Medical Lake Hall of Fame welcomes six
At a ceremony at St. Anne’s Parish Hall in Medical Lake on Saturday, Medical Lake High School will induct six new members into its Hall of Fame.
The dinner and induction ceremony will start at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are available at the Medical Lake High School district office.
The inductees will be:
•Gregg Dunn, Class of 1976: Dunn was a noted athlete throughout his high school career. He was a varsity letterman in football, basketball and track and was selected as most valuable player more than once.
He was ranked as one of Popular Sports magazine’s top 100 high school running backs in the nation. During track, he was the team captain, Frontier League champion in the low hurdles and placed second in the league in the 100-yard dash.
As well as an impressive athlete, Dunn was the class valedictorian.
After high school, he went on to the University of Montana and played in 40 consecutive football games. He achieved academic All-Big Sky honors and was an honorable mention All-American in 1978.
When he graduated from college, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks as a defensive back and later was released.
He is now a computer consultant with the public transit system in the San Francisco area.
•Tammy Simmons, Class of 1987: Simmons played softball, basketball and volleyball every year in high school. She lettered four years in softball, three years in basketball and two years in volleyball.
Her senior year, Simmons was selected as Female Athlete of the Year. She was selected first-team all-conference in softball and basketball her junior and senior years, and second-eam all-conference in volleyball the same years as well.
Beyond sports, Simmons graduated in the top 10 percent of her class, was voted senior class president and senior homecoming queen.
After high school, she attended Spokane Falls Community College and then Eastern Washington University. She now works in the special-education department at Medical Lake Middle School and has coached softball, volleyball and track. In 2002, she coached the middle school team to an undefeated season.
•James Hillbrick, Class of 1964: During every year of high school, Hillbrick played football, basketball and baseball. He added track during his junior and senior years. In 1963 he batted .353 and that same year earned the Football Coaches Award.
In 1964 he was a member of the team that placed second at the state basketball tournament and made the all-state second team.
After graduating from Medical Lake, he went to Seattle Pacific College on a basketball scholarship. The team made it to the NCAA Small College Regional Championships.
He earned a degree in education and went on to coach basketball at Northwest College in Kirkland, Wash. In 1972 he attended the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., and earned a master’s degree in divinity. He became pastor at the Moscow Assembly of God church in 1976 and served there until 1988.
He also worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency.
He returned to the ministry in 2002 and retired in 2009.
•Barbie (Goll) DeWitte, Class of 1980: In addition to serving as freshman class secretary, sophomore class vice president and ASB vice president in high school, DeWitte was a member of the Windborne Singers, the wind ensemble, the National Honor Society, the high school band, the flag corps, the Foreign Language Club, the Frontier League Leadership Committee and co-editor of the Medical Lake High School annual.
On top of that, she earned varsity letters in volleyball and track. She played varsity basketball all four years, was selected team captain three years and was a two-time MVP. She was the second-leading scorer in league play her junior year and the third-leading scorer her senior year.She earned a bachelor’s degree in visual communications with an emphasis in graphic design from Western Washington University. She was self-employed for many years as a graphic designer in Seattle and Ellensburg and in 2000 began teaching at Ellensburg High School.
She is now an administrator at Ellensburg High School and is the activities director and ASB adviser at the school. She also teaches leadership classes.
•James Lundgren, Class of 1964: A lifelong resident of Medical Lake, Lundgren is an honorary inductee for his longtime support and devotion to the school district.
During high school, he was the varsity football team manager as well as the varsity baseball student team manager.
He attended Washington State University before joining the U.S. Army Reserves. He graduated from WSU with a degree in music education.
After working at the University of Washington Primate Center for two and a half years, Lundgren was hired by the Medical Lake School District as the high school band director. He added the middle school band a few years later and also coached varsity tennis.
He retired in 2003 and is a constant presence at athletic events at home and away, directing the band. He still works with students as a bus driver for the district.
•Gary Gilbreth, Class of 1961: During high school, Gilbreth lettered all four years in baseball and played on the district champion team in 1960. He also lettered in football and basketball during his sophomore, junior and senior years.
Gilbreth was also involved in the student council and was voted as having the most school spirit during his senior year.
He worked at the service station his father started in 1946 and then ran the business until he retired in 2006. He served as president of the Medical Lake Lions Club and still maintains his membership. He was also a volunteer firefighter with the Medical Lake Fire Department.