Class Notes

Former SFA Regent and Director of Athletics Steve McCarty ‘65 & ‘70 of Alto was inducted into the Kilgore College Hall of Fame.

McCarty was inducted as the “Spirit of Excellence” award winner. He played on the ‘61 and ‘62 football teams and was later recruited to play for the SFA Lumberjacks. McCarty was a head coach at Beaumont South Park, West Orange-Stark and Nacogdoches high schools.

His reputation and success at Nacogdoches High School led to his hiring as athletic director at SFA, where he worked until his retirement in 2005. He was named athletic director emeritus in 2014. McCarty served on SFA’s Board of Regents from 2009 through 2015, serving two terms as chairman.

The Lancasters are celebrating three generations of SFA graduates, including Jesse ‘66, Todd ‘99 and Chad ‘14.

Larry Kotch ‘70 & ‘72 of Bremond is a registered trainer in child care and has trained internationally in New Zealand, Costa Rica, Belize, Portugal and China.

Iral Ragenovich ‘72 was featured in Entomology Today for her work in the field of forest entomology.

Judy Harmon ‘75 of Montalba received the 2019 International Association of Emergency Managers – USA Career Excellence Award, which recognizes a national leader who has made significant contributions to promote and improve U.S. emergency management.

Bobby Knotts ‘75 & ‘78 of Willis recently was inducted into the Dickinson High School Athletics Hall of Honor.

Les Neal ‘76 of Thousand Oaks, California, joined Security Door Controls, a manufacturer of electronic access control security systems, as business development manager.

Dr. James Griffin ‘77 of Naples was featured in the Texarkana Gazette for his 35 years in family medicine.

Artis Newsome ‘77 & ‘80 was sworn in as a member of the Tyler Independent School District board of trustees.

Randy Schaffner ‘78 of Tyler was named president of Scout Title and Abstract.

Thomas E. Spencer ‘78 of Huntsville retired from the Texas A&M Forest Service after 40 years. His final position was head of the Predictive Services Department.

Three SFA graduates, Wayne A. Hughes ‘80, Raymon Hedges ‘90 & ‘98 and Amy Kearns ‘94, work in the 673 Civil Engineer Squadron/Environmental Compliance and Natural Resources at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.

Dr. S. Gail Eckhardt ‘81 of Austin was appointed to the NuGenerex Immuno-Oncology board of directors

Winston Sauls ‘81 was promoted to assistant director of public works for the City of Borger.

Jeffrey Hanks ‘82 & ‘91 is retiring as superintendent of schools for Weatherford Independent School District.

Tim Bell ‘85 & ‘87 retired from the U.S. Probation Office in Waco after 28 years of service.

Gerald Cregg Thompson ‘85 of McAllen was recognized for his three decades of public service at the Hidalgo County district attorney’s office.

Kim Wier ‘85 of Nacogdoches had her book, “The Art of Friendship: Creating and Keeping Relationships that Matter,” published.

Mark Cooper ‘86 of Houston was promoted to library director of business operations at the University of Houston’s M.D. Anderson Library.

Kent Yarborough ‘87 of Austin received his MBA from Aspen University in November.

Dr. Kim Childs ‘88 of Nacogdoches, professor of mathematics and statistics and dean of SFA’s College of Sciences and Mathematics, has been appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to serve on the Angelina and Neches River Authority Board of Directors. Her term will expire Sept. 5, 2025.

Sarah Abel Frazer ‘88 of Jacksonville was hired at Homes and Properties Realty after retiring from more than two decades of teaching.

Felicha Stanley ‘89 of DeSoto had her book, “wPower: The Strength of an Empowered Woman to Change the World,” published.

Paul Evans ‘91 of Arlington Heights, Illinois, was named chief financial officer for Sevan Multi-Site Solutions Inc.

Julie Krc ‘91 of Longview was named chief financial officer of UT Health North Campus in Tyler.

Harry J. Hickey ‘92 of Prosper was named the chief financial officer at SAI Construction in Richardson and adjunct professor at Collin College in Frisco.

Tonya Solis-Mosby ‘92 of Dallas earned a Doctor of Education with a specialization in English as a second language from Northcentral University in January.

Dr. Tony Tipton ‘93 was named the lone finalist for superintendent of Lumberton Independent School District.

Michael Guinn ‘94 of Fort Worth was named an Irma P. Hall Black Theater Award Winner.

Chris Morgan ‘94 of Sugar Land was named assistant superintendent of secondary school leadership and support for Katy Independent School District.

Lisa Box ‘95 & ‘97 of Austin was appointed senior vice president of corporate development for WP Engine, the WordPress digital experience platform.

Dr. Isaac C. Carrier ‘95 & ‘00 of Waco was named principal of G.W. Carver Middle School.

Former Waco Chief of Police Ryan Holt ‘95 was named assistant city manager for the City of Waco.

Bradford Hunt ‘95 was sworn in as the Keene Police Department’s newest police chief.

Mark Keith ‘95 of Paris was named principal of North Lamar High School.

Thomas Sitton ‘95 was hired as the head football coach and athletic director for Rusk Independent School District.

