Delaware City Schools inducted six new members into its Hall of Fame Friday.
The inductees are E. Fred Carlisle, the class of 1952; Emily Chenowith, the class of 1990; Leonard “Mike” Clark, the class of 1953; Barry King, class of 1963; and Donald R. Keebaugh, class of 1950.
Additionally, Kevin L. Reed was awarded the Distinguished Service Award.
E. Fred Carlisle is an author of several books, including two books about Delaware; “Searching for Ervin” and “Hollow and Home: A Story of Self and Place.” He studied at Ohio State University, spent two-and-a-half years in the U.S. Air Force and received a Ph.D. at Indiana University. He has served as the provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at Miami University in Oxford as well as provost and senior vice president of Virginia Tech.
During his career, he has also served as chair of the academic council and a member of the executive committee of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. He spent 10 years helping to develop three federal universities in the United Arab Emirates.
He lives in Virginia with his wife, and he is the father of four daughters. He is a grandfather to 10 and a great-grandfather to six.
Emily Chenoweth is an educator and the author of more than 20 novels for kids, teens and adults. She attended Swarthmore College and recieved her MFA from Columbia University and has taught in Pennsylvania, Iowa and New York.
Her novels include “Hello Goodbye,” which was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award as well as the Evil Alien Warlord Cat books, an illustrated series for middle-school readers. As a ghost writer writing under the name Emily Raymond, she has co-written eight books with James Patterson, including “First Love” and “Expelled.”
She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she teaches writing classes at the Literary Arts and the Attic Institute.
Leonard “Mike” Clark was an athlete at Willis High School and contributed to the success of the football and basketball teams.
In 1951, Clark was a running back and defensive cornerback and played on a team that compiled a 9-0 record and is generally considered one of the best football teams in the history of Delaware City Schools. The team took the CBL championship, and Clark was named ALL-CBL for his skill as a running back.
As a pitcher, Clark threw two no-hitters and pitched a 13-inning shutout. He was named All-CBL as a pitcher, and as a hitter, recorded one of the longest home runs during a game in 1953.
After high school, Clark was the founder and CEO of Delaware Electrical Contractors.
Barry King was among the first senior class to graduate from Hayes High School, where he played football, baseball, basketball and ran track. King graduated from Hayes at age 16 and was a member of student council and served as student body president.
After graduation, King attended The Ohio State University for a year before returning to Canada and playing basketball for five years at the University of Winnipeg. He was named Athlete of the Year twice at the university and was selected as All-Canadian in his final year. He was inducted into the Manitoba Basketball-Hall of Fame in 1994.
He returned to Delaware in the 1990s, where he worked for a steel processing company and as a dental technician. He was active in his church and is spending his retirement with family and friends.
Donald R. Keebaugh had a successful career as a high school and college athlete and has worked as a teacher, coach and administrator since graduation. He played on the varsity football team all four years he was in high school and earned All-CBL honors for his sophomore, junior and senior years. He also served as a captain for the baseball team.
Keebaugh served in the U.S. Air Force and was recruited as a player and coach for The Air Force European fast pitch softball team, which won the European championship with a record of 55-3. He was a walk-on to the Ohio State football team in 1957 and later transferred to Otterbein College where he was a member of one most successful teams in its history. He also earned his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree at the school.
Keebaugh has spent 30 years in education and has served as a teacher or administrator at Fairfield-Union Local Schools and Vandalia-Butler City Schools. After his retirement in 1992, he was recruited to serve as the executive director of the Vandalia-Butler Chamber of Commerce. He lives with his wife, has four children, 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Kevin Reed is this year’s recepiant of the Distinguished Service Award. Reed spent 27 years in various roles at Delaware City Schools, most notable as the athletic director. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Capital University and completed his master’s degree in administration at Ashland University.
Reed was instrumental in establishing the Delaware Hayes Athletic Hall of Fame and helped build the Delaware Sports program to include 26 teams. After leaving the district, Reed spent six years as the athletic director at New Albany High School, which earned the Ralph Young Sports Trophy for six years, the only school in the Ohio Capital Conference to do so.
He lives in Delaware and has three children.
