Columbia, CA — Jim Mendonsa, Geoff White and Ron Hamilton will be inducted into the Columbia College Hall of Fame Thursday evening at six o´clock in an on-campus ceremony.
Mendonsa has been labeled as the Godfather of Tuolumne County Search and Rescue by his peers. He is one of the originals of the SAR Team based out of the Sheriff´s Office. Mondonsa was involved in rescue and recovery assignments at the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the Bay Area, the 1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City and the 1995 Northridge earthquake in southern California. Mendonsa taught search and rescue along with speech classes at Columbia College for 24 years. He has authored a number of search and rescue national training courses.
Geoff White retired within the past year as the publishers of the Union Democrat Newspaper. White is a University of Iowa graduate. He was a nine year member of the college´s Board of Directors serving as president in 2003.
Ron Hamilton will be inducted as the Alumnus of the Year. Prior to his stint as an account executive with Clarke Broadcasting, Hamilton was the human resources director of MACT Health, Inc. where he was responsible for 125 employees at behavioral health, medical and dental clinics in four counties. The Tuolumne County native has served as Tuolumne County 4-H Council president. Hamilton is a recipient of a California Community Service Award
Written by Bill Johnson
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 1:37 pm