Achievement Hall of Fame Inductees 2023

Old Town Class of 1992, Aron Gaudet, filmmaker and director

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Old Town Class of 1987, Kirk Francis, Chief of Penobscot Nation

Chief Francis was born and raised on Indian Island. After graduating in 1987, Kirk attended Bridgton Academy and the University of Southern Maine where he majored in Business Administration.

He has served as Chief of the Penobscot Nation since 2006 and holds the distinction of being the longest serving Chief of the Penobscot Nation since the electoral system began in 1850. 

Chief Francis has focused heavily on the Penobscot’s economy. He has been a leader in the creation of the Penobscot Indian Nation Enterprises (PINE), a section 17 corporation that now has nine subsidiaries representing multiple markets. 

Beyond his local service, Chief Francis also serves as a national leader on many issues facing Native Americans. He currently is President of the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET)/United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund (USET SPF) an organization comprised of 33 federally recognized Tribal Nations from the Canadian Border to the Everglades and across the Gulf of Mexico.

Old Town Class of 1968, Thomas Thornton, Jr.

Tom Thornton, Jr. was born on November 2, 1949, the first son of Thomas, Sr. and Gloria Michaud Thornton.

Tom graduated from Old Town High School in 1968 as class president.  His extracurricular activities included three years of varsity football, playing as a lineman.  Tom entered the halls of Husson College in the fall of ’68 earning a degree in business in 1972.

By this time, Tom had married the former Brenda Yerxa of Old Town on July 10, 1971.  His first job out of college was for H. E. Sargent, working as a foreman for about one year.  He then had a three-year stint with Prudential while selling snowmobiles for Thornton’s Sports Shop on weekends.

It was 1975 that saw the start of what a long string of entrepreneurial adventures would be.  Tom’s first experience of being his own boss occurred when he, with his brother Peter, purchased an auto repair business in Old Town.  They soon outgrew the small garage and relocated from Center Street to South Main Street, in 1978.  Thornton’s Amoco prospered and grew into an Interstate Battery franchise in 1984.  He soon formed lasting friendships and business partnerships with well-known Old Town citizens Jack Cashman, Joe Cyr, Bernie Labree and Charlie Jenkins.

The highlight of Tom’s business savvy might have been the acquisition of Freightliner of Maine with Joe Cyr.  This move by Tom gave him a great deal of pride, knowing that he could work with his wife and three children to form a family business that would last indefinitely.

Tom was a tireless community leader, serving as an active member and past president of the Old Town Rotary Club.  His love of the outdoors guided him to becoming a strong supporter of the Katahdin Area Council of Boy Scouts.  Other interests included the Maine Youth Fish & Game Association, the Small Business Association and the Maine Rural Development Authority.  Tom also served as a trustee of Husson University and was a board member of the Machias Savings Bank.

Tom made a name of himself in his hometown of Milford and beyond.  He reached this level of recognition through his keen sense of recognizing the importance of each individual he came into contact with.  In the words of one of his fellow Rotarian, Corina Larsen, “Tom was a visionary leader who had the uncanny ability to make everyone from every walk of life feel their importance in the greater scheme of things and feel that they were his most important friend.  He has many hundreds of most important friends, and we all feel that we were special in his eyes.” 

In spite of being pulled in a number of different directions with his extensive involvement in community and business affairs, Tom always had time for the most important aspect of his life, his family.  His greatest sense of pride was his wife of 40 years, Brenda; his children, Nicole and husband Derek Madden, and their sons Ford and River; Toby and his wife Melanie, and their sons Justin and Thomas; and Lee and his sons Chase and Ty.  In his later years, Tom was able to acquire Nugent’s Camps on the Allagash.  This became a great source of pride for Tom and his family.

During the winter of 2010-11, Tom was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and, in spite of numerous treatments, was not destined to gain any ground.  He was able to put all of his affairs in order and spent considerable time making plans with his family for a future without him.  As the fall of 2011 commenced, Tom sensed that his time might be near.  In a gesture that enabled him to say good-bye to his friends, Tom held an open house in Milford at his antique auto museum.  He greeted all who came for over seven hours until each person had a chance to exchange memories and say good-bye.

Tom passed away just a week later, on October 8, 2011.

Old Town Class of 1998, Jody Staruk, Project Executive at Consigni Construction

Jody Kenniston Staruk is a 1998 graduate of Old Town High School. At OTHS she was a standout student athlete. During her years in high school Jody was an honor roll student and was named Penobscot Valley Conference All Academic in Soccer, Basketball, and Softball. 

