The Arlington High School
Alumni Association
is pleased to recognize our
Distinguished Colt Alumni
2007 DCA RECEIPANTS
Tom DeFrank '63
Nominated by Jacque Deering Roll ‘63
President Gerald R. Ford called him "one of the finest journalists I
have ever
known-fair, trustworthy and professional."
Tom DeFrank, AHS Class of 1963,
is Washington bureau chief of the New York Daily News where he directs
coverage of the nation's capital for the country's fourth-largest
metropolitan daily newspaper.
His many awards include the 2007 White House
Correspondents' Association
recognition for "his exclusive reporting as well as his ability to pack
lively
analysis into compact spaces." In 2006, Tom won the Gerald R. Ford prize
for distinguished reporting on the
Presidency.
Tom was Newsweek magazine's senior White House correspondent for
25 years and has covered seven presidents from Richard Nixon to
George W. Bush.
He frequently appears on public affairs television programming and
was a primary commentator for CNN during the memorial services for
President Ford.
Tom graduated from Texas A&M where he was editor of the campus
newspaper. After college, DeFrank was on active duty at the Pentagon
from
1968 to 1970 as a public affairs officer.
[In a email from Tom DeFrank]
The other dominant memory, of course, is Elizabeth Amos
and her fabulous English Classes.
Even today, when I'm editing copy from one of my younger
reporters, I'll cringe when I see a mistake in grammar and
will say to myself, "That would never have gotten by
Elizabeth Amos of Waverly Park, Georgia."
She was sui generis, one-of-a-kind, and thousands of us
are in her debt.
of my best memories: reading Chip Hilton sports books
at the Cooper Library; playing golf at Meadowbrook Park;
Friday night football at the old stadium at what's now UTA
Fraternity Row; burgers and malts at Pal's on Park Row
and Fielder.
Idyllic times in a simpler era, both to treasure.
Dinah Dalton Menger '77
Nominated by Cathy Brown ‘63
When Dinah Dalton Menger, Class of 1977, returned to her
alma mater in 1995 to take over the choral program, the department
had fallen on hard times. Only 50 students out of over 2000 were
participating when she arrived 12 years ago. Today over 350 singers
are involved in many different choirs.
These talented young people
under her direction have won numerous awards and are consistent
Sweepstakes winners in UIL choir competitions.
Her choirs have not
only performed in Texas but also in New York City, Miami, Ireland,
Italy, and Scotland.
Dinah revived the AHS tradition of musical theater and has staged
award winning performances of Music Man, Annie Get Your Gun,
Oklahoma, Anything Goes, Li'l Abner, Fiddler on the Roof, and
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
In 1998, she received the AWARE Foundation's Secondary
Teacher of the Year award.
Since Dinah's mother Molly Lovell Dalton is an AHS ex, Dinah
and her husband Chris, AHS Class of 1971, are raising a third
generation of Colts: Claire, '02, Sam, '05, and Anna, Class of 2010.
Bill Hughes '48
Nominated by
Helen Hughes Schrickel,
51
A lifelong resident of Arlington, William L. Hughes, Jr.,
Class of 1948, retired from the Fort Worth law firm of
Cantey & Hanger in 2001. He received the Blackstone
Award from the Tarrant County Bar Association in 2000
and was named Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1993.
After Bill went to Arlington State College and the
University of Texas, he served in the U.S. Army Military
Police Corps. Following that, Bill got his law degree from
the University of Texas.
In addition to his work for Cantey and Hanger, Bill served
as Assistant District Attorney for Tarrant County, Assistant
U.S. Attorney (Chief of Criminal Section) and Judge of the
38th District Court of Tarrant County.
Bill has held leadership positions in professional offices,
organizations and associations in Tarrant County and the
State of Texas.
He is married to Barbara and they have one son Bill,
another AHS Alumni Association Life member who
lives in Maypearl.
Helen Schrickel, had this to say, “Life Member of the
AHS Alumni Association, recipient of the UTA Honorary
Alumnus Award, has served as an Elder of
First Presbyterian Church
- - and - - -
He’s not a bad brother..!
The Colt Annual said – “he is tall dark and handsome
- - “
Judge Hughes said, I was surprised to know that Helen
nominated me because of the way she treated me as a child –
I thought she hated me!!
2008 DCA RECEIPANTS
JAMES ADAMS, CBC
On Saturday, June 7, the AHS graduation ceremony marked the end of the
After 38 years in the AISD and 15 as Colt-in-Chief, James is entering his well-deserved retirement. James served as teacher, counselor and administrator at four AISD schools before taking the helm at AHS. His steady leadership has steered the students and staff through significant changes: the addition of the freshman class to campus; the growth of the student body to just under 3,000; the various building expansions to accommodate the additional 1,000 students.
Arlington High School felt like a home to so many because Mr. Adams’ compassion for his students and his staff made us feel like a family.”
Both of his daughters graduated from AHS and the first diploma he ever handed out was to Melissa Adams. Both daughters—Melissa and Jennifer—teach in elementary schools in the AISD. James’ wife Barbara—a premier teacher at Hill Elementary—joins James in retirement.
