Gary L. Ray, class of 1960, was nominated by Robert Gallina. After graduation from Minerva High School, Ray enrolled in Tri-State University in Angola, Indiana He graduated, with honors, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1965. He was selected as Mr. Tri-State of his graduating class. In May 1970 he received a Master’s of Business Administration in Industrial Management from the Wharton Graduate Division of the University of Pennsylvania.
From 1965 to 1968, he was employed by Caterpillar Tractor in the quality and production departments. He worked as an auditor and consultant for Price Waterhouse in Atlanta. He then went to Reliance Electric of Cleveland where from 1972 to 1986 he served in several capacities including Plant Controller, Manager of Casting Purchasing in the motor division, Operation Controller, Product Marketing Manager, and Manager of Standard Drives Division in Electrical Drives Group. His responsibilities included marketing, engineering and manufacturing. Ray then became president and minority owner of Elmec, Inc. in Cleveland. Elmec was a primary supplier to the military. The business then moved to a subsidiary, Argo-Tech in Arizona. Ray then became the president and owner of Transformer Engineering Corp. in Cleveland until he sold it in 2008. Prior to that, TEC was established in 2006 as a wholly owned foreign enterprise in Suzhou, China. He now works as a consultant with TEC. Ray's honors from Tri-State University include a Distinguished Service Award in 1980, and an Honorary Doctor of Engineering in 1996. He served on the Board of Trustees from 1991 to 2002, chairing several committees. From 1981 to 1993 he was on the Alumni Board of Governors, serving as president, vice president, and chairing the Distinguished Service Award Committee. His involvement with Wharton School includes Wharton Graduate Executive Board, co-chairperson of four reunions of the Class of 1970, and the Wharton Club of Northeast Ohio.
His community involvement includes service with Sigma Phi Delta Fraternity's Council of Small Enterprises, as a division of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association. He is affiliated with the Medina Presbyterian Church where he chaired the preliminary planning committee for the educational wing. In Burnsville, North Carolina, he chaired the major capital campaign for the First Presbyterian Church. He is president of the Greens at Weymouth Homeowners Association.
He and his wife Rose live in Medina. They are the parents of one son Michael, an electrical engineer, and the grandparents of three grandsons, Stephan, Sydney and Samuel.
Dr. Barbara Powell Reider was nominated by her mother Gaye Powell and her sister Cheryl Campbell.
While in high school, Reider was a four-year member of Symphonic Band. She also served in Marching Band, where she was a majorette for four years. She was a delegate to Girls’ State, and valedictorian of her class. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from Kent State in 1983, her Master's Degree in 1986 from The Ohio State University, and her Ph.D. from Kent State in 1991.
Reider's business career has taken her to the University of Montana as a professor of accounting and finance and as a former professor of accounting at the University of Alaska at Anchorage. She is a certified public accountant, and is also certified in management accounting, internal auditing, financial management and government financial management.
While at the University of Alaska, she initiated a program to assist Native Alaskans in remote fishing villages with their income tax compliance. Before she developed this program, these native Alaskans were in danger of losing their fishing licenses because of non-compliance with tax regulations, and because of corrupt income tax preparers.
Reider, while at the University of Alaska, was involved with an exchange program with educators in Magadan, Siberia. With the breakup of the Soviet Union, citizens were able, for the first time, to develop businesses of their own. She traveled to Siberia on numerous occasions to teach their educators to instruct the people in running these businesses.
Her career awards include the Most Inspirational Teacher by her students and the John and Kathy Connors Faculty Fellow, both in 2006. From 2002 to 2004 she received the Outstanding Faculty Award and in 1998, the Teacher and Advisor of the Year award.
She has had numerous professional journals published and has been proofreader of numerous college textbooks. Reider has volunteered at the Women's and Children's Abuse Center in Anchorage, has advised numerous student groups, including Beta Alpha Pi (Business Honorary), Christian Student Fellowship, and the Accounting Club. She is also a member of the Scholarship Selection Committee and the Library Advisory Committee at the University of Montana.
Dr. Reider now lives in Missoula, Montana, and is married to outdoor adventurer, Bob Reider.
William “Bill” Russell, class of 1949, and Karen “Kay” McArtor Russell class of 1954, were nominated to the Minerva High School Alumni Hall of Fame by Rosemary Vandegrift, class of 1957, and the Russells' family.
