The Lehighton Education and Athletic Foundation recently named its fifth Graduates of Distinction class. Six new inductees will join the prestigious group this year, though the annual dinner has been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. The inductees are:

Kevin Blauch

Class of 1976

Kevin Blauch, class of 1976, is a 1980 Bachelor of Arts graduate of the George Washington University and a 1983 J.D. graduate of American University, Washington College of Law.

He is currently a partner in the Sidney Austin law firm in New York City. His legal focus is on all aspects of structural finance with a particular emphasis on the representation of various depositors/issuers, underwriters/initial purchasers and originators/sellers of mortgage loans in a wide range of commercial backed securities (CMBS) transactions. He has also done extensive work in the commercial loan workout area and in various bankruptcy and insolvency matters involving real estate and CMBS.

Blauch has been recognized for his work in securitization in “The Best Lawyers in America” and is regularly listed in Chambers Global and Chamber USA where he is noted as “well-regarded for his expertise in CMBS transactions.” He has represented numerous investment and commercial banks in various capacities in structured finance transactions.

Blauch has been very generous to Lehighton Area High School graduates. Every year he awards four $2,000 scholarships to deserving students. In addition, every year he awards two full scholarships to George Washington University students.

He is married to his wife, Cindy, and they are the parents of two children, Catherine and Christian.

Dr. Mary Jane Hanson

Class of 1971

Dr. Hanson received her B.S.N. from Cedar Crest College in 1982. She then attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she obtained her M.S.N. and her Ph.D. She is certified as an adult clinical nurse specialist, an adult nurse practitioner and a family nurse practitioner.

Hanson has over 30 years of teaching experience and has been a professor and graduate program director for nursing at the University of Scranton since 1996. Before that, she taught at Cedar Crest College in Allentown.

She has over 25 years of experience as a nurse practitioner and maintains a current part-time family nurse practitioner practice. Dr. Hanson is also a nationally recognized behavioral researcher regarding cigarette smoking and has received grant funding for her research from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Hanson has published more than 30 papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals. In addition, she regularly presents her research at regional, national and international scientific conferences.

She is active in service to her profession and has served as a member of national committees for nursing accreditation. She is currently serving as the chair of the Commission on the Collegiate Nursing Education Board. Dr. Hanson also volunteers on committees at her church and at local animal shelters.

She developed a research instrument, the “Fishbein-Ajzen Hanson Questionnaire.” Using this tool, she conducted numerous studies over the past 25 years with adolescents and teenagers from diverse ethnic groups adding to knowledge about correlates of cigarette smoking behavior among youths including how they differ in ethnicity and generational characteristics. The FAHQ has been used by researchers, clinicians and doctoral students in nursing, psychology, sociology and medicine in the United States, Canada and England.

George I LaRose

Class of 1938

Upon learning of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, LaRose enlisted in the Army Air Corps on Dec. 13, 1941. He was trained as a B-26 aerial engineer and tail gunner. While on a mission after the Battle of Midway, his plane was hit by enemy gunfire and he suffered a shrapnel injury to his leg.

After WWII, he initialized the GI Bill and graduated from Hartford Insurance School. After serving an apprenticeship at a local insurance agency, he established his own business, the George I. LaRose Insurance Agency.

He was a past president and member of the Lehigh Association of Independent Insurance Agents, where he founded the Legislative Committee. He was a post chairman of the nominating committee of the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Insurance Agents. LaRose was also a member of the Hartford Insurance Company’s Jonathan Trumble Association, which is an elite group of professional agents.

In the early 1950s, LaRose and three other community members, formed the Lehighton Industrial Development Corporation. The purpose of the corporation was to encourage cultural, educational, industrial and economic development in the Borough of Lehighton and the townships adjacent to it. Their vision was to build small affordable homes on the site of the old Packerton yards for young people, in order for them to remain locally and help the area thrive.

He was a founder, president and representative of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars in Lehighton, the United Veterans Organization and associated clubs of Lehighton. He served as Commander of American Legion Post #314 and as Vice Commander of Post #256 Veterans of Foreign War, as well as holding several offices in both. He was the recipient of the VFW National Veterans Service Fund Silver award. He was also a member of the Elks, Eagles AMVETS, Moose Clubs and three fire companies.

LaRose was also a founder and first vice president of the Lehighton Baseball Association and of the Lehighton Recreation Commission. He was a director of Gnaden Huetten Hospital Board for 15 years where he held several offices and served in other capacities. He was also president, secretary and assistant treasurer of the Lehigh Carbon Community College Financial Committee.

He served as director of Hazleton National Bank Advisory Board, secretary-treasurer of Lehighton Development Individual Corporation, sponsored a child safety program, and was a member of Lehighton Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of several charitable organizations.

