4 to be inducted into Streator High School Worthy Hall of Fame

Four more names will be added to the Dr. Worthy Streator Hall of Fame during its 10th induction ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at Streator High School.

The event, itself, is run entirely by students in Streator High/Illinois Valley Community College dual-credit instructor Rob Tyne’s Western Civilization class. Tyne’s class is in charge of the in-person ceremony with last year’s class having conducted the research and video preparation on the 2022 inductees and this year’s class completing the work.

Videos made by the students will be shown during the event, with the recipients receiving a plaque. An unveiling of a display case honoring the new inductees will take place.

The class will begin work on its projects in January 2023 for the 2024 class. A committee looks at the nominees submitted by the public and makes recommendations on candidates who are “worthy” of the honors.

Working in groups, students research the nominees looking at nomination submission materials, using school yearbooks, reaching out to the person who will be honored or those who knew/know them and scouring the internet for background information. They then create a five-minute documentary on each person. The videos are presented to fellow classmates and representatives of the STHS Educational Foundation for review prior to the event.

The Foundation partners with the Worthy Hall of Fame to help support efforts to bring awareness of alumni who have made a difference in their communities and the world. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be available.

The 2022 inductees include:

Jack Dzuris, class of 1963

Dzuris was born on Sept. 1, 1945, and spent the majority of his young life in Streator and the surrounding area. He graduated from Streator Elementary Schools, Streator High School and Illinois Valley Community College before getting his degree from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Banking.

While at Streator High, Dzuris participated in a wide variety of activities. He was in cross country, baseball, basketball, business, prom committee, Hub Club, S Club, WIZZ, Review Senior newspaper and Hardscrabble. In his graduating year of 1963, Jack earned his place in the Streator High School Athletic Hall of Fame for being a part of the state qualifying baseball team. These immense successes would continue throughout all of his life.

From 1963 to 1966, he was the Scholarship Committee chairman and the Sunday school superintendent for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. For 32 years, Jack has been a member of the Rotary Club of Streator, and was previously the past president and fundraising chairman. Since golf has had a tremendous effect on Dzuris’s life, he fundraised for the Streator Junior and Senior Golf Association for 15 years. He was the city of Streator Golf Tournament “starter” for 15 years as well, and was later inducted into the Streator Men’s Golf Association Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2008, he served as the YMCA-past board member for capital campaign co-chair until he resigned.

Dzuris was a member of the Streator Elementary School Board for 23 years and also a past president of the board for 17 years. He is a member of the Streator Township High Educational Foundation and has been the secretary of the “organizational” board since 2007. He was a member, board member, past president and treasurer of the Streator Chamber of Commerce and Industry and retired on Jan. 31, 2022. Dzuris served as a member and the secretary of the board at St. Mary’s Hospital, and took part in fundraising. He was a foundation committee member there for eight years, during which he was also the foundation chair in 2009. He served in 2020-2021 year as an OSF Foundation member and vice chairman. Dzuris was the vice-chairman from 2018 to 2021 for OSF Live Well Committee. Dzuris’s remarkable dedication to the community of Streator has earned him the honor of being a part of the 2022 induction class of the Dr. Worthy Streator Hall of Fame.

Amy Linton Barklam, class of 1990

She was born to Richard and Susan Linton in Streator on July 27, 1972. She grew up with her parents and younger brother Mark. She attended Sherman Elementary school and Northlawn Junior High. At Northlawn, she was a member of the cheer team and band.

She attended Streator High School where she remained active in extracurriculars. She continued in band her freshman year, was a JV and varsity cheerleader for four years, and was a member of student council and National Honor Society. She was a member of the academic team and participated in WYSE academic competitions. She graduated from Streator High School in 1990 with salutatorian honors. After high school, she was accepted to the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She continued extracurriculars throughout college, including: philanthropy lead for her sorority (Alpha Delta Phi), student member of the McKinley Health Center Advisory Board, vice president of Sachem (a leadership honor society), and President of Torch (charitable honorary).

Her activities led her to be named to the senior 100 honoraries and earned her a place on homecoming court. During her college years, she spent a summer studying abroad in Chile. She graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics with highest honors and an unofficial minor in science. Immediately upon graduating college, she moved to New York City and began working for investment bank Stanley and Morgan. She worked in their Latin American Debt Capital Markets department for three years.

After considering opportunities in both their Mexico and Brazil offices, she relocated to London where she had responsibility for the bank’s Eastern Europe, Middle East and African Debt Capital Markets business. During her time with Morgan Stanley, she traveled extensively. She left Morgan Stanley to obtain a master of Arts Degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. She then went on to work in a number of positions including Global Head of Fund Distribution for a leading global real estate firm and an executive consultant for a strategic advisory firm and the director of business development for a leadership development social enterprise.

