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Kennedy Middle School Welcomes Alumni Into Hall of Fame
Success is measured differently depending on
one’s intentions, but setting any goal often starts
with a dream while one is little.
The Kennedy Middle School community welcomed
former students who found success in a number
of fields. Many of the alumni who attended had
been previously inducted into the Redwood City
school’s Hall of Fame. However, three — Dennis
Haussler, Kristina Holland and Jorge Martinez
— were inducted during a free community event
on the school campus, located at 2521 Goodwin
Ave. Regardless of how long these alumni have
been Hall of Famers, they all come together to
emphasize that anything is possible with hard work.
Holland recalled dreaming of dance as a young
girl at Goodwin, which is what Kennedy was called
at the time she attended. She would walk to take
dance classes and later studied singing and acting.
“My first professional jobs were in musical
theater — singing, dancing and acting,” she said.
Those first jobs led to a number of others in
television, most notably as Tina Rickles on “The
Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” a show that aired
from 1969 to 1972.
Holland has since left Hollywood behind,
following an interest in psychology, particularly
the work of Carl Jung.
“A part of me was thinking, ‘Oh gosh, I can’t
change [my career]. I already chose,’” she said. Making
such a change is becoming much more common.
With great trepidation, Holland applied and was
accepted to graduate school. She has a practice
today in the East Bay focusing on artists and
people with artistic sensibilities.
“The further I’ve gone along, the more I realize
[the careers] aren’t exactly the opposites I thought
they were. I realized after a while, as a performer,
I was most interested in what’s going on under the
surface, not just the lines they are saying, but the
person underneath,” she said.
Holland hopes children realize change is OK.
“You can change your mind. If you just give
your all to whatever you’re doing at the moment,
once you get old and look back at it you see it all
was important,” she said.
Holland joins the ranks of many others from
Kennedy who followed their passion and were
previously added to Kennedy’s Hall of Fame.
Many of those individuals were on hand to
celebrate the new inductees.
For 61-year-old Michael Shrieve, his passion
started when he was passing by the band room
at Kennedy and saw the percussion section
performing by the door.
“That day I went and bought my first drumsticks and
acquired three carpet samples to practice on,” he said.
Shrieve, who now lives in Seattle, became a
well-known drummer. He played with Carlos
Santana from ’69 through ’74. Shrieve is also
known for an impressive solo during Woodstock.
“It is just hard work. I was fortunate to have
success at a very young age. It’s what happens after
the success that is the most challenging,” he said.
Success, and living in a different state, hasn’t kept
Shrieve from Redwood City. Every few years he returns
to Kennedy with his sons to perform for the kids.
The thing about inspiration is it can strike at any point.
John Radetich was just a skinny kid who was
always on the B team when one of his physical
education teachers suggested the high jump.
Radetich had seen Valery Brumel, a Russian high
jumper, on television and thought it was a fun idea.
He got some training books and began to improve.
During his eighth-grade year, Radetich was
lucky enough to see Brumel live at Stanford
University, where the Russian broke a world record.
“From that time I kind of focused on it and
continued to high jump through high school,” he said.
Radetich chose Oregon State, thinking he
would be the best high jumper in the school but
ended up being one of three able to jump 7 feet.
A teammate had created a new style of jumping
— one Radetich resisted until not qualifying for
a major meet his senior year. The change boosted
Radetich’s performance at the first professional
track and field event, where he broke Brumel’s record.
“Sports mirrors life. The successes you get from
that, you learn a lot from those failures too,” he said.
Athletics and children became Radetich’s focus.
Now retired, he spent 29 years working with the
Boys & Girls Clubs.
The Arthur and Marilyn Miller love story started on
Kennedy’s playground, which was then Goodwin.
Both Arthur and Marilyn were inducted three years ago.
“I remember it exclusively, walking down a
ramp and saw this guy — I was in fourth grade.
He was playing handball. I said I was going to
marry him,” she said with a laugh.
