Keystone Central Foundation 4th Annual Alumni Hall of Fame Induction

MILL HALL – The Keystone Central Foundation is hosting its 4th Annual Alumni Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Thursday, May 22, 2025 at Central Mountain High School. The following articles highlight this year’s inductees.

The honor recognizes outstanding graduates from the Keystone Central School District who have demonstrated exceptional achievements in their personal or professional careers and have made significant contributions to their communities. To reserve tickets or a table, or to place a congratulatory ad, visit www.kcfoundation.com or call 570-660-1306.

Richard N. Saxton Jr.
Renovo Class of 1955

After graduating from Renovo High School in 1955, Judge Saxton served for 3 1/2 years in the United States Air Force. He was stationed in Japan as a security specialist in the US Air Force Security Services. He was honorably discharged in March, 1959, worked at Piper Aircraft until he enrolled in Lock Haven State College that Fall. While in Lock Haven State, he worked for 2 1/2 years for Dr. William R. North, the head of the English department. Judge Saxton played baseball under the tutelage of Coach Stan Daley. During his junior year he was President of the Student Cooperative Council.

Judge Saxton graduated in the Fall of 1962, taught English in Bridgeton New Jersey high school until entering Dickinson School of Law in the Fall of 1963. The late Judge Carson Brown and Saxton were the first Lock Haven graduates to be enrolled in a law school, likewise the first to be admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania. Subsequently they became law partners and, later, judges together on County Court.

He was appointed the first Public Defender in Clinton County when that office was created by State legislation. He was later appointed District Attorney to serve out the remaining term of the retired district attorney.

In 1967, Edward Young, the Assistant to the President of the College, and Judge Saxton formed and legally incorporated the Friends of Lock Haven State College, now known as the Lock Haven University Foundation. He was an incorporator, solicitor, and president of that organization until he resigned to spend more time with his judicial responsibilities. He is the sole living survivor of the original incorporators and members of the Board of Directors. He is proud of what the Foundation has become and list this among his most significant and successful accomplishments.

Saxton served as Judge and President Judge of Clinton County upon the retirement of Judge Brown. At that time, the law mandated judicial retirement at age seventy. He retired in 2007. However, the law permitted senior judges to work until the age of seventy-nine, sitting in courts throughout the Commonwealth needing judicial assistance. He was finally and fully retired the last day of 2016.

Cassie S. Farrelly
Class of 1995 Lock Haven High School

Cassie graduated has degrees from Fordham University, Penn State University, and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Her degree from Trinity College in Dublin is a master’s degree and was obtained as part of being awarded a George J. Mitchell Scholarship.

Her master’s research was on immigration in contemporary Ireland and has appeared in US and international journals. Her professional career has included working for a Wall Street bank, the British Consulate General’s Office in NYC, the Chancellor’s Office of the NYC Department of Education, the Penn State College of Medicine where she was the Chief Operating Officer, and most recently as SVP/Chief Impact Officer for WITF in Harrisburg, PA.

In 2015, Cassie was chosen as a Presidential Leadership Scholar, a program by the presidential centers of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson that brings together leaders from the non-profit, military, public, and private sectors to learn first-hand from presidential case studies and administrations. Her project in this program focused on providing affordable banking access and financial literacy training to unbanked and underserved households.

Forever an advocate of the arts and community development, Cassie served for 10 years on the Board of the Origin Theater Company. As a playwright and producer, she has had several plays staged and/or produced by different theater companies in the US and in Ireland and England. Cassie has also freelanced for The Irish Echo newspaper. In 2017, Cassie published her first novel, The Shepherd’s Calculus, which has received very good reviews holding a 4/5 start rating on different literary rating platforms and which can be purchased on Amazon.

Former President Bill Clinton was so impressed with her novel that he personally telephoned Cassie to express how much he loved it. Further information on her novel can be found on her author website csfarrelly.com.

​ Cassie has lived across the US and also in Ireland and England (where she studied at Oxford University) and currently resides in Hershey, PA with her husband Matt and her son Finneus. She is an avid traveler and has some incredible journeys that she has taken both solo and in groups on nearly every continent.

