Student Affairs Hall of Fame Banquet Feb. 27
The dedication of former employees to the lives of students will be honored during the Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College Student Affairs Hall of Fame Awards Banquet set for Friday, Feb. 27.
Inductees will be Frank Pulice Jr., Director of Food Services, 1967-1993, and Earl N. Straight, Director of Public Relations, 1961-1978. The 2009 Distinguished Citizen Award recipient will be Delbert "Butch" Phillips. The banquet will also honor all past student body presidents. The event will take place at 6 p.m. at Westchester Village, 1825 Locust Ave., Fairmont.
"The Student Affairs Office provides valuable services for students throughout their college years," said Michael Belmear, Vice President for Student Affairs. "These services include Welcome Weekend, counseling, crisis intervention, housing, multicultural affairs, career planning and placement, health services, mentoring, Student Government and other student activities. The Hall of Fame event has been designed to recognize the efforts of past employees and to encourage present employees to carry on the tradition of excellence."
Those wishing to attend the banquet should RSVP by Feb. 20 by calling (304) 367-4643. Tickets for the buffet dinner are $20 per person.
Frank Pulice Jr.
Frank Pulice Jr. is a graduate of Monongah High School, the Greenbrier Cooking School and Fairmont State College. He currently serves as Development Director for the Fairmont General Hospital Foundation Inc., a position he has held since 1993 when he retired as Director of Food Services for Fairmont State. He was owner and manager of White Tower Restaurant and Town House Restaurant in Fairmont. He also worked at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Phoenix and the Elks Lodge and The Palace Restaurant in Fairmont. Pulice served on active duty in the military from 1952-1954 and was on active reserve duty from 1954-1960. He has numerous volunteer affiliations with his community, church, the Democratic Party and the restaurant industry. His volunteer affiliations include the following: American Legion Post #17; BPOE Elks #294; Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors Club; Chiefton Reunion Association; City of Fairmont 2000 Committee; Friends to Save the 12th Street Municipal Pool; Friends of High Gate; Junior Chamber of Commerce; Korean War Vets; Marion County Chamber of Commerce; Monongah Alumni Association; Salvation Army; West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival Inc.; State Catastrophic Illness Board, appointed by Gov. Joe Manchin; Deanery Council of Catholic Men; Knights of Columbus; Saint Anthony's Catholic Church; St. Peter's Holy Name Society; Hulett Smith Committee for Governor of West Virginia; John F. Kennedy for President Committee; Marion County Young Democratic Club; National Committee Representative; Marion County Restaurant Association; State Association of Restaurants; and the State Restaurant Association. He and his wife Katherine A. Pulice celebrated 57 years of marriage in June 2008. Their daughter, Diane Pulice Burnside; son-in-law, Philip E. Burnside; grandson, Anthony Philip Burnside; and grandson, Jonathan Wade Burnside, are all graduates of Fairmont State.
 
Earl N. Straight
A Fairmont native, Earl N. Straight received his A.B. degree in journalism and English from Fairmont State in 1934; earned an M.A. degree in education and English at West Virginia University in 1938; and worked on a doctoral degree at the University of Colorado and did graduate work at Ohio State University. He began his career in journalism as a teacher at Fairmont East High School and served as reporter, city editor and wire editor of the Fairmont Times and the West Virginian. He was editor-in-chief of the Grafton Daily Sentinel for four years and was field editor of the magazine, The West Virginia School Journal, for 10 years in Charleston. He served in the U.S. Navy. In 1960, he returned to Fairmont as a professor of journalism and director of public relations for Fairmont State College. In 1978, he retired from FSC and was elected to city council and as Fairmont's mayor. His honors include being named a "Distinguished Mountaineer" by Gov. Joe Manchin and having March 9 declared Earl N. Straight Day by the Fairmont City Council. He and his wife, Dolris Mafie Claypool, reside in Fairmont. Straight has three sons, Earl N. Straight II, Donald Claude Straight and Ronald James Straight; a daughter, Shirley Nevels; a step-daughter, Dorothy Ellen Molle; 11 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.
 
Delbert "Butch" Phillips
Delbert "Butch" Phillips graduated from East Fairmont High School in 1961 and Fairmont State College in 1965 with a B.S. in Business Administration. He served in the U.S. Army from 1966-1969. He began his career in the banking industry in 1969 at First Federal Savings & Loan in mortgage lending. In 1990, he became Vice President for Commercial Lending at Community Bank and Trust, and in 1994, he moved to Huntington National Bank as Vice President for Commercial Lending. From 1999-2006, he was Senior Lending Officer for Monongahela Valley Bank. Extensively involved in the community, he has been associated with the Fairmont State Foundation Inc. since 1981, serving as a director from 1981-2007. He is a past president of the Fairmont State Alumni Association and was selected as Outstanding Alumnus in 2006. He is a charter member of the East Fairmont High School Foundation Inc. and 2008-2009 president. He is director and chairman of the Investment Committee of the United Methodist Foundation of WV Inc., as well as a member of Gateway United Methodist Church, serving on committees there. He is a charter member, past president and current director of the Rotary Club of South Fairmont. His other affiliations have included Fairmont Industrial Credit Corp; Marion County Chamber of Commerce, WV Certified Development Corp; Associated Business Men of East Fairmont; Marion County Economic Development Authority; Region VI Planning and Development Association; Fairmont Industrial Park Association; WV Financial Managers Society; Kingmill Valley Public Service District; Fairmont Jaycees; and the Marion County Multi-Modal Transportation Committee. He is a recipient of the 2007 United Way Ed Allen Memorial Award and the 2008 Jack Squires Memorial Award. He and his wife, Rebecca Ellen Ford Phillips, a 1965 FSU graduate, have two children, Julie Jo Kline and Susan Leann Swiger, and three grandchildren, Sam and Shay Swiger and Zoie Ann Kline.
