Induction Class of 2000

Class of 1974

Mr. Immelt was an outstanding student/athlete in the early 1970’s. He captained both the football and basketball teams. In 1974, he was named Best Athlete and won the B’nai B’rith and Harvard/Brown Awards.

At Dartmouth, Mr. Immelt lettered in football and earned a degree in Applied Math in 1978. After receiving his MBA from Harvard in 1982, he joined GE Corporate Marketing in 1982, GE Plastics in 1983, and GE Appliances in 1989 as Vice President. From 1993-1996 Mr. Immelt was VP and General Manager of GE Plastics Americas. In 1997, he became the CEO of GE Medical Systems (now GE Healthcare). In 2001, Mr. Immelt succeeded Jack Welch to become just the 9th chairman in General Electric’s history, stepping down in 2017.

Mr. Immelt has been a generous contributor to the Finneytown Schools Education Foundation where his financial support has benefited graduating seniors with the "Teacher’s Awards Scholarships, the Community Service Program and numerous grants to classroom teachers. He is married to Andrea, and they have a daughter Sarah.

Beloved Teacher, Coach, and Athletic Director

Mr. McNulty graduated from Rio Grande College in 1942. He served as a flight navigator in the Navy Air Corp during World War II. "Mac" earned his secondary education degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1947.

Mac started teaching and coaching at Finneytown Elementary School in 1947. He moved to Finneytown High School with its opening in 1958 as teacher, coach, and Athletic Director. He helped create and develop both the athletic programs and physical facilities from the beginning to the total program that exists today. He was honored by having the football stadium named "The Charles ‘Mac’ McNulty Stadium" in 1995.

Mac and his wife Jimmie, a long-time kindergarten teacher in Finneytown, have four sons, Dennis, Robin, Jon and Tom, who all graduated from Finneytown.

Finneytown Legend

Mr. Hartker is the father of innovative sports medicine at Finneytown. His creative teaching via closed circuit TV in the early 1960’s was ahead of its time.

Ray, after graduating from Withrow High School, played minor league baseball for both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds organizations. He then earned his B.S. from Ohio State and his M.Ed. in Administration from Xavier University. He taught and coached at both Hughes and Withrow High Schools before coming to Finneytown.

From the early 60’s through the late 70’s Ray taught, coached and chaired the Health and Physical Education Department. He established one of the first High School Sports Medicine programs in Ohio. His innovations included several methods of immediate care for injuries, including the ground-breaking use of cryogenic treatments.

This campus legend now resides in Mansfield with his wife Pearl. Their children both reside in Ohio.

Finneytown Legend

Mr. Whitaker received his bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Cincinnati. He started teaching in Finneytown in 1930 when it became a four-room school. Tel also taught in the Cincinnati Public Schools and worked in industry during the war years. He came back to Finneytown as teacher-principal in 1945.

In 1958, Tel became the principal of the new Finneytown High School and Superintendent of the district. His strongest point was recruiting and he assembled a strong faculty and made Finneytown one of the top schools in the area. He stressed academic and extra-curricular excellence at all levels. Tel retired in 1966. Because of his many years of service and dedication to excellence in our schools, the district named Whitaker School in his honor.

The Whitakers have three children: Janet, who lives in Tampa, FL; Bill, an educator in Florence, KY; and Tom, an educator with the America Schools in Japan and the Far East. Telford and his wife Martha both passed away in Florida in 1993.

All-Star Instructor

Dr. Portune spent a career in education as a teacher, visionary, and a creative force in the performing arts. Bob received his B.S., M.Ed., and Ed.D degrees from the University of Cincinnati. At Mt. Sterling, Central, and Hughes High Schools, and UC, he taught math, coached, and wrote and directed minstrel shows, "Varsity Varieties" and holiday programs.

At Finneytown, from 1959-1964, Bob wrote and directed the yearly "Escapades" and in his spare time, wrote the lyrics for the Finneytown High School Alma Mater.