Upon graduation, Jody attended Worcester Polytechnic and holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering and construction project management where she was a Dean’s list recipient and graduated with honors. Jody was awarded the Worcester Polytechnic master’s degree Scholarship and was a graduate assistant at the institution. 

Jody Staruk joined Consigli in 2003 as a Project Engineer and has managed projects spanning public to private, small to large, fast-track to multi-year and complex renovations to new buildings. Jody is the first female recipient of Consigli Construction’s highest honor – Builder of the Year 2017 – out of 300 eligible employees. She is also the first female project executive in Consigli’s 116-year history. Her past work includes construction of the Garthwaite Center for Science and Art at the Cambridge School of Weston, a residence hall at Framingham State University and a residence and dining facility at Worcester State University. She is currently overseeing the $25 million renovation of Miller and Houston Halls at Tufts University, as well as projects at Boston College and Eagle Hill School. 

Jody has played a large role in the development of department operations for more than 18 years, helping Consigli evolve their processes and ensuring system efficiencies for projects and training. She was promoted to Consigli’s first-ever female Project Executive in 2017, and recently completed the YWCA of Central Massachusetts’ facility renovation in Worcester, where she led Consigli’s first-ever all female team. In her role as Project Executive, Jody provides overall team leadership and is fully accountable to her clients to deliver on all goals of the project. She works with the Consigli, client and design teams to gain a complete understanding of project requirements and expectations to develop a construction management approach that will ensure success. 

Jody has been recognized in the Worcester Business Journal as one of the Power 50, Class of 2021 and an honoree in 2017 in the Worcester Business Journal, 40 under forty. Jody resides in Holden MA where she lives with her husband and two young children, Madilyn and Molly.

Old Town Class of 1988, John Weber, Marine Spatial Planning Director

Planning and policy expert John Weber joined the Waitt Institute team in the spring of 2021 as its new Marine Spatial Planning Director. Weber has over 15 years of experience developing innovative solutions to further ocean conservation and spatial planning for communities. Weber has led and developed comprehensive ocean plans in the Northeast United States, working to ensure the efforts were transparent, inclusive of all stakeholders, and based on the best available science and data.

              “Our blue planet is sending us a clear message that we need to act now to ensure that we continue to receive the many benefits of a healthy ocean,” said Weber. “Through hard work, focusing on the science and information, and most importantly, engaging those communities who directly rely on a healthy ocean, we can ensure that we create inclusive solutions to complex ocean issues. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Waitt Institute’s fantastic team that are already leading the way in this all-important work. “

              Marine Spatial Planning is a stakeholder-led, public process that uses spatial information about natural resources and human uses to develop a comprehensive management system for an ocean space. By joining the team of science, legal, fisheries, blue economy, communications, and programmatic experts, Weber will help develop spatial planning processes for the nine Waitt Institute sites across the globe. “John is one of the world’s experts in marine spatial planning from concept to design to implementation, and we are so fortunate to have him on our team. With the addition of John, we are strengthening our ability to deliver the technical support nations need to achieve comprehensive marine spatial plans that lead to 100% of their oceans sustainably managed, “said Waitt Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Kathryn Mengerink.

              Weber previously served as the director for the U.S. Northeast Regional Ocean Council, a partnership of New England states, federal agencies, and Native American tribes that collaborated on the 2016 Northeast Ocean Management Plan to advance management of ocean activities and protect marine habitats. He was the Ocean Program Manager for the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, where he managed the day-to-day development and implementation of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan, completed in late 2009. John has a B.S. in Coastal Geology from Long Island University and an M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University.

              Weber is a 1988 graduate of OTHS. He and his family currently reside in Concord, California. 

Old Town Class of 1988, Jacqueline Urtecho, Clinical Assistant Professor, Neurology and Neurological Surgery

Dr. Jacqueline S. Urtecho, MD is a Neurointensivist in the Division of Neurotrauma and Critical Care at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and an Assistant Professor within the departments of Neurological Surgery and Neurology at Sidney Kimmel Medical College within Thomas Jefferson University. In addition to her duties as a Neurointensivist, she is a tele-consultant for the Jefferson Tele-Stroke and Tele-ICU programs. 

              After graduating in 1988 from OTHS, Dr. Urtecho enrolled at Syracuse University and received a B.A. in Spanish in 1992. In 2000 she completed a post-baccalaureate pre-med program at Columbia University. In 2001 Dr. Urtecho enrolled in Temple University School of Medicine and earned her Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) in 2005. The following year she did an internship in internal medicine at Temple Hospital. Dr. Urtecho remained at Temple for a residency program in neurology. She then went on to complete a fellowship in Neurointensive Care at Thomas Jefferson University where she continued as a faculty member upon her graduation. She is an active member of the Neurocritical Care Society, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American Heart Association. 