After a period of rapid changeover in the principal’s office, James provided stability and a genuine love for Arlington High. He improved his faculty; initiated the International Baccalaureate program; remained unflappable in times of difficulty. He kept AHS open to transfer students as long as possible each year so the school could draw from students all over town who want to experience what it means to be a Colt. Often that has been as many as 700 students, who, like James, are Colts By Choice. He is an energetic, smart, visionary educator who nurtured Colt Spirit, Pride and Tradition.
He is one reason it is still sweet to be in Colt Country.
JAMES DITTO, '48
Although JAMES
DITTO
was born in Fort Worth (when
there was no hospital in town), he is a native son of Arlington where he
started school at South Side and finished at AHS with the Class of 1948. After high school,
James attended North Texas Agricultural College, one of the forerunners
of UTA, before he continued his studies at the University of Texas at
Austin. Following school, James joined the U.S. Army where he served in
the military police. Stationed at Fort Bliss, he obtained the rank of
First Lieutenant.
After receiving an electrical engineering degree from SMU, James worked for Rockwell International/Collins Radio as project engineer and program manager for projects in Alaska, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S.
An active supporter of both AHS and UTA, James has served on the AHS Alumni Association Board of Directors and has entrusted his children and grandchildren to AHS: Sons Steve, ’74, and Douglas, ’81, stepdaughters Judy Ramsey Snodgrass, ’74, Jana Ramsey Lewis, ’81, grandchildren James Ditto, ’96, John Ditto, ’99, Candice Ditto, ’01, and Kelsey Snodgrass, ’04.
In addition, James has served on the UTA Alumni Board, Development Board, Finance Committee and Athletic Council. He is past president of the Mid-Cities Technical Club at UTA. His other civic endeavors include working with the American Cancer Society by lobbying groups in Austin and Washington for research funds and smoke-free designations. He has served the city of Arlington on a planning committee which set landscaping standards for builders and developers. He serves as an elder of First Presbyterian Church where he has been a member for 65 years.
Even with all these commitments, he saves time for his
favorite hobbies—golf and reading.
ALVIN AND MARTHA WIGGINS, 65/'64
A
Their connections with Arlington High School span a number of generations because of their families’ long-term residency in Arlington. Martha’s great-grandmother Collins (as in Collins Street) was an original settler of the Webb community with her farm where Highway 360 crosses Mayfield Road. Her grandmother Hannah Shaw owned and operated Jean’s Café on Main Street (across from Rockyfellers). Her mother Louine Lowe Wiggins was a member of the Class of 1942. Alvin has history here, too, where his dad laid most of the pipeline in the area. Alvin’s work on those pipeline projects, even as a youngster, led to his driving a tractor while still in elementary school. With pride, Alvin admits he got his first ticket when he was 11!
The Moseleys reconnected to AHS when their sons, Rob, ’88, and Andy, ’91, attended. Since the boys were active in football and soccer, respectively, the Moseleys’ alumni status shifted to that of boosters.
Since then, they have been actively involved in both their classes, helping to organize their classes’ reunions and in maintaining connections. In 2005, they began serving on the AHS Alumni Board of Directors as Reunion Representatives charged with alerting classes to the existence of the Alumni Association and to encourage membership. As Jo McGovern says, “They have both spent many, many hours spreading the AHS Spirit.”
They relinquished that directorship this year when they learned they will be leaving Arlington in December for a year’s residency in New Burn, North Carolina where Alvin’s work requires him to go. Although they eagerly anticipate life in a new community for a change, they know this is temporary and that returning home to their many family members and friends is on a not-too-distant horizon.
One plan for the summer is a trip to Dearborn, Michigan in their red, 1948 Ford F1 truck—a purchase they flew to Florida to retrieve a few years ago and then drove home to Arlington.
Good luck, Alvin and Martha, on the way to Dearborn and in your year away from home.
1997
Tom and Anna Waynette Smith Vandergriff
1998
Tom Cravens
Barbara Nash Kight
1999
Bill Bardin
Cathy Bontley Brown
2000
Greg and Jane Crews Friess
2001
Michael Ditto
Natalee Davis Parr
Robert Perry Mills, Jr, posthumous
Jane Robin Ellis
2002
Tillie Lester Burgin
Carl Knox
Phillip Stork
Dean Corey, posthumous
2003
Robert Fielder, posthumous
Beverly Bohannon Reynolds
Gene Schrickel
John Webb
2004
William Conner
Gary Martin
Frank & Kathleen Bradford Smith
Margie Austin
2005
Alan Austin
Ben Pierce
Anne Ross Berg Seldon
Ernest & Kathryn Taylor Wilemon
2006
Charlie Key, posthumous
Charles & Wanda Roberson Marshall
Dorothy Thornton Rencurrel
Mike Wade
Mayfield Workman
2007
Tom DeFrank, '63
Dinah Dalton Menger, '77
Bill Hughes, '48
2008
James Adams, CBC
James Ditto
Alvin and Martha Wiggins
ARLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION EXISTS TO FOSTER AND SUPPORT
EDUCATIONAL AND RELATED ACTIVITIES OF ARLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
AND THE ARLINGTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT.
How Sweet It Is
To Be Back In Colt
Country!
www.ahscolts-alumni.org