Sharen Bezik Althoff (1965)

Sharen was a member of the PSHS debate team that reached the state semi-finals her senior year. That experienced provided the foundation for a stellar career as a math teacher and speech/debate coach. In the course of Sharen’s distinguished 21 year tenure at Wooster High School she developed a premiere program that brought local and national attention to her program, her students, and herself.

Timothy P. Gilligan (1975)

Timothy P. Gilligan is the youngest judge ever to be elected to the Parma Municipal Bench. He is noted for his community service as well as for initiating, supporting, and/or implementing several advances in courtroom procedure to improve efficiency and expediency. Judge Gilligan has a reputation for being a tough, creative judge who believes firmly in law and order and holding people responsible for their actions.

Ronald B. Hutchings (1952)

Ronald was a Parma Hts. FireFighter and served as Fire Chief from 1979 through 1992. Well respected in his field, Ronald served as secretary of the Northeast Ohio Fire Prevention Society and President of the Northeastern Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association. He was posthumously awarded the title “Secretary/Treasurer Emeritus of the Great Lakes Division of the Great Lakes Division of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. He initiated a paramedic program and was instrumental in the development of the Southwest Area Hazardous Hazardous Materials Team.

Michael Jaszczak (1980)

Michael heads the Art Department of Parma Senior High School and serves in a leadership position with the Parma Education Association. He is an accomplished artist and distinguished yearbook advisor. Michael’s students have received local, statewide, and national awards. The 2004 Cinema yearbook and the “Golden Anniversary” supplemental yearbook produced under his supervision masterfully chronicle the history and the culture of PSHS and are truly “books for the ages”. He is a talented artist in his own right, excelling in the genre of enameling.

Lauretta Jones (1970)

Lauretta distinguished herself as an artist, graphic designer, and educator. Her favorite medium is crafts. She was a pioneer in utilizing computers as a tool in the field of art. With her focus on botanical subjects, she works primarily in graphite, watercolor, and colored pencil. She teaches at the New York Botanical Garden and the Greenwich Art Society.

Mickey Vittardi (1978)

Mickey began a distinguished career in public service when he became Parks and Recreation Commissioner in 1988. He has devoted his time and talents to a number of community organizations, including the Byers Field Foundation, the Parma Athletic Federation, and the Ohio Parks and Recreation Commission.  Mickey serves as the liaison between the City of Parma and the Parma City Schools. He founded and served as Commissioner of the Tri-City YOUTH Football League. He was recognized by the Parma Elks Lodge 1938 as the 2008 “Citizen of the Year”.

John Walter (1965)

John attained the pinnacle of success in the world of journalism. He was a member of the debate team that reached the state semi-finals in his senior year and was the “Voice of WTIP” morning announcements. John was editor of the Daily Northwestern Newspaper in college. He worked in editor roles in Ithaca, New York, Washington, and Baltimore before becoming a founding editor of USA Today in 1982. John was managing editor and executive editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 1989-2002. John and his wife Jan Pogue opened a custom book publishing company in Martha’s Vineyard in 2005. “He wanted to give readers something beyond the predictable,” wrote a contemporary.

Phyllis Martin Williams (1948)

Armed with a PhD in geography, a minor in Preventive Medicine, a Master’s Degree in Public Health, and a Master’s Degree in Epidemiology, Phyllis enjoyed a remarkable career as a teacher at Cuyahoga Community College, Baldwin Wallace, Kent State University, and Loma Linda University. She made several trips to South America where she assisted Seventh Day Adventist missionaries in administering inoculations to the native populations. A world traveler, Phyllis visited all fifty of the United States of America and all but two continents.­­­­