Reverend Richard Baskwill - 1953     Following graduation from Bangor High School, Richard Baskwill graduated from Lafayette College and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. After serving in the U.S. Army in Japan, he was ordained in the Presbyterian Church USA and honorably retired in March 1999, having served Presbyterian congregations in New York and Maryland.   Reverend Baskwill has been the pastor of the Rehoboth Welsh Church in Delta, PA since 1984. He served as a political analyst with the Social Security Administration at its headquarters in Baltimore. He is a founding member of the Rehoboth Welsh Choir of Delta, which competed in and won a prize at the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales in 1992. Reverend Baskwill serves on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Welsh Federation and the Pennsylvania Cornwall Association. He is vice president of the Pendyrus Male Choir of Rhondda, Wales. n August 1999, Reverend Baskwill was awarded a green robe as a member of the Gorsedd of the Isles of Britain, one of only thirteen North Americans to ever be so honored.The Royal National Eisteddfod award was presented in Anglesey, Wales. Reverend Baskwill was so honored for his mastery of the Welsh language, knowledge of Welsh culture, and for serving as a Welsh envoy in the United States. Reverend Baskwill was given the bardic name, Rhisiart Rehoboth. Reverend Baskwill and his wife Betty have two daughters and several grandchildren.   Top

Ambassador Joseph DeThomas   Following graduation from Bangor High School, Joseph DeThomas studied history at Penn State University. In 1973, he graduated ‚with high distinction‚ and became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society. He pursued his master's degree at Penn State, while working as a teaching assistant. He entered the Foreign Service of the United States in 1977. His first assignment abroad was in Tehran, Iran where he faced severe danger in protecting and evacuating American citizens from the country. Armed terrorists captured him on February 14, 1979 in an attack on the American Embassy in Iran. His unit received the Secretary of State's award for valor for its actions. Following an assignment in Bonn, Germany, he attended Harvard University and received a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He then embarked on the first of a number of assignments for the Department of State. In Washington he served as an expert in the effort to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Over the next 20 years he served on assignments where he was instrumental in detecting and eliminating nuclear weapons programs in South Africa, Brazil and Argentina. He designed a plan that removed uranium from the country of Kazakhstan, and he drafted and negotiated a major international agreement that led to an international effort to prevent the smuggling of nuclear materials. In 1985, he served Mexico City as Science Attache. His primary work there was to protect the border areas of the United States from environmental pollution from Mexico. From 1990 to 1993, he was the Deputy Chief of Missions in Ethiopia, being a part of a successful effort to end the civil war with the fall of the Communist government of that country. He also facilitated U.S. and UN efforts to protect Somali and Sudanese refugees. He helped to facilitate the democratic process in Ethiopia, as well as to bring food to five million starving Ethiopians and Eritreans. Currently he serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Estonia, which during his tenure, was invited to join NATO and the European Union. He has also been credited with persuading the government of Estonia to make bigger strides to combat HIV/AIDS and to recognize the role of the Holocaust in Estonia's history. He married Leslie Davidson in 2000 and has a son Benjamin from a previous marriage.His daughter, Gabrielle died of a sudden illness at the age of 15. Top

Aralee Dorough Gatwood - 1979   Arlalee Dorough Gatwood was raised in musical surroundings with her mother, a dancer and acrobat, and her father a world famous songwriter, singer and jazz pianist.Today she is one of the premiere flutists on the American orchestral scene. She joined the Houston Symphony in 1985 as 2nd flute and since 1991 is one of the few orchestral players ever to have moved from 2nd chair to principal within the same orchestra. In 1992 she joined guest harpist Marisa Robles in a performance of the Mozart Concerto for Flute and Harp with Maestro Christoph Eschenbach. She has also preformed and recorded the Mozart Flute Concerto in G major with Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony on the Pickwick label. While at Bangor High School, she was active in the music program, but also spent time working with legends Jean Pierre Rampal and Julius Baker. After graduation from Bangor, she went on to study music at the Oberlin Conservatory with teacher Robert Willoughby. There she received the degree of Bachelor of Performing Arts in 1983. She then completed two years at the Yale School of Music with teacher Thomas Nyfenger, after which she successfully won an audition to go directly into the professional world with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. She has toured Japan and Germany with the Houston Symphony Chamber Players with three residencies at the prestigious Pacific Music Festival in Sopporo, Japan. She has served on the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and has presented workshops at universities and conventions. She has recorded with jazz artist Paul English on Capstone Records and has taken part in various film and television projects. Future plans include making a recording featuring oboe, flute and piano with her father, Bob Dourough. She lives in Houston, Texas with her husband Colin who is also a member of the Houston Symphony. They have a three year old son, Corin. Top

Samuel Shiroff - 1994   Samuel Shiroff did his undergraduate work at Boston College, receiving his B.S. in Communication in 1998. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity. He was selected as a Fulbright Scholar in 1998 and spent the next two years at Frankfurt University in Frankfurt Germany. n 1999 he accepted a position with Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt. A vice president of public affairs, he became immersed in the international co-ordination of the bank's corporate citizenship and sustainable development activities. In one role, he helped establish a bank-sponsored, fifteen million dollar foundation for Africa. In May of 2003, he accepted the position of executive director of the Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development, a non-profit, non-political 10-year old international network of groups. The Forum's mission is to promote a harmonious balance between ecologic and social needs of the world. It is his responsibility to bring realization to all decisions by the governing board, as well as, daily management and coordination of all Forum activities. He handles communications with the press and PR awareness activities for the Forum, as well as membership acquisitions and fund-raising. Mr. Shiroff and his wife, Arlene Ackerly (BHS 1995), currently live in Germany. Top

Paul Shoemaker, Ph.D. - 1970 After graduating from Bangor High School, Dr. Shoemaker earned his BS from Bloomsburg University, his MBA from Marywood College and his Ph.D. in Accounting from Penn State University. He also holds a CPA certificate from the State of Maryland. He has served as an accounting professor at the following institutions: Pennsylvania State University (1983 -1986), Bloomsburg University (1986 - 1987), Susquehanna University (1987 - 1989), and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln from 1989 to the present. Both his students and his peers have long recognized Dr. Shoemaker's work and commitment to education. He has been awarded the university-wide Distinguished Teaching Award and was twice a recipient of the CBA Distinguished Teaching Award for Contributions to Students. He has been honored by Beta Alpha Psi as Accounting Educator of the Year, and is the current chair holder of the Nebraska Society of CPAs Distinguished Professorship in Accountancy at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He also serves on the School of Accountancy Board of Trustees and is faculty advisor to Beta Alpha Psi, the accounting honorary fraternity. He has also supervised and coached students to compete in the Arthur Andersen Tax Challenge National Competitions. Personal interest in individual taxation, corporate and entity taxation, and financial accounting, as well as his educational background has led to his giving time and support to advance the CPA profession. He is an active member of the Nebraska Society of CPAs where he has served on the Taxation Committee and currently serves on the Continuing Professional Education Committee. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Great Plains Federal Tax Institute, the Lincoln Estate Planning Council, and the AICPA, serving on its Tax Education Committee. Dr. Shoemaker has published many articles and has a new book on accounting history that will soon be released. He has been the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships. Currently, Dr. Shoemaker and his wife, Holly, reside on a small farm near Lincoln with a newly developed orchard in honor of his past upbringing. Dr. and Mrs. Shoemaker have three children and four grandchildren.

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