Alumni foundation announces hall of fame inductees

The Bay Alumni Foundation will recognize the contributions of three individuals during the annual Homecoming celebrations. Hall of Fame awards will be presented to Distinguished Educator Charles “Chuck” Millheim and Distinguished Alumni Samuel M. “Pete” Purvis III and Carole Cooney Noon.

The Distinguished Educator Hall of Fame Award was established in 1991 to honor those teachers and/or staff who have made outstanding contributions to education in Bay Village Schools and who exemplify excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

Chuck Millheim taught in the Bay Village Schools from 1965-1994, serving as as a role model for students and staff as an English teacher, English Department Head, and peer leader. He was an advisor for the Bay High yearbook, the literary magazine “Signatures” and the student newspaper “The Bay Window,” and was also Band Booster President, Language Arts Committee Chair. He also was held in high regard as an excellent Theatre Stage Crew Advisor for 12 years.

In 1985, Mr. Millheim did not attend the Superintendent’s Best Award ceremony where he was the honored recipient and instead attended the year-end banquet of the Occupational Work Experience class. Teachers were rarely invited to this OWE banquet, and Mr. Millheim, forgoing attendance at his own recognition ceremony, showed his selflessness and belief that all students deserve attention.

He was the Direct Energy 2010 Volunteer Citizen of the Year recipient with his wife, Patricia Millheim, for their volunteering at Butternut Primary School in North Olmsted.

Chuck Millheim is recognized with the Distinguished Educator award for his compassionate, influential, easy-going and selfless nature, and the respect with which he treated his students and faculty co-workers. He is a life-long learner, loving husband and father of one daughter.

The Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame Award was established in 1987 to honor those individuals who have realized great achievements and served their communities well in their years after graduating from the Bay Village public schools.

Pete Purvis, class of 1952, is one of two Alumni Hall of Fame inductees this year. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1957 and received his Naval Aviator wings in 1958. He flew 101 missions in F-4 Phantoms over North Vietnam between 1967 and 1968 and became a test pilot for Westinghouse Electric Corp. in 1968. In 1971, he joined Grumman Aerospace as an experimental test pilot for the F-14 Tomcat, and was later elected an Associate Fellow by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

He represented aerospace and defense companies with the Departments of State, Defense, Commerce, Congress and foreign embassies. He was also a partner in the renewable energy company Patriot Associates.

Pete Purvis is a loving father of three, and husband to wife Sally.

Carole Cooney Noon, class of 1967, will also be celebrated with a Distinguished Alumni award. Carole, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 59, dedicated her life to protecting chimpanzees. She earned a doctorate degree in biological anthropology from the University of Florida and became an expert primatologist on the socialization of captive chimpanzees while at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in Zambia, Africa.

When the U.S. Air Force announced in 1997 that  it was divesting itself of all chimpanzees, described as “surplus equipment,” Carole founded Save the Chimps organization and created a permanent chimpanzee rescue sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Fla. By 2002, Save the Chimps had become the largest primate sanctuary in the world, with over 280 rescued chimpanzees and monkeys from the Air Force space program, biomedical research and the entertainment industry.

In 2004, she received the Jane Goodall Award for Lifetime Dedication to the Care of Chimpanzees.

The Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries created the Carole Noon Award for Sanctuary Excellence to honor her contributions to the animal sanctuary field and the first award was posthumously given to Carole in 2009.

Carole Noon had a wonderful sense of humor and a powerful, no-nonsense aura about her and was able charismatically to motivate others to share her love and devotion to saving chimpanzees.