OTHS Hall of Fame Press Release

 

 

                                                                                                            November 1, 2007

 

The Ottawa Township High School Hall of Fame was established in 2006 by the OTHS District 140 Educational Foundation Inc. The focus of the Hall of Fame is to recognize excellence in achievement while a high school student, after leaving Ottawa High or a combination of both. Further, honorees may or may not have attended Ottawa High but were significant and accomplished contributors to OTHS. Also considered are Ottawa High teams or groups.

 

Hall of Fame nomination forms are available at Ottawa High from superintendent secretary Susan MacDonald or online at Ottawahigh2.com.  Anyone from the general public is encouraged to submit nominations. 

 

As a result of a nomination and selection process, nine individuals and one team have been selected as inductees for the 2008 induction class to the Ottawa Township High School Hall of Fame to join the inaugural induction class of 2007.

 

The OTHS Hall of Fame nominating and selection committees are currently in the process of planning a banquet in the Ottawa High cafeteria. The tentative date of the Hall of Fame banquet is Saturday, January 12, 2008.  The inductees are as follows.

 

JULIUS HESS (Class of 1895)  -  Julius Hess graduated from Northwestern University Medical School in 1899.  He interned at Alexian Brother’s Hospital in Chicago and later studied at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and hospitals in Germany and Austria.  In the ensuing years he was on the staff at Englewood Hospital, the Sarah Morris Hospital which was the children’s hospital of Michael Reese and on the faculty at Rush Medical College, Northwestern University Medical School, and the University of Illinois before becoming Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Staff at Cook Community Hospital.  Hess was a prolific writer, making many contributions to medical journals as well as publishing five books on infant care, and inventing what became the precursor to the modern infant incubator.  In 1914 Dr. Hess designed a heated bed for premature infants, in 1922 he designed a transport incubator, and in 1934 his incubator design was converted into a chamber for the provision of oxygen.  In 1922 he published the first American text dealing solely with the care of premature and congenitally diseased infants, and also established the first premature infant station in the United States.  He directed the infant station for 30 years, giving care to 9022 premature infants, providing a previously unheard of 73% survival rate, saving children that would not have survived without his intervention.  In 1952 the American Academy of Pediatrics presented Dr. Hess with their prestigious Borden Award in recognition of his many contributions and achievements in the care of premature infants.  Dr. Hess is widely acknowledged as the Father of American neonatology.

 

ROBERT McKAY – Robert “Bob” McKay spent his entire 42 year teaching career at Ottawa Township High School.  He came to OTHS in 1927 after being honored as an All-Big Ten basketball player at the University of Illinois.  McKay was the head varsity coach of football, basketball, and track at OTHS in the late 1920’s and through the 1930’s.  His 1934 football team was undefeated.  McKay’s teaching career was interrupted in 1942, serving his country as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy during World War II.  Upon his return to OTHS he reorganized the Ottawa Cadet Corps and established one of the earliest and best driver education programs in the nation.  He held various state and national offices in driver education associations, and was one of the top track and field officials in the State of Illinois.  In the late 1930’s he scheduled the first interscholastic football games across state boundaries with a high school in Gulfport, Mississippi.  He continued to innovate and broaden the educational experiences of his students throughout his educational career.

 

MACRAE SHANNON  -  MacRae Shannon, for whom the 1966 addition on the south side of Ottawa Township High School was named (700, 800, and 900 floors), served OTHS as a teacher and administrator from 1935 to 1965, serving as Superintendent since 1949.  He was widely known in area, state, and national educational circles.  Among other appointments, he served on the state legislative committee of the Illinois Education Association, working principally on school finance.  Shannon emphasized the concept of the comprehensive high school, which allows every student regardless of his or her ability to develop it to the fullest extent.  He repeatedly expressed the view that “a school is only as good as its weakest link,” and devoted his energies accordingly.  He planned for the future and actively researched and recruited staff to fill anticipated vacancies.  He was committed to a diverse, well educated, and professional faculty to lead the students of OTHS.  He expected excellence in all aspects of education, academic, fine arts, vocational, and athletics.  During his tenure as Superintendent he presided over a period of extraordinary success at the school.  Prior to his role in administration he served OTHS students as an English, Journalism, and History instructor for 11 years.  He left the school for 3 years during World War II where he served is country in the U.S. Navy in intelligence and communications, and later in the Pacific on the staff of Admiral Harry Hill.

 

WILLIAM NOVAK – William “Bill” Novak impacted students over four decades as a legendary football coach and extraordinary motivator.  Bill was a History instructor at OTHS for 35 years, and football coach for 25 years during the period 1947-1972, and served for many years as the Director of Athletics.  He is a member of the Illinois Football Coaches Hall of Fame.  During his illustrious coaching career his teams amassed a record of 167 wins, 46 losses, and 12 ties.  He had 10 undefeated teams during his career at OTHS.  During the period 1957-1972, he had a record of 120 wins, 11 losses, and 4 ties and from 1964-1972, 68 wins, against only 3 losses and 1 tie.  Novak’s teams won 13 outright NCIC titles and one tie.  He produced 4 All-American players and countless All-State athletes.  He established the tradition of “Root, Hog or Die” that continues to this day encouraging teams to play hard and play to win.

 

JOHN BETTI  (Class of 1948) -  John Betti received a bachelor’s degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1952, a master’s degree from the Chrysler Institute for Engineering in 1954, and completed post graduate work at the University of Detroit in 1963.  After 10 years at Chrysler Corporation he joined the Ford Motor Company in 1962.  He rose to the position of Executive Vice President of the Ford Motor Company for technical affairs and operating staffs, and was a director of the company.  During his career at Ford he managed up to 125,000 employees.  In one of his final positions with Ford, his Diversified Products Division sold $13.2 billion of Ford products, which if it were a separate company would have placed it at number 27 on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations.  In 1989 Betti was nominated by President of the United States George Bush to be an Under Secretary of Defense.  In that post he was responsible for acquisition, the Pentagon’s number 3 position, overseeing over $100 billion in spending annually.

