Introducing the HOF Inductees

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n 2013, the Newcastle High School Hall of Fame was created with the induction of its first seven members. The Hall was the brain-child of 2018 inductee Debb Proctor and her late-husband, Marv, who encouraged the creation of the Hall of Fame to honor former NHS students who made significant contributions to society following their high school graduation. The Hall also honors non-NHS graduates who have contributed greatly to the schools and students of Weston County School District #1, and a year ago membership in the Hall of Fame was expanded to include “Legacy Families” that have carried on the Dogie Spirit through multiple generations. This year, seven honorees will join the 42 members inducted in previous years.
 
 
Dr. Willis Franz
Very few doctors today began their careers making house calls with a little black bag —treating everything from illness to performing surgeries, and delivering many of the “Baby Boom” babies — as Dr. Willis Franz did. Reflecting back on his medical career for the News Letter Journal in 2011, Franz said, “I think most of the years I practiced were some of the best years in medical history. When I started practice there was only one vaccine for smallpox and there were no antibiotics, after advancement they became available. It was a good era in medical practice and health care.”
Franz spent 36 years as a general practitioner in Newcastle, and there are many people in the community and surrounding areas who remember his caring ways and dedication to serving them.
Born in Minnesota in 1920, at age 5 he moved to Montana where he was raised on a farm and attended a one-room school. Recalling memories of tough times of the Depression and Dust Bowl, Franz said this era made an impression on him. The family moved back to southwestern Minnesota, when he was 17, where he milked cows on his father’s dairy farm and completed high school. The decision to become a doctor developed over time. After visiting with an older doctor that he respected in the community, Franz registered as a pre-med student when he began attending college at the University of Minnesota. Franz worked his way through medical school as a dishwasher in a drug store, and later worked at a meat market to finance his education, which was $25 a quarter at the University of Minnesota. 
When World War II began, Franz, along with other medical students, were put in uniforms and allowed to finish their schooling, and afterward he was required to serve for two years. His commitment to the Army lasted from 1943-1949, serving as captain, medical officer.
While attending college, Franz met nursing student Jean Lindahl, whom he said was the “best thing that ever happened to me,” and they were married in 1943. Graduating from medical school in 1946, Franz served two years as an Army doctor, and practiced for one year in Minnesota. Wanting to go West, and desiring a better climate than Minnesota offered, the couple moved to Newcastle.
Daughter Barb Crow recalled her father making house calls almost every night with his little black bag, over Newcastle’s mud streets.
“I remember we got him a big flashlight so he could tell if he was at the right house. I think he delivered half the people in town. It was a lot of babies,” who added that people would call him to treat sick animals also, saying she remembers he stitched up a lot of animals when a veterinarian wasn’t available. Crow also said her father would bring home quilts and other items bartered for his services.
Franz recalled performing quite a bit of orthopedic and general surgery, stating there were no orthopedic surgeons back then.
“During the 1950s, there was an oil boom and there was a tremendous amount of accidents and we had to take care of all those patients. General practice was just that. You did everything,” he added, “I liked surgery and obstetrics, but I liked all of it and I liked the people.”
During his career, he mentored other new physicians beginning medical careers in the community. Dr. Lanny Reimer and Dr. Chuck Franklin both spoke highly of Franz as a role model and mentor in their lives and medical practice. 
“He was one of the general practitioners who was trained in surgery. Of course today, you’re either one or the other, not both. He’s been a teacher to me through childhood days in Scouting, on into medical school, my career as a physician and in my life. I have the utmost respect for him and his work ethics,” stated Dr. Reimer.
Franz has been a member of many national and state medical organizations. He is a member of Lions Club, and the First United Methodist Church, and has served on numerous boards and committees including Weston County School District #1 board, Hospital Joint Powers Board, BREAD, and Newcastle Tree Board.
In 2011, Franz was selected at News Letter Journal’s Most Respected Person, and while being genuinely surprised of his selection, he shared advice to others seeking a well-respected life. He listed hard work, morality, conscientiousness, compassion, being non-judgmental, and the four-letter word, ‘love.’ He said love and respect are the most important elements in a successful marriage like the one shared by he and Jean. The couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary before Jean’s passing in 2013.
In his 2011 interview, Franz noted that his greatest accomplishment was the satisfaction of being in a profession that helps people.
“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to go into the profession in the first place. I wanted to do something to help people,” he explained.
The Franz children are all NHS graduates and they, along with their spouses, have all returned to live in the Black Hills area: Barb (Patrick) Crow, Carol (Jeff) Gulbransen, David Bruce (Aurora) Franz, and Nancy (Mike) McFarland. He has six grandchildren, all college graduates, and five great-grandchildren, two of whom are presently attending the University of Wyoming.