              Dr. Urtecho has co-authored five book chapters and is currently involved in research concerning neuroprognostication after cardiac arrest and brain death. Her collaborative research has been presented at the International Stroke Conference, the Annual Meetings of the American Academic of Neurology and Neurocritical Care Society and has been published within critical care medicine, neurosurgery, and neurocritical care journals.

Old Town Class of 1964 Bette Hoxie, Executive Director Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine.

Bette (Garceau) Hoxie, a 1964 graduate of Old Town High School, was born in Old Town and raised in Bradley, the 2^nd of 5 children.  Her parents brought her and her 4 siblings up with unconditional love and strong family values that emphasized faith, sharing, and caring.  Bette credits these with providing the solid foundation on which her life of tireless service to improve the plight of foster and adoptive children was built.

Bette’s husband, Joe, was a supportive man who shared her core values and love of children.  They gave birth to 3 children, adopted 8, and fostered many until Joe’s death in 1997 after which Bette continued to foster children as a single mom.  She has been mom to over 150 foster children since she and Joe welcomed their first foster child into their home!

For over 55 years, Bette’s identity has been linked to both gaining and imparting perspectives on the joys and challenges of parenting.  She has been passionate about improving the lives of foster children, adoptive children, and their families, and has tirelessly advocated on their behalf – something that has gained her the respect of this community, state, and country.

For decades, Bette has actively participated in college and certified training programs to better understand the complexities involved in raising foster children and adopted children and to gain greater skills for effectively helping them and their caregivers find success as family.  Her education included learning how DHHS, the Department of Education, Special Education, and the ME Judicial System operate; drafting and tracking legislation; and writing grants.  She holds the distinction of being the first certified foster parent in the State of Maine and is regarded as an expert in the field. 

Bette became a Certified Parent Trainer with the Maine Parent Federation, a Certified Adoption of Special Needs Trainer, Instructor of Preventing Abuse in Foster Homes, Instructor of Foster Parents Who Have Adolescents Preparing to Live Independently, Instructor for Parent Volunteers Who Work with Youth in Substance Abuse Prevention (OASP), Fundamentals Trainer for Adoptive Foster and Kinship Providers (trainer or trainers), and Certified Trainer of Fetal Alcohol and Drug Exposed Infants and Children.  She developed and taught courses that include, “Your Special Needs Child in the Community”, “Day to Day Living with Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder”, “Developing Empathy with Grammy”, and “Transitioning from Foster Care to Adoption to Adulthood”.  Additionally, she has authored and edited many training and organizational newsletters and articles, represented AFFM on numerous child welfare related committees, and presented at several informational meetings and conferences.

Bette was a catalyst in forming a statewide support system for foster, adoptive, and kinship families that became the Adoptive & Foster Families of Maine, Inc., & the Kinship Program.  She served as executive director of this grass roots organization from 1997 –2017 during which time the organization grew from serving a few hundred families to over 5, 000 annually.  What began as a one room office staffed by volunteers and funded by donations became an organization contracted by the Maine Department of Child and Family Services with a large budget and two sizable offices located in Saco and Bangor.  Since November 2017, Bette has held the positions of Kinship Resource Parent Educator, Kinship Program Supervisor, and Kinship Program Manager, a position she assumed in January 2023.

In recent years, Bette has strongly advocated for people parenting their grandchildren as legal guardians.  She has raised awareness about the effects of alcohol on the unborn child and most recently about the opioid crisis in the State of Maine and across the country.  She has spoken at numerous forums on these topics, including the Senate Committee on Again in Washington, D.C.  She is particularly focused on developing resources for grandparents who are more frequently becoming caregivers for children whose parents suffer from opioid addiction.

Bette has received many awards over the past 43 years including Maine Foster Parent of the Year (twice), New England Foster Parent Association Award, Jefferson Award– both local and state, Kids Peace New England Unsung Heroes Award, Angel in Adoption Award, and Friend of Youth in Care to name a few.  She was named Maine Mother of the Year in 2018.  In recognition of this award, Sen. Susan Collins wrote, “The lasting impact you have made on your community as the Executive Director of Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine and through your tireless efforts with the Kinship Program is immeasurable.  As both a nurturer and advocate, you have touched the lives of many… I am so appreciative of your work and have come to rely upon your invaluable insight and experience, both professional and personal.”

At 76, Bette is a grandmother raising a 7-year-old.  She continues to work full-time for Adoptive & Foster Families of Maine, Inc., & the Kinship Program.