Hall of Honor - General Information

On October 29, 2000, eleven Moline High School alumni became the first group inducted into the high school's new Hall of Honor. The three year, $10,000 mission to produce something that would inspire other students to match the successes of Moline alumni was first proposed by the high school Student Congress. A 24-member Hall of Honor board, headed by Jack Dye, a former MHS teacher and coach and Al Hallene, Jr., former school board president, made selections based on nominations from throughout the community.

The historic event brought out more than 300 out-of-town guests and hundreds of community members also joined in the festivities. Nine of the inductees attended the induction ceremony and two hall-of-famers who are deceased were represented by family members and friends. Each received large plaques with laser-etched self-portraits and a narrative of their careers and community contributions, as well as individual pictures and pottery plates created by district students.

Here are the eleven Inaugural inductees:
*Fritiof Fyxell (Class of 1918), deceased,: former Augustana college professor instrumental in developing Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park.

*Barbara Garst (Class of 1918), deceased,: an MHS teacher and head of the English department. She was the first debate and forensics coach and established the local chapter of the National Honor Society.

*Clifford L. Peterson(Class of 1937), deceased,: a community leader who worked at Deere & Co., retiring as a senior vice president and director, while still making time for community service.

*George N. Kirk (Class of 1939): a World War II fighter pilot, war hero and aviation pioneer who received two Distinguished Flying Crosses. He was appointed manager of the the Quad Cities Airport in 1954.

*Louis Bellson (Class of 1942): an award-winning internationally known drummer and six-time Grammy nominee. Mr. Bellson also was music director for this late wife, Pearl Biley.

*Bonnie Bartlett (Class of 1947): a two-time Emmy winner for Best Supporting Actress on "St. Elsewhere," she most recently appeared as the late Jack Lemmon's wife in "Tuesdays with Morrie" and in ABC's "Once and Again"

*Thomas F. Railsback (Class of 1950): former state legislator and member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 16 years. He's an attorney currently practicing in CA.

*Donald Sundquist (Class of 1953): former member of the U.S. House is in his second term as governor of Tennessee.

*James A. Jamieson (Class of 1961): former PGA golf professional. In 1972, he won the Western Open and recorded six top-10 finishes. He helped maintain the former Q-C Open.

*Richard Kauzlarich (Class of 1962): US ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, with prior service as ambassador to Azerbaijan.

*Stephen Kuberski (Class of 1965): a former NBA player with the Milwaukee Bucks and then the Boston Celtics where he was part of two championships. He's in the halls of fame for Bradley and the University of Illinois also was named to the Illinois All-NBA team for the 1960s.