Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Share
Five will be inducted into Blinn Hall of Honor
Four alumni and a judge are the 2008 selections for induction into the Blinn College Ex-Students Association Hall of Honor.
Employees Retirement System administrator Ann Fuelberg, former Washington County Commissioner Gilbert Janner, pharmacist and current Blinn College board president Atwood Kenjura, former Somerville mayor and current Ex-Students Association president Don Strickland and Judge Julian E. Weisler II comprise the sixth class of inductees to be honored.
They will be recognized at an awards luncheon during the college’s homecoming activities Oct. 18.
Fuelberg is a graduate of Brenham High and Blinn College who earned a business degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She also holds a law degree from Texas Tech University.
She is the executive director of the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) appointed by the ERS Board of Trustees in 2004. Under her leadership, ERS administers programs that provide retirement, health insurance, deferred compensation, and flexible benefits for more than 200,000 state employees and retirees.
A veteran of state government who has served as a deputy comptroller of public accounts under Bob Bullock, Fuelberg was named the first executive director of the Department of Information Resources when it was created in 1989.
She has also operated an independent business consulting service and served as vice president of Transactive Corporation, handling business development, marketing and customer relations for the Austin-based online processing company.
Her honors include being named the Texas Public Employees Association’s Administrator of the Year in 2005 and she received the Bob Bullock Award for Outstanding Public Stewardship.
Fuelberg is the daughter of the former Blinn president and chancellor Walter C. Schwartz and Annie Belle Schwartz.
Like her father, Fuelberg enjoys community service. She served six years as a Lone Star Girl Scout Council board member and is presently president of the 3,000-member Austin United Capitol Soccer Club. While at Blinn, Fuelberg was a member of the tennis team and Phi Theta Kappa, and Circle K, and at Texas Tech, she served as secretary of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.
A lifelong resident of Washington County, Janner attended Live Oak Hill, Mound Hill and Burton schools until he was a sophomore and the buses quit running. He then transferred to Somerville High School and upon graduation attended Blinn College.
After graduation in 1948, he began farming cotton. His most successful year was yielding 34 bales of cotton from 24 acres. He left custom farming and ranch management to become a salesman for Washington County Tractor Co.
During his tenure as a Washington County commissioner (1984-96) Janner was instrumental in the paving of county roads, the courthouse refurbishing program and construction of the present EMS building, Washington County jail and the sales facility at the fairgrounds.
Through his 4-H leadership roles, he learned the importance of civic involvement through agriculture. At age 25, he served as community committee chairman for the Agricultural Stabilization Conservation Services. He also served as president of the Washington County Fair and the swine committee playing an integral part in the Houston Livestock Show and rodeo swine sift in Washington County.
His other civic involvement includes board and committee assignments with the Washington County Farm Bureau as its director, Concepts of Care, Brazos Valley Development Council, Washington County Soil District, Washington County Wildlife Society, and the Texas Pork Producers Association.
Janner is a member of the Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, National Cattleman Association, the Prairie Hill Shooting Club and Mound Hill Shooting Club. He is a charter member and a former chief for the Gay Hill-Mound Hill-Cedar Hill volunteer fire department.
His honors include the Jefferson Jackson Award from the Washington County Democratic Club.
Janner is a lifetime member of St. John Lutheran Church where he has served two terms as church council chairman, and also as financial secretary, Sunday school superintendent, and is a member of the choir, brotherhood, and cemetery committees.
Kenjura has served on the Blinn College Board of Trustees for over 32 years, including three terms as chairman. As a lifelong resident of Brenham and a 1965 graduate of Blinn College, Kenjura is an avid supporter of the growth and development of the college and the community.
Kenjura is the pharmacist and owner of Kenjura Pharmacy located here. He attended and graduated from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy in 1968.
He is active member in numerous organizations including the Texas Pharmacy Association, governmental affairs committee; Brazos Valley Pharmacy Association, past president; National Association of Community Pharmacies; United Drug Association and American Pharmaceutical Association.
Kenjura is also involved in the community having served as the director for boards including: Brenham Rotary Club, Washington County Chamber of Commerce, Washington County Little League, Brenham Booster Club, and past president of the Brenham Country Club. He serves as the chairman for the Brenham Community Development Corporation and was recently appointed to the Trinity Medical Center Board of Trustees.
Kenjura’s other civic involvements include the Economic Development Foundation; Washington County Heritage Society; Washington County Cancer Society; Brenham Independent School District building committee, and EMS committee to fund and rename all roads in Washington County.
Past honors include being selected as one of the 50 outstanding alumni in the State of Texas by the University of Houston Pharmacy School on the College’s 50th anniversary in 1997. He was also named Pharmacist of the Year in 1994 by the Brazos Valley Pharmacy Association.
