HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The 23rd class of the Wall of Honor at Hutchinson High School features a trio of HHS alumni.
The 2022-23 honorees are Terry Bisbee, class of 1966; Robert “Bob” Johnson, class of 1940; and Fred Kaplan, class of 1972.
Sponsored by the HHS Alumni Association and Hutchinson High School, the group will be honored during a banquet at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, September 15, 2022, in the Hutchinson Career & Technical Education Academy, 800 15th Circle. The public is invited and encouraged to attend as we celebrate three individuals who have dedicated their lives to making Hutchinson and the world a better place.
Reservations must be made and purchased in advance for the banquet. Seats cost $15 each and can be purchased weekdays at the HHS main office, 810 East 13th, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. from August 29 through September 15.
The three honorees formally will take their place on the Wall of Honor prior to the Homecoming Game at about 6:20 p.m. Friday, September 16th, at Gowans Stadium.
For more information, call (620) 615-4100.
Bios of the three honorees are below:
TERRY BISBEE
Class of 1966
After graduating Hutchinson High School in 1966, Mr. Bisbee obtained an Associates Degree in Drafting Technology from Hutchinson Junior College. Upon graduation he was hired by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sandia is one of the nation’s primary research and development labs with a charter to “provide exceptional service in the national interest”. While working at Sandia, he continued his education at the University of Albuquerque and the University of New Mexico. Moving through the ranks during his 40-year career, he had the opportunity to work on numerous projects developing technical solutions to critical national security challenges. In his position as a Program Manager in the Security Systems Center, he was responsible for over-seeing security projects at Air Force bases, launch sites, and critical infrastructure facilities in the U.S. and Europe. This experience led to his selection as the Nuclear Surety Technical Advisor at the United States European Command Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany where he served for six years. Terry retired from Sandia in 2008 as a Principal Member of Technical Staff. In 2012, Terry and his wife, Dee, made the decision to return to Hutchinson desiring to become involved in the community where he received the education that laid the foundation for a successful career. He currently sits on the Board of Trustees at Hutchinson Community College, serves on advisory boards at HutchCC and HHS, served on the Hutchinson Planning Commission, and volunteers with several community organizations. Terry and his wife support various community causes including the Hutchinson Symphony, Fox Theater, and Hutchinson Community College.
BOB JOHNSON
Class of 1940
Bob Johnson was born in 1922 in Hutchinson, Kansas. He was adopted at birth and lived his entire life here. He graduated from Hutchinson High School in 1940, having won back to back wrestling championships. Inducted into the army, his college pursuit at Kansas State was cut short. Following the war, he returned to Hutchinson, married, started a family and completed his degree in education from Wichita State University. It became clear that as a young man, Bob was wanting to do more to help others, specifically the youth of Hutchinson. Initially, he was a teacher, later a probation officer and finally a juvenile officer with the Hutchinson Police Department for twenty-four years achieving Detective Lieutenant status. There he would develop his skills, insight, commitment and passion for unfortunate children. Before he helped establish the Emergency Shelter Home for abused and neglected children, Bob would bring these children to his home where his wife would bathe, feed and put them to bed with their own children. Helping families and children became a way of life for Bob until 1980 when he died of cancer.
FRED KAPLAN
Class of 1976
After graduating in 1976, Fred received a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.S. and Ph.D. In political science from M.I.T. In between the two graduate degrees, he worked on Capitol Hill for two years as a legislative aide on foreign policy and wrote his first book (“The Wizards of Armageddon”), which he turned into his doctoral dissertation. He then joined the staff of the Boston Globe, working as its defense reporter (1983-91), Moscow bureau chief (1992-95), and New York bureau chief (1995-2002). As the Iraq war began in 2003, he was hired by Slate, where he has been the “War Stories” columnist ever since. He won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the nuclear arms race in 1983, and his 2013 book “The Insurgents” (one of six that he’s written) was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist. He thanks a few HHS teachers—Del Knauer, Jack Sexton, John Garland, and Esther Ogle—for encouraging him as a writer and helping to shape him as a thinker.