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7th Annual Farrell Alumni Hall of Fame Banquet
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Tiffany's Banquet Center, Brookfield, Ohio
Tickets and Information: 724-509-1310
2011 Alumni Honorees
Wilbert Shannon - Class of 1953
Alfred E. Paulekas - Class of 1949
Tony Knott - Class of 1951
George Christoff - Class of 1954
Dr. Daisy (Wright) Alford-Smith - Class of 1961
Dr. Nancy J. Antonio - Class of 1968
James Raykie - Class of 1970
Dr. Marguerite C. Erme - Class of 1973
Chief Riley Smoot - Class of 1975
Herman Magnotto (posthumous) - Class of 1941
2010 Biographies
Michael Sabo - Class of 1949
He left his personal and professional marks on may of the Shenango Valley's most popular buildings that, as an architect, he helped to plan and design. He enrolled in the College of Architecture at the Pennsylvania State University where he earned a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering in 1954. He entered the Air Force as a second lieutenant in 1954 and was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant two years later. He became a partner in the Sharon firm of Hunter, Heiges, Sabo, Douglass and Rogers in 1962. As principal officer of HHSDR, he supervised the structural and site planning of many projects, including most of the area's high schools. Other projects included the original Shenango Valley Osteopathic Hospital in Farrell and subsequent additions and St. Paul's in West Salem Township. He and his wife of 55 years, Margaret, are the parents of four adult children, Michael, Melanie, Marcia and Matthew.
Joseph Scarvell - Class of 1949
He established himself as one of the area's leading directors of theater and has served in some capacity in more than 1000 productions in his illustrious career. He attended Slippery Rock State College and later Youngstown State University, earning a bachelor's degree in education in 1955. He earned a master's degree in theater from Kent State University in 1970. He taught at Farrell and retired from the New Castle Area School District in 1988. He transformed the educational theater scene throughout western Pennsylvania by abandoning the customary selections of high school plays that often dealt with banal and mundane themes. He selected plays with themes that challenged the social consequences of his students. His plays explored issues of social justice, responsibility to self, racial discrimination and other issues. After retiring from New Castle, he continued his teaching career as an adjunct faculty member at area colleges. He is married to the former Joanne Kaschak, and they are the parents of four children and have 10 grandchildren.
Lt. Col. Robert Hoffman (Ret.) - Class of 1952
He used his outstanding academic and athletic skills to carve a stellar career at Penn State University and to earn the rank of lieutenant colonel with the Air Force during a quarter century of service. He quarterbacked Coach Tony Paulekas's Night Riders to the 1951 WPIAL championship and teamed with the legendary Julius McCoy on Coach Ed McCluskey's 1952 PIAA State championship team. After graduating from Farrell, he attended Penn State where he lettered for two years in football and four years in basketball. After graduating from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in journalism, he entered the Air Force and the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, from which he retired as a lieutenant colonel after 25 years of service, compiling more than 7000 flying hours in his career. He married the former Theresa E. Kulka and they are the parents of six children and have eight grandchildren.
Arthur Gatty - Class of 1954
Mr. Gatty, who became ill the week of the indication ceremony and passed away days later, saw his love for music and education serve as the foundation of a career that led him to being named the first director of Pennsylvania's top arts program. He earned a bachelor's degree in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1958 and a master's degree in music education from Duquesne University in 1962. In 1973, he became the founding director of the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts, a program that he nurtured until 1988. Because of his vision and leadership abilities, the idea of a Governor's School for the Arts evolved into a number of other Governor's Schools in Pennsylvania, most notably those for the sciences, teaching, medicine and finance. Until his death, he and his wife Janet lived in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
Ted Pedas - Class of 1956
He used his love for astronomy and his grit and determination to establish and fund planetarium programs at his alma mater as well as Youngstown State University. He earned a bachelor's degree from YSU in 1962 and a master's degree in 1969 from Michigan State University. He earned a master's degree in education from YSU in 1969. He served as the planetarium director at Farrell High since 1969 and was a planetarium and science education specialist at YSU from 1968-1993. He has been a pioneer in the specialty field of ocean-going science travel programs. In 1983, he was selected by NASA to write and coproduce a planetarium show documenting America's first quarter century in space. He has donated more than $600,000 to the school for various programs and received the City of Farrell's Centurion Award, honoring the citizen of the century, in July 2001. To honor its founder, Farrell Area School District dedicated its planetarium as the "Ted Pedas Planetarium" in 1993.