Bob left Finneytown to pursue college teaching, and at UC, became full professor and head of the secondary Education Department. In 1970, Bob was a team leader at the White House Conference on Children.

Writing was always paramount for Bob. He created novels, prize-winning songs, poetry, a syndicated column on teeth, articles for Writer’s Digest and original theatrical scripts. Bob passed away in 1972.

He is survived by his wife Alice and their three sons: Robert, Todd and Ned.

Class of 1979

Mr. Wolfson left Finneytown with his famous "Peace and Granola" valedictory speech in 1979 after being presidents of student council and the academic team. He appeared in several plays and musicals, winning Best Actor in 1978, and playing piano and bassoon in the orchestra, concert and jazz bands.

David earned B.A. at the Cleveland Institute of Music and served as assistant music director for the Cleveland Playhouse. His original series of musical revues, "Story Salad," has been seen by over one million people. Many of his compositions have been played by major orchestras throughout America.

In New York, David was both music director and composer for the EM/R Dance Company and Wichern/Wolfson dance and music. His Off-Broadway credits include "Kuni-Leml" for the Jewish Repertory Theatre. He was supervisory copyist for Broadway’s Damn Yankees and has played keyboards for several shows including Les Miserables, Ragtime, and Miss Saigon.

David is a freelance composer, arranger and music director who lives in New York City with his wife, Lynn. They have a son, Adam.

Class of 1975

Dr. Grosheim Edwards was an outstanding musician at Finneytown in the early 70’s. She played flute in the orchestra, symphonic, jazz, and marching bands. She additionally accompanied all of the singing groups, sang in both the Ensemble and Madrigal, and played the lead in Carousel, when not cheerleading or in student council. Kay won both the John Philip Sousa and Frederic Chopin awards.

At Ohio University, Kay won the 1980 Student Teacher Award, was in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, and on the National Dean’s List. Kay has often presented multi-cultural programs throughout the country and is widely published.

Kay taught elementary school music from 1983-1991. She earned her doctorate in Musical Arts in 1994 at Arizona State and she is currently an assistant professor in Music Education at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music.

Class of 1966

Mr. Werner is considered by many as the best all-around athlete in the early days of the school. He was an award-winning quarterback, a two-time MVP in baseball and an all-star basketball player who led his championship teams to league and district titles and to the "Sweet 16" in 1965. Mark graduated in 1966.

Mark’s talents earned him a scholarship to the University of Michigan where he held several punting records and played in the 1970 Rose Bowl. Mark graduated in 1970 and took over management of the Werner Pump Co. upon the death of his grandfather.

Mark resides in Cincinnati and is President and CEO of Vertiflo Pump Co. and recently added a new program in advanced engineering. He has two sons: Elliot and Reed.

Class of 1987

Holly was an exceptional athlete in volleyball and basketball during the mid-80’s. As a member of 8 championship teams, many as captain, Holly earned All-State Honors including Player of the Year in Volleyball in 1987.

After Finneytown, Holly went to Ohio State where she was team captain, Big Ten Champion of the Year and named to the Big Ten All Decade Team. She was named to the U.S. "B" Volleyball Team in 1990.

Holly currently lives in Kingwood, TX with her husband and two children.

Steward of Finneytown

Class of 1979

Ms. Carlisle was a championship swimmer in the late 1970’s at Finneytown. She won both team and individual honors at the state level in the backstroke and individual medley. Kim held the national high school record in the backstroke. She was named state swimmer of the year in 1979.

After Finneytown, Kim attended Stanford where she continued her award-winning swimming, being named All American, National Team Champions in 1980 and 1983, and Stanford Athlete of the Year in 1982. She was a member of the 1979 Pan American and 1980 U.S. Olympic Teams.

Kim is co-founder and president of LITERATE, a communications consulting firm. She is a contributing editor of Women’s Sports and Fitness, has written for Sports Illustrated, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Northern Californian Olympians.

Kim lives in Menlo Park, CA with her husband, Kelly Foster. They have two children, Reed and Hallee.