Strickland is a 1947 graduate of Blinn College, the former mayor of Somerville and the current Ex-Students Association president. His career as a successful businessman included real estate, banking, and former ownership of Strickland Funeral Homes. He has served as the president of the Ex-Students Association for the past four years.
Stickland attended Sam Houston State University earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He also attended graduate school at the University of Houston.
His career began as a school teacher in 1948 and he become a school administrator in 1949. He left teaching to pursue his business interests, but being married to a former school teacher, Jo Denham, he remained close to education.
His most proud accomplishment has been his service to Rotary International. During his more than 50 years of participation, he has been club president, a district governor, and director and vice-president of Rotary International. His perfect attendance record dates back to 1952 and his influences have been felt by Rotarians worldwide.
Other interests include serving as a member and former chairman of the Brazos Valley Council of Governments; chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gulf Coast Trades Center, and chairman of the Board of the Brazos Valley Health Partnership. He has served as president of the Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the Liberty-Neches Council of Boy Scouts of America.
Stickland is past chairman of the Methodist Retirement Services and past conference lay leader of the Texas Annual Conference. He presently serves as trustee of the Region IV Educational Service Center, chairman of the Methodist Childrens’ Home Board of Directors, member of the Philander Smith College Board of Trustees, and member of the Board of Trustees at Lakeview Methodist Assembly.
Weisler II was named the Blinn Alumni Association’s Person of the Year in recognition of his leadership as a trustee of Blinn College. His 18 years on the board included serving as president from 1988-92 during critical times of transition in the history of the college.
His service to Blinn College carried on a tradition begun by his father, the late Julian E. Weisler. During the Great Depression, the financial condition of Blinn threatened its closure until the efforts of Weisler’s father and other farsighted community leaders led to the establishment of Blinn College as the first county-owned junior college in Texas.
A graduate of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point and a decorated combat veteran of two tours of duty in Vietnam, Weisler retired after 30 years with the rank of colonel.
As a practicing attorney and graduate of the University of Texas Law School, Judge Weisler fulfilled what he accepted as his civic duty to his community by serving as president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, president of the Brenham Lions Club, president of the Washington County Bar Association, and commander of Brenham’s American Legion Buddy Wright Post No. 48.
A member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, he continues to serve as a director of the Lutheran Foundation of the Southwest.
While maintaining a limited law practice in Brenham, Weisler continues his service to his community as the presiding judge of the Municipal Court of the City of Brenham and continues to meet the needs of his fellow veterans as state judge advocate of the Texas Department of the American Legion.
Employees Retirement System administrator Ann Fuelberg, former Washington County Commissioner Gilbert Janner, pharmacist and current Blinn College board president Atwood Kenjura, former Somerville mayor and current Ex-Students Association president Don Strickland and Judge Julian E. Weisler II comprise the sixth class of inductees to be honored.
They will be recognized at an awards luncheon during the college’s homecoming activities Oct. 18.
Fuelberg is a graduate of Brenham High and Blinn College who earned a business degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She also holds a law degree from Texas Tech University.
She is the executive director of the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) appointed by the ERS Board of Trustees in 2004. Under her leadership, ERS administers programs that provide retirement, health insurance, deferred compensation, and flexible benefits for more than 200,000 state employees and retirees.
A veteran of state government who has served as a deputy comptroller of public accounts under Bob Bullock, Fuelberg was named the first executive director of the Department of Information Resources when it was created in 1989.
She has also operated an independent business consulting service and served as vice president of Transactive Corporation, handling business development, marketing and customer relations for the Austin-based online processing company.
Her honors include being named the Texas Public Employees Association’s Administrator of the Year in 2005 and she received the Bob Bullock Award for Outstanding Public Stewardship.
Fuelberg is the daughter of the former Blinn president and chancellor Walter C. Schwartz and Annie Belle Schwartz.
Like her father, Fuelberg enjoys community service. She served six years as a Lone Star Girl Scout Council board member and is presently president of the 3,000-member Austin United Capitol Soccer Club. While at Blinn, Fuelberg was a member of the tennis team and Phi Theta Kappa, and Circle K, and at Texas Tech, she served as secretary of the Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.
A lifelong resident of Washington County, Janner attended Live Oak Hill, Mound Hill and Burton schools until he was a sophomore and the buses quit running. He then transferred to Somerville High School and upon graduation attended Blinn College.
After graduation in 1948, he began farming cotton. His most successful year was yielding 34 bales of cotton from 24 acres. He left custom farming and ranch management to become a salesman for Washington County Tractor Co.
During his tenure as a Washington County commissioner (1984-96) Janner was instrumental in the paving of county roads, the courthouse refurbishing program and construction of the present EMS building, Washington County jail and the sales facility at the fairgrounds.
Through his 4-H leadership roles, he learned the importance of civic involvement through agriculture. At age 25, he served as community committee chairman for the Agricultural Stabilization Conservation Services. He also served as president of the Washington County Fair and the swine committee playing an integral part in the Houston Livestock Show and rodeo swine sift in Washington County.
