Ocean Township High School inducts 10 distinguished alumni in the Hall of Fame

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Ocean Township – Friday night, March 8, the Ocean Township High School held their Hall of Fame ceremonies at their high school. Ten graduates were inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame while 13 individuals and two athletic teams were welcomed into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

It was a night filled with amazing biographies of outstanding graduates who truly created “Spartan Legacies” The masters of ceremonies were H. Rusty Todd, athletic director and Ira Kreizman, chairman of the Hall of Fame committee.

Distinguished Alumni Class of 2024

Inducted into the Ocean Township High School Alumni Hall of Fame is Dr. Ira Byock (left). Presenting him the honor is Michael Uslan, an Inductee from 2018.

Dr. Ira Byock, Class of 1969, was inducted by his lifelong friend and fellow HOF inductee, Michael Uslan. Dr. Byock is a leading medical authority and public advocate for improving care through the end of life. and a founding member and past president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. He is also the author of “Dying Well”, “The Four Things That Matter Most”, and “The Best Care Possible” as well as numerous articles in academic journals.

Byock is a Professor of Medicine and Community Family Medicine, also named to the Top 25 Innovators-Modern Healthcare. He has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and a Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Health Care. The Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine awarded Dr. Byock the Visionary of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

George Conti, who was inducted into the 2011 Ocean Township HS Athletic Hall of Fame, became a 2024 Inductee into the Alumni Hall of Fame. Presenting is current Superindent of Schools Kelly Weldon.

George Conti, Class of 1965 (St. Benedict’s Prep). Conti had 24 years of service to the Township of Ocean School District as a teacher, coach, athletic director and assistant principal. In 2006, he was inducted into the high school athletic hall of fame. Conti is also the father of the “Big Red” philosophy at the high school.

As football coach, Conti led the only number one team in the state and only top team in school history. He was the Shore Conference football coach of the year in 1980, 1983 and 1993. New Jersey named him coach of the year in 1993. He was elected into the NJ Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2001, Coach Conti was elected into the Jersey Shore Football Coaches Hall of Fame.

Sharon Bradley (left) and Jane Grabelle (right) were proud to inductee Caroline Fox Elkins (center) into the Ocean Township Alumni Hall of Fame.

Caroline Fox Elkins, Class of 1987, is a remarkable woman who won the Pulitzer Prize and History Today’s Book of the Year recipient for her very first book titled “Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya.”

In 2022, her book “Legacy of Violence” recognized by the BBC, New Statesman, and History Today as “Book of the Year” and by the New York Times as Notable 100 books in that year. Currently, Fox Elkins is a professor of history and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She has earned 12 different fellowships including the Guggenheim, Fulbright, and Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

The BBC documentary, “Kenya: White Terror” is based on her research on the International Committee on the Red Cross Award at the Monte-Carlo Film Festival in 2003. Fox Elkins has also contributed to Time, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and The New Republic.

Mark Frankel (left) was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at Ocean Township High School by H. Rusty Todd.

Mark Frankel, Class of 1969. For over 50 years Frankel has provided services to the students of Ocean Township. He was a history teacher, coach, advisor. After his retirement, he came come back to OTHS as a substitute teacher and still coaches as an assistant these days.

In 2018, he was inducted into the OTHS Athletic Hall of Fame for his 29 years as head softball coach. He coached a team to the NJSIAA state championships and had six NJSIAA sectional titles to his credit. His teams also won one Shore Conference Championship, two Monmouth County Championships, and 11 Shore Conference Divisional Championships. Frankel was awarded five Sportsmanship Awards and two Coaches of the Year Awards.

A 2024 Alumni Hall of Fame inductee at Ocean Township HS is Susan Henderson. Presenting the award was Denise Palaia (right).

Susan Henderson, Class of 1973. She was the person who established the OTHS Gay Straight Alliance, one of the very first such clubs in Monmouth County. Henderson who was an educator at the high school also trained teachers throughout the state about how to create a safe learning environment for LGBTQ students.

Henderson also hosted a Central NJ GLSEN Forum at Ocean Township High School with over 500 students in attendance. She was elected to and served on the Asbury Park City Council, serving as Deputy Mayor in her last term.

