These 7 Pontiac Township High School alums receive prestigious award

Seven alumni have been named as recipients of the Pontiac Township High School Distinguished Alumni Award for this year, according to a release from PTHS.

The range of graduation of the seven recipients covers from 1941 to 1991.

Named as recipients by the Distinguished Alumni Committee are Joe Jobst (1942), Chris Kutsor (1991), Greg Manabat (1988), John Rodino (1941), Tim Shaffer (1991), Virge Temme (1971) and Kathryn Wille (1961).

The Distinguished Alumni Committee consists of current and retired teachers, community members, District 90 School Board Members, representatives from the Education Foundation and the PTHS student council president.

A student assembly and public reception has been scheduled for Aug. 17. Members of the induction class of 2023 will have the opportunity to speak to PTHS students at the all-student in the afternoon. The reception will be held in the evening at the Eagle Theater.

Making up the PTHS Distinguished Alumni Class of 2023 are:

John Rodino

John Rodino was born on Aug. 19, 1923, in Pontiac. He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University where he was on the football team.

Rodino served his country in the U.S. Army, spending 27 months in combat during World War II. He was recognized with the Bronze Star, French Croix de Guerre, Presidential Unit Citation with Palm, four Overseas Service Bars, the European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon, the Good Conduct Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge, 45 Bronze Arrowhead, and a World War II Victory Medal.

Rodino taught physical education at St. Mary’s School for two years before teaching at Pontiac District 429 from 1950 to 1978. He coached basketball and track. He also served as the athletic director and vice principal at Pontiac Junior High School.

In the community, Rodino was an active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, a member of the Lions Club, the VFW, and the 15th Infantry Regiment Association.

He volunteered as a timer for track meets and was a scorekeeper for the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. Rodino was also part of the inaugural class of six Pontiac Township High School athletes to be inducted into the Pontiac Tribe of Indians. John passed away on Oct. 22, 2008.

Joseph Jobst

Joe Jobst grew up in Pontiac as one of eight children. He was on the safety patrol while a student at St. Mary’s Catholic School, and awarded a trip to Washington, D.C., after he was recognized for safeguarding a student. Jobst was a member of the Pontiac Township High School Class of 1942.

After graduation, Jobst enlisted in the US Navy and served in the Pacific Theater throughout World War II. After the war, he took advantage of the GI Bill of Rights to graduate from Knox College. He later received a master's degree from Northern Illinois University.

Jobst had a distinguished career as an educator, coach and naturalist. He met his wife, Mary, while teaching at El Paso High School. His coaching career included an unofficial football state championship. He was awarded teacher of the year at Maine West High School before returning to Pontiac as principal at Pontiac Junior High and St. Mary's Catholic schools.

Jobst was named the Rotary Club Citizen of the Year in 1981, and in 1999 he received the Congressional Points of Light award “for his tireless dedication to Nature’s Beauty.” As host of the radio show, The Nature of Things, Jobst shared his passion for nature.

He was devoted to his work at Humiston Woods and was proud to have the Joseph K. Jobst Education Center named for him.

Kathryn Wille

Kathryn (Katie) Vicars Wille is the daughter of John and Kathryn (Casey) Vicars. She graduated from St. Mary’s School in 1957, from PTHS in 1961, earned her bachelor of arts degree from Rosary College in 1965, served in the Peace Corps from 1965-1967 in Venezuela, and earned her master of science in Education in 1971 from Illinois State University.

Wille began her teaching career of 43 years at St. Mary’s School, teaching junior high students from 1968-1979 and from 1982 until her retirement in 2012. She also taught at Odell High School from 1979 through 1982 and was an adjunct faculty member at Heartland Community College from 1992-2008.

As a teacher, Wille was involved in coaching math and speech teams as well as keeping up to date with curriculum and best teaching practices.

Among the awards she has received are the Pere Marquette Award in 2003 and the Bishop Schlarman Award in 2012 for dedicated service to the Diocese of Peoria. She was the Pontiac Kiwanis Club Educator of the Year Award in 2010.

