This year’s class features inductees who have intimate ties with many of our members: First State Central Bank, Clinton Community College, Clinton Community School District, City of Camanche, The Sawmill Museum, and all our Veterans work. Every class is special and connected to the growth and continued success of our county. Every year we have a chance to recognize our veterans, humanitarians, business leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, artists, and athletes that define who we are.
Sunday, October, 4-7pm Social Hour & Cash Bar 5:00 PM – Dinner 6:00 PM – Induction Ceremony – Copper Mill – Tickets $40
Dr. Alan R. and Myrna J. Tubbs moved to DeWitt in 1972 from Stillwater, Oklahoma, after having grown up in Clinton County. Alan’s background was in academia, but he bought controlling interest in a new bank in town called First Central and started as its chief executive officer, before being named CEO of Ohnward Bancshares. Alan became involved at the suggestion of a fellow Cornell alumnus with the American Bankers Association which put him near the national spotlight with presidents and members of Congress helping to steer the nation through the 1980s Farm Crisis.
Myrna was a longtime member of the DeWitt Community Hospital Foundation Board, putting into motion with Alan and others a plan to bring Fieldstone of DeWitt — a $30 million project — to fruition. The couple also spearheaded fundraising to revive the theater that is now the DeWitt Operahouse Theatre, among other local revitalization efforts. The Dr. Alan R. and Myrna J. Tubbs Scholarship through the Education Foundation of Central DeWitt supports a high school graduate serious about further education in earning a two-year degree in a specialized skill or trade through Eastern Iowa Community Colleges. The couple continues to reside in DeWitt.
Dr. George Peck (picture is of his son who had the first building) founded the city of Camanche. Peck came from Lake Pleasant, New York, on foot in 1836 to plat the new town named for the Native American tribe he misspelled. He then went to Chicago to advertise the new city and attract its initial settlers. Peck died in 1838. The city of Camanche would be officially incorporated in 1857.
Oral O. Pierce was once Scout executive for the Clinton, Iowa, Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Pierce, in 1921, organized a team of 25 men to lead 123 Scouts to Yellowstone National Park in a caravan of 57 Model-T automobiles driven over a month on unpaved roads and across wilderness. Upon their safe return home, the expedition became known as “The Miracle of 1921” to be studied by the U.S. Army for its methods of moving large groups across the country. The trip has only been repeated twice since — in 1996 and 2021.
Henry Sabin was superintendent of Clinton Schools from 1871 until 1887 during which time the number of buildings increased from two to seven, teachers from 26 to 44, students from 1,266 to 2,319, and graduates from three to 20. Sabine was elected state superintendent in 1888, then served as chairman of the National Education Association Committee of Twelve on Rural Schools, head of the Department of Education at Highland Park College, and editor of the Iowa edition of the “Western Teacher” publication. Sabin, with his son, opened in 1893 a teacher placement agency called Sabin’s Educational Exchange. The former Henry Sabin Elementary School at 1850 South Bluff Blvd. was named in his honor.
Paul B. Sharar was a guidance counselor at Clinton High School when in 1946 he proposed a public referendum to establish a community college in Clinton. He served as the first dean of Clinton Junior College renamed in 1966 Clinton Community College. The Paul B. Sharar Foundation named in his honor currently supports students by providing scholarships through the college.
Ernest Heinrich Struve emigrated from Holstein, Germany, to the U.S. in 1849 and took ownership 20 years later of an Elk River Township sawmill. The sawmill continued to operate in the hands of the Struve family until its closure in 1989. The Struves are one of the oldest family names in Eastern Iowa.
Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta enlisted in the U.S. Army in November 2003. In 2007 — while injured, himself — Giunta provided medical aid to the injured in his squad after it had been ambushed in Afghanistan and rescued a squad leader from two combatants. For this, Giunta on Nov. 16, 2010, became the first living Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam War. Giunta continued his service in the U.S. Army until June 2011.
