Ursuline to honor 2 alumni at event

Service to the school and the community are the key
criteria for the honor.

YOUNGSTOWN — Ursuline High School will present its 20th annual Distinguished Alumni Awards during the Feast of Saint Ursula Liturgy at the school at 10:15 a.m. Thursday.

Dorothy E. Ferrell Durina, Class of 1947, and Thomas P. Metzinger, Class of 1979, are this year’s recipients.

The awards are given to alumni who have distinguished themselves by dedicated service to the school and the community.

Durina is retired from the registrar’s office at Youngstown State University, where she worked for 28 years.

She volunteers in the Ursuline Office of Alumni and Advancement. She is also involved in the Cursillo movement in Youngstown and the renewal program at St. Patrick’s Church in Hubbard.

While a student at Ursuline, she was elected prom queen and was a member of the Dramatics Club and Spanish Club.

She attended Carlow College in Pittsburgh and Youngstown College.

She and her husband, Mike, raised a family of eight on the city’s North Side and six of their children are Ursuline graduates.

Durina was the first president of the Liberty Baseball Association Auxiliary, the Liberty Football Booster Club and the Ursuline Booster Club.

Metzinger is a vice president at A.P. O’Horo Co. where he is a project manager and estimator. He graduated from Youngstown State University with a degree in civil engineering in 1984.

He oversaw the Wick Avenue parking lot restoration and is coordinating the upcoming improvement to the Bryson Street parking lot and the new Victory Bell at Ursuline. He is a member of the Capital Campaign Committee, the Booster Club and is a supporter of the Danny Price Charities, the Jimmy Herubin Scholarship Breakfast, the Ursuline 250 Club Dinner and the Annual Auction.

Metzinger oversaw the construction of the St. Joseph Parish playground and has been the coordinator of the Contractor-For-the-Day program with YSU students for the past 15 years.

He has also been a mentor for the YSU team in the statewide engineering estimating contest held annually in Columbus.

He and his wife, Vinetta, have four sons, one of whom is an Ursuline graduate. Two younger boys are Ursuline students and the youngest is at St. Joseph School but will attend Ursuline.

A reception for the honorees and their guests will be in the school Library-Learning Center after the liturgy.