 

TOM HENDERSON  -  Tom Henderson was an excellent History Teacher and Tennis Coach at Ottawa High School, achieving legendary status in establishing the Ottawa High School Tennis program as truly unique within the State of Illinois.  He was the department head for the Social Science Department for many years.  He coached both Boy’s and Girl’s tennis, his teams rarely lost a dual meet and typically won both the Conference and Sectional titles.  Since his initial year of coaching at Ottawa in 1958, the Boy’s team won 36 sectional titles, 81.8% of the Sectionals that they participated in, capturing at one point in the sixties and seventies, 16 consecutive Sectional titles, and 9 consecutive top 10 finishes in the State Tournament.  Overall, his Boy’s teams finished in the top 10 in Illinois, 16 times which was more than 36% of the years in which they participated.  The Ottawa Girl’s teams had an even more consistent record of Sectional Titles, winning 23 over a 26 year span, 88.5% of the time, and finished in the top 10 in the State Tournament on 2 occasions.  He has been inducted into the Illinois Coaches Hall of Fame.  He is one of 3 coaches in the State of Illinois to amass in excess of 600 tennis victories, and was voted Coach of the Year on more than one occasion.  Well over 70 Ottawa athletes have received scholarship assistance for tennis at various Universities.  Henderson was also an excellent player in his own right, capturing more than 100 individual trophies during his own playing career.

 

ROGER AMM – Roger Amm has provided leadership to the Ottawa Township High School Choir as a choir instructor since 1981, and to the music program overall as Lead Teacher of the music department. At the time of his induction, the music program has enjoyed unprecedented success and currently has won 11 consecutive IHSA State Music Championships.  OTHS currently has the second most music titles of any school in any class in state history, the second longest streak of titles in state history, and the top 7 point totals of any class in Illinois history. Ten times in the history of the IHSA championships has the 1000 point barrier been exceeded, and OTHS has achieved 9 of those.  At the time of this induction, OTHS has been state champions in 1983, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.  The music program has continued to grow and enjoys unprecedented participation among the students.

 

SARAH RECKMEYER – Sarah Reckmeyer has been the band instructor at Ottawa Township High School since 1989.  Under her extraordinary leadership and guidance, along with the OTHS choir, the music program has achieved remarkable success. At the time of this induction, the music program has won 11 consecutive IHSA State Music Championships.  OTHS currently has the second most music titles of any school in any class in state history, the second longest streak of titles in state history, and the top 7 point totals of any class in Illinois history. Ten times in the history of the IHSA championships has the 1000 point barrier been exceeded, and OTHS has achieved 9 of those.  At the time of this induction, OTHS has been state champions in 1983, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.  The music program has continued to grow and enjoys unprecedented participation among the students.

 

CRAIG McCORMICK  (Class of 1978) -  Craig McCormick is the all-time leading OTHS boys basketball scorer with 1,681 points.  During his 3 years on the OTHS varsity, Ottawa’s record was 69-14, with the Pirates winning the NCIC twice, the IHSA Regional title twice, the IHSA Sectional title twice, and in 1978, earned a trip to the Elite Eight in Champaign.  Continuing his basketball accomplishments at Western Kentucky University, he was a three-time all-Ohio Valley Conference selection, and an Associated Press All-American selection in 1982.  He led Western Kentucky in rebounds and blocked shots each of his last 3 seasons, and was their top scorer his Sophomore and Senior seasons.  During his 4 years on the Western Kentucky varsity his teams were a combined 78-37 (67.8%) and won 3 Ohio Valley Championships, earning post-season tournament berths 3 times. Upon graduation he was drafted by the world champion Los Angeles Lakers, before playing professionally in Israel and Spain.  He has been inducted into the Western Kentucky University Hall of Fame, is a commercial banker in Bowling Green Kentucky, and a radio personality providing color commentary for Western Kentucky basketball.

 

TEAM -  1966 VARSITY FOOTBALL TEAM  -  Of all the great Ottawa Township High School football teams, the 1966 team stands particularly prominent.  The team was undefeated with a 9-0 record and crowned NCIC Champions.  They scored 380 points and allowed only 19 points during the season, averaging 42.2 points to their opponents 2.1.  The defensive unit was scored on only once all season.  The team had 183 first downs, 3,761 offensive yards gained, 2,141 rushing and 1,620 through the air. Of 152 passes attempted, 90 were completed, with only 4 interceptions. The 1966 Pirates broke another record when every senior starter received appointment to a major newspaper’s all-state team.  Quarterback Bob Burns was voted as First Team All American and receiver Steve Sipula was Honorable Mention All-American.  Team members were:  Bill Bernardoni, Bob Burns, Joel Cechowicz, Fred Crisler, Al Dooley, Bill Foutch, Bill Goodin, Gary Grenter, Jeff Hale, Ken Herington, Stan Kranov, Ernie Mathews, Gary Mooney, Paul Muus, Brien Nagle, Brian Neilsen, Kerry Novak, Randy Olson, Chuck Pfau, Larry Pike, Dick Pope, Ken Poutre, Mickey Rowe, Gaylon Ryg, Steve Sipula, Ron Sohn, Fletcher Wells, Chuck Willet, Jim Zidow; Managers: Larry Goodin, Bob Risberg, Ron Weaver, Jim Wielgopolan, Don Woodyer; and Coaches: Bill Novak, Dean Riley, Ralph Nelson, and Ron Slack.

 

 

 

Media Contact – Dan Eilts 815-434-7978, eilts9@lycos.com