Ronan Hall of Fame names new crop of inductees
Gale Decker | Lake County Leader | UPDATED 2 weeks, 1 day AGO
The Ronan Hall of Fame committee has made their selections of individuals and teams for the Class of 2025.
Gary Granley and Luther Thingelstad, longtime Ronan school supporters and former owners of True Value Hardware in Ronan, have been chosen as “Distinguished Community Members.”
Cathy Gillhouse, who taught music in the Ronan School District, for 36 years will be inducted as a “Distinguished Staff Member.” She was instrumental in the high school Show Choir’s productions of “Cabaret” for many years and continues to be active in the Mission Valley music community, serving as director of the Mission Valley Choral Society.
Zachary Pitts, a 2002 Ronan grad, has been chosen as “Distinguished Athlete.” Pitts was a multi-sport athlete and was named to several All-state teams. The leading career scorer in basketball at Ronan with 1,184 points, Pitts was also an Academic All-Stater 11 times and was selected to play in the Montana/Wyoming All-Star contest.
In the category of “Distinguished Alumni,” Anthony Patch – currently employed by the Las Vegas Raiders as their senior personnel executive – has been selected. Patch graduated from Ronan in 1996. Before joining the Raiders, he worked with the Philadelphia Eagles as senior director of College Scouting during an era when the Eagles claimed two Super Bowl championships.
Two selections have been made in the “Distinguished Teams” category. In 2011, the Ronan Middle School Robotics Team was declared World Champions in the first Tech Challenge competition. Newspapers reported that 2,075 teams participated in the competition. Team members were Troy McMillan, Thane Tobol, Alex Killian, J. T. Probst, Hunter Shima, Tyler Sassaman, Collin Hardy, and coach Jesse Gray.
The second “Distinguished Team” is the 1929 Ronan High School boys’ basketball team. The team placed third in the State Tournament during an era when there were no classifications of teams by school enrollment, which was less than 100 students. Team members included Phillip Roullier, Alexander “Sam” Clairmont, Theodore “Bias” Stinger, Kenneth Egan, Leonard Swanson, George Hay and Paul Stephens. Foster “Prof” Polley coached the team.
More information will be provided for all inductees later. The date of the Induction Celebration will be announced soon.