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.