Steven Lynn Getz
Class of 1971 Lock Haven High School

Steven Lynn Getz is a 1971 graduate of Lock Haven High School, having spent his grade school years in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. His family moved back to the nearby village of Swissdale in the mid-1960’s. He is a graduate of Lycoming College, and has spent his entire professional career practicing various versions of fine art, graphic design, marketing and product development.

His corporate experience began when he joined C.A. Reed, Inc., a major U.S. paper converter and tableware distributor. Starting out “on the boards” as a product designer, he was promotedto Product Manager and Licensing Director. This time period in business saw the licensing industry explode with success, allowing him the opportunity to focus on juvenile products totaling nearly 40 million dollars in business for the company.

In his tenure as Licensing Manager, he had the opportunity to work on exciting design projects with some of the most innovative companies and creative people in the country: George Lucas, Jim Henson, Stan Lee, Paul “Pee Wee” Herman, Steven Spielberg, Hulk Hogan and Lisa Frank – among others. His licensing efforts included contracting with companies such as Universal Studios, Marvel Comics, Mattel Toys, World Wrestling Federation, Disney, Paramount Pictures, the NFL, NASCAR, Sesame Street, Warner Brothers and many other leaders in the entertainment and licensing industry. He served as a member of the Licensing Industry Merchandising Association and was selected as a panelist for the Licensing symposium in New York City.

In the early 1990’s he became a partner in two businesses: TRU-LEAF camouflage, a uniquely designed pattern perfected for the outdoor and hunting markets and If – the Idea Factory, a surface & product design, marketing and corporate identity company. Many still recognize the TRU-LEAF pattern as the forerunner of most modern recreational camo patterns used on products today. The Idea Factory ventured into various diverse projects from packaging, product design, catalogs, advertising and museum displays – with clients such as Utz Snack foods and No Nonsense panty hose. The company continues to create artwork of all kinds at the Swissdale farm studio.

During the past decade, Steve directed his focus to community-based projects and organizations. He has served on the PA Wilds Advisory Board and the Downtown Lock Haven, Inc. board. He currently serves on the Clinton County Tourism Advisory Board, Summer Concert Series committee and is the current Clinton County Arts Council President. Under his presidency at the CCAC the non-profit has expanded their influence in educational and cultural programs throughout the county.

Since moving into the Station Gallery in 2012, the CCAC has held more than 150 major art exhibits, developed youth camps and adult workshops, student sponsorships and scholarship programs and created the LH JAMS Music and Art festival. Over this time the CCAC and Station Gallery has been selected as the PA Wilds ‘Great Places’, the Lock Haven University Presidents Medal and the Carl Bergdahl Economic Partnership award for promoting tourism. In 2021, LH JAMS Music & Art festival was selected as the PA Wilds ‘Event of the Year’. Under his leadership, the CCAC has developed a strong relationship with Commonwealth University, hosting exhibits for C.U. art majors and art faculty which included all three campuses. C.U. and the CCAC also collaborates with a jazz concert at the Durrwachter to help raise scholarship and retention funds. This event was started in 2024 as a source for the CCAC to bring world class talent to Lock Haven to help fulfill their educational and cultural missions.

Steve also served on the Veterans Park committee as the designer of the new Veterans Park which opened in 2024. A project that lasted nearly 6 years, his objective was to create a very unique footprint as a place of refection, honor and local history. His design included art features which were commissioned to tell the story of Clinton County service. Most importantly, the space was designed to be welcoming for all.

As a fine artist, Steve has exhibited paintings and sculptures throughout Central PA. In 2016, he was presented the ‘PA Wilds Artisan of the Year’ which is awarded to an artist within the 12.5 county PA Wilds region. He has also served as an award judge for various art and photography exhibits throughout the state including being a recent co-jurer for the ’Images Exhibit’ that is part of the Central PA Festival of the Arts held in State College, PA.

Kenneth Bressler
Sugar Valley High School Class of 1960

Ken began his education as a first grader in the Greenburr One Room Schoolhouse. From 2nd grade through sixth grade he attended the Tylersville Schoolhouse and then the Bull Run Schoolhouse for one year until its closing due to the opening of the new Sugar Valley Area School. Ken attended grades 8-12 grade with the rest of the students in the Sugar Valley Community. While in high school, Ken was active in the band, orchestra and yearbook. He was the Yearbook Editor his senior year and graduated as the Salutatorian in 1960.

