By Vickie Rhodehamel
ARCANUM NEWS
Last week, this column highlighted several Arcanum Alumni members who are proud members of our hometown legacy. Here are a few more members of that legacy.
Shanda (Swabb) Brown, MSA, SPHR, SHRM-CP, CPSP, Arcanum High School 1991 graduate who was President of Future Business Leaders in 1990-1991 is now the Director of Total Rewards and Human Resources Operations at Sikich based out of Naperville, IL working remotely from her home in New Carlisle. How did she get there? First a degree in Human Resources and Computer Science at Capital University in 2004, and after dedicating several years to her career, she completed her Masters in Human Resources Administration at Central Michigan University in 2011. Along the way she added the following credentials Certified Plan Sponsor Professional (CPSP), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), and her Society of Human Resources Management Certified Professional degrees (SHRM-CP). Shanda has been married to her husband, Renick, for 27 years. She has two sons, Hunter 24 and Noah 22. In her spare time, Shanda likes to take walks and toss frisbees with her Australian Blue Heeler, Jacklynne. She’s active in bible study and is learning to play the piano.
Gone way too soon, was David Price who was a 1968 graduate of Arcanum High School; he passed away earlier this summer from cancer. He proudly served as Quartermaster for 20 years of our local Arcanum VFW. A hometown proud gentleman who loved his family and his community, David and his wife Karen were the proud parents of five children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. After high school, he joined the United States Navy, where he served honorably for over four years in the United States Naval Construction Battalions, also known as the Navy Seabees. David then returned to Ohio and began a 30-year career as a Construction Estimator in the Civil Engineering department at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. David’s love for construction continued throughout this life. He was a “fixer” and built many barns for himself and his family and friends. If he wasn’t building the actual barns, he was probably consulting with someone on how to build them. In his free time, David enjoyed farming and being with his farm animals, especially his horses and pigs. He liked to go deep sea fishing on his boat in Florida. David was a devout Christian and an avid supporter of the Darke County 4-H program and the Darke County Fair. Another Arcanum legacy that we can call Hometown Proud. Rest in peace, it was an honor to be a member of the Arcanum Alumni with you Mr. Price!
Did you know that Arcanum High School has a grad who won a Pulitzer Prize? Roger Snell graduated from Arcanum High School in 1977 and went to The Ohio State University where he graduated in 1980 with a B.S. in Political Science and Journalism.
Roger Snell’s career as a newspaper reporter exposed cops who owned crack houses. He shed light on vehicle defects causing fiery accidents that killed more than 100 people. His reporting on ethical abuses led an angry Ohio Supreme Court justice to break the ribs of another justice he thought was a source of leaks. His career also included working for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the Kentucky Department of Insurance. In his 19-year career, Snell wrote over 3,000 stories and won top investigative awards, including the Pulitzer Prize shared with a newsroom of talented reporters. Roger has written two books, the first one in 2009 was about the ace pitcher who took the Cubs to the 1929 World Series, Root for the Cubs: Charlie Root and the 1929 Chicago Cubs, and in April 2017 he penned Love, Grandpa. (Both are available on Amazon or his website: www.rogersnell.com). Today, Roger lives in Frankfort, Ky. with his wife, Linda, daughter, Hannah, and granddaughters, Starlight, Ruby, and Izzy, and their father, Joshua Brown. Roger is the son of Rosella and the late Donald Snell Rosella still resides in Arcanum. Roger is a full-time professional artist now, a member of the Plein Air Artist of central Kentucky, Plein Air Painters of Bluegrass, and among the first members of the Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. Now that he is retired, he is devoting his time to progressing as a professional landscape oil painter. Check out his artwork on his website as noted above.
“When you finally go back to your old home, you find it wasn’t the old home you missed but your childhood.” ~Sam Ewing
“There may be no secrets in small towns, but there are no strangers either.” ~R.A. Mathis.
