Business people
The Kansas Department of Corrections has promoted Emily Rowe to Administrative Assistant at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility, effective Sept. 6.
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Marketing consultancy BowerComm has expanded its team by hiring Dave Sotelo as Content Specialist and Lillian Oeding as Assistant Art Director.
A Hutchinson native, Sotelo most recently led youth leadership efforts at Rise Up Reno. Oeding is a 2020 graduate of McPherson College in graphic design.
Since its start in 2010, BowerComm has specialized in helping clients build brands, generate demand, and create social change. Their client roster includes primarily business-to-business marketers, nonprofits, associations, professional services organizations, and advocacy campaigns.
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Kansas Department of Transportation Director of Operations Larry Thompson retired on Sept. 4.
Thompson began his career in Topeka one week after the 1966 tornado hit and had to live in Lawrence as housing was limited in town. After the rotational training program, he served as a Field Survey Party Chief for three years.
He then went back to Topeka and worked on environmental statements for four years before choosing to work for his father’s company, Thompson Construction Company Inc.
In 1988, he returned to KDOT as the Area Engineer in Dodge City. He became the District Construction and Materials Engineer in 1991, then was named the District Six Engineer in 1996.
In 2016, he was thinking about retiring but received a call from Catherine Patrick, asking him to consider the Director of Operations position in Topeka.
Thompson appreciated working directly with people, especially in southwest Kansas.
During retirement, he and his wife, Kay, plan to spend time with their two children and four grandchildren, three of whom are triplets. He is also looking forward to driving his 1970 Corvette upon completion of the restoration project.
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Jennifer Oborny, La Crosse, was appointed by Gov. Laura Kelly last week to serve on the State Interagency Coordinating Council for Early Childhood Developmental Services.
Oborny was one of four people appointed to the Council. Its purpose is to solicit information and opinions from concerned agencies, groups and individuals on proposed policies and recommendations for the delivery of health, education, and social services for young children under age six at risk for disabling conditions and for their families.
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HILLSBORO – Tabor College recently recognized two of its employees.
Professor Shin-hee Chin, professor of art, was honored as 21st annual faculty member of the year at an all-employee meeting Aug. 11. She received a plaque from Academic Dean Dr. Frank Johnson, who also read commendations submitted by students and peers.
“Shin-hee cares about her students and wants them to succeed. She cares so much that she shipped me supplies in the middle of the pandemic because I had none,” Johnson read from the submitted comments. “Shin-hee demonstrates what Tabor stands for and I am honored to have been taught by her.”
Chin is in her 14th year at Tabor College, where she teaches courses ranging from drawing and painting to mixed media and printmaking.
“I believe art classes can spark a student’s imagination and creativity, which God has instilled in each human being. We are created in the image of God. I hope students would fully enjoy the delights of art-making and learning through trials and errors,” she said.
Chin is also an internationally known artist, having displayed work in juried solo and group exhibits in places such as the Republic of Korea, Japan, France, and throughout the U.S.
Jason Schroeder was awarded the college’s 2020 Staff Excellence Award.
Schroeder’s employment at Tabor College continues a family tradition of service that totals more than 100 years at the college. His father, Vince Schroeder, and mother Marcia Schroeder, along with grandparents Ken and Ruby Schroeder, have worked as staff members and volunteers.
Schroeder, who serves as facilities coordinator/custodial manager, said he likes the variety of his job and the opportunity to interact with college students and work on their behalf.
Schroeder, a Hillsboro High School graduate, is an outdoor enthusiast, with his favorite activities being bass fishing and upland game hunting.
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YODER – Twenty-one new law enforcement officers graduated from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center on Aug. 28.
Rob McClarty, KLETC instructor and class coordinator for the 267th Basic Training Class, was the speaker for the ceremony.
Graduates receive certificates of course completion from KLETC and Kansas law enforcement certification from the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, the state’s law enforcement licensing authority. The training course fulfills the state requirement for law enforcement training.
Deputy Chandler Ford from the Meade County Sheriff’s Office and Officer Logan Higbee from the Beloit Police Department were acknowledged for shooting 100% on their firearms qualification, with Higbee named the class “Top Shot.”
Graduates from The News coverage area who granted permission to release their names included: Chandler Ford, Meade County Sheriff's Office; Pratt County: Colbe Austin, Levi Chermak, Tanner Houck, Austin Sievert, and Blake Stromgren, all with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, & Tourism;
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GREAT BEND – A new physician in Great Bend is eager to lay the groundwork for a new program dedicated to general surgery in central Kansas.
Jason Wiltshire, MD, opened his practice Sept. 1 at The University of Kansas Health System Great Bend Campus. His office is on the second floor of the Medical Pavilion, adjacent to the hospital at 514 Cleveland St.
“I am looking forward to establishing a program focused on general surgery,” Dr. Wiltshire said. “We hope to build a team that involves more surgeons.”