 
Edwin “Gene” Egge
Gene grew up in the small eastern South Dakota town of Canton and Sioux Falls along the Big Sioux River. He and his brother developed their passion for sports early and would spend most summer days hanging out at the “Sandlot” and the YMCA.
A family move brought Gene to Rapid City, S.D., during his high school years. He continued his passion for athletics and education which would bring him to Black Hills Teachers College, now Black Hills State University. Gene completed his degree in education and began his teaching career in the fall of 1959 at Newcastle. He taught math, science and history in the “school on the hill” until the opening of Gertrude Burns Elementary, where he would spend the majority of his career.
Gene was very passionate about learning, teaching and seeing others experience their own achievements. He was ever aware of his student’s situations and would find ways to see that those less fortunate, could experience the same opportunities.
Gene felt his involvement and obligation to the Newcastle area extended well past his classroom. He enjoyed coaching any sport and as in the classroom he held high expectations. When the time came to step aside from the classroom, Gene was honored to be a member of the Weston County School District board for several years.
Gene was very enthusiastic about Newcastle and was always proud to let anyone around him know Newcastle was his hometown.
Nancy J. Guthrie
Nancy was born and raised in Newcastle and graduated from Newcastle High School in 1961. She spent the next seven years at the University of Wyoming in Laramie where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree and Juris Doctorate in 1968.
She had a private law practice for 23 years. During that time, she was the Big Horn County public defender, municipal court judge, county attorney (the first woman county attorney in the state) and was special water master for the Big Horn River litigation.
In 1994, Gov. Mike Sullivan appointed Nancy to be district court judge for the Ninth Judicial District (Fremont, Sublette and Teton counties). She is the past president of the Wyoming Alumni Association, an Honorary Member of Rotary and Legal fraternity Delta Theta Phi, a member of the Wyoming Commission for Women and has received the “Outstanding Wyoming Woman Award” as well as “Outstanding Alumni Award” from the Arts and Science college.
She retired in 2010 and lives in Jackson, Wyo., where she has a mediation practice and is active on various community boards.
From her nomination:
“Nancy’s legal roots in Wyoming run deep. She is the daughter of Rodney M. Guthrie, a former Wyoming district court judge and Wyoming Supreme Court chief justice. Her sister, Mary, also graduated law school and practiced in Cheyenne before becoming the executive director of the Wyoming State Bar Association. 
As a judge, Nancy was well respected. She has a keen intellect and was fair and just. More than anything, however, she was and is valued for her kindness and quick wit. She never hesitates to spend time with and mentor adults as well as children in the community. Whenever I encounter her in Jackson, we reminisce about our Newcastle roots and she continues to have much affection for the town that gave Nancy her start.”
 
Mabel Hinz
Education has always been a priority in my life and I was proud to follow in my mother’s footsteps as a teacher. I started going to school when I was 4 years old. This was in 1942 during World War II, and my mother was asked to teach in a rural school. My parents decided that my dad would stay in Sturgis, S.D., where my brothers and sister were in school and I would accompany my mom to the rural school. For three years my dad would drive us to the rural school on Sunday and would come and get us on Friday. After the war ended, I enrolled in school in Sturgis in the third grade. It was quite an adjustment after living with Mom 24/7 and going from a class of five to 10 students to come into a class of 25 students. I completed my education and graduated from Sturgis High School in 1955. From there I moved on to Spearfish to attend, what was then called Black Hills Teachers College, and graduated in 1959.
I accepted a contract to teach in Newcastle in the fall of 1959. It was during the oil boom and I had 35 children in each half day group (70 kindergartners)! One of my pupils, Dennis Pate, told me his uncle wanted to meet me. Dennis’ mother arranged a meeting and I met Carl Hinz. In June of 1960, Dennis was the ring bearer at our wedding at Corpus Christi Catholic Church.
I continued to teach until 1963 and by then we had two little boys, Mike and David. I made the decision to stay home with them, and in 1968 our daughter, Janet, was born. At this time Carl and I were involved with Cub Scouts, me as a Den Mother and Carl as the Pack Leader. I also taught religious education classes at the Catholic church and was a Brownie Scout leader. In 1970, I began working at the Weston County Library as the children’s librarian and worked there until the fall of 1974. I then returned to my love of teaching and working with 5- and 6-year-olds.
I taught at Gertrude Burns Elementary School until 1997, with 30 years of teaching. Carl also retired at that time from working at Dixon Brothers. After we retired, we did some traveling and enjoyed spending time with our families in Denver, Colo., and Casper, Wyo. We delivered Meals on Wheels for several years until Carl’s illness made it necessary to quit. Up until Carl’s passing in 2007, we were also involved with a variety of volunteer activities at the Catholic church and in the community. I continue to be an active member of the church and volunteer where I can and I volunteer with the community concert association.
