DATE: Friday, August 22, 1997               TAG: 9708220779

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

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MILESTONES

VIRGINIA BEACH

City Clerk Ruth Hodges Smith has been honored by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks with a life membership in the Academy of Advanced Education.

Smith is the first municipal clerk in Virginia to receive the honor, which requires three years of classes to be certified, followed by 12 years of continuing course work through the academy.

She was appointed city clerk in 1978. Smith served as president of the Virginia Municipal Clerks Association in 1982-83 and 1983-84. In April 1987, she was honored as clerk of the year and served as director of the International Municipal Clerks on their board of directors from 1986 to 1989.

Smith is now serving on the 2000 Committee and the International Relations Committee of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks. Norbert Krzak, fiscal officer and business manager for the Church of the Ascension on Princess Anne Road, has been awarded the Benemerenti Medal, which was presented recently by Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, Father Jim Parke, Father Bill Dale and Father Henry Hernando. The award is given by Pope John Paul II to those recommended by their bishop for service in the name of God and the church.

Krzak, who has served the church for more than 25 years, also has served the Financial Council of the Diocese and the Diocesan Investment Commission.

Krzak enlisted in the Navy and served for 23 years, retiring in 1963 at the rank of master chief. He received his bachelor of arts degree in psychology and business in 1976 from George Washington University. He completed graduate studies in business and is licensed as a financial counselor for families.

Krzak and his wife, Mary, have been married for 43 years and have three children.

CHESAPEAKE

Roland L. Thornton and Robert L. Samuel were re-elected Wednesday to the positions of chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Their terms will run for one year.

Thornton, who is retired, has served on the authority since 1993. A South Norfolk resident, he has been active in youth issues and has volunteered on various city boards and committees. He was also reappointed to another four-year term on the authority by the City Council earlier this summer.

Samuel, a practicing attorney, has served on the authority since 1994. A former assistant commonwealth's attorney in Norfolk, Samuel has been active as a member of several law-related organizations.

NORFOLK

Debbie Fitzgerald, a practical nursing instructor at Norfolk Technical Vocational Center, has been named The Health Occupations new teacher of the year for the state of Virginia.

Fitzgerald, 33, received the award from the Virginia Health Occupations Education Association at its summer convention in Virginia Beach. The award is given annually to teachers who excel in their first five years of teaching.

This spring, Fitzgerald, a Chesapeake resident, led both a high school and an adult team to the state competition of Health Occupations Students of America Bowl, where they won the gold medal for their medical knowledge.

Fitzgerald is a staff release nurse at Maryview Medical Center and has worked at Sentara Norfolk General Cardiac Center and in the emergency room of Portsmouth General Hospital.

PORTSMOUTH Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven W. Mitchell, 27, assigned to Coast Guard Station Portsmouth, has been presented the Coast Guard Commendation Medal for outstanding achievement in response to a head-on boat collision June 21 on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River.

Mitchell, on patrol in a 21-foot boat, was with Petty Officer 3rd Class Stephanie A. McGinnis and Petty Officer 2nd Class Cornell B. Wilson when they were summoned to the scene by radio. Seven people had been injured.

While the other two directed nonessential traffic away from the scene, Mitchell used an expandable baton to break a fiberglass console to free one victim, according to the Coast Guard. He then gave his shirt and body armor to Rhonda Dobbins, a registered nurse who happened on the scene, to help control the victim's bleeding.

Mitchell then helped carry the victim 40 feet through the woods to a boat that was used to transport the most seriously injured man to the Jordan Bridge, where the Nightingale helicopter from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital was waiting.

``I didn't think a whole lot; you just react,'' Mitchell said at an awards ceremony at the Portsmouth station. ``This is my job, this is what I do. I am just happy I was able to step up to the plate and do what we do.''

McGinnis and Wilson received Coast Guard Letters of Commendation for their roles in the rescue. Seaman Apprentice Brian K. McGee, the watchstander at the station, also was recognized.

SUFFOLK

Betty Jo English, a 20-year business information systems teacher at the Pruden Center for Industry and Technology, started her career with mainframe computers and is now taking her students into cyberspace. Her enthusiasm and dedication recently earned English the Walter L. Shell Business Teacher of the Year award.

The award, presented to one business education teacher in Virginia each year, was given to English earlier this month at the Virginia Business Education Association Convention. Winners are selected by the Virginia Tech chapter of Delta Pi Epsilon, a graduate business fraternity that also sponsors the recognition.

English is a Suffolk native who worked as a computer programmer and a technical school teacher before joining the Suffolk public schools. She was nominated for the award by Pruden Center Director Peggy Wade. ILLUSTRATION: photos

Smith

Krzak

Mitchell KEYWORDS: U.S. COAST GUARD RESCUE HERO

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