Three Perryville High School graduates will be honored as the 2013 Distinguished Alumni during the 58th annual PHS Homecoming, set for Oct. 18-19.

This year’s Distinguished Alumni are John Gahan, Class of 1951; Lillian Bjorseth, Class of 1960; and Edward Scrumpf, Class of 1963.

The community is invited to attend the All-Alumni Reception on Saturday, Oct. 19, where the Distinguished Alumni will be presented at noon. The reception will be held at Perryville High School Library and begins immediately after the PHS Homecoming Parade. It is free and everyone in the community is invited to attend.

The three will also serve as the Grand Marshals for the annual Homecoming Parade, which begins at 10 am on Saturday, Oct. 19. The parade route follows East Ste. Maries Street from Perryville City Park, turns South on Main Street to National Guard Drive. Floats continue to Pirate Football Stadium and all other vehicles return to City Park to safely unload passengers.

For more information about Homecoming activities, log onto www.perryville.k12.mo.us.

John Gahan is a graduate of the Class of 1951 who lived all over the country during his 30-year career as a special investigator with the US government. He chose to return home in retirement. Since he and his wife Debbie moved back to Perryville in 1997, they have committed themselves to serving our community.

John attended Westminster College in Fulton, where he graduated in 1957 after a stint in the US Army during the Korean War. He served overseas in the US Army. John takes pride in giving up his draft deferment status when he joined the Army. He went back to school on the Korean GI Bill.

While at Westminster, he was a member of Phi Delta Theta and a two-sport athlete with 3 varsity letters.

John is a volunteer for the local Society of St. Vincent de Paul which collects used furniture and appliances, helps repair them if necessary and then welcomes low-income families and seniors who need a helping hand. The Society also provides utility, rent and other financial assistance for those in need.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Perry County Health Department, where he has served since 2004, and is the fiscal officer. His work there helps provide vital programs to Perry County including immunization clinics, diabetic services, environmental health inspections and nutrition programs for children and the elderly. This is an unpaid, elected position.

John is a trained member of Perry County’s Community Emergency Response Team and was called to action during the response to the tornado in Crosstown in 2006. He volunteers his time.

He was previously on the Board of Directors for the Perry County Senior Services Center, which operates the Senior Nutrition Center and the Meals on Wheels program. This was another unpaid position. John is a current volunteer with Meals On Wheels, delivering meals to the homebound.

John is a member of both the VFW Post 4282 and American Legion Post 133 in Perryville and a supporter of the Perry County Military History Museum.

John and Debbie have 4 children: Michael Gahan, Jack Gahan, Patrick Gahan and Brigid Megee, 4 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. They belong to St. Vincent Catholic Church in Perryville and support many charitable organizations in Perry County including those at District 32.

John is a Knights of Columbus, a Senior Olympics athlete, loves jazz music and former drummer. He and Debbie are world adventurers, travelling to over 60 countries on 6 continents where he has skied, skydived, scuba dived and bungee jumped.

John said he was humbled to learn that he was selected as a Distinguished Alumnus.

“After the initial shock and disbelief I feel very humble, but undeserving,” he said. “Although I am somewhat uncomfortable with such a great honor. I feel very proud and I am most grateful to those awarding me with such distinction.”

He recalls his days at PHS with fondness. “My best memories of high school are that they were truly the ‘good ol’ days,’” he said. I know that is a fairly over-used general statement. How about lots of good friends with lots of good times. The football field for example: Boy! I did a lot of playing on that field. In the band, that is. Let’s not forget getting (not staying) out of trouble.”

Lillian Bjorseth

Lillian is a graduate of the Class of 1960 who has travelled the country helping business people achieve excellence through communications training. She is a

Lillian is a 1964 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia’s famed School of Journalism.

She is the author of Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships That Last (third edition); 52 Ways to Break the Ice & Target Your Market and the Nothing Happens Until We Communicate CD/workbook series.

