Gilmour presented an honorary degree as well as its 2012 Alumni of the Year Awards on Saturday, December 15 at the Christmas At the Academy party held in the school’s Athletic Center.

 

The honorary degree was presented by Head of School Br. Robert Lavelle, C.S.C. to the family of Paula Frantz Scully, who passed away last September, for her tireless dedication to Gilmour, despite not having attended the school herself.

 

Her son, D.J. Belock ’93, thanked the school for the honor and spoke of the school’s importance to his mother, discussing her commitment to his receiving a Gilmour education.

 

Paula’s brother, Mark Frantz ’65, mentioned that Paula came from a long line of females committed to Gilmour. Their grandmother helped recruit the school’s first board of directors. Their mother had five sons attend the school and served in various capacities, including as a trustee. He told how Paula, a female with five brothers attending Gilmour, spent a considerable amount of time at the school and developed a special fondness for the Academy, which led to her lifelong commitment to the school.

 

The Alumni of the Year Awards were presented to Charles Tremont ’70 and Roberta (Berti) Guarino G.O. ’82. Tremont is a local corporate finance and management advisor, professional golf instructor, and Gilmour’s head Varsity Golf coach. Guarino is a photographer and holistic massage therapist as well as coordinator of the first all-school Glen Oak Gala held this past September for alumnae, faculty and staff of the all-girls school that merged with all-boys Gilmour Academy in the early 1980s. The awards honor graduates who have distinguished themselves in their personal lives and careers and who have demonstrated leadership and service to the school.

 

Tremont graduated from Gilmour in 1970 and is currently a principal at Tremont & Associates, a corporate finance and management advisory firm in Solon. He is also the finance and business manager at the Church of St. Clare in Lyndhurst and has been a professional golf instructor for the past 30 years at Grantwood Golf Club in Solon. Throughout his career, Tremont has remained dedicated to Gilmour. He served as Gilmour’s finance officer and director of admissions from 1975 to 1978. He and his wife, Karen, sent their two sons, Chris ’01 and A.J. ’04 to Gilmour.

 

Since 2004, Tremont has served as the head Varsity Golf coach and has a match record of 57-27 and a tournament record of 483-260. He has led his teams to seven sectional team championships, seven district team championships and seven top eight team finishes in the state tournament. His team won the Division III state championship in 2010 and he has coached four individual state championship winners – Alex Andrews in ’09 and ’10 and Andrew Bieber in ’11 and ’12.

 

After he was presented with the award, Tremont thanked the school; Br. Charles Allerton, C.S.C., his golf coach at Gilmour; Mike Kiely, a past parent and local PGA professional; Vern Weber, the school’s former athletic director and coach; and his wife, Karen.

 

It was during Berti Guarino’s time at Glen Oak that she first developed an interest in photography. After graduating from the school in 1982, she went on to earn her degree in photography and art history from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa. Photography started Guarino on the path of archival research as she became interested in documenting and preserving history through people. She is also passionate about holistic massage therapy and its positive impact on her clients’ health.

 

Her archival research skills, the interpersonal skills so valuable in her massage practice and her appreciation and passion for the education she received at Glen Oak led Guarino on a two-year quest to organize the school’s first all-school gala. Held the weekend of September 28-30, 2012, the Gala was an overwhelming success. More than 400 Glen Oak alumnae, former students, faculty and staff gathered on Gilmour’s Lower School campus, the former home of the school, for a weekend of reminiscing and reconnecting.

 

After accepting the award, Guarino spoke, thanking all those who helped make the event such a success and describing how much the school meant to her. She also revealed that there will be another gathering of Glen Oak alumnae and former students on September 28, 2013.