DOUGLAS — Cochise College has released the names of its inaugural Hall of Fame class and will honor 19 inductees during a special ceremony May 9 on the Douglas Campus.
The Cochise College Hall of Fame honors former students, faculty/staff and community leaders who have made a major contribution to the mission and goals of Cochise College, or who have contributed in a significant way to the lives of others after being a part of the Cochise College community.
“The college’s 50th anniversary has been a fantastic time to reflect on the history of the institution and reconnect with people,” said Cochise College president J.D. Rottweiler. “Appropriately, the initial Hall of Fame class will honor ‘legends’ of Cochise College, people whose unique stories have helped to shape the Cochise we know today, that is, an institution that is not just carrying out its mission, but that is also small enough to care and big enough to explore. Because this is a new, ongoing effort, we also look forward to nominations for future Hall of Fame classes.”
Inductees were nominated last fall through letters of recommendation that explained the ways in which each individual holds a deep connection to Cochise College or has made a substantial contribution to the college through personal time, effort and interest.
The inaugural class includes Charles Bloomquist and A.R. Spikes, both state legislators from Cochise County who played a major role in the establishment of the Arizona community college system, as well as Dr. George Spikes, a Douglas native who worked to pass the bond issue that funded the Cochise County junior college district and was appointed to its first governing board.
Dr. John Eaton was Cochise College’s first dean of instruction. He later returned to the area to head the college’s foundation and has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2004. Dr. Dan Rehurek and Dr. Karen Nicodemus both started out as instructors at Cochise College and eventually became lasting and successful presidents. Dr. T.C. Johnston was Cochise College’s first president but died tragically in a plane crash four months before construction began on the Douglas Campus.
Dr. Joe Gilliland, George Huncovsky, Dave Pettes and Roger Weller are all longtime instructors who left a significant imprint on Cochise College before retiring from full-time teaching. Gilliland, in humanities, and Huncovsky, in mathematics, were both members of the first group of faculty hired at the college. Pettes, a social sciences teacher, was hired in 1968, and Weller has been teaching science and math since 1974.
Dr. James “Bo” Hall was an All-Conference and All-Region baseball player for Cochise before graduating in 1971. He returned in 1983 to coach the baseball team, leading the Apaches to their first World Series appearances in 1988 and 1989, before becoming the athletic director and dean of student services. Dr. Joanna Michelich, a 1968 Cochise graduate, was active on campus with the cheer squad, yearbook staff and student senate, and also with the Arizona Junior College Student Government Association as the recording secretary. She was named Cochise College’s Sophomore of the Year and later recognized as one of the state’s top community college students of the decade. Michelich returned to her alma mater as vice president from 1998-2009.
Doris Dees served as the secretary to seven Cochise College presidents in the span of 30 years. Hector Leon Sr. was the college’s custodian and mechanic assistant, but was best known as the athletic teams’ bus driver who never missed a game and was laid to rest with a Cochise baseball jersey. Albert Velasco was on the construction crew that built the Douglas Campus. He was later hired by the college to work on the grounds crew and would serve 26 years as the superintendent of physical plant and facilities.
Ken Jones, who started as a business instructor, founded the college’s Center For Economic Research, a valuable resource for the communities of Cochise County. Jan Guy earned her degree from Cochise College late in life and has served on the foundation board since 1992 and as its president since 2013. She was also on the college’s governing board from 1995-2012, serving as chair for 12 of those years. Lastly, entrepreneur Andrea Cracchiolo donated 40 acres of land in 1974 that would become the college’s Sierra Vista Campus.
The Cochise College Hall of Fame is continually accepting nominations for future inductees in four categories: Student/Alumni, Team/Group of Students, Faculty/Staff, and Community Leader. For more information about the Hall of Fame, including deadlines and required materials for making a nomination, visit www.cochise.edu/alumni/hall-of-fame or call (520) 417-4735.