In 1999 I began working part-time at the library and am still working there at this time. I enjoy seeing my former students, and am frequently greeted with, “Hello, Mrs. Hinz, remember me?”
From her nomination: “All of those years were in the same kindergarten room [at Gertrude Burns Elementary] with the red door and she was fondly known as “Mrs. Red Door”. Due to her long teaching career, Mabel has taught multiple generations of many Newcastle families. Even today there are many times during the All-School Reunion, while working at the library, or walking around town where former students will recognize her and happily remember being in her kindergarten class. They often comment, ‘you haven’t changed a bit.’ Mabel is always eager and willing to help her friends in the community; from driving them to doctor’s appointments, community concerts, to helping them get to and from other community and social gatherings. For the last 20 years, Mabel and a group of friends have met for coffee every Thursday morning. Mabel will drop everything to help her family and is never idle for long. She lovingly took care of Carl during his illness, spent many a summer with a houseful of grandkids, and now never passes up an opportunity to go to Casper or Denver to visit her children and grandchildren.”
James H. Dixon Family and Dixon Bros., Inc 
Back in 1960, when James “Jim” Dixon launched Dixon Brothers Trucking, few would have predicted that the venture would grow into a company that employs approximately 165 people, operating in six states and two Canadian provinces.
James H. Dixon graduated from Newcastle High School in 1953. He married Kathryn Craig in 1955. Kathryn graduated from Newcastle High School in 1954. Together they have three children: Sheila Dixon Foertsch, who graduated in 1975 (her spouse, David Foertsch, who graduated in 1973), Suzette Dixon Miller, who graduated in 1978 (her spouse, Mike Miller, from Chadron, Neb.), and Jimmy Dixon, who graduated in 1982 (his spouse, Sandra Gibbs Dixon, who graduated in 1984). They have three grandchildren: Austin Dixon,  graduated 2002 (spouse, Jennifer Buchanan Dixon, graduated 2001), Joe Dixon, graduated 2006 (spouse Amanda Tyler Dixon, graduated 2007), and Annica Dixon Quintana, graduated 2007 (spouse, Adrian Quintana, from Indio, Calif.). In addition, they have four great-grandchildren, Jenna, Morgan, Anden, and Addison Dixon, with two more on the way!
In 2010, in an interview with the News Letter Journal, Jim talked about how regulations that make it harder to go into the trucking business today actually helped spur Dixon Brothers’ early growth. In 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission ruled that if you leased a private carrier you couldn’t operate the truck itself, and that meant Dixon had to make some decisions about the future of his endeavor.
“That meant I either went out and found another job or bought more trucks, and we just started growing,” he said in 2010.
His family quickly became involved in the venture.
Dixon’s brother Jerry was brought in as a full partner, and on Oct. 31, 1961, they incorporated the business. Jim’s wife Kathryn helped out in the office when the business was getting off the ground, and eventually the couple’s three children became involved as well. When Jerry passed away in 2002, Jim purchased his share of the business, but has since passed it down to his children.
“I’m not working as hard as I used to,” he said in 2010. “I’ve been able to divest myself of all of the stock in the company, and the kids each have a third of the stock. I’m just here as an advisor.”
Jim’s son, Jimmy, is the vice president and COO of the company, and daughter Suzette is the president and CEO. The other daughter, Sheila, is a stockholder in the company, but doesn’t work directly for Dixon Brothers — although the apple didn’t fall far from the tree as she is employed by the Wyoming Trucking Association.
Evidence that the company is a true family business exists in the fact that interest in the industry has been shown by not only Jim and Kathryn’s children, but by their children as well. Grandchildren Joe, Austin and Annika are also employed at Dixon Brothers.
“It’s nice that I have two more generations that are interested in the business,” Jim nodded.
While things have obviously turned out well for the Dixon family, the company’s strength and growth resulted in employment opportunities for a number of families in the region. Still headquartered in Newcastle, the company continued to expand in the years to come, but Jim said he was careful to make sure they didn’t spread themselves too thin.
While he was always open to the possibility of expansion, Dixon’s company has also grown on the strength of improvements made over the years, and that tradition continues.
Through careful planning and a consistent vision for the future, the company has been able to grow for nearly six decades despite regulatory changes and economic downturns. 
Dixon has been in a position to help influence many of the improvements that have come to his industry over the years, serving as the vice president of the American Trucking Association for more than a dozen years, and holding a position on the Board of Directors for the National Tank Truck Carriers in addition to serving as the president of both the Wyoming and Montana trucking associations.
Dixon and his family were recognized for their contributions to their industry and to the State of Wyoming when the company was recognized in the Wyoming Legislature in 2010, and while the recognition was certainly appreciated by the family, Jim said a lot of people have contributed to the business’ success.
