CALCUTTA – The Beaver Local Alumni Hall of Fame recently inducted four new members in the Class of 2024.

Catherine Kirkbride Keenan

Class of 1972

Cathi is a lifelong resident of the East Liverpool/Calcutta area. She is proud and thankful to have lived, worked, and raised her children in the area. As a follower of Jesus Christ, she acknowledges His hand at work in all that has been accomplished in her lifetime.

Cathi attended Calcutta Elementary and Beaver Local Public School and graduated from Beaver Local High School in 1972. She graduated from Geneva College in 1976 with a degree in Elementary Education and a certificate to teach kindergarten through eighth grade. She earned a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Youngstown State University in 1985 and an additional certificate in supervision in 1991.

After three years of teaching at East Liverpool Christian School, she returned to her alma mater for 36 years. During all of that time, she taught wonderful children and teens in kindergarten, first grade, third grade, and eighth grade language arts.

Cathi is proud to have taught at least 300 kindergarten and first grade children how to read and write, encouraged the love of learning in many third graders, and made 45 groups of eighth graders aware of the horrors of the Holocaust by studying the play version of The Diary of Anne Frank, showing how one ordinary teenage girl’s writing influenced people around the globe.

She participated and was involved in the leadership of the International Reading Association and its Young Authors’ Conference in Columbiana County for several years. She also was active in coaching at least 15 Destination Imagination (creative problem solving) teams. She played the piano for some Beaver Local musicals, solo and ensemble contests, several Eighth Grade Recognitions, and High School Commencements. She received a Star Educator Award in 2013, thanks to the efforts of former student Natalie Shreeve.

Cathi is the daughter of Anne Kirkbride and the late Carl A. Kirkbride, Jr. She married Frank Keenan in 1986 and together they raised three children: Meredith Aracich, Daniel Keenan, and Laura Blystone, all of whom are proud Beaver Local graduates. She and Frank were involved in the support of the Beaver Local swim team, boys soccer team, and band during the years that their children participated in these groups.

Cathi has demonstrated her belief that her community is a special place in many ways. She wrote a poem about the history of Calcutta and produced a play using it as a script along with fellow teachers Patty Petrisko and Janice Reeder in 2000.

In 2000, in a play produced along with fellow teachers Patty Petrisko and Janice Reeder, second graders told the story of Calcutta. The script was a poem that had been written by Keenan.

While teaching third grade, she began researching and portraying Anna McGuffey (1778 – 1829), the mother of the famous reading texts compiler, William Holmes McGuffey. His readers enabled six generations of American children living on the frontier to read, and he began his teaching career in Calcutta when it was known as West Union. She has performed this presentation many times for many local organizations.

While teaching third grade, Cathi wrote an accumulative poem that was published in 2022 as Clay: Homer and Shakespeare Start a Pottery that is based on the pottery industry and the former Homer Laughlin Company. The book is illustrated with the paintings of Roland Schweinsburg, which are housed in the East Liverpool Ceramic Museum. The museum partnered with Cathi to obtain a grant to have the book published with the goal of acquainting children with the development of the local pottery industry. It also was meant to teach economic concepts such as entrepreneurship, supply and demand, consumer, capital, and raw materials, etc.

As the Secretary/Treasurer of the Longs Run Cemetery Association for many years, Cathi mapped the “old ground” area of the cemetery, which dates to 1810. Through the information she gathered in that endeavor, she gained a clearer perspective on the early pioneers who lived in this area. For many years Cathi has compiled and continues to collect information about the history of St. Clair Township and would welcome any additional insight and information (catherinekeenan86@gmail.com).

In retirement, Cathi is involved in the lives of her grandchildren (two of whom attend Beaver Local). She is also involved with children and youth at her church Vacation Bible School, camps, events for teen girls, and mission/service trips. These include two weeklong trips to Aliquippa; Pa, a Nicaraguan pineapple farm; and three trips to Berlin, Germany, where she provided crafts at a camp, participated in an English camp; and went on a prayer walking trip to various Berlin locations.

Cathi also has been a co-leader for two youth trips to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon. She continues to celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of her fellow human beings made in God’s image; to encourage creativity; and to love learning by way of school, experience, travel, and reading.

