Close-Up: DAA Honorees

The Distinguished Alumni Award (DAA) program was established in 1989 to honor outstanding individuals who attended or graduated from Kenosha High School/Mary D. Bradford High School. That first year, 5 recipients were honored at the Annual Alumni Banquet in June. This award represents people from many areas of society who have contributed significantly to their profession and are positive role models for Bradford High School students.

KBHSAA presents the DAA to selected individuals, honoring them at an annual event that's been renamed the DAA Banquet and Silent Auction. Proceeds of the auction benefit the KBHSAA Scholarship Fund. At this event, we also recognize those seniors selected to receive a KBHSAA Scholarship. Each year, we look forward to hearing from those young adults about to begin their college careers and, at the other end of the spectrum, from our DAA honorees who share some very touching memories of their years at Bradford and beyond.

In 2022, we completed a restoration project on the DAA plaques, which had been displayed in the hallway at Bradford's Auditorium Entrance. In the afternoon, the sunlight streams through the windows at that location, and many of the photos had been become badly faded. The DAA plaques are now on display in the hallway east of Bradford's Main Entrance, in new display cases hung at eye level.

As a part of the restoration project, we have added a photo of each DAA honorees' plaque to our website! To view a photo, simply click on the link for the specific DAA honoree's name and class year, and the photo will be displayed. If you need to enlarge the image to view the honoree's bio, simply click on it and scroll as needed, left/right or up/down.

(DAA plaque photos by Don Sebetic '73)

DAA HONOREES

2024 (Photos of these DAA plaques are pending.)
Charles Aiello, Jr., Class of 1950
Wilson Shierk, Class of 1955
Gregory F. Dummer, Class of 1982

2023
Tom Sorensen, PsyD, Class of 1961
Rita Storz Hagen, MSN, RN, Class of 1980

2022
Charles H. "Chuck" Heide, Class of 1940
Susan M. Shemanske, Class of 1973
Mark Pocan, Class of 1982

2021
John S. Gregory, Class of 1952
Michael H. Dean, Class of 1960

2020
Eugene L. "Gene" Woroch, Ph.D., Class of 1940
Joanne "Jodi" Ritacca Carlini, Class of 1969

2019
Robert V. "Bob" Ryan, Class of 1955
Louis Covelli, Class of 1973
Vincent I. Ruffolo, Class of 1973

2018
Audrey A. Hains, Ph.D., Class of 1949
Dominic G. “Don” Spera, Class of 1950
Earlene Jornt-Girman, Class of 1952

2017
Chester H. “Chet” Woroch, Class of 1936
William “Bill” Hart, Class of 1947
William R. “Bill” Serpe, Class of 1957

2016
Paul A. Capelli, M.D., Class of 1949
Jerry Bain, Class of 1957
Keith Bosman, Class of 1967

2015
Ralph J. Tenuta, Class of 1950
Dr. Kurt Sinclair, Class of 1983

2014
Leo Chiappetta, Class of 1956
Robert W. Wirch, Class of 1961
Naheed Qureshi, Class of 1990

2013
Dennis M. Filippelli, Class of 1956
John W. Anderson, Sr., Class of 1957
Carmelo D. Tenuta, Class of 1983

2012
Lloyd John Ogilvie, Class of 1948
Ernie Pellegrino, M.D., Class of 1957
John Charles Wavro, Class of 1957
Dan Vaccaro, Class of 1969