On Sunday, October 7th, 2012 Topeka High School held its 31st Graduate Hall of Fame Ceremony. Four Topeka High graduates were inducted in the Hall of Fame. A former faculty member was awarded the Distinguished Staff Award. The ceremony took place at 2:00 PM in the THS Chester Woodward Library, on the east end of the second floor. The THS Strings and Madrigals performed before and during the ceremony. The public was invited. A reception followed the ceremony. Those honored were:

Margaret Hazard Beers (THS 1948). Community Activist.
Mrs. Beers’ T.H.S. activities foreshadowed her involvement in Topeka charitable activities: Representative Council, Senior Girl’s Council and Treasurer Red Cross Council. The list of local organizations would fill pages and includes the Junior League of Topeka (Pres., 1968-69); Topeka Association for Retarded Citizens; Community Resources Council; Family
Service & Guidance Center Board of Directors; Sheltered Living, Inc.; and organizer of the Festival of Trees. Married to Topeka retailer Ray Beers, Jr., she taught business courses at Topeka High from1952-54.
  

Paul Ebel (THS 1958). Engineer.
Befitting an engineering graduate of Rice University and currently the Senior Associate in the Center for International Trade and Security at the University of
Georgia, Mr. Ebel was a member of the Science and Math Clubs at Topeka High - less expectedly he was a Thespian in “Charley’s Aunt,” “Anastasia,” and “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” From 1963 to 1970 he served in the Navy as a Lt. Commander and Chief Engineering Officer aboard a nuclear submarine. Since then, he has focused on nuclear security, lecturing and writing numerous papers on the subject.

Brent Kington (THS 1953). Artist and Metalsmith.
One rarely thinks of artist and football player as the same person. In the case of Mr. Kington, one can, having been an end on the 1952 Trojan squad and a member of the track team (also member of the “T” Club).  However, Art became his vocation - in particular jewelry, metal work, and design - inspired by Topeka High art instructor Fayeben Wolfe. He received his B.A. from KU and Master of Fine Arts from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. Today he is Professor Emeritus of the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University. Mr. Kington has had numerous exhibits and has works in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Sabatini gallery at the Topeka Library, and the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution.

Minnie Stewart (1902). Educator
Were not for Mathematics teacher Miss Stewart, Kansas might not have been able to boast of “native” son as President of the United States! Her T.H.S. class prophecy predicted that by 1925 she would have graduated from 16 Colleges! Actually, she was an alumnus of Washburn with a Master’s degree from Columbia. Beginning her Math career at Abilene H.S., one of her pupils was Dwight D. Eisenhower whom she tutored for his West Point entrance exam. Afterwards she taught for 40 years at Topeka High and then another three at KU and two at Washburn. Miss Stewart served as President of the Kansas Teachers of Mathematics Assn. in 1929 & 1930. (deceased)

Fayeben Williams Wolfe (Faculty).
Mrs. Wolfe grew up in Smith Co., Kansas, graduating from Smith Center H.S. She briefly attended the Florida Art Academy but concluded her studies at Washburn and ultimately received a Master’s degree from the
University of Kansas in 1947. Mrs. Wolfe taught in the Topeka Public Schools from 1935 to 1960 (after T.H.S. she taught art at Roosevelt Jr. High). She helped organize the State Federation of Art and developed the Art Department at the Kansas Free Fair, serving as its superintendent for 20 years. Among her students is Hall of Fame inductee L. Brent Kington for whom she assisted in obtaining a scholarship to a summer art program at KU. (dec.)