In retirement Wille is involved in volunteering at St. Mary’s School, Women’s Guild, Bereavement, Nursing Home, and Homebound ministries, the Liturgy Committee, and the Building Committee for St. Mary’s Church, as well as being a docent for the Jones House in Pontiac.

She married John Wille in 1972 and they have raised six children — John, Brigid, Mike, Tom, Kate and Maureen.

Virgean Temme

Virge Temme graduated from PTHS in 1971 as Virgean Tibbs. She has been a lifelong advocate for an example of women in traditionally male vocations. In high school, she was the first girl to take wood shop and welding since WWII.

Temme became a residential designer and later graduated with a master’s in architecture from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. In graduate school, she led a national study for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a historical context of the missile and radar development of the Cold War. “For Want of a Home” is a book Temme authored. It is a history of military family housing.

As a practicing architect Temme focused on environmentally sustainable design and construction, creating some of the most energy-efficient homes and buildings in Wisconsin. She later became one of the first female general contractors in Wisconsin, building the homes she designed.

Temme co-authored “LEED-ing the Way: Domestic Architecture for the Future” and earned national recognition as a leader in sustainable design through her efforts in teaching, writing and mentoring about environmentally sound design.

Greg Manabat

Greg Manabat is an executive with three decades of experience on Wall Street and corporate management. He attended St. Mary’s and PTHS, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he was all-Ivy League as a track sprinter.

Manabat had a distinguished financial career trading emerging country debt in Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. He was a managing director at Cantor Fitzgerald and headed trading desks at Standard Bank, Dresdner Bank and Smith Barney. He frequently produced record trading revenues and was recognized as an innovator in derivatives trading. He began his career at Merrill Lynch in New York and Hong Kong.

Manabat later was a dealmaker in private investment and shepherded several companies in new industries. As CFO of Ecogen Biosciences, he led a successful exit during the COVID pandemic. He was CEO of an Asian-based cryptocurrency project with worldwide travel alliances. He was instrumental in assembling the team for an AI-driven monitoring platform for mobility diseases.

Since 2005, Manabat has served as assistant commissioner of West Side Soccer League, one of the nation’s largest youth soccer organizations.

Manabat and his wife, Janet, have three children. They live in New York City.

Chris Kutsor

Chris Kutsor was an active student-athlete, graduating from PTHS in 1991 and then earning his degree in Finance from the University of Illinois in 1995. While continuing to work, he earned his MBA in Strategy and Finance from The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business in 2002.

Professionally, Kutsor joined Motorola, Inc., in 1995, serving in various finance executive roles spanning more than 20 years, leading financial operations of billion-dollar business units, global venture capital investing and managing Motorola’s Investor Relations team, which covers the New York Stock Exchange and relationships with institutional investors around the world.

During this time, Kutsor also served as a board advisor to the Hoeft Technology & Management Program at the University of Illinois, and a board director to a privately held technology company headquartered in central Illinois.

In 2019 Chris was appointed as Chief Financial Officer and Board Director of Kin + Carta, a global digital technology company listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2022 Chris was named Kin + Carta's chief operations officer, expanding his role to oversee global operations.

Kutsor, his wife, Sally, also a PTHS graduate, and their three children reside in suburban Chicago and are active community volunteers.

Col. Tim Shaffer

Tim Shaffer graduated from PTHS in 1991. He attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where he joined the Army ROTC program. What he found was a calling that has kept him busy for over 32 years.

Shaffer was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 1995 and has served all over the world, including three combat tours. He commanded at all levels up through Battalion Command, and had the privilege of leading a battalion in combat.

Shaffer served in numerous senior level staff assignments, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His last five years have been spent in Europe where he was involved in Army operations across all of Europe and Africa.

Now a colonel, Shaffer is currently serving as the deputy commander for Joint Force Component Command-Integrated Missile Defense where he is responsible for coordinating Global Missile Defense Operations.

In addition to his degree from SIU-C, Col. Shaffer holds multiple master's from the University of Maine and the National Defense University. Married to Patty (Hiatt), also a PTHS Class of 1991 graduate, Shaffer has enjoyed traveling the world and serving one of our nation’s most precious resources, our soldiers and families who serve.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Seven named to PTHS Distinguished Alumni Award Class of 2023