The fourth class to enter the Fox High School Alumni and Staff Hall of Fame includes three former staff members with strong connections to the school’s athletic programs and three graduates who excelled in their careers.
Former teachers Tim Miller, the late Judy Hudspeth Holland and the late Mike Sears and former students Henriette de Rozario Burns, Dan Smith and Charlie Hertenstein III will enter the Hall of Fame.
Joe Salsman, a Fox High School principal and member of Fox High School Alumni Association’s executive board, said close to 30 former staff members and graduates were nominated this year.
Fox High has had a Sports Hall of Fame since 2005. The school started inducting staff members and graduates into its Alumni and Staff Hall of Fame in 2023.
“Each year that we do this it is exciting to see the word is starting to spread, and we are getting more people to nominate members to be in the hall of fame,” Salsman said. “It is awesome to read through all the things about people who are being nominated and the great things that our alumni have done and the great staff who we have had through the years.”
A banquet to honor the inductees is scheduled for Saturday in the Fox High School gym, 751 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold. The banquet is open to the public.
Doors will open at 4:30 p.m., and dinner will be served at 5:45 p.m. Tickets for the event cost $30 and were on sale until Wednesday, Oct. 22, on the Fox High alumni page at fox.revtrak.net. Proceeds from the event benefit the Fox High School Alumni Association.
Miller
Miller, 68, of Crestwood is a familiar voice at Fox High School.
The former speech, debate, literature and radio and TV teacher is known as the “Voice of the Warriors” after serving for 40 years as the public address announcer for the school’s football games and other athletic events.
He also was the emcee for the first three hall of fame induction ceremonies and was part of the hall’s selection committee for the past three years. He stepped down from the committee this year because after being nominated multiple times in the past, it was time for him to enter the hall, Salsman said.
“I can’t say enough good things about Tim Miller,” Salsman said. “He was my teacher when I went here and probably my biggest role model at Fox High School. It is unbelievable how much he has given to this school. He is definitely a legend at Fox High School.
“He has been nominated since Day 1. He was like don’t bring my name up to be chosen because I am on this board, and we were like, ‘Tim, we are certain you are going in; step away for one year.’ He has probably been nominated more than anyone else.”
Miller graduated from Fox High in 1975 and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Southeast Missouri State University in 1979. He taught at Fox High from 1980 to 2010 and ended his stint as the PA announcer at Fox High athletic events in 2022.
Miller said he now owns Prepcasts, which livestreams high school athletic events.
“I loved what I did for 31 years as a teacher,” Miller said. “It is an honor, of course, to go into the hall of fame after going to school there, too. A lot of the people in the hall already, I have direct connections with, and I really feel like I am part of the family now.”
Miller, who started the radio and TV program at Fox High and was the speech and debate team coach for 30 years, said he is proud to have helped students find their voices through his classes.
“That was my goal for the students in my speech class, to find their own voice,” Miller said. “So many people have come up to me and said, ‘Mr. Miller, you don’t realize what your class helped me to do in my job and life.’ That kept me going.”
Hudspeth Holland
Anna Blair, Hudspeth Holland’s daughter, said her mother died in 2000. She was 59.
Blair said her mother died of complications from multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that affects plasma cells, and acute myelogenous leukemia, a blood cancer that affects blood marrow.
“She was able to teach while being treated for multiple myeloma,” said Blair, 58, of Arnold. “It was a long, hard battle, but she tried to teach through it.”
Hudspeth Holland had a bachelor’s degree in education from Southwest Baptist University and a master’s degree in education from Washington University.
She taught at Fox High from 1969 to 1998, starting as a physical education teacher and finishing as an English teacher, teaching creative writing and science fiction.
“Through the last 10 years of her tenure at Fox, she had minored in English, and they started adding more electives, like science fiction, which she loved,” Blair said. “Bless the school. I think they tried to ease her load by not having to be as physical as with PE. They helped her out.”
Hudspeth Holland was the coach for the girls volleyball and track and field squads. She also started the school’s softball and boys volleyball programs.
“I think it was important for her to provide an outlet for teenage girls with athletic ability,” Blair said. “I think mom loved softball, and it was really important for her to be there for her softball players and give them a way to shine.”
Blair said she is honored to see her mother inducted into the hall, and her brothers, Tom and Michael Hudspeth and Timothy Holland, are expected to attend the ceremony.
“She was an inspiration to me with the grace and dignity that she approached her illness and death,” Blair said. “A few years after she died, I got breast cancer. Without her influence and example, I don’t think I would have been able to face my own trials and tribulations as well.”
Sears
Sears, 69, died on March 24, said his brother, Stephen Sears, 67, of Imperial.
Mike Sears earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in physical education from Northeast Missouri State University, now Truman State University.
He started his teaching career at Lindbergh High School in 1978 before heading to Fox High in 1981. He taught industrial arts at Fox High until 2001.