Following graduation, Ken worked as a mail clerk for the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Washington D.C. under J. Edgar Hoover. It was among his responsibilities to carry classified documents between FBI Headquarters and the Attorney General, as well as the White House during the Kennedy Administration. He also joined the Pennsylvania Air National Guard in 1964. Ken returned to Clinton County and was employed by American Aniline Products (Die Works) of Lock Haven and began his studies in Chemical Engineering at Penn State University at University Park. He also worked at Avery International in Mill Hall until his retirement. For many years Ken also worked part-time as a mechanic for his family at Bressler’s Exxon. The business was closed when his father passed away and was reinvented as he and his brother Robert became the local business owners of Bressler Brother’s Garage on the same site.

Ken was one of six founding members of the Sugar Valley Concerned Citizens which was organized in 1977. The primary goal of this group was to oppose consolidation of schools in Clinton County and to maintain the successful operation of the Sugar Valley School which was an excellent school and the hub of the Sugar Valley Community.

In 1977, Ken was a Charter member of the Sugar Valley Lions Club. For 48 years he has been an active member and served as the President for three years. He also served as the Cabinet Treasurer to the District Governor in 2021. Lions Club International is an organization which strengthens communities and helps those in need. For his service, Ken has been recognized as a Lions Club Pennsylvania Fellow and also received the highest award in Lionism, the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award recognizing him as an outstanding individual.

He served briefly on the Loganton Borough Planning Commission in 1978, but had to resign this post as he was elected to serve on the Keystone Central School Board. He served for 12 years and was the Board President for six years prior to the closing of the Sugar Valley Jr.-Sr. High School. He took great pride in serving on this board and was an advocate for public education and all of the students in the Keystone Central School District. Ken was a member of the Lock Haven Elks Trustee and Officer of the year 2019-2020. Ken also voluntarily served on the Clinton County Rehabilitation Authority for the Clinton County Commissioners for six years.

Ken served as an escort to Miss Sugar Valley, Nikki Verrier, at the 1963 Flaming Foliage Festival in Renovo. Soon after the festivities he proposed to his princess. They have been married for almost 60 years and have three children, five grandchildren and one great granddaughter.

Ken and Nikki have a passion for travel and have visited all 50 states and have explored 12 National Parks. They have also traveled through Canada, England, France, Germany and Greece.

Robert Decker
Lock Haven Class of 1969

Robert B. Decker, PhD, a prominent figure in heliophysics, continues to shape space exploration as Principal Professional Staff Scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL). With a career spanning over four decades, Decker has been at the forefront of groundbreaking space missions and particle physics research.

Rob began his education in Lock Haven at Penn School, and then attended Lock Haven Junior and Senior High Schools. He graduated from Lock Haven High in 1969 and received his B.S. in Physics from Lock Haven University.
A Ph.D. graduate in physics from the University of Kansas (1979), Decker began his journey in academia and joined the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he now supervises the Solar and Heliophysics Section. His leadership roles include serving as Deputy Project Scientist and former Project Scientist for NASA’s Solar Probe Plus—now known as the Parker Solar Probe—tasked with exploring the Sun’s outer atmosphere.

Decker’s extensive portfolio features key involvement in NASA’s legendary Voyager missions. Since 2002, he has served as co-investigator and program manager for the Low-Energy Charged Particle (LECP) instruments aboard Voyagers 1 and 2, still relaying data from the fringes of interstellar space.

His research on particle acceleration and space plasma physics is widely published, including studies in Nature, Science, and the Journal of Geophysical Research. Decker has contributed to missions like ACE, Ulysses, IMP-8, and numerous others, exploring phenomena from shock waves to magnetic field interactions across the solar system.

Rob has been married 50 years to the former Jan Bowes of Lock Haven. Together they have two daughters and three grandsons. Rob enjoys spending time with his family and relaxing at the beach in Cape Hatteras. He loves music and has performed as a drummer for many years in various bands including the British Leathers and Stonehenge in the Lock Haven and the Gonzo Cowboys in Maryland.