Delaware City Schools inducted five alumni into its Hall of Fame Friday evening at Hayes High School.
The new inductees are Richard Hubbard (class of 1955), Alice M. Batchelder (class of 1961), Susan Hurd Barr (class of 1982), Janelle Thompson Gasaway (class of 2001) and Ashleigh Nicole Nordstrom Brown (class of 2006).
Hubbard graduated from Willis High School in 1955 after excelling at tennis, going undefeated in singles from 1953 to 1955. Hubbard was the Central District winner three times and helped the Willis team earn a CBL title in 1955. Hubbard lettered in tennis for three seasons while he studied at the University of Arizona and won the junior doubles title at the Southwest USA competition in 1955.
Off the court, Hubbard was recognized as an international expert in the design, construction, and operation of nuclear power plants. While Hubbard operated his own consulting company, MHB Technical Associates, he provided consulting assistance to 15 states as well as the District of Columbia and several countries in Europe, including Germany, Italy and Sweden.
Batchelder served as a private attorney from 1971 to 1983 before she became a judge for the Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Ohio in 1983. She was appointed to U.S. District Court judge for the Norther District of Ohio by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and was appointed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals by President George Bush in 1991. Additionally, from 2009 to 2014, she served as chief judge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
She has received numerous awards and commendations, including the Claremont Institute’s Ronald Reagan Jurisprudence Award in 2016.
Barr is a Delaware County resident who has worked at Grady Memorial Hospital for 22 years as a nurse and as a hospital supervisor. Since 2006, Barr has been working with Honor Flight to help veterans of all wars take trips to Washington, D.C. After working in a public relations and marketing position for National Honor Flight, she founded Columbus Honor Flight, which has flown more than 6,000 veterans to the nation’s capital.
Barr also chairs the Ohio Gold Star Families Memorial Monument Committee and has earned several accolades for her work, including American Red Cross Exceptional Service in 2002, Delaware County Outstanding Veteran Service in 2009, Delaware County Outstanding Friend of the Veterans in 2017, and she was nominated for the Jefferson Award in 2019.
Gasaway was a three-sport athlete during her time at Hayes and lettered in volleyball, basketball, and softball as well as being involved in the music department performing in Symphonic Choir, Women’s Choral, Hayes Singers, and the variety shows. She was named All-OCC Honorable mention in 1999 for volleyball, and she excelled at softball, where she was a four-year varsity starter. She was named All-OCC Honorable Mention as a softball player, and as a junior, she led the Pacers to the school’s first Ohio Capital Conference championship, sectional championship, and first district finals appearance in the program’s history. She traveled to France in 2001 to represent the USA in the 2001 Softball World Cup.
As a senior, Gasaway’s softball team won a sectional championship and made a second appearance in the district finals. Gasaway received 1st Team All-OCC, 1st Team All-District, and 2nd Team All-Ohio. She was the first softball player in Delaware Hayes history to be named to the All-State team. She continued to play through college at Ohio Wesleyan University and was named All-NCAC Honorable Mention in 2002 and Academic All-District in 2003. She has worked within the Delaware City School District and currently works as a Realtor.
Brown was a four-time letterwinner and two-time captain for the Delaware Hayes basketball team, helping the team achieve a 66-26 record during her time at Hayes. She averaged double digits in the last three seasons of her time at Hayes, and in her senior season, she averaged 20 points per game, leading her team to a 19-4 record. Brown was named Central District Player of the Year and Ohio Capital Conference MVP as well as First Team All-Ohio in 2005-2006. She competed in the North-South All-Star game and helped her team win the OCC championship.
After graduating, Brown played basketball at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and helped the team win a MAC championship in 2008 and earn a berth in the NCAA Division I Tournament. After college, Brown played semi-professional basketball with the Hidden Gems before accepting an offer to play in Visby, Sweden, for her professional rookie season. While playing international, Brown was ranked among the top players in the Swedish league, averaging a double-double during her eight years of professional play. She currently resides in Sweden where she is the sports director of a professional team in Uppsala, Sweden.
At the ceremony on Friday, Superintendent Heidi Kegley said students will be able to learn about the inductees this week.
“It is my hope that they will be similarly motivated to achieve in their respective fields of interest and will one day join this illustrious group,” Kegley said.
