The Altoona Area High School Alumni Association has announced the winners of its Distinguished Alumni Awards that will be presented the weekend of March 17-18.

The awards were established in 2000 to honor graduates who have achieved greatness in their chosen fields and through public service. Those chosen this year include:

– Allan G. Hancock of Altoona. Hancock graduated from Altoona High school in 1953. He began his career in financial services in 1960 when he returned to Altoona after his honorable discharge from the U.S. Army as a First Lieutenant.

He established his first financial services office in 1963 and continued to expanded his scope of services and businesses to what is now known as The Hancock Group, Inc.

Hancock served as the mayor of Altoona from 1980-83. He was an original committee member of the Central Pennsylvania Community Foundation (CPCF) serving as president for more than 25 years where he introduced the design of Donor Advised Funds. He served as the Blair County Red Cross chair, initiating a local blood bank to service the five local hospitals and has served as a member of the Homewood at Martinsburg Board of Directors. Additionally, he has been part of team developing playgrounds for underprivileged children both inside and outside of the United States.

– Mike Reid of Nashville, Tenn. Reid graduated from Altoona High School in 1965 before graduating from Penn State University in 1970 where he earned a B.A. in music. That achievement was considerably overshadowed by his performance and reputation on the football field.

Reid was an All-American selection and won the Maxwell Award as well as the Outland Trophy as the country’s outstanding collegiate lineman. He was the Eastern Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in 1967 and held the PSU shot-put record for close to 20 years. He was a first-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1970 and at the end of his first NFL season was named Defensive Rookie of the Year. Reid’s success continued when he was voted NFL All-Pro in 1972 and 1973.

After leaving football, he redirected his focus and talents to his love of music where he scored his first number one county hit song “Inside” by Ronny Milsap. He has composed more than 30 top ten country and pop hits. He has been the recipient of ASCAP’S Songwriter of the Year Award and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2005.

– R. Lee Hite of Altoona graduated from Altoona High School in 1962. Hite worked in the finance department of US Steel before returning to the family business as the Vice President of Marketing for The Hite Company. He assumed the role of president in 1975 and currently holds the title of chairman emeritus. During his tenure he grew the electrical business to more than 20 locations. He has been elected and served on several national trade industry organizations and has been recognized with the Arthur W. Hooper Award, the association’s highest honor.

His dedication and commitment to the Altoona community is evident in his service on various community boards with most of his service being in leadership roles. He and his family continue to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit through their support and involvement with the Altoona LaunchBox which promotes entrepreneurship by providing start-ups with the support and resources needed to build a sustainable and scalable businesses.

– Hope Furrer of Baltimore. Furrer is a 1968 graduate of Altoona Area High School. She holds a bachelor of architectural engineering from Penn State University. She began her career working for a small structural consulting group before joining RTKL Associates, Inc. during which time she successfully managed the design and development of corporate high-rise office buildings and major regional shopping malls across the country.

In 1992, she opened her own firm, Hope Furrer Associates, Inc., a structural design and consulting firm that specializes in structural engineering for architectural and interior projects. The firm has two office locations in Baltimore and State College. In 2010, she was named a Penn State University Engineering Alumnus Award for her exceptional levels of professional achievement.

– Capt. Paris Michaels, Ph.D. of Cape Canaveral, Fla. Michaels graduated in 1972 from Altoona Area High School before graduating from Florida Institute of Technology in Air Commerce Transportation. His professional talents focus on a blend of Air Commerce Management experience as a Supervisory Instructor Pilot supported with 39,942 hours of flight experience.

Michaels has extensive experience in career mentoring of global aviation-related flight and non-flight positions. He has served as a consultant on legal matters involving aviation safety, aviation security, litigation and accidents specializing in aviation investigations dealing with fatal accidents. He also has experience in assessing grievance investigations regarding violations, pilot performance and behavioral aspects of a pilot corps relating to safety and security compliance issues.

– Ralph E. McGirk, Jr., a 1958 Altoona High School graduate who passed away in 2022, is the deceased alumnus who will be recognized this year.

McGirk earned his business degree from Shippensburg State Teachers College in 1963. He devoted a 36-year career to education serving as a business/economics teacher at T.C. Williams High school. McGirk assumed the head coach of the girls’ basketball team at T.C. Williams where he developed a program that was virtually unknown into one of Virginia’s top teams in the state. He later served as the assistant coach and recruiter to the Georgetown University Women’s Basketball Program.

– C. Elton Crider, a 1948 graduate of Altoona High School. Crider will receive the Lifetime of Service Award. Crider devoted his career as an elementary instructor for over 30 years. He completed over 11,000 volunteer hours with Bon Secours and UPMC hospitals. He has been a long-time member of the AAHS Alumni Association and has spent countless hours organizing artifacts documenting the history of the Altoona Area School District.

On Friday, March 17, the honorees will spend the day at Altoona Area High School. In addition to touring the school, they will visit classrooms and talk with students. They will also have the opportunity to visit the AAHS Alumni Association Museum in the Altoona Area Public Library.

An awards dinner will be held in the Grand Pavilion at the Casino at Lakemont Saturday evening, March 18. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased in the Alumni Office of AAHS, 1201 Eighth Ave., Altoona, PA 16602, or online at www.aahsalumni.org. Deadline to purchase tickets is Wednesday, March 1.

There have been 49 recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Awards.

For more information, contact Paula Foreman, AAHS Alumni Association executive director, at 814-946-8424.