Currently, she works at HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp), one of the largest global banks in London. She began there in 2017 working as a global leader for capital markets compliance, before moving to become the chief control officer across the firm’s global banking business. She leads a global team of 25 people responsible for the establishment and maintenance of a robust risk and control governance framework, established to keep the business safe and in compliance with global regulations. She is involved in HSBC’s women in banking initiative and is a strong proponent of diversity in the workforce. Barklam remains close to SHS and is proud to be the co-founder and continued sponsor of the Brett Stone Memorial Scholarship in honor of her late high school classmate and great friend. She also remains close to the University of Illinois, serving for several years as a board member of the University of Illinois Alumni Association.

She is the chair of the University of Illinois Alumni Association Awards committee, which is responsible for bestowing the alumni achievement award. She also is a trustee of Days for Girls UK, a charity working to provide menstrual supplies to young women globally. She is married to Anthony and has three children (Charlie, Freddie, and Sam) and two stepchildren (Henry and Ana) ranging in age from 12 to 22. They continue to live outside of London. Her remarkable career in finance makes her a most worthy candidate for the Dr. Worthy Hall of Fame.

Richard O’Hara, class of 1966

O’Hara was born Nov. 22, 1948, in Streator. He grew up on Water Street and attended St. Mary’s for his elementary education.

O’Hara was active at Streator High School, participating in Jets, Swim Team, German Club, and the president of the Thespians acting club. O’Hara was also a National Merit Scholar. During high school, he managed multiple jobs which included working at an ice cream stand, delivering newspapers for The Times, working at a root beer stand, and bagging groceries at a local grocery store.

O’Hara described his class of 1966 as a class that was easy to make friends in and a tight community. After high school, Richard went to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he earned a BS in psychology and took courses in architecture and natural science. O’Hara also earned a degree in Natural Resources Concentration. He left his mark before leaving U of I by scoring a perfect score on the graduates record exam.

After U of I, O’Hara went into the Air Force and was stationed at Mather AFB in California from 1971-1978. In the Air Force, Richard served as a navigator with the KC-135 aerial refueling squadron. After he completed his military service, he attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1980, he graduated with an MS in Urban and Regional Planning. Following graduation, his career included working at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Waste Management, Inc. (Oak Brook), Sheaffer International (Glen Ellyn), and American Ecology in Boise, Idaho.

As of 2022, O’Hara still lives in Boise, Idaho. While remaining in Idaho with his wife Patti, O’Hara has become an author. He has written many books regarding the history of his hometown Streator and about the people who have helped shape Streator. O’Hara also has helped many people from Streator to recall fond personal memories of Streator through his writings. Some of his greatest books about Streator include: “A Few Stories from Streator, Illinois,” “Streator Air Service,” and “Streator Boys.” O’Hara is worthy of being inducted because he is an outstanding author, graduate, and an extensive researcher who has helped to inform others how to combat environmental issues.

Lynn Cahill-Masching, class of 1973

Cahill-Masching was born in Seattle, Washington on June 27, 1955, to parents, Roger Cahill and Shirley (Barta) Cahill. She was the oldest of five children. After just two years of living in Seattle, her parents decided to move to Streator where her father opened a pharmacy. She worked there alongside her siblings.

For her primary education, she attended St. Mary’s Grade School until eighth grade when she transitioned to Streator High School. Cahill-Masching attended Streator High School from 1969 to 1973 and did nothing short of experiencing all she could in high school. She was involved in many clubs and extracurriculars that kept her active. She was a member of the student council, served as treasurer for the sophomore class, was junior class president and senior class president for half of the year. She also was involved in the Dolphins synchronized swim club at SHS, and German club where she traveled to different countries on class trips. She was the student council parliamentarian, and was inducted into the National Honor Society. On top of all of the extracurriculars she was involved in, she was also able to keep her grades up and was an excellent student for all four years. Because of her dedicated studies in German class and her involvement in German club, she was able to test out of the language requirement for college and earned two years of college credit for the subject.

Cahill-Masching attended Indiana State University in the fall of 1973 and graduated in December 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in criminology and business administration. She was president of her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta. She was also involved in professional and scholastic fraternities. She won the Criminology Student Academic and Leadership Award while at Indiana State. In December of 1980, she attended Illinois State University and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Master of Science Degree in human services.

Cahill-Masching is being inducted into the Worthy Hall of Fame because of her integrity within the workforce and for breaking the glass ceiling by becoming the first female warden from 1999 to 2003 at both Dwight Correctional Center and Kankakee Minimum Security Unit in Manteno. There she implemented a female sex offender treatment program, coordinated a Prisoner Advocacy Program and accomplished a multitude of other achievements. Not only that, but she also served as a jail administrator/superintendent from 2003 to 2011 at Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, Pontiac. Afterward, she took a short break and in 2009 she became a South Africa Humanitarian Initiative Delegate.

She has been an accreditation auditor since 2003 for the American Correctional Association, lead compliance inspector/security subject matter expert since 2011, and a detainee programming expert since 2015 for The Nakamoto Group, Inc., Rockville, Maryland, where she is responsible for inspecting the quality of life for ICE detainees.

Cahill-Mashing has opened wide the doors for opportunities for women in the field of criminology and the prison systems workforce through her dedication to her field, making her a candidate worthy of recognition.