BLINN INDUCTS FIVE TO HALL OF HONOR
The Blinn College Alumni & Friends Association inducted five distinguished community leaders into the Blinn College Hall of Honor during a special luncheon Saturday on the Blinn-Brenham Campus.
Howard Kruse was named the 2016 person of the year. Doyle Coatney, the late Dr. Bobbie Dietrich, Kay Boehm Fannin and M. Houston McGaugh also were inducted. The Hall of Honor recognizes Blinn’s most distinguished alumni, local business leaders and those who have made a significant impact in their communities or professions. Inductees are recognized at a luncheon during Blinn’s homecoming festivities each year.
The president emeritus at Blue Bell Creameries, Kruse created the company’s top-selling flavor, homemade vanilla, and is an active community leader. He has served as past president of the Brenham Rotary Club, the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, the Dairy Products Institute of Texas, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Council of Brenham and the Washington County United Way Fund.
He also served as commander of the American Legion Buddy Wright Post #48, scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 742, secretary and board member of Bohne Memorial Hospital, co-chairman of the Major Gifts Division Greater Century Campaign at Scott & White Memorial Hospital and the Scott, Sherwood, & Brindley Foundation, and served as a member of the Southern Association of Dairy Food Manufacturers Board of Directors. He currently serves on the Texas A&M Health Science Center advisory group.
Coatney is a successful businessman and philanthropist now living in Louisiana. He has supported the Northshore Community Foundation’s Coatney Center for Philanthropy in Covington, La., as well as the Coatney Wellness Park, the Ochsner Health Center, and the Coatney Leadership Center and Coatney Leadership Award at St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Metairie, La. The Ochsner Health Center has recognized Coatney as a Doctor of Philanthropy.
Coatney recently provided a generous gift to Blinn College in support of the Doyle Coatney Athletic Training Facility, an 11,184-square foot facility that will include indoor batting cages for baseball and softball, a weight room and a meeting room. Coatney also has established an endowed scholarship at Blinn benefitting Montgomery High School graduates.
Dietrich began Blinn’s Drama Program, now the Theatre Arts Program, and directed the construction of the Theatre in the Round. Under her guidance, Blinn began participating in speaking and drama festivals, as well as area and state meets. She sponsored and served as judge for area and regional drama contests, and started the district and regional drama festivals that were held at Brenham High School and Bellville High School. Dietrich also introduced Phi Rho Pi, the national speech association for students, and Delta Psi Omega, the national drama association for students, at Blinn College. She was a founder of the Texas Community College Speech & Theatre Association Play Festival.
Fannin is a Blinn alumnus with a successful career in petroleum engineering. She currently is a global development planning advisor, located in Houston, advising on early project planning for various opportunities around the world. Her focus is deepwater development planning.
In addition to her career, Fannin enjoys spending time with family and friends. She has served as a “big sister” in Big Brothers/Big Sisters, on the New Orleans YMCA board, as a Sunday School teacher, a Bakersfield Boys & Girls Club board member, a Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church board member, a Soccer Booster Club board member and a Rotary Club member.
McGaugh has served as Director of Blinn College’s Star of the Republic Museum since 1987, part of a nearly 40-year career in museums. Under McGaugh’s leadership, Star of the Republic became one of the first museums to upload collections data to the Portal to Texas History. He was elected President of the Central Texas Museum Association in 2002, and was appointed to the Texas Historical Resource Advisory Board for the Texas State Archives from 2003-09.
McGaugh led Star of the Republic Museum’s’ successful re-accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) in 2009, placing Star of the Republic among the 5 percent of U.S. museums meeting AAM’s high accreditation standards.