Arthur didn’t figure out their connection until
Woodside High. While she waited for him,
Marilyn took to dating others and enjoying life.
She wanted to become an attorney, but when Art
went to medical school, Marilyn decided one of
them needed to work. She earned her teaching credential.
“I’ve been one of those lucky people in life. I’ve
always left my jobs loving them and ready to do
something else,” said Marilyn.
Gaining the leadership skills to get such a luxury
dates back to Goodwin for Marilyn. She recalled
learning to understand leadership skills while
there, preparation that enabled Marilyn to serve as
the first commissioner of social activities at Woodside.
She tried to bring that opportunity to the
children she taught. Marilyn retired from her
position as superintendent in 2009 after 34 years
in the Hillsborough City School District.
Arthur, 67, also ended up in the world of
education. He began life planning to become a
minister but changed direction.
“The biggest challenges of changing direction
and going into science [were] having enough motivation
to want to succeed among so many other much
more outstanding people who were going into
science, but there is always a place for someone
who has a passion about their work,” Arthur said.
He’s spent 35 years as a professor at the University
of California, San Francisco, since following that
passion. Arthur’s experience includes numerous
degrees, and he joined the Brain Research Institute
to do work on the central nervous system.
“It is nice to have a school look back over its
history and invite you, and give you a sense of its
long-term commitment to children and the quality
of the children that go to a local public elementary
school in a small town,” said Arthur, who lives
with Marilyn in neighboring San Carlos.
Unlike Arthur, 51-year-old Jeff Richardson
knew he wanted to be a pilot early in life. The
idea only grew when, in science class, Richardson
made a rocket.
“I don’t know if they’d let you do that now. But
it was neat,” he said.
From there, it was just a matter of classes.
Richardson started with gliding flights and ended
up getting his private license in San Carlos,
then worked to earn what was needed to be
commercially rated before finishing his training
in Arizona. He eventually taught and got married
in Arizona.
“Somewhere there’s a 3-minute reel of me taking
off in an airplane and, as I came back, I could
barely see over the top of the thing,” he said.
In December 1985, Richardson was hired by
American Airlines, where he currently works as a
captain. After a short stint in Dallas, Richardson
moved back to the Bay Area, taking flights out of
San Francisco.
“The funny part about being a pilot is when I
get home, my wife says let’s go somewhere, like
asking the postman to go for a walk on his day
off,” he said with a laugh.
To date, he’s logged over 18,000 hours of flight
in a variety of planes to different destinations but
most frequently heads to Hawaii.
When inducted in 2000, Richardson questioned
why he would be included. The idea, as it was explained
to him, was to honor different accomplishments,
like sticking with a goal. This thought was
welcomed as Richardson described the variety
of “successful” individuals honored at Kennedy.
Maybe a student will look at the wall and not
want to be an athlete but find another future goal.
The key, Richardson said, is sticking with it.
Gary Beban may be one of the most well-known
people whose photo rests in the Hall of Fame,
which is located in the gymnasium named in his honor.
The 64-year-old, who now lives in a village
outside of Chicago, thought he’d be a teacher
when he grew up. Beban was on track to do so as
a history major at the University of California,
Los Angeles. Instead, he decided to continue with
his football success. Beban earned the Heisman
Trophy thanks to his performance as quarterback
for UCLA. He then played two seasons with the
Washington Redskins before leaving the sport behind.
Rather than be a teacher, Beban found a new
passion that paid a bit better. He began work with
CB Richard Ellis, a global real estate company,
for which he is currently an advisor.
“I found a business I truly enjoyed. It’s
challenging and stimulating and I’ve been at it for
the last 41 years,” he said.
Beban is looking forward to actually seeing
the inside of the building that bears his name and
sharing with kids what hard work can do.
“We all lived somewhere in those
neighborhoods,” he said. “Some of the [students]
may be living where we did. … Here’s a chance
for us to support them and give them part of the
vision that hard work and studies … will be as
beneficial today as it was to us.”
Editor’s note: This article appeared first in the Daily Journal
newspaper.
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