Senator Ronnie J. Alting
1975

Senator Alting graduated from Jefferson High School in 1975, where he was actively involved in a variety of sports and extracurricular activities, including serving as president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, vice-president of the A Cappella Choir, three year varsity football player, and a member of the 1974 state finalist basketball team. He received the mental attitude award and was named most valuable player.

Alting attended Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois, where he served as vice-president of the freshman class. He graduated from Purdue University, earning a B.A. degree.

Alting founded Patout's Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. Patout's quickly became a nationally acclaimed restaurant, receiving a "Five- Star" rating by ZAGET Research Industries. Patout's Restaurant has been featured in such magazines as Food and Wine and Gourmet. The restaurant was also filmed for the television show, Escapes for the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. When he returned to Lafayette, Alting opened another Patout's Restaurant.

Currently, Alting is a key account specialist for Tipmont REMC He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Lafayette Community Development Corporation, Meals on Wheels, Bright National Bank, Tippecanoe Arts Federations, and the Liberal Arts Alumni Association of Purdue University.

Alting is a member of the First Free Methodist Church, Sons of the American Legion Post, and F.O.E. No. 347. He is also an Officer/Captain in the Indian National Guard Reserve. Alting is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Lafayette Urban Enterprise Association, greater New Orleans YMCA, and the Big Brothers-Big Sisters Association. He was also president of the Lafayette City Council, after serving
two years as a member.

State Senator Ronnie J. Alting was elected to the Senate in 1998, representing District 22. He serves the Senate as chair of the Energy Subcommittee of the Energy and Economic Development Committee. He also serves as ranking member of the Education Committee, Health and Provider Services and its Provider Services Subcommittee, and a member of the Public Policy Committee and its Public Safety Subcomittee.


Cheryl A. Conley
1964

Cheryl Cornwell Conley graduated from Jefferson High School in 1964 and attended Indiana University, graduating with a degree in special education. She received her Master's Degree from IU at Indianapolis. She took courses in the seven fields of special education as well as in school administration. For two years she worked in the Indianapolis Public Schools in the field of behavior disorders.

After she worked in the Sunnyridge Children's Home in Wheaton, Illinois, she was hired by a large cooperative for special education, eventually becoming Assistant Executive Director, a position she held for several years.

In 1995 she was hired as Executive Director for SASED Northern Division. One of her responsibilities is to represent the Cooperative in court, defending the type of help or schooling a child is receiving.

She is executive director of the North DuPage Special Education Cooperative; treasurer, Glen Ellyn Cable Foundation; past chairperson, Board of Fellowship, First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn; member, DuPage County Staff Development Council, Illinois Administrators of Special Education, Attorney General Ryan's Special Education Committee, Delta Kappa Gamma, Phi Delta Kappa; and recipient of a YMCA Outstanding Woman Leader of DuPage County Award.


Sarah Kimbrell Hicks
1968

Sarah Kimbrell Hicks graduated from Jefferson High School in 1968. She is currently employed by Bank One, Indiana, NA. as Vice President, State Community Reinvestment Act Officer.

Hicks is a graduate of Leadership Lafayette. She has been an active community volunteer with the United Way, Hanna Community Center, Junior Achievement, City of Lafayette Neighborhood Action Committee and the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. In 1998, she was Speaker of the House for the Chamber's "Third House" and currently serves on the Chamber's Board of Directors.

In 1987 Sara Hicks was appointed to a vacant position on the Lafayette School Corporation Board of School Trustees. She was elected to the position in 1990 and reelected in 1994 and 1998. She has served as President of the Board of School Trustees in 1990, 1991, and 1999. Hicks served as a regional director of the Indiana School Boards Association 1996-1999. In 1995 Dr. Suellen Reed, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, appointed her to the State of Indiana Advisory Committee for Textbook Adoption. She was re-appointed to a second term in 1999.


James D. Sprankle
1952

Upon graduation from Jefferson High School, Mr. Sprankle signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers and saw the country as a teenager dressed in Dodger blue, pitching his way across rural America. Altogether Sprankle spent eleven years in the Dodgers' and Cincinnati Reds' organizations. Following his career in baseball, he was a public relations banking executive and self-employed businessman.

Sprankle began carving about 31 years ago and has become one of the best known wildfowl wood sculptors in the country. His carvings have earned him considerable recognition throughout Europe and North America.

In 1984 he was featured along with eight other carvers in the book How to Carve Waterfowl. In 1985, Waterfowl Carving with J. D. Sprankle. a book about techniques and philosophies, was published

Sprankle has produced a unique line of wood-product molded study birds, recreating the actual size and weight of his original woodcarvings. The demand for these study birds is such that they are now shipped throughout the United States, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom. He has participated in many international exhibits, and his works are also exhibited by numerous private collectors.

In 1992 Sprankle was among the first eight original inductees admitted into the Waterfowl Festival's National Hall of Fame. He has been a three-time Carver of the Year for the Festival. In 1998 he was requested by the Department of Interior to be one of the five judges of the 1998 Federal Duck Stamp Competition held in Washington, D. C. He was recently named President of the Board of Trustees of the J. N Ding "Darling" Society.


Harold V. Wallace
1932

Mr. Wallace graduated from Jefferson High School in 1932, received his Bachelor's Degree from Central Normal College in 1939, and attained his Master's Degree from Ball State University in 1954. While at Jeff he lettered in football, basketball and golf He was a member of Jeff's 1932 state championship golf team.

After high school; he played for the Lafayette Lambs AA U basketball team and was a member of the 1934 state AAU championship team. He also won the Lafayette City Golf Tournament in this period He attended Central Normal on an athletic scholarship. While there, he lettered in football, basketball, and track. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1939.

Wallace was a teacher, coach, golf pro, athletic director, and assistant principal. He was a teacher and coach at Hicksville, Ohio, from 1939 until 1944. At Portland High School he was athletic director as well as coach of basketball, football, and baseball unto 1956. In 1948 his basketball team went to the "elite eight" of the Indiana state high school basketball tournament. While in Portland, he was also the golf pro at the Portland County Club and managed the city swimming pool for several years.

Wallace returned to Lafayette in 1956 as a teacher at Jeff. In 1957 he moved to Tecumseh Junior High School, where he was a teacher, athletic director and coach of basketball and football. He was a teacher and coach for 37 years, retiring in 1976 as assistant principal of Tippecanoe Junior High School.


Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. 
1973

Dr. Wolfelt received a B.S. in Sociology from Ball State University in 1977; MA. in Counseling Psychology from Ball State in 1978, and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Ball State in 1982.

Wolfelt is an internationally known author, educator, and psychologist. He is the Director of the Center for Loss and Life Transition and is on the faculty at the University of Colorado Medical School's Department of Family Medicine.

He has received numerous awards for his leadership in the field of death education and counseling. Dr. Wolfelt was the 1994 recipient of the Association of Death Education and Counseling's Death Educator Award. In addition, he was honored as a distinguished educational leader when he received the 1996 Outstanding Alumni Award from Ball State University.

Dr. Wolfelt is the author of numerous best-selling books and presents 100 workshops each year at hospitals, hospices, universities, and various community agencies. A frequently used resource for the media, Dr. Wolfelt has appeared on such shows as the Oprah Winfrey Show. The Larry King Show and the NBC Today Show.