High Schools Hall of Fame inducts nine

Staff report

WARREN

Nine people will be inducted into the Warren High Schools Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame at a banquet today at Warren G. Harding High School.

They are:

Robert A. Adams of Atlanta, a 1978 Harding graduate who is vice president of human resources at Elsevier, where he is responsible for several large corporate divisions. He has worked for U.S. Steel, RJ Reynolds, PepsiCo, Alcoa and The Weather Channel.

Atty. Frank R. Bodor of Warren, a 1950 Harding graduate who was an assistant Ohio attorney general and became trial counsel for various state-level departments in government. He established a private practice in 1959 and developed an expertise in eminent-domain law. He worked on precedent-setting cases in various areas of law. He served as city attorney for Newton Falls and was legal counsel for the Village of Lordstown, Vienna Township and other government and private entities.

Barbara Busko of Warren, a 1952 Harding graduate who began her career at Copperweld Steel in 1959 and was promoted in 1970 as the first female department head in the company’s history. She was elected clerk of council for Warren in 1980 and retired in 1997 after 18 years. She has served as president of the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County since 1980.

Mary Busko of Warren, a 1952 Harding graduate, began her career in 1961 in the Copperweld Steel purchasing department and became the company’s first female buyer in 1969. She retired in 1998 as purchasing manager. She has served on the board of the Animal Welfare League since 1980.

Lewis Guarnieri, deceased, a 1914 Warren High School graduate, founded the Warren law firm Guarnieri and Secrest. He served on numerous local boards and was president of the county bar association and vice president of the Ohio State Bar Association.

Michael Manios of Warren, a 1952 Harding graduate, developed the Warren Traffic Safety Center, Ohio’s first driver-education range, and served as Warren City Schools director of vocational education from 1979 to 1992.

Janet Pickup Patterson of Pleasant Hill, Calif., a 1969 Harding graduate, is chief of audiology and speech pathology at the Veterans Affairs of Northern California Health System. She had tenured academic teaching and research positions in communications sciences.

Gregory B. Thumm of Dallas, a 1976 Harding graduate, joined the Gruen Watch Co. in 1986, transferring to the Hong Kong operation in 1990 as technical/design manager. He joined Advance Watch Co. as senior vice president of product development in 1994 and joined Fossil Inc. in Dallas in 2004.

Dr. Richard D. West of Virginia Beach, Va., a 1956 Harding graduate, became a surgeon in Virginia Beach in 1972 and had several leadership roles in the Virginia Beach General Hospital Surgery department. As medical director of the Cancer Center, he promoted acquisition and credentialing of sentinel lymph-node biopsy techniques, which led to less-invasive surgery for breast -cancer patients.

Two retired faculty members will be honored with the Distinguished Faculty Award — Joseph Yenich of Warren Western Reserve and Sue Kindleberger of Harding.