2024 Hall of Fame Honorees
On September 14, 2024, the Gainesville Alumni Association and Education Foundation held their annual luncheon to induct seven new members into the GISD Hall of Fame.
The new inductees included two educators and five alumni.
The educators recognized include Vikki Rivoire Estes and Carol Ann Henley-Hess. Ms. Estes taught for 37 years in Franklin Elementary, Gainesville Jr. High, and finished her career at Chalmers Elementary. Ms. Henley-Hess spent more than 20 years in education at JM Lindsay, Franklin, Booker T, Edison, and McMurray campuses. Besides the passion that they both showed to educating their students, a special note about these two educators is that they are also both alumni of Gainesville High School!
Our new Alumni Hall of Fame Honorees include Brad Adams (1989) who serves as President and CEO of the Southwest Transplant Alliance, the Medicare-designated organization managing the organ donation and procurement process for over a third of Texas. He is the President of Donate Life Texas. Also honored was Whytneigh Duffie (2014) who currently works for SpaceX as a polymer engineer for the Starships and rockets that SpaceX launches. The third inductee was Chris McNamara, (2002) Director of Network Operations for Nortex Communications, instrumental in expanding fiber-based broadband access up from two to fourteen schools in the past couple years, recognized by national telco organization, NTCA- The Rural Broadband Association, with the Key Employee Award. Our fourth honoree was Tommy Moore (1986) who has been an integral part of Gainesville and its development for decades. After many years of service in the US Air Force and with the FAA, he has spent many years on the city council, been a part of charitable organizations and boards and currently serves as Mayor of Gainesville. He also was instrumental in establishing the Medal of Honor Host City program and continues to work with the events each year. The fifth honoree to be inducted was Michael Parkhill (1988) whose accomplishments include nineteen years as an aerospace and cyber officer with the Civil Air Patrol-United States Air Force Auxiliary, US Air Force, and US Space Force as part of the Total Force, rank of Lt. Col., over 20 years working with NASA, Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year, Texas Wing and Southwest Region Aerospace Officer of the Year, among many others.
Each year this event is a wonderful reminder of the educators and alumni that have served and learned at GISD, and a celebration of the futures that our current students can achieve.
PHOTO: Front row: Vikki Estes; Kathleen Henley-Timmins representing her mother, Carol Ann Henley-Hess; Hayleigh Duffie, representing her sister Whytneigh Duffie. Back row: Brad Adams; Chris McNamara; Michael Parkhill; Tommy Moore; and Dr. Desmontes Stewart.