William is the son of Albert and Emma Russell, whose family moved to Minerva in 1944. During high school Bill was active in the Future Farmers of America Program. He played on various fast-pitch softball teams in the area before he graduated. Kay is the daughter of the Frank and Virginia McArtor of Minerva. She participated in Minerva High School band, choir, yearbook staff, and the Quill and Scroll Honorary Society for Journalism.
Bill served in Korea as a corporal with the U. S. Army during the Korean War. Upon his return to the states, he worked with his father in construction. Bill and Kay were married in 1954 by the Rev. Arthur Poll. It was at the First Christian Church that Bill became Sunday School Superintendent and served on the church board while Kay worked as the church secretary. Five years later the couple moved to Wisconsin, where Bill began studying at Milwaukee Bible College. The latter part of his college experience took place at Grace Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1967 Bill was invited by Grace Missions International to use his knowledge of construction to build a dormitory for the Caribbean Grace Academy and the WCGB radio station on the mission property in Ponce, Puerto Rico. While living in Ponce, the couple conducted Bible classes and church services.
Returning to Minerva in 1969, Bill reestablished his construction business and the couple began a youth ministry at the Bayard United Methodist Church. Community films were sponsored and youth rallies were held at the former Minerva Jr. High School on Market Ave. A rally with professional football player Tom Barrington drew nearly 600 attendees. Bill established and directed Ohio Grace Youth Camp for over ten years using facilities at Camp Conestoga, Bob Boards Park, and Quaker Canyon Camp. Youth activities were made available to Minerva High School students in the basement of the skating rink after the football games. During those years, the Russells traveled with the Glory Singers. The group consisted of 20 young people who performed at various churches and organizations throughout the Midwest. Of the sixty appearances, a highlight was the national Grace Gospel Fellowship Convention at Sawmill Creek near Cleveland.
In 1975 Bill founded the Berean Bible Church of Alliance where he pastored for seven years. The church purchased the original Roxie Theater in Minerva and met there for several years before relocating in Louisville. In 1982 he accepted a call to the Grace Bible Church of Newaygo, Michigan.
Kay enrolled at Jordan College in Fremont, Michigan in 1985. She served on their Student Retention Committee graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1988 as Salutatorian with an Associate of Science degree. That fall she received a presidential scholarship to Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. There she studied public relations and advertising while becoming a member of the Student Public Relations Society of America.
Her internship was served at the Advisory Center for Teens in Grand Rapids. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications.
Upon graduation, Kay began working as executive secretary for the pastor of the United Methodist Church in Muskegon, Michigan, supervising publications and office management. When the couple moved to Cadillac in 1990, Bill continued his ministry at the Grace Community Bible Church of Cadillac. Kay became clearing house coordinator for Love in the Name of Christ and served on their board of directors for five years. There she became a reporter and columnist for the Waterfront newspaper, taught Spanish at Heritage Christian School, and played clarinet in the Cadillac Symphony Orchestra.
The Russells moved to Fairhope, Alabama, in 1997, where he built new homes and served on the church board of Grace Bible Church. Kay taught Spanish, English, Science, journalism and government at Victory and Central Christian High Schools where she managed the newspapers and yearbook staffs. After her retirement, she conducted Spanish and writing classes and seminars. She was a member of the Baldwin Pops Band and Baldwin Christians Writers Association.
Kay is an author and editor who designs and develops fundraisers, creating printed materials for various non-profit organizations. In 2006 she published her first book From Christmas to Christmas, a family history. They retired in 2007, and the couple relocated to Holland, Michigan in 2011, where they now reside at 181 East 37"Street.
On June 21, 2014, nearly one hundred family and friends honored the couple at the Minerva Senior Center for their sixty years of marriage. Congratulations were received from “Focus on the Family,” “Family Talk Radio” and the Ohio Senate.
The Russells have six children: Cindy Lippincott of Fairhope, Alabama; Kimberly (Troy) Haynam of Alliance; Pastor William (Tricia) Russell of Allendale, Michigan; Lisa (Harold) Kimbel of Zeeland, Michigan; Terry (Jodie Marie) Russell of Wayland, Michigan; and Jody (Sue) Russell of Cadillac, Michigan. They consider their nineteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren among their finest accomplishments.