Some of her awards that she received in her career were GLSEN Advisor Award, Asbury Park Press Girls Track Coach of the Year 2005, Monmouth County Girls Track Coach of the Year 2004.

Former Ocean Township superintendent of schools Robert Mahon was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame byhigh school principal Dawn Kazuba.

Robert Mahon, Class of 1953 (St. Peter’s Prep). Mahon served as Ocean Township High School Principal, and was the Superintendent of Schools for 16 years, the longest tenure to date in that position.

Mahon successfully garnered support for referendums for the Township of Ocean Intermediate School and other district buildings. He was also elected Mayor of Avon and served on the council for over 20 years. He also had over 40 years on the Avon Planning Board and acted as Director of local budget review program for the New Jersey Department of the Treasury.

Chris Malachowsky was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at Ocean Township High School by principal Dawn Kaszuba.

Chris Malachowsky, Class of 1976. His life after OTHS has been filled with a very distinguished career in technology. He is the co-founder of NVIDIA Corporation, a pioneer of computer graphics, accelerated computing and artificial intelligence (AI).

His work sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined modern computer graphics, and ignited the era of modern AI. In 2009 Malachowsky won an Emmy Award for Best Documentary “Inheritance” and he has authored close to 40 patents related to computer graphics and integrated circuit design.

Malachowsky has served on multiple non-profit boards including the Hiller Aviation Museum, Computer History Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the University of Florida Foundation Executive Board.  He also received the Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Florida and Santa Clara University. Malachowsky holds an honorary doctorate in technology from the University of Florida and the University of Silicon Valley.

Irene Gilman (right) former teacher and current Board of Education member at Ocean Township, had the honor of inducting the late Margaret “Peggy” Morgan into the Alumni Hall of Fame. Accepting were her family members.

Margaret “Peggy” Morgan, Class of 1961 (Weequahic High School).  Morgan was a teacher with a 34-year distinguished career at Ocean Township High School. She started as an English teacher in 1965, the very first year that OTHS opened.

During her career, Morgan served as Student Council Advisor, Yearbook Advisor, Yearbook Business Advisor, and Senior Class Advisor. She also earned the position of assistant principal and director of school counseling.

Morgan was also principal of OTHS and served as Human Services Council Member fighting tirelessly to prevent drug abuse amongst her students. In memory and in honor of Morgan, a plaque will hang in the OTHS library media center as a symbol of her love of reading and her many contributions to Ocean Township High School.

Ocean Township High School former Superintendent of Schools Thomas Pagano was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame by current Superintendent of Schools Kelly Weldon.

Thomas Pagano, Class of 1967 (Morristown-Beard School). Pagano had over 40 years of dedicated and distinguished service to the Township of Ocean School District. He started his career as a teacher, was a football coach, supervisor, assistant principal, principal and his last position was superintendent of schools.

Pagano was actively involved in conceptualizing and passing three referendums to benefit of the school district. During his career he served as President, First Vice President and Treasurer of the Monmouth County Superintendent’s Roundtable. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Shore Athletic Conference, member of the Board of Directors Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services, and member of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators.

Pagano is also a proud member of the Italian American Association Township of Ocean, and has served as a Civilian Emergency Response Team member. He also has expertise as Evacuation Coordinator for the township.

H. Rusty Todd (second from left) had the honor to induct the late Fred West into the Ocean Township High School Alumni Hall of Fame. Accepting the award are the West family.

Fred West, Class of 1968 (St. Rose).  This was a very emotional induction as Athletic Director Rusty Todd had the honor and privilege of inducting his late friend. As he read the history and accomplishments of West, Todd had to take several pauses to compose himself.

West had 38 years of distinguished service to the school district. He was a teacher of developmental and adapted physical education. Over his long career, West held the positions of supervisor of health, physical education, music and nursing. He also held the titles and responsibilities of supervisor of student programs and assistant principal.

West was a pioneer of adapted physical education and traveled around the country teaching educators on the specialized topic. He completed coursework for his Ph.D. in Adaptive Physical Education at NYU. He was so skilled that he was appointed a court appointed special advocate with CASA.

Volunteering to assist those with special learning challenges was also a big part of what West was all about. He visited patients at Monmouth Medical Center with his therapy dog and received multiple “Volunteer of the Year” awards from the hospital.