Walking throughout Seymour High School, Brian Hunterman noticed several changes in the school he attended some 45 years earlier.

“It’s incredible, and I think the evolution since I left is amazing,” he said while standing in the Owl Manufacturing room. “I think the students and community should be so proud of this school.”

Hunterman was one of five alumni inducted into the Seymour High School Wall of Fame during a program Friday in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium. The wall now contains the names and photos of 54 Seymour High School graduates.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

Click here to purchase photos from this gallery

Hunterman, a 1973 graduate who has spent 40 years in roles with the Cincinnati Reds, was joined by Bradley Ault, Ph.D., 1979; Roger Pardieck, Shields Senior High School, 1955; James Thompson, (posthumous) Shields Senior High School, 1940; and Dr. David Stout, 1969.

The five were nominated and then selected by an eight-member committee. The last class to be inducted was in 2015.

To be inducted, alumni must be nominated, have graduated 10 years and have made significant contributions to their field and society, Seymour High School Principal Greg Prange said.

Each was given an opportunity to address students during the program before being presented with a plaque. Assistant Principal Talmadge Reasoner gave the inductees and their families a tour of the school.

The school also presented the five with a dinner Thursday and planned to honor them before the Owls’ football game Friday.

Pardieck, an attorney at The Pardieck Law Firm, has had a career that has spanned more than 200 jury trials that have had an impact on making society safer, according to his biography.

He urged students to be civically engaged in government through exercising their right to vote and participate in a jury.

“Don’t ever pass up the opportunity to vote, and don’t ever pass up the opportunity to serve on a jury. Do it,” he told students.

Pardieck also shared with them an important phrase shared with him by a teacher when he attended Shields High School.

“Patience is a virtue. Use it,” he told them.

Ault, a professor and chairman of the Department of Classics at the University of Buffalo, State University of New York, was unable to attend, but his son, Christian, accepted the plaque on his behalf.

Ault has published extensively his archaeological fieldwork, which has taken him to England, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Israel.

Thompson’s son, Tom, accepted the award and said his father was caring and a servant to the community.

Thompson began work at Thompson Dairy Co. for his father in 1947. He later became president of Thompson’s Diary in 1962.

After graduating from Purdue University in 1943, Thompson went directly into the military, serving with an artillery unit. While in the Army, he was a liaison pilot with the artillery and served under Gen. Mark Clark as a lieutenant. After being honorably discharged, he worked at Thompson’s Dairy but was recalled to military service during the Korean War and was sent to Germany.

Stout, a family physician who founded Family Medical Center in 1981, told students he remembered the spirit when he was attending the school 50 years ago.

A member of the football team, Stout said the Owls were 1-2 and were getting a visit from Martinsville on homecoming weekend.

He said the Owls were carried to a 34-6 victory because of the student body, band and pride the athletes had.

“I can never repay the debt to my alma mater,” he said. “Wherever you go, whatever you do, be passionate about it.”

Laken Waskom, a junior at Seymour High School, said she enjoyed hearing each of the alumni discuss their careers and accomplishments.

“I thought it was really interesting hearing their stories,” she said.

Waskom said she was impressed with the number of professions that were represented and the fact that graduates were able to go on to do important things to improve society.

Although she has not decided where she wants to go to school or what she plans to study, she said the thought of being inducted into the Wall of Fame would be remarkable.

“It would definitely be an honor,” she said.

Prange said it’s important for students to see alumni have gone on to make significant contributions.

“It gives them an opportunity to see how these people have walked the same hallways, sat in the same classroom and grew up in the same town and gone on to big things,” he said. “Some stay here, some leave and some end up all around the world but at one point were here.”

As the program came to a close, the school’s band played the school song, and Stout remembered how much the band and student body had an impact on the school.

“That song still inspires me,” Stout, a multisport athlete, told the students.

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”2018 Seymour High School Wall of Fame inductees ” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

2018 Seymour High School Wall of Fame inductees

Bradley A. Ault, Ph.D.

Class of 1979, associate professor and chair of the Department of Classics at the University of Buffalo, State University of New York.

Brian V. Hunterman

Class of 1973, producer and director at Fox Sports Ohio.

Roger L. Pardieck, Esq.

Class of 1955, attorney at The Pardieck Law Firm.

Dr. David Stout

Class of 1969, retired family physician at Family Medical Center.

James T. Thompson (posthumous)

Class of 1940, president of Thompson’s Dairy.

[sc:pullout-text-end]