The Williamsonian Fall 2012 | Page 20

20 AWARD RECIPIENTS At the Alumni Banquet at the Towne House Restaurant on June 2, the Alumni Association presented the Alumnus of the Year and two Distinguished Alumnus Awards and the Board of Trustees presented the Isaiah V. Williamson and C.W. Schrenk 4W9 Young Alumnus Awards. Alumnus of the Year Award John J. “Jack” Kavanaugh ’58 Jack Kavanaugh grew up in Philadelphia and while a student at West Catholic High School, decided to attend Williamson. He chose masonry as his trade because he heard masons were well paid. An active student, he was class vice president and played on the football, baseball, and basketball teams. He began his career as a bricklayer for the James C. Hamilton Co., a bricklaying firm in Ardmore from 1958-63. Because bricklayers don’t get paid on the winter days they don’t work and with a wife and family to support and a mortgage to pay he decided to get a salaried job. He then became an estimator for Hull Erecting Co., a structural steel erecting company in Philadelphia from 196368. He then worked as an estimator for the structural steel erecting company, S.A. Lindstrom-Cornell in Philadelphia for 18 years, and worked briefly for Patton Steel Erection Co., in Cinnaminson, N.J. He then took over J.K., Inc., a business owned by his father that consisted of three bar/restaurants in Philadelphia. In 1992, he sold the businesses and retired. He and his wife had four children: John, Joseph, Marijane, and Jennifer. Later separated, he lived in North Wildwood, N.J., for several years and then moved to The Villages, a large retirement community in Florida. He became active in Williamson’s Alumni Association in 1965. He began by attending meetings on a regular basis and then went through the officer’s ranks, serving as president in the 199091 school year. Under his presidency, the Association purchased a school bus for Williamson and bleachers for the athletic field. He says, “Williamson helped provide the foundation for my life. The discipline we endured was hard at the time, but definitely helped me in life. We learned to get up early, work hard all day, and to stick things out.” John J. “Jack” Kavanaugh 5W8 character building school.” His first job was in maintenance at Hanover General Hospital in Hanover, Pa. He then worked for the contractor he had worked for as a student, Clyde Ray General Contractor in Kimberton, and then for Saylor Home Improvement, a renovating company in Pottstown. In 1972, he created his own company, Rinehart Construction in Parker Ford, specializing in renovations, alterations, and additions for residential homes and small commercial properties. His guiding principles are to take pride in your work and to stick to a job until it is completed and your customer is satisfied. Many of his customers have become friends. He has been a member since 1980 of the Building Industries Exchange, a trade organization comprised of construction firms in the Pottstown area that promotes integrity in building and he has received two Golden Hammer awards from them for his work. He is a member of Ebenezer Bible Chapel, where he has been a junior church teacher, deacon, and treasurer. He is on the board of supervisors of the East Coventry Township, where he is an eighth generation resident. He also is a trustee of East Coventry Mennonite Cemetery and drives a school bus parttime. He enjoys gardening and S gauge model trains and earlier coached his daughters’ basketball teams. at Eastern University. He is a certified Project Management Professional and holds an active Department of Defense security clearance. For years he was a deputy waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. Certified by the Pennsylvania Game Commission as a wildlife pest control agent, in 2003 he started his own business, Ziegler Wildlife Pest Control LLC. He served as Williamson’s assistant football coach and is a life member of Williamson’s Alumni Association, serving in 2005 as president. He lives in Pocopson Township, Chester County, with his wife Donalynne, Zepp’s daughter. They have two children, Tamilee and David Jr. David H. Ziegler 8W3 Distinguished Alumnus Award W. Atlee Rinehart ’67 W. Atlee Rinehart 6W7 As a youth growing up in Pottstown, Atlee Rinehart 6W7 enjoyed working with his hands. When two instructors who were Williamson graduates told him of the school, he enrolled and studied carpentry. He greatly enjoyed learning the carpentry trade from instructor Donald Zepp 5W3. While a student, he was on the cross country and baseball teams and was the basketball team manager. The day after he graduated, he married Carolyn. They now have five daughters, Victoria, Geneva, Ruth, Susan, and Kathryn, and 11 grandchildren. He said, “I benefitted greatly from my Williamson experience. I learned discipline and responsibility. It is a great Distinguished Alumnus Award David H. Ziegler ’83 Dave Ziegler studied machining at Williamson and was quarterback on the football team. At first, with no idea what he wanted to do with his life, he did poorly, but later became more serious and graduated as most improved student. He began his career serving a machinist apprenticeship at Airpax Corp., in Cambridge, Md. He then was a machinist/mechanic at Scott Paper in Chester and, in 1994 when it became Kimberly-Clark, became vice president of the local union No. 448 of the United Internation [\\