Dana Parr ‘96 was named the 2020 chairwoman for the Longview Chamber of Commerce.

Matt Russell ‘96 was named principal of Allen High School.

Yolanda Prince ‘98 of Tyler was named one of Tyler’s Notable African American Women by the Texas African American Museum.

Pat Roberts ‘98 is the coach of the Elgin High School women’s varsity basketball team.

Heather Welch-Westfall ‘98 of Fate, director of surveying for Baseline Corporation, was named to the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors’ Surveying Advisory Committee.

Andrea Wilson ‘98 was named executive director of People Attempting to Help, a social services nonprofit based in Tyler.

Dr. Jana Brock ‘99 is a member of the medical staff at Medical Associates at Corsicana Crossing.

Regina Brown ‘99 of Tyler was named a 2020 Women’s History month honoree by the Cherokee County Women With Purpose organization.

Jeff McNutt ‘99 was hired as the assistant operations manager of Aggressor Adventures.

Clint Formby ‘00 of Round Rock was named territory manager for The Andersons, a professional turf business.

Tracy ‘00 and Preston Pavlu ‘00 were featured in North New Braunfels Living magazine.

Valerie Little ‘02 of Prosper was named the Region 3 Texas High School Athletic Director Administrator of the Year.

Eric Pierre ‘03 of Austin, CPA and founder of Pierre Accounting, was featured in a national interview on “America’s Voice Live” in May with advice on how tax laws can benefit small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.

Luke Goode ‘04 & ‘06 was hired as the athletic director and head football coach for Elkhart Independent School District.

Justin McFaul ‘04 was promoted to senior vice president and personal trust manager of Texas Bank and Trust in Longview.

Tim King ‘05 of Crockett was hired as Cooper Lake State Park’s newest park police officer.

Dana Bickley ‘06 was named by the Lufkin Independent School District as principal of Kurth Primary.

Dr. Cade Brumley ‘07 of Stonewall, Louisiana, was named the Louisiana state superintendent of education.

South Plains College recently honored Marcie Miller ‘07 of Levelland with the 2020 Faculty Excellence Award.

Gerald Fonzie ‘08 & ‘10 of Nacogdoches was named principal of Brooks-Quinn-Jones Elementary School.

Weston Griffis ‘09 of Pittsburg was appointed head football coach and athletic director for Spring Hill Independent School District.

Sean Hightower ‘09 of Nacogdoches has been named a Texas 2020 Rising Star by Superlawyers.com. Hightower became the fourth criminal attorney in Nacogdoches and the first since 2012 to be named to the list.

Heather Shorter ‘09 of Highland Village was named principal of Donald Elementary in Flower Mound.

Travis Waller ‘09 of Bremerton, Washington, and wife, Maggie, welcomed their first child, Boone, in September. Travis works as a pediatrician in the Seattle area.

Kaycee Bennett ‘10 and her husband, Larry, adopted their son, Carson, in January.

Brett Morton ‘10 of Tyler is a CPA and senior manager at Henry and Peters, an East Texas accounting firm.

Kendall Mott ‘10 of Spurger was named the 2019 national distance-learning teacher of the year by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

Justin Pelham ‘10 & ‘11 and Kelsey Pelham ‘11 & ‘14 of Nacogdoches announced the March birth of Ian Gregory.

Jessica Williams ‘10 of Fort Worth was named director of people and culture for TimelyMD.

David Johnson ‘11 of Richardson received the Dallas County Sheriff’s Meritorious Conduct Award for his role in convincing a juvenile not to harm himself.

Anna Sweet ‘12 of Cincinnati, Ohio, married Matthew Yochman in February.

Dan Usher ‘12 & ‘16 was named social studies instructional coach at Lufkin High School.

Nicholas Wheeler ‘12 was named VFW Post 8904 Teacher of the Year. Wheeler teaches business courses at Center High School.

John Cleveland ‘13 and his wife, Hayley, of Norman, Oklahoma, welcomed their first child, Josephine, earlier this year.

Amy Fain ‘13 of Lufkin was named principal of Brookhollow Elementary.

Luisa White ‘13 of Corpus Christi and her husband, David, welcomed their first child, James David Buddy, in January.

Chase M. Jackson ‘14 of Marshall has a podcast titled “Black Mind Chronicles,” which covers mental health-related topics in the Black community. Recent guests include SFA alumnae and licensed mental health professionals Dr. Lashondra Manning ‘04, DeLisa Smith ‘13 and Taryn Castaneda-Gonzalez ‘15 & ‘16.

Sarah Hughes ‘15 of Kemah was a member of the video production team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center that won a 2019 Creative Arts Emmy.

Ashley Riley ‘15 of Pearland and James Davoli III ‘16 of Garland were married in November.

Ray ‘17 and Cassie Chatary ‘18 of Irving were married in July 2018.

Brandon Olson ‘17 of Rosharon was named general manager for the newly reopened Anderson County Livestock Exchange.

Hannah ‘17 & ‘19 and Zach Wilke announced the birth of their first son, Samuel Isaiah, in February.

Kayla Lyons ‘19 of Houston was hired as a digital news anchor by KLTV in March 2019 and started working at the Tyler station in June.