James Crawford

Education: Beaver Local High School 1967, Havard School of Business KEP 1983, Youngstown University 1996 BA in Communication studies, Duquesne University 1997 MA in Rhetoric and Communication, Ohio University 2002 Ph.D. Communication Theory

Awards and Recognitions: YMCA Youth Governor 1967, Voted Most Likely to Succeed East Liverpool Review 1967, National Winner Florsheim Shoe Company Award for Performance 1976, Ohio University Professor of the Month April 1999, Outstanding Graduate Student Leader Ohio University 1999, Ironton Ohio Key to the City 2004, Special Congressional Recognition 2004, Ohio University Nominee Outstanding Administrator Award 2005, Associated Press, Best Columnist (Opinions) 2017, Associated Press, Best Columnist (3rd place) 2018, Associated Press, Best Columnist (3rd place) 2020.

Career Highlights:Owner, Crawford Produce Market 1965-67; Pastor, Rogers Christian Church 1969-1975; Regional Manager, Florsheim Shoe Company in Baltimore, Maryland, Orlando, FL. And Washington D.C.; Director, Personnel and Training, Florsheim Shoe Company 600 National retail stores.; Operations Director, Milgram-Kagan Shoe Company; Vice President of Product Milgram-Kagan Shoe Company 200 national stores; Vice President and Director, Kushins of California Shoe Company, A Division of Milgram-Kagan; Director, the Center for Development, Ohio University Southern Campus; Director, the Center for Innovation and Leadership, Ohio University, Southern Campus; Won Ohio Grants at Ohio University For Training Center ($810,000) and Technology and Organic Farming Resource Center ($622,000); Consultant, Interconnections in Ashland, Kentucky; Consultant, Kings Daughter’s Medical Center, Ashland, Kentucky; Author, Betrayal at the Carlisle, available on Amazon Books, 2016; Author, The Chinese Betrayal, available on Amazon Books, 2020.

Service and Volunteering: Alternative Service at Aultman Hospital 1971-73 Physical Therapy; Vice President Ohio University Graduate Students 1998; President, Ohio University Graduate Students 1999; Opinion writer, Ironton Tribune 2004-present; AARP, Volunteer National Facilitators Team 2015-2017; AARP Ohio Advocate Volunteer 2010-2020; Author, facilitator for Age-Friendly Akron 2022

Business Owner: Crawford Produce Market 1965-67; Copies Plus, a fast copy shop in San Ramon, CA. 1987-89; Blackstone Gourmet, Gourmet pickup and delivery in Boardman, Ohio. 2005-2008; Ianazone’s Pizza in Boardman, Ohio, 2021-current

Other Life Facts: Father of four: Laura, Rachael, Adam, and Peter. Grandfather of eight, Great-Grandfather of two.

Karen Eells Lawson

Class of 1965

Dr. Karen Eells Lawson, class of 1965 Valedictorian (GPA 4.0), is an international professional speaker, consultant, executive coach, university professor, and author of 18 professional books. Her most recent book, Remaining Relevant: Achieving Lifelong Professional Success (2022), is an inspirational playbook for professionals who want to remain relevant, significant, and credible contributors regardless of their age.

As founder and president of Lawson Consulting Group she has built a successful consulting firm specializing in organization and management development across a wide range of industries

She holds a PhD in Adult and Organization Development from Temple University; an MA in English from the University of Akron; and a BA from Mount Union College. She is one of only 400 people worldwide to have earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the 4,000-member National Speakers Association. She has received numerous awards for her outstanding contribution to the training and speaking professions and was also named one of Pennsylvania’s “Best 50 Women in Business” as well as one of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s “Women of Distinction.”

Karen is an adjunct professor at DeSales University in its MBA program and has served on the adjunct faculty for eight other colleges and universities at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. In addition, she conducts on-line programs for the United Nations System Staff College. She has presented at several professional conferences in the United States, Asia, Canada, and Europe and has been interviewed on television, radio, podcasts and for publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Fast Company.

She also currently serves as Honorary Consul of Fiji for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and secretary of the Consular Corps of Philadelphia.

She has been actively involved in professional organizations such as the National Speakers Association and the Association for Talent Development, holding leadership positions at both the local and national levels. She is also an active member of the Union League of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Passionate about animal welfare, she serves on the board of Providence Animal Center, a no-kill animal rescue organization in Media, Pa.

Karen is the daughter of the late Mildred Eells and Byron Eells, The Review reporter and photographer. She lived in Lansdale, Pa with her husband, Bob, their dog, Brie, and cats, Yuri and Toby until her death on July 8, 2024.

Greg Eisenhart

(No information submitted)