She’s a contributing author to Masters of Networking and Overcoming Mediocrity. She’s also a co-presenter of the Marketing Boot Camp DVDs/workbook.

Lillian is a member of the faculty of the new online Redding College and blogs at www.lilliancommunicates.com.

She has been honored three times by the National Speakers Association-Illinois Chapter as Member of the Year and with the Wordsmith and Arnold “Nick” Carter Awards. She is also a Great Woman of the 21st Century, an Influential Woman in Business and listed in more than a dozen issues of Who’s Who.

“I’ve received many awards during my career,” she said. “However, this one is really special. It honors my roots … where my career began. It rewards that oft-quoted German work ethic that was implanted by my parents and nourished by my teachers from a one-room school in Uniontown through the hallowed walls of Perryville High School.”

Lillian has many wonderful memories of PHS.

“Scholastically, it unequivocally was my sophomore English teacher, Shirlene Miller, who recognized and nourished my communication skills, both oral and written, long before I knew I could have such fun making a great living speaking and writing!” she said. “And, then there was Robert Heflin, who also taught my favorite subject – English – and was the advisor on the Pirates Puns, my first ‘newspaper’ job. He, too, strongly encouraged me to enter a communication field.

“Being a gregarious person, one of the things I liked most about high school from day one was the opportunity to be with so many people nine months of the year! I got lonely on the farm living where the road ended and being the only child at home for many years. I felt the same way, just magnified, my first day at the University of Missouri. Wow, so many new people to meet and get to know better!”

Edward Schrumpf

Ed is a graduate of the Class of 1963 who has spent the last 18 years working tirelessly as a volunteer for the Perryville High School athletic programs.

After attending Southeast Missouri State University for a year, he served in the United States Navy from 1964 to 1990, when he retired as a Senior Chief Storekeeper. He served on eight different Navy ships and six naval shore installations. He earned the Navy Commendation Medal and three Navy Achievement Medals.

He was stationed at the Naval Advisory Group in Chinhae, Korea in January 1968 when the USS Pueblo was captured by the North Korean Navy.

Schrumpf made two deployments off the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam War, on the USS Ranger and the USS Shelton. He participated in Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of US and Vietnamese personnel from Siagon, Vietnam in April 1975 while stationed aboard USS Midway.

Ed participated in the sea support operations aboard USS Briscoe during the Grenada rescue of US medical students in October 1983.

In 1994, he returned to Perryville and began volunteering for the Pirate sports teams. He volunteers so many hours that many people mistakenly assume that Ed is employed at the school!

“I love sports and wanted to make a positive contribution to the PHS sports program,” he said. ”I enjoy interacting with the high school athletes and encouraging them to be students of the game and to maximize their potential.

“I have taken pride in ensuring that the football field, the gym and the track look good for games.”

Ed does so much more than that, however. No job is too big – or too small — for him. He cleans the gym and weight room, maintains equipment (even sewing torn uniforms), and even scouts upcoming opponents for the coaching staff. His positive attitude and words of encouragement have given student athletes motivation and a sense of school pride.

“One of my goals is to assist the coaches so they can concentrate on coaching their teams,” he said. “I have enjoyed a good relationship with the coaches and school administration. But the most rewarding part of this job is being part of the team effort on game days. There is nothing better than the thrill of victory after the team has played its heart out. Win or lose, there are always lessons to be learned to enable the team to get better for the next game.”

Ed said he that he was humbled to be nominated and selected as a 2013 Distinguished Alumnus.

“I feel it is a great honor to be recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Perryville High School,” he said.

“I feel that there are many other alumni who deserve this honor more than I do. I want to thank the student athletes who nominated me for this honor. I did not seek recognition for my volunteer work; knowing that I’ve had a positive influence on students is reward enough. It feels so good to be appreciated by athletes.”

Lillian is a graduate of the Class of 1960 who has travelled the country helping business people achieve excellence through communications training. She is a

Lillian is a 1964 graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia’s famed School of Journalism.