In 1977, he was named the Distinguished Citizen of the Year for ceaseless contributions to the greater Lehighton area. In 1992, he received the Future Business Leaders of America Award.

Except for his time in the military and insurance school, LaRose lived his entire life in Lehighton. He was married for 63 years to Lillian (Grow) LaRose and was the father of two children, a daughter Lynette (LaRose) Wilk and son Loren LaRose. He also had five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Dr. Charles (Jack) Lusch

Class of 1953

After graduation from Lehighton High School in 1953, Lusch attended Lafayette College, where he received is A.B. in 1957. From 1957-1961 he attended Temple University, where he received his M.D.

Lusch has over 50 years of service in patient treatment and research. He is Board Certified in Medical Oncology, Hematology, Pain Management and Forensic Medicine. He was the principal investigator of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel program, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, Association of Community Cancer Centers. He was a clinical professor of medicine, Penn State College of Medicine and adjunct faculty at Penn, Temple and Drexel Medical Schools.

He is the author or co-author of more than 20 peer-reviewed publications. He was also the medical director of McGlinn Cancer Center, Reading Hospital. He was a co-founder and later vice chair of PA State Hemophilia Program.

He was the director of continuing medical education, Chair of Institutional Review Board of Reading Hospital. In retirement he has served as a consultant to the Jefferson Kimmel Cancer Center and assisted in the reorganization of the cancer center at a local hospital.

Lusch has a lifelong interest in automobile engines that began in his dad’s machine shop at Lusch Motor Parts. This ultimately led him to a modest amateur racing hobby in Formula Fords, followed by a side career as a racing doctor for NASCAR, CART, USAC and subbing on the Indy Car Medical Team as well as being the Medical Director at Pocono International Raceway.

He is married to his wife, Carole, since 1957. They are the parents of four children, Marjorie, Susan, Stephen and Robert.

Paul R. Smith

Class of 1955

After graduation from Mansfield State Teachers College, Smith started his teaching career in Spring Grove School District, where he taught four years. From there he started a 29-year teaching career in the Lehighton Area School District in the Junior High Music Department. Paul was in charge of the junior high band and chorus and later the high school chorus. He also wrote the curriculum for the junior high teaching position.

From 1965 until his death in 2016, he was the conductor of the Lehighton Band, one of the oldest community bands in the country. He and his wife, Linn, were also the choir director and organist at Zion UCC from 1964-2008.

In 1970, Paul and Linn started the Zion Opera Workshop, a group of mostly high school students who presented a musical on the stage at the church. They continued this group for 38 years until they retired in 2008. This group, now consisting of students and adults, is in its 50th season.

He was an advocate for the arts, particularly music and theater. Through the various musical groups he led, he was responsible for bringing many people to gain an appreciation of music and musical theater.

Paul and Linn are the parents of two children: Dawn, wife of the Rev. Stephen Cureton, and Beth, wife of Brad Cressley. They also have two grandchildren.

David Werner

Class of 1964

After graduation from Lehighton High School, Werner was selected as the first Lehighton graduate to attend the United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School. Upon finishing his year at the USAFA Prep School, he returned to Pennsylvania, where he continued his education at Lehigh University. Shortly after graduating from Lehigh, he began his first career as a teacher in the Lehighton Area School District. He taught special education, math and science.

It was his interest in math that channeled him into his next career working as a financial consultant for IDS, which later became Ameriprise Financial. Werner continued his professional financial planning education by completing courses and testing requirements for the titles of CLU - Chartered Life Underwriter and ChFC - Chartered Financial Consultant. He was recognized for his excellence in his work by being selected for Ameriprise’s Presidential Advisory Committee during a period of 10 consecutive years. This committee consisted of the top 1 percent of Ameriprise’s 10,000 financial professionals.

Werner gave back to the Lehighton community in many ways. While at Ameriprise, he gave generous scholarships at the Lehighton High School Awards Program. He contributed a donation toward the construction of the new Lehighton High School football stadium and helped raise money to provide the Franklin Township Police Department with new bulletproof vests.

As a member of the class of 1964, he and his classmates are very active in promoting the Lehighton area and Lehighton School District. He was instrumental in completing a memorial for Clyde Houser, a fellow classmate who was killed while serving with the U.S. Army in Vietnam.

He helped contribute to the class effort to provide Lehighton High School with a Spirit Bell, which sits prominently at Lehighton High School today. He is a contributor to the class scholarship that is presented yearly at the High School Awards Program.

Werner volunteered to teach classes to students as part of the LHS Educare Program. He also supported the Franklin Township Little League and youth soccer programs. In Lehighton, he served as a member of the Lehighton Zoning Commission and was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church where he served on the church council.

Werner is currently married to his wife, Gail, and resides in Quakertown. He was previously married to the late Annabelle Nace and is the father of three daughters, two grandsons, three granddaughters, one stepdaughter and one stepgranddaughter.