“In 50 years there’s been a lot of things happen, a lot of growth. I have had a lot of great people work for me, and I’ve got a lot of great people working today for me,” he said in 2010. “It’s been an enjoyable 50 years. I’ve enjoyed the people I’ve worked with and the customers we’ve had over the years, and I think it’s quite an honor to have the Senate recognize us and our company.”
Dixon concedes that he was often blessed by luck and a little bit of timing, but he said that Dixon Brothers has always put itself in a position to benefit when fortune smiled upon it.
“You’re always lucky, but with a little foresight, planning and hard work, you can make luck.”
Duke Ottema
Duke Ottema started wrestling in 1967 as a seventh-grader at Newcastle Junior High School and has been wrestling every year since. To say that he loves the sport is an understatement. His involvement in wrestling has made it possible for others to learn, grow, and love the sport as well.
Through hard work and determination, Duke became the Class A 1973 Wyoming State Wrestling Champion in the 119 pound weight class. After graduation from Newcastle High School, he went onto wrestle at Black Hills State College. 
As a freshmen, he became Champion of the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference and was runner-up the following year. After two years of collegiate wrestling, Duke decided to serve our country and enlisted in the United States Army. During his tour of duty in Germany, Duke participated in the United States Army in Europe Wrestling Championships, placing third in 1977 and 1978 in freestyle wrestling. He also wrestled for a German Wrestling Club where he competed in Greco Roman and Freestyle wrestling.
After an honorable discharge from the Army, Duke returned to Newcastle and began his 37-year employment with a local coal mine. In 1980, he married DeAnn and together they had two children, Diane and Duane. He became involved in youth sports, helping with baseball, softball, soccer, and wrestling. He continues to help with local wrestling programs.
Duke is currently a member of the American Legion Post No. 3, chairman of Boys State, and a judge for the high school science fair. He is also director of the Newcastle Veterans Memorial with the goal of building memorials to honor our fallen veterans.
Wrestling has always been a part of his life and has taught him many life lessons along the way. Wrestling is a sport of hard work, determination, and perseverance. Duke enjoys helping others learn more about the sport and sharing the life lessons he has learned through his years of wrestling. He is thankful for all the young athletes he has had the opportunity to work with and share his love of wrestling with.
From his nomination: “It is hard to say enough about Duke and how much he has done for us. He has coached baseball and been involved with the Fall Guys, middle school and high school wrestling programs for the past 40 years. You won’t find anyone who knows more about wrestling, and he is always happy to talk about wrestling or show someone a move. As Duke has said, ‘My greatest satisfaction is being able to share the techniques with young wrestlers and life-lessons I have learned because of wrestling.’ Duke is a dedicated coach, respected mentor and trusted friend. No one has done more for the wrestling programs in Newcastle, and no one is more deserving of this recognition than Duke.”
 
John Riesland
Born and raised in Newcastle, Wyo., area, I attended Gertrude Burns, junior high and Newcastle High School. I participated in basketball, wrestling, FFA and band. I was inducted in the National Honor Society, voted “Most likely to succeed,” and Student of the Year. I graduated in 1975 and transitioned to the University of Wyoming.
While attending UW, I worked in the Games Area and became the night supervisor. I also was a handler for Cowboy Joe. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in the fall of 1979. While attending UW I met, fell in love and married my wife, Robin. After graduating, we moved to Alamosa, Colo., where I worked as a field specialist at the local Farmers Coop.
After six months in Colorado, we moved back to Newcastle where I worked in the oil field for Western Production, BHE&P, RockWell Petroleum and presently Chemily Management. During this time I was blessed with two beautiful daughters, Jamie and Katie.
I am a member of the Newcastle Masonic Lodge (past Master), Newcastle Order of Eastern Star (past Patron), Kalif Shiners and The International Order of Jobs Daughters (past Associate Guardian and past Associate Grand Guardian for Wyoming). I have been a trustee to Weston County School Board No. 1 since 1992. I was elected to the Wyoming School Board Association Board of Directors where I served as president in 2003.
Of all the awards and accolades I have received, working with the youth of our community has been the most rewarding. Robin and I ran the Weston County gymkhana for five years. We were the sponsors for the Newcastle High School Rodeo Club for nine years. I served as Wyoming High School Rodeo Judge for eight years. I have been on the Weston County Junior Rodeo Committee for six years. The real blessing is working for the fifth grade students at Mallo Camp for 23 years.
This biography lists some of my accomplishments, but the most important value to me is trying to live as my Mom and Dad raised me. Be honest, care for others, do my best no matter the situation, work hard it will pay off, believe in God and pray, salute the U.S. Flag and those who defend it, care and teach the youth and lastly make every day The Best Day of Your Life.