She is the author of Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships That Last (third edition); 52 Ways to Break the Ice & Target Your Market and the Nothing Happens Until We Communicate CD/workbook series.

She’s a contributing author to Masters of Networking and Overcoming Mediocrity. She’s also a co-presenter of the Marketing Boot Camp DVDs/workbook.

Lillian is a member of the faculty of the new online Redding College and blogs at www.lilliancommunicates.com.

She has been honored three times by the National Speakers Association-Illinois Chapter as Member of the Year and with the Wordsmith and Arnold “Nick” Carter Awards. She is also a Great Woman of the 21st Century, an Influential Woman in Business and listed in more than a dozen issues of Who’s Who.

“I’ve received many awards during my career,” she said. “However, this one is really special. It honors my roots … where my career began. It rewards that oft-quoted German work ethic that was implanted by my parents and nourished by my teachers from a one-room school in Uniontown through the hallowed walls of Perryville High School.”

Lillian has many wonderful memories of PHS.

“Scholastically, it unequivocally was my sophomore English teacher, Shirlene Miller, who recognized and nourished my communication skills, both oral and written, long before I knew I could have such fun making a great living speaking and writing!” she said. “And, then there was Robert Heflin, who also taught my favorite subject – English – and was the advisor on the Pirates Puns, my first ‘newspaper’ job. He, too, strongly encouraged me to enter a communication field.

“Being a gregarious person, one of the things I liked most about high school from day one was the opportunity to be with so many people nine months of the year! I got lonely on the farm living where the road ended and being the only child at home for many years. I felt the same way, just magnified, my first day at the University of Missouri. Wow, so many new people to meet and get to know better!”

Ed is a graduate of the Class of 1963 who has spent the last 18 years working tirelessly as a volunteer for the Perryville High School athletic programs.

After attending Southeast Missouri State University for a year, he served in the United States Navy from 1964 to 1990, when he retired as a Senior Chief Storekeeper. He served on eight different Navy ships and six naval shore installations. He earned the Navy Commendation Medal and three Navy Achievement Medals.

He was stationed at the Naval Advisory Group in Chinhae, Korea in January 1968 when the USS Pueblo was captured by the North Korean Navy.

Schrumpf made two deployments off the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam War, on the USS Ranger and the USS Shelton. He participated in Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of US and Vietnamese personnel from Siagon, Vietnam in April 1975 while stationed aboard USS Midway.

Ed participated in the sea support operations aboard USS Briscoe during the Grenada rescue of US medical students in October 1983.

In 1994, he returned to Perryville and began volunteering for the Pirate sports teams. He volunteers so many hours that many people mistakenly assume that Ed is employed at the school!

“I love sports and wanted to make a positive contribution to the PHS sports program,” he said. ”I enjoy interacting with the high school athletes and encouraging them to be students of the game and to maximize their potential.

“I have taken pride in ensuring that the football field, the gym and the track look good for games.”

Ed does so much more than that, however. No job is too big – or too small — for him. He cleans the gym and weight room, maintains equipment (even sewing torn uniforms), and even scouts upcoming opponents for the coaching staff. His positive attitude and words of encouragement have given student athletes motivation and a sense of school pride.

“One of my goals is to assist the coaches so they can concentrate on coaching their teams,” he said. “I have enjoyed a good relationship with the coaches and school administration. But the most rewarding part of this job is being part of the team effort on game days. There is nothing better than the thrill of victory after the team has played its heart out. Win or lose, there are always lessons to be learned to enable the team to get better for the next game.”

Ed said he that he was humbled to be nominated and selected as a 2013 Distinguished Alumnus.

“I feel it is a great honor to be recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Perryville High School,” he said.

“I feel that there are many other alumni who deserve this honor more than I do. I want to thank the student athletes who nominated me for this honor. I did not seek recognition for my volunteer work; knowing that I’ve had a positive influence on students is reward enough. It feels so good to be appreciated by athletes.”