received many awards and decorations, including: Meritorious Service Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Achievement Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster, Iraq Campaign Medal with One Bronze Star and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Schumacher attended Xenia Schools for 13 years and was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa award in 1974. Numerous former students nominated him for induction into the Xenia Community Schools Hall of Honor citing the high bar he set for the band and each individual player. He is described as “inspirational” and a teacher who displayed faith in his students even when they doubted themselves. Many former students keep in touch with him and value his ongoing friendship. Under Schumacher’s direction, the Central Junior High band was the first instrumental group from Xenia to receive a “1” rating in Class A OMEA concert band competition and went on to receive “1” ratings in the following years. In 1989, his band received the Grand Champion Award at the King’s Island Music Festival in the High School category. In competitions, his band has been described by judges as “the best that they had ever heard” and “a community treasure.”
The 19th Annual Hall of Honor Induction Ceremony and Dinner begins 6:30 p.m. at Tecumseh Elementary School. The dinner will be preceded by the Third Annual Silent Auction for Grants beginning 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 each and are available at the Xenia Area Chamber of Commerce, 334 W. Market Street. For more information, call 937-372-3591.