His other civic involvement includes board and committee assignments with the Washington County Farm Bureau as its director, Concepts of Care, Brazos Valley Development Council, Washington County Soil District, Washington County Wildlife Society, and the Texas Pork Producers Association.
Janner is a member of the Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, National Cattleman Association, the Prairie Hill Shooting Club and Mound Hill Shooting Club. He is a charter member and a former chief for the Gay Hill-Mound Hill-Cedar Hill volunteer fire department.
His honors include the Jefferson Jackson Award from the Washington County Democratic Club.
Janner is a lifetime member of St. John Lutheran Church where he has served two terms as church council chairman, and also as financial secretary, Sunday school superintendent, and is a member of the choir, brotherhood, and cemetery committees.
Kenjura has served on the Blinn College Board of Trustees for over 32 years, including three terms as chairman. As a lifelong resident of Brenham and a 1965 graduate of Blinn College, Kenjura is an avid supporter of the growth and development of the college and the community.
Kenjura is the pharmacist and owner of Kenjura Pharmacy located here. He attended and graduated from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy in 1968.
He is active member in numerous organizations including the Texas Pharmacy Association, governmental affairs committee; Brazos Valley Pharmacy Association, past president; National Association of Community Pharmacies; United Drug Association and American Pharmaceutical Association.
Kenjura is also involved in the community having served as the director for boards including: Brenham Rotary Club, Washington County Chamber of Commerce, Washington County Little League, Brenham Booster Club, and past president of the Brenham Country Club. He serves as the chairman for the Brenham Community Development Corporation and was recently appointed to the Trinity Medical Center Board of Trustees.
Kenjura’s other civic involvements include the Economic Development Foundation; Washington County Heritage Society; Washington County Cancer Society; Brenham Independent School District building committee, and EMS committee to fund and rename all roads in Washington County.
Past honors include being selected as one of the 50 outstanding alumni in the State of Texas by the University of Houston Pharmacy School on the College’s 50th anniversary in 1997. He was also named Pharmacist of the Year in 1994 by the Brazos Valley Pharmacy Association.
Strickland is a 1947 graduate of Blinn College, the former mayor of Somerville and the current Ex-Students Association president. His career as a successful businessman included real estate, banking, and former ownership of Strickland Funeral Homes. He has served as the president of the Ex-Students Association for the past four years.
Stickland attended Sam Houston State University earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He also attended graduate school at the University of Houston.
His career began as a school teacher in 1948 and he become a school administrator in 1949. He left teaching to pursue his business interests, but being married to a former school teacher, Jo Denham, he remained close to education.
His most proud accomplishment has been his service to Rotary International. During his more than 50 years of participation, he has been club president, a district governor, and director and vice-president of Rotary International. His perfect attendance record dates back to 1952 and his influences have been felt by Rotarians worldwide.
Other interests include serving as a member and former chairman of the Brazos Valley Council of Governments; chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gulf Coast Trades Center, and chairman of the Board of the Brazos Valley Health Partnership. He has served as president of the Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the Liberty-Neches Council of Boy Scouts of America.
Stickland is past chairman of the Methodist Retirement Services and past conference lay leader of the Texas Annual Conference. He presently serves as trustee of the Region IV Educational Service Center, chairman of the Methodist Childrens’ Home Board of Directors, member of the Philander Smith College Board of Trustees, and member of the Board of Trustees at Lakeview Methodist Assembly.
Weisler II was named the Blinn Alumni Association’s Person of the Year in recognition of his leadership as a trustee of Blinn College. His 18 years on the board included serving as president from 1988-92 during critical times of transition in the history of the college.
His service to Blinn College carried on a tradition begun by his father, the late Julian E. Weisler. During the Great Depression, the financial condition of Blinn threatened its closure until the efforts of Weisler’s father and other farsighted community leaders led to the establishment of Blinn College as the first county-owned junior college in Texas.
A graduate of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point and a decorated combat veteran of two tours of duty in Vietnam, Weisler retired after 30 years with the rank of colonel.
As a practicing attorney and graduate of the University of Texas Law School, Judge Weisler fulfilled what he accepted as his civic duty to his community by serving as president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, president of the Brenham Lions Club, president of the Washington County Bar Association, and commander of Brenham’s American Legion Buddy Wright Post No. 48.
A member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, he continues to serve as a director of the Lutheran Foundation of the Southwest.
While maintaining a limited law practice in Brenham, Weisler continues his service to his community as the presiding judge of the Municipal Court of the City of Brenham and continues to meet the needs of his fellow veterans as state judge advocate of the Texas Department of the American Legion.
Share this Article
 |
 |
|
| Brenham ISD honors distinguished alumni | Sidewalk to bridge, stairs latest ‘steps forward’ at BSS |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of brenhambanner.com.
