Four families receiving recognition Saturday

The event is open to the public. Reservations must be made today (Wednesday, Oct. 24) by calling the CSC Alumni Office at (308) 432-6366 by 4:30 p.m.

The Family Tree Awards have been presented to qualifying families since 1996. Information about each of this year’s recipients follows.

Arthur and Dorothy Adams Family

Arthur Adams, a native of Arnold, graduated from Chadron State in 1943 before earning a meteorology degree at the University of California-Los Angeles and a degree from Harvard Business School. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. During his service, he was stationed in the Aleutian Islands as a control tower operator and meteorologist. Following the war, he taught biology at Broken Bow High School and owned a construction business.

Arthur and his wife, Dorothy, had two daughters, Karen and Ellen, who each attended CSC.

Karen graduated with an English education degree in 1969, and her husband, Raymond Leicht, earned a biology degree in 1968. They both went on to earn doctorates and are living in Gillette, Wyo.

Ellen and her husband, Robert Phagan, each graduated from CSC in 1972 after having met in the college’s marriage and family class. They live in Gillette, Wyo., where Ellen serves as a bookkeeper for a construction company and Robert is a safety training manager at a coal mine.

Each of the Leichts’ three children attended CSC. Daughters Maya and Nora graduated in 1991 and 1999, respectively, and have since obtained higher degrees. Maya is now a pharmacist at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Nora is living in Alliance. Son Brandon attended between 1998 and 2001 before relocating to obtain a culinary arts education. He is a chef at a five-star restaurant in Dallas Texas..

The Phagans’ daughters, Kimberly and Laura, graduated in 1999 and 2005 after being active in CSC’s journalism program. They are living in Gillette where Kimberly is editor of Adoption Today magazine and Laura is a self-employed photographer.

 

Bruce and Elva Bartels Family

Bruce Bartels joined the CSC faculty in 1962 as the director of student teaching, and his wife, Elva, a 1954 graduate of the Lincoln General Hospital School of Nursing, later enrolled as a non-traditional student in CSC’s nursing program. She earned a bachelor’s degree in 1974. Bruce also served as CSC’s director of extension and placement and dean of graduate studies, and taught a variety of courses during his 30 years of employment. The couple has lived in Albion since Bruce’s retirement from CSC in 1992.

Each of the Bartels’ three children -- Greg, Lisa, Susan and Tom -- attended CSC.

Greg graduated with honors in 1980 after having been president of the Student Senate and serving as CSC’s Nebraska State College System Board of Trustees student representative. He went on to graduate from the the University of Nebraska College of Law and is now a corporate lawyer in Omaha. He was awarded CSC’s Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 1992.

Lisa, and husband Jerry Carder, were CSC honor graduates in 1980. Jerry earned academic All-American recognition while playing tight end on the 1978 Boot Hill Bowl football team. Jerry farms near Albion and Lisa has been a high school teacher for 25 years. She earned a Peter Kiewit teaching award in 2002.

Susan attended summer classes at CSC in 1980 and later graduated from Kearney State College’s nursing program and UNL’s College of Law. She lives in Phoenix.

Tom has been a railroad engineer since graduating in 1989 and lives in Lingle, Wyo. His wife, Priscilla, graduated magna cum laude from CSC in 2003 and is now a kindergarten teacher in Torrington.

Lisa and Jerry’s daughter Andrea Carder participated in the Rural Health Opportunities Program at CSC in 2004-2006. She is a second-year student at the University of Nebraska’s College of Pharmacy.

Bruce and Elva’s niece and nephew, Paul and Dorann (Holzberger) Bartels graduated from CSC with honors in 1974. Paul is a certified public accountant and partner of an insurance company in Kearney. Dorann has been the senior services coordinator at Good Samaritan Hospital for 19 years.

 

Lee and Elbe Hallsted Family

This family has a longstanding tradition of higher education, as five generations have received college education. Its association with CSC began in 1912 when Elbe Sheffner began taking courses each year for five years to obtain teaching certification. With the education, she taught at four rural schools near Hay Springs and one in Wyoming.

In 1917, she married Lee Hallsted, who worked as a grocer and grain elevator operator in northwest Nebraska. Their two daughters, Doris and Peggy, attended CSC.

Peggy attended one year before seeking a degree in chemistry and bacteriology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She and her husband, Dr. George Horner, live near Shawnee, Wyo. Their daughter Susan took a chemistry course at CSC.

Doris attended CSC in 1936-38 before transferring to earn a degree in business education and history. She met her future husband, Vern Rawalt, in Lincoln.

After Vern was honorably discharged from the military, the two moved to Lewellen then Chadron. Their two children, Jeanne and Ron, both attended CSC after graduating from Chadron High School.

Jeanne attended two years beginning in 1966 and later earned a zoology degree from UNL. In 2005, she retired after 20 years as a prisons’ hospital administrator for the Department of Justice in Minnesota. She and her husband Thomas Smith reside in Rochester.

Ron graduated from CSC in 1971 with a major in earth science and went on to have a successful career with the FBI. His accomplishments have earned him CSC’s Distinguished Alumni Award. His wife Debby (Bowman) also attended CSC for two years before Ron’s career advancement prompted the two to relocate. He retired in September 2006 after 34 years of service. They live near North Platte.

Doris was a founding member of the Chadron State Foundation, and Jeanne was recently named a foundation trustee in 2006.

 

Lester and Thelma Jones Family

A native of Torrington, Wyo., Les Jones came to CSC in 1946 after serving in the Naval Air Corps during World War II. After arriving at CSC, he met his future wife, Thelma, who was employed at the college as Glenn Hildreth’s secretary. They were married in 1947, and had two children.

While at CSC, Les played forward and center on the Eagles’ basketball team, coached by Ross Armstrong.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1949, he took a job teaching social sciences at Mitchell High School. After six years, the monetary advantages of selling insurance drew him away from the classroom. At age 83, he continues to serve as an insurance agent in Scottsbluff and Gering on a semi-retired basis and is a member of the Purple Passion group that reunites at CSC each fall. Thelma died in 1989.

The Jones’ daughter, Roxann, earned a teaching degree from CSC in 1976, and now instructs language arts at Gering High School. Her husband, Mike Thompson, earned bachelor’s degrees from CSC in 1976 and 1978, and was a baseball player for the Eagles. Like his father-in-law, he sells insurance in Scottsbluff-Gering.

The Thompsons’ son, Tyler, is a senior at Chadron State studying to be an English teacher. He serves as CSC’s student representative on the Nebraska State College System Board of Trustees and is involved in numerous campus activities.