Dr. Wiltshire performs procedures related to bowel and breast cancers; hernia repair; diseases of the thyroid; endoscopies; wound care; and others.
Originally from Towanda, he graduated in 1993 from Pittsburg State University with a bachelor’s degree in biology and the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1997. He completed his internship and residency in 2002 at Mount Carmel Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. He was chief surgery resident there.
Most recently, Dr. Wiltshire performed surgeries at South Central Kansas Regional Medical Center at Arkansas City. He also treated patients at Pratt Regional Medical Center in Pratt, where he served as chief of staff, and Edwards County Medical Center in Kinsley.
Dr. Wiltshire is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He also authored several articles that were printed in professional publications.
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ULYSSES – District Magistrate Judge Margaret "Peggy" Alford will retire Oct. 2 after serving 28 years in Grant County.
Alford was elected a magistrate judge in 1992. In addition to her duties in Grant County, she oversees the child in need of care and juvenile offender dockets in Seward County. Both counties are part of the 26th Judicial District, which also includes Haskell, Morton, Stanton, and Stevens counties.
Alford said helping young people has been her passion and inspired her to become a judge.
“Working with troubled youth is a divine appointment that has intersected my career," she said. "It is very humbling, but ultimately I have experienced many positive, rewarding outcomes. My greatest accomplishment has been leading juvenile offenders in the right direction. The hardest part is making decisions about people’s lives when you are presented only a portion of the story."
Alford received a bachelor’s degree in human resource management and graduated with honors from Friends University, Wichita. She received a master’s degree in adult education from Kansas Newman University in Wichita.
She served two years as president of the Kansas District Magistrate Judges Association after serving in all of the organization's other offices. She was a member of the Supreme Court's Judges Manual Committee and currently serves on the Supreme Court's District Magistrate Judges Certification Committee.
In 2009, the Kansas District Magistrate Judges Association presented her its highest recognition, the Lee E. Nusser Award.
Alford also is a municipal judge for the City of Ulysses and will continue in that post.
Originally from Colorado Springs, Colorado, Alford moved to Garden City in the early 1970s to work as an office manager. She moved to Ulysses after marrying J. Stephen Alford 46 years ago. They have five children, 12 grandchildren, and soon will have a great-grandchild.
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NORTH NEWTON – The Kauffman Museum board of directors has appointed longtime employee Andi Schmidt Andres as museum director. She had been serving as acting director since Jan. 28, following the resignation of Michael Reinschmidt.
Andres began working at the museum in 1993. She has held the positions of assistant to the director, education coordinator, curator of education, transitional operations manager and, most recently, acting director.
She was curator of education for almost 19 years, initiating several popular programs.
Andres’ job description has included working with all field trip programs, hosting Kauffman Museum bus tours, organizing and coordinating museum special events, and managing the museum store, student employees and museum volunteers.
She is also the current vice president of the Kansas Museums Association and will begin serving as president starting with the KMA annual meeting.
Andres graduated from Bethel College in 1984 with a degree in German, then continued at Bethel to complete a major in environmental studies with an education emphasis.
Before working at Kauffman Museum, Andres was employed for six years by the City of Colorado Springs Parks and Recreation department, where she supervised interpretive programs at Garden of the Gods Park, at North Cheyenne Cañon Park, and on the summit of Pikes Peak.
Kauffman Museum is located on the campus of Bethel College, at the corner of Main and 27th Streets in North Newton.
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GARDEN CITY – Dennis Grubbs was recently recognized for 25 years of service to the Kansas Department of Corrections in Southwest Kansas.
Born and raised in Lakin, he has lived in Kearny County his entire life. While he did rodeo and cowboy around in high school, he was probably better known for playing center and defensive end on the football team.
He was the first student from Lakin ever invited to play in the Shrine Bowl and he was offered a scholarship to play football at Kansas State University. But a broken pelvis suffered during a rodeo event, side-lined his football career and he had to watch the Shrine Bowl from the bench.
Following high school, Grubbs went on to work as a cowboy for 17 years at the Tate Ranch and later farmed before joining KDOT as an Equipment Operator Trainee on the Lakin Subarea crew in 1995.
He was promoted to Equipment Operator in 1996, to Equipment Operator Specialist in 2008, and Highway Maintenance Supervisor in 2015. In 2017, Grubbs transferred to the District Paint Crew in Garden City.
Grubbs says he came to KDOT for the insurance.
Whether he's recalling snow plowing the way for the ambulance from Lakin to Garden City or pulling a co-worker out on K-156 and then going on to help a stranded truck driver, it’s clear that Grubbs likes the public service part of his job as much as the insurance and benefits.
Dennis has three children and 13 grandchildren. When not striping highways and plowing snow, he’s busy running cattle, taking care of his horses and miniature donkeys, and occasionally finds time for pheasant and deer hunting.
