By Daily Press staff
Santa Monica High School’s Alumni Association will bestow awards to 23 recipients during a dinner gala celebration on March 3 at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
Nearly 250 guests will gather to celebrate “Distinguished Service” and “Distinguished Alumni” honorees, as well as seven newly-minted inductees to the Samohi Hall of Fame. In addition, the alumni association will introduce a new category, “Against All Odds,” in memory of three former Vikings who fought valiantly in the face of life-threatening illness.
Distinguished Service awards go to Andrew Dimas, who taught journalism at the high school from 1958-68; former world-record holder in the hammer throw Hal Connolly, a member of the Samohi faculty from 1958-82; and campus beautification specialists Jean Sedillos and Bonnie Freeman.
Among those receiving the Distinguished Alumni award are the late Charles English (class of ‘56), a former president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and named “Outstanding Defense Attorney” of 1998; celebrity chefs Raphael Lunetta (’85) and Josiah Citrin (’86), of JiRaffe and Melisse fame; Air Force Col. Leslie Stockton (class of ‘32) and his wife Abbye “Pudgy” Eville Stockton (’35), who along with former stuntwoman Paula Unger Boelsems (’43) are credited with pioneering the start of bodybuilding with their crowd-pleasing shows at the old Muscle Beach in the 1940s.
The Samohi Hall of Fame will induct David H. DeVorkin (’62), curator of History and Astronomy and the Space Sciences at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum; Retired Naval Commander Christopher Alberts Holliday (’65), who also served as former First Lady Pat Nixon’s personal secretary; and Richard Mackson, a vice president of Eastman-Kodak and one of the 25 most prolific photographers of covers for Sports Illustrated.
Others include the co-founder of Broadcom, Dr. Henry T. Nicholas III (’77); and three members of the Sato family, each of whom has won an Olympic medal in volleyball — local sports chiropractor Dr. Gary Sato (’73); Liane, a member of the Samohi faculty who was just voted “Ocean League Volleyball Coach of the Year;” and Eric (’84), who coached San Diego’s Francis Parker High School to the 2005 state championship title.
Posthumous “Against All Odds” recognition goes to Ed Kanan (’51), a local builder and developer who was a champion water and snow skier despite his diabetic-induced blindness; Glenn Katz (’78), who was an award-winning musician and teacher before being struck down by cancer at the age of 20; and Tara Willis Goldberg (’88), a John Roberts Powers model, who despite her illness, made graduating from Samohi a goal so absolute that she received her diploma at her hospital bed from former Samohi Vice Principal Sandor Rosenfield.
Tickets to the March 3 celebration, priced at $75, are available through the Samohi Alumni Association, 527 21st St., Santa Monica 90402, or by calling (310) 393-3692.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 1, 2005. Read the original PDF.