CHADRON – Fran Grimes is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award given to friends of Chadron State College who have demonstrated exceptional service to the college through their volunteