Three new inductees into the Highland County Women’s Hall of Fame were honored in ceremonies held Tuesday evening at Southern State Community College.
Dr. Lisa Barnhouse, Cathy Griffith and Sue Frizzell Zint were the 2015 inductees, joining 99 others who have been inducted since 1981.
Sue Ludwick Smith, chairperson of the Women’s Hall of Fame, recognized each inductee and recounted the accomplishments and service to the community that led to Tuesday’s honorees being nominated and inducted. She presented each new member with a paperweight plaque denoting their induction.
Sharon Hughes, a 2003 inductee into the Women’s Hall of Fame who is media sales director for The Times-Gazette and a member of the Hall of Fame committee, presented each inductee with a gift package from the newspaper.
Other committee members are Peggy Addington, Loretta Dean, Zanna Haines, Frances Larkin, Kathy Levo, Marilyn Mitchell, Virginia Purdy, Leslie Ramsey, Angela Shepherd, Sue Smith and Robin Tholen.
Dr. Nicole Roades, vice president of Institutional Advancement for SSCC, welcomed attendees on Tuesday, and Hall of Fame member Kathy Levo recognized previous inductees. The invocation was offered by the Rev. Judi Wiley of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, and the benediction was given by Pastor Mary Cyrus of Highland Methodist Church.
Each inductee expressed their appreciation for the honor and thanked those who had been influential and supportive in their lives.
Dr. Lisa Barnhouse is the director of Hopewell Center State Support Team for Region 14, located in New Market. A Wellston native, she has lived in Highland County for more than four decades. She is a graduate of Ohio University, and received her doctorate in school psychology from the University of Cincinnati.
In a letter of support of Barnhouse’s nomination written by Pamela Nickell noted the nominee’s leadership in developing policies and procedures ensuring that kids with disabilities were included with regular education students, developing pioneering programs for preschool children with disabilities that served as a model for the state of Ohio.
Her significant contributions to the development of the Regional Family and Children First Initiative for a five-county area, and her tireless advocacy for meeting the needs of children with disabilities and ensuring their parents have a meaningful role in the development of an educational plan allowing their child to reach their full potential were also noted.
“Dr. Barnhouse has championed all students, particularly special needs students, her entire career,” wrote Nickell.
Cathy Griffith is the director of the Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center (SOPC). Nominator Karen Faust said of Griffith, “(She) might be small in stature, but her contributions in the area of caring for the unborn and their parents are immeasurable.”
After high school, Griffith spent a number of years in Kentucky, where she received her education at Kentucky Christian University in Bible and Christian Education.
Griffith joined the SOPC Board of Directors in 1993, and in 2007 became executive director of SOPC.
In 1999, while Griffith was board president, SOPC purchased a permanent site, and the building has since become “a home and safe haven for young women and men experiencing unexpected pregnancies,” Faust wrote.
Faust stated that Griffith “has developed hundreds of educational programs and traveled thousands of miles presenting these programs.”
Describing Griffith as “a tireless leader,” Faust wrote that in Griffith’s position she has “positively affected thousands of young men and women in Highland County” and the surrounding area.
Sue Frizzell Zint, of Greenfield, was the first female principal at Greenfield Elementary as well as the first female superintendent for the Greenfield Exempted Village School District.
“Sue is a powerful role model for modern women and a trailblazer who has demonstrated excellence,” wrote Ann Pence in Zint’s nomination packet.
A 1964 McClain graduate, Zint went to college in New York, and then to Bowling Green State University where she received her degree in elementary education.
She began teaching in Columbus, and in 1973 returned to Greenfield where she started teaching three years later. In 1985 she received her master’s degree in educational administration from The Ohio State University. In 1987, Zint became principal of Greenfield Elementary. She was superintendent of Greenfield schools for three years, retiring in 2005.
Zint’s efforts to preserve history include the restoration of both the DT&I railroad depot and the Smith Tannery, as well as the placement of the Travelers Rest and the Smith Tannery on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1988, Zint began a Secret Santa program as a way to help needy students. Pence wrote that since then, “Sue’s Secret Santa program has continued to expand.”
Pence wrote, “Highland County is a better place today because of Sue Frizzell Zint and her life-long passion for education, students, and her community.”
Sponsors for Tuesday’s event were The Times-Gazette, All Seasons Catering, Community Savings Bank Greenfield, Highland County Chamber of Commerce, Kroger, Red Dot Trophies, Southern Hills Community Bank Lynchburg & Leesburg, Southern State Community College, WVNU radio and the Highland County Press.
