Honoring Our Distinguished Alumni- 2018

Honoring Our Distinguished Alumni- 2018

The Distinguished Alumni Program was developed and is supported by the Tomah Area School District and the Tomah Area School District Foundation. It is hoped that this recognition will provide role models for our current students, instill pride in our community, and provide an opportunity to celebrate the successes of these outstanding individuals. We are delighted to be honoring three individuals for their accomplishments during the 2018 Homecoming festivities. Along with their parents, educators in the Tomah Area School District and others in our community helped raise and nurture these individuals. We can all feel pride in how Tomah contributed to their success.

We welcome home and honor our new inductees into the Distinguished Alumni Program this week. Please extend congratulations to these outstanding Tomah High School alumni and/or their family members:

Frank King- Class of 1901

As a child, Frank King spent most of his spare time sketching. However the pictures he drew of his classmates scored him no extra points with his grade school teacher, Miss Miller, from whom Miller Elementary School is named. By the time he graduated from High School, King had earned a reputation for drawing.

At age 19 King began his career as an artist-cartoonist for a Minnesota newspaper, but he was drawn to Chicago. He attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, earning a scholarship for his second year. He was so talented the Academy used one of his drawings for its catalog cover. King went to work for the “Chicago Examiner” newspaper doing sketches, diagrams, layouts, courtroom scenes, portraits of theatrical personalities and city officials, along with disasters such as fires.

King then began a Sunday graphic feature called “The Rectangle”, with a comment on current affairs, news highlights, seasonal subjects and popular fads. In one corner he started a panel called “Gasoline Alley”, depicting the weekly meetings of a few auto enthusiasts in an alley behind their apartments. This caught the public fancy and grew into a half-page. By 1919 it had grown to a color full page on Sundays and a daily black and white strip.

Gasoline Alley was so wildly popular it was carried in newspapers from coast to coast. Frank King received royalties every time any of his Gasoline Alley characters were used. There were books, dolls, toys, a movie made, and a television show in the early 1950’s. In 1958, Gasoline Alley was named Best Strip-of-the-Year and in 1959, King was named Cartoonist-of-the-Year by the Nation Cartoonist Society. In 1967, King retired to Florida a millionaire. King passed away on June 24, 1969. His body was laid to rest beside his wife in Tomah’s Oak Grove Cemetery.

Roy Skogen- Class of 1956

Mr. Skogen was born and raised on a farm in rural Tomah and attended a one room school for eight years before graduating from Tomah High School in 1956. He then went to Western Wisconsin Technical College- La Crosse, earning an associate degree in accounting. He also attended the Juneau County Teachers College. He taught 5th-8th grade at Tunnel City for two years and then went to Stevens Point to complete his third year of post-secondary education. Mr. Skogen was persuaded by the Tomah Superintendent to pause his education and become a 7th and 8th grade teacher and principal at Oakdale School.

After four years at Oakdale, Mr. Skogen transferred to Tomah Junior High to teach life science. He made his classes interesting by having as educational tools different animals and specimens. For example, when studying reptiles, he would hold a snake in front of the class to discuss its physical characteristics. He would encourage the students (most of them were afraid) to feel the scales. As he was walking around the room, he would pick out a person who he thought was courageous and say “the latest in fashion is” while putting the snake around the student’s neck. Mr. Skogen would often have a line of students, waiting well before the bell rang, to feed the animals, especially the big fish that ate mice.

When Tomah Junior High was transitioning to an organizational model using teams, Mr. Skogen was selected as the first team leader. After the success of his team, the entire school transitioned to the middle school concept. He retired after 38 years of teaching.

Volunteering in the Tomah community has been very important to Mr. Skogen. He was instrumental in developing the Boys and Girls Club of Tomah, receiving the Community Service Award for contributing over 800 volunteer hours to this cause. He has been a member of the Tomah Masonic Lodge for over 30 years, and was a 4-H leader for 10 years, along with being involved in Gloria Dei Lutheran Church his entire life.

Mr. Skogen has been married to his wife Joyce for 56 years. They raised two children, Kevin (deceased) and Tammy (Hewuse), and have been blessed with six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Brigadier General Tammy Maas- Class of 1975

Brigadier General Tammy J. Maas graduated from Tomah Senior High School in 1975. She attended the University of Wisconsin- LaCrosse and University of Wisconsin- River Falls before moving to Wyoming for a summer job in Grand Teton National Park. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in 1985 at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY.

General Maas began her military career in 1979 when she joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard. She attended Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and Initial Entry Training as a computer operator at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. BG Maas moved to Wyoming in 1982 and joined the 197th Engineer Detachment at Camp Guernsey, Wyoming. After completing 10 years of service and reaching the rank of staff sergeant, she attended the state Officer Candidate School program in 1989 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

General Maas concluded her military career in May 2018, after serving 2 years as the Assistant Adjutant General for the Wyoming Army National Guard. As the commander, with headquarters in Cheyenne, she was responsible for the readiness, training, leadership and strategic planning of more than 1,500 Soldiers in support of state and federal mission requirements. Units of the Wyoming Army National Guard included field artillery, engineering, maintenance, aviation, command and control, signal, medical, logistics, a training school, and an Army band. Major commands included the 115th Fires Brigade, 94th Troop Command, Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center, 213th Regiment-Regional Training Institute, and the Wyoming Joint Force Headquarters.

Since her retirement, General Maas has been employed as the Executive Director of Human Resources at Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne, WY. In her spare time, Tammy enjoys all outdoor activities including hunting, fishing, and camping. She loves competing with her horses including barrel racing, team roping, and horse showing. Tammy and her husband, Don, also operate a small business boarding horses. She has one daughter, Tami, and a grandson, Jasper.

Congratulations to these outstanding alumni of Tomah High School. Your hometown celebrates your success, honors your accomplishments, and thanks you for your important contributions to our society! You have made our world a better place!

If you have any questions or comments about the information and opinions expressed in this edition of The School Bell, please contact Cindy Zahrte, District Administrator, at cindyzahrte@tomah.education or 374-7002.

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