Dr. Louis Mastrian - Class of 1960
He etched his mark in education not only as a teacher, coach and administrator at his alma mater, but also at other area school districts. He was a member of the 1959 and 1960 PIAA State championship basketball teams and attended John Carroll University on an academic and athletic scholarship. He graduated in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in social science as an English major. He was hired by the Farrell Area School District and served as an English teacher and basketball coach. He earned a master's degree in library science from Western Michigan University in 1969, a master's degree in education administration from Youngstown State University in 1980 and a Pd.D. from the University of Akron in 1984. In 1993, after 29-years at the Farrell Area School District, he was appointed the Superintendent of Hermitage School District, serving for eight years before retiring in 2001. Lou and his wife, the former Elaine Lufriu are the parents of four children and eight grandchildren.
John (Jack) Greaf - Class of 1962
He mixed electrical engineering with business savvy to become chairmen and chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Electric Power Products. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Youngstown State University in 1967, and a master's degree in business administration from YSU in 1975. In between, he earned a master's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Akron in 1970. After graduating from YSU, he started his career with Westinghouse Electric in technical sales and marketing of large electrical utility industry. He joined a 50/50 venture between Westinghouse and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. of Japan as the manager of marketing in 1986. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc. and has grown from 10 employees to about 600. He was named the president of the company in 2000 and president and chief executive officer in 2004. Among its various products, the company supplies Diamond Vision video screens to stadiums, arenas and spectator venues like Times Square. He lives in Wexford, PA with is wife, Jerilyn.
Dr. Donna DeBonis - Class of 1967
She has enjoyed a fulfilling career in education, from teaching elementary grades at a local parochial school to becoming superintendent at one of the largest school districts in Mercer County. She graduated from Edinboro University in 1971 with a bachelor's in education. She earned a master's in education from Edinboro in 1974 and earned a Pd.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1987. She started teaching grades 4-8 at St. Anthony's School in Sharon from 1971-76, and was employed by the Farrell Area School District as computer coordinator, reading specialist in grades 7-12 and computer instructor for all grades. She was hired by the Sharon City School District in 1989, and during a 13-year period until 2002, served in numerous capacities, ending as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. In July of 2002, she was named the Superintendent of schools and served in that position until 2006. In 2007, she was the chief grant writer for the district. She left the district that year and became part-owner of GrantWrite Consulting Inc.
Michael Wright - Class of 1971
He has contributed mightily to enhancing the quality of life in the area through his dedicated service to the Community Food Warehouse of Mercer County and the Urban League of the Shenango Valley. He earned a bachelor's degree in administration management from Point Park University in Pittsburgh and a master's degree in business administration from Geneva College. From its inception in the mid-1980s. he served as executive director of the warehouse. After 20 years of service, he resigned to become the president and chief executive officer of the Urban League in 2005. He served on the Farrell Area School Board for nearly 10 years, the last four as president. He has received numerous awards throughout his career, and among them are the Pennsylvania Governor's Keystone Award of Merit, NAACP Image Award and the Marine Corps Distinguished Service Award. He and his wife Rosalyn live in Farrell and are the parents of two sons, Marcus and Maurice.
Raymond Nixon - Class of 1960
The 2010 posthumous honoree was Raymond L. Nixon, who used his god-given skills to become an executive in the engineering department for the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City and the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland. He attended Virginia State University on a full athletic scholarship and played offensive and defensive end on the university's football team. After graduating in 1964 with a degree in mathematics, he moved to New York, where he lived for the next 25 years. He began his career at the Grand Hyatt New York in 1987 as an assistant in the engineering department. He advanced to chief engineering officer under the directorship of Donald Trump. He moved to the Washington DC area in 1996 and became the director of engineering for the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda. An avid supporter of education and Historically Black Colleges and University's, his dream was to inspire young people to avail themselves of the opportunities presented at an HBCU. He had five brothers, Wilbert, Ronald, Bobby, Charles and Jerome, and a sister, Janice. His family established the Raymond L. Nixon Scholarship Foundation Inc. in 2007. Its focus is to provide scholarships.
Alumni Hall of Fame Nomination Form
Class Reunion Information
FASD Alumni Archives 1904-present