He also coached the school’s sophomore and varsity baseball programs from 1981 through 2001 and was the sophomore football team’s coach from 1981 through 1996. He finished his career with the Fox C-6 School District as Fox High’s athletic director from 2001 through 2007.
“I wish he was here to accept it,” Stephen said. “Our family is very happy and elated for him. We know what he did over his career. He loved kids and tried to do everything he could to help them get further in life.”
Mike Sears’ influence in baseball extended well beyond Fox High School. He was a founding member of the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association, coached the Arnold American Legion baseball team from 1983 to 1991 and was the manager of the Jefferson County Blazers baseball team from 1992 through March.
He was inducted into the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016 and earned the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 and the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Distinguished Service Award in 2007.
Stephen said the Fox High hall induction would rank just as high as the baseball honors for his brother.
“He did all of this because he loved the game of baseball, and he loved Fox High School,” said Stephen, who will induct Mike Sears into the hall. “He was humbled and honored by all the (baseball) awards, and being elected to the Fox High Hall of Fame would be up there on his list. But he didn’t do it for that; he did it for the kids to give them their dream of playing baseball and the same opportunities that he had.”
Stephen said his brother also would be proud to be inducted into the hall with Hudspeth Holland and Miller, who also influenced Fox High’s athletic history.
“He would really like that and be very honored to go in with others from the sports world,” Stephen said.
Burns
Burns, 73, of Vancouver, Wash., a 1970 Fox High graduate, said she is looking forward to returning to the campus and connecting with former classmates.
“I have only been back to campus a couple of times in the early 1970s,” she said. “I belong to a group of Fox women who mostly have known each other since middle school at Fox. We met yearly until Covid and hope to pick up our visits again. As I called each one, I became more excited about the honor and about visiting Fox again.”
Burns has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University, a master’s degree in organizational behavior and marketing from the University of Oregon, a master’s degree in teaching and a doctoral degree in math and science education from Washington State University.
She spent more than 30 years as an engineer and project manager for corporations like Monsanto and Hewlett-Packard. She then spent 10 years teaching middle school through college students.
Burns was an assistant professor of education research in STEM at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
“I still participate in engineering education research,” she said. “My particular focus is influencing non-typical kids to pursue engineering and to provide a path by which they can belong and become leading citizens in the community. Fox helped me not only believe in my ability to be successful in any pursuit, but also that I could be a leader in growing and improving community.”
Smith
Smith, 62, of Chesterfield has worked at Nestle Purina for 38 years and is currently the executive vice president at Nestle Purina PetCare GSBU. He graduated from Fox High in 1981.
“I was surprised and honored,” he said of being named to the hall of fame. “When I looked at who is in from the teachers and administrators, it brought back a lot of memories because I knew virtually all of them. For my fellow
alums, it was like, ‘Wow, these are some impressive individuals.’ To be in that group is quite an honor.”
Smith graduated from Jefferson College in 1983 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, now Missouri University of Science and Technology. He also received a master’s degree in business administration from Washington University.
Smith started his career as an engineer for AT&T where he worked for two years before becoming a senior controls engineer for Nestle Purina in 1987. He went on to hold managerial and director roles before serving as a vice president for the last 25 years at Nestle Purina.
Smith said Fox High prepared him for his career, and the district has been important to his family. He said he met his wife, Debbie, while in high school, and the couple’s six children attended Seckman High School in Imperial.
“The most important thing I got from the high school was the support and mentoring of teachers,” Smith said. “I could have gone many different paths in my life, but there were some coaches and teachers who didn’t just teach, they cared and mentored me. I just had some solid individuals around me from the school.”
Hertenstein
Hertenstein, 66, of Phoenix, Ariz., has been all around the world since graduating from Fox High in 1978.
He joined the U.S. Air Force after graduating high school and became a pilot in 1985 after earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from Southern Illinois University in 1984. He also earned a master’s degree in managerial economics from the University of Oklahoma.
Hertenstein served as a pilot instructor for the Air Force before retiring as a major in 2000. He then was a pilot for United Airlines until 2022.
“When I enlisted, I was an aircraft mechanic for the first couple of years, and during that time, the Air Force had agreements with universities that would send instructors to bases for us to sign up for classes,” he said. “I got my undergraduate degree, and that qualified me to get my commission and compete for a pilot spot.
“I flew just about everything for United Airlines. I have been all over this world. There are very few places I haven’t been.”
Hertenstein said he didn’t know the school had started the Alumni and Staff Hall of Fame before this year.
“The first thing I thought when I found out I was selected was I didn’t deserve it,” he said. “I have another sister (Margaret Armstrong) in the athletic hall of fame. She set several records in track and field there. I think I am most proud there will be two of us in a hall of fame at Fox now.”
Hertenstein said he always wanted to be a pilot, and he credits Fox High for helping him reach that goal.
“It is a big school, and it gave me a lot of opportunities,” he said. “What impressed me the most about the teachers there was how clever they were to adapt to the students. That taught me a lot about being flexible. I have used that a little bit in my career teaching students in airplanes.”