Congratulations To The 2016 Denfeld Hall Of Fame Inductees

This year, ten Denfeld High School alumni will be inducted in to The Denfeld Hall of Fame.

I graduated from Denfeld in '09 and I hope one day to make an impact in the community as much as these fellow Hunters did. The ceremony will take place October 8th, 2016 in the Denfeld Auditorium with a reception to follow.

Denfeld alumni become eligible for nomination to the Hunter Hall of Fame ten years after graduation. Teachers, administrators and community members who have served the school are also eligible for nomination.

Congratulations to the following Hunters:

• Andrew Sobczyk - received a Ph.D. from Princeton, and was a theoretical mathematician who taught at the Universities of Oregon, M.I.T., Boston, Florida, Miami, Southern Illinois and Clemson, where he also established their graduate program in mathematics and authored over 50 papers on theoretical mathematics. Andrew passed away in 1981
• Robert M. Fraser -  Robert started in the shipyards in high school, and worked his way up to Superintendent and finally owner of Fraser Shipyards in Superior, WI. He was very innovative and is credited with keeping shipbuilding and ship repair alive in the Twin Ports after WWII. Robert passed away in 2006.
• Lew Latto - Lew began his broadcasting career at WKLK in Cloquet and became music director at WDSM as a high school senior. As a promoter he brought Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and "The Big Bopper" to Duluth. He bought his first radio station in 1964 (WAKX) and stayed in broadcasting as a dynamic on-air personality and station owner. He is a radio legend in the Northland and passed away in 2011.
• Kristen (Nelson) Coggin - Kristen was All State in Basketball and Softball and even made Sports Illustrated Faces In The Crowd for her volleyball serving accuracy. She won 13 letters in volleyball, basketball and softball and excelled at UMD in basketball and academics.
• Richard Swanson - Good ole Swanny! He was the first coach at Denfeld whose teams in two sports (girls basketball and girls softball) reached 300 wins. He's a member of the MN GBB Coaches Hall of Fame and his teams set school records for wins in a season (22 in GBB) (19 in GSB). The softball fields at Wade were even renamed the Dick Swanson fields in 2016.
• Rolland "Rollie" Strand - He was legendary coach Walt Hunting's last football captain and All-City and Honorable Mention All-State. After high school Rollie went on to a distinguished career of teaching and coaching.
• Ed Felien - By far one of my favorite teachers at Denfeld. Ed taught high school science for 43 years (the last 26 at Denfeld). He was nominated for and won several distinguished teacher awards on the local, state, and national level. He also coached baseball and volleyball and officiated hockey and volleyball. Ed retired when I graduated.
• Dale Stocke - Dale was an elementary teacher who dedicated his free time to promoting youth basketball. He ran the elementary feeder program for Denfeld in conjunction with DAYBA and single handedly got more kids interested in playing the sport than anyone before or since.
• Gary Lepisto - Gary played tennis at Denfeld and coached tennis, Nordic skiing, swimming, and track and cross-country. He coached for 35 years at Denfeld, taking several individuals and teams to State meets. To this day, Gary is a consultant with many Minnesota and National level distance runners.
• 1947 State Champions Basketball Team - This iconic team has become a legend in West Duluth. The five living members of that team: Kenny Sunnarborg, Tony Skull, Keith Stolen, Howie Tucker, and Eugene "Pug" Norlander have all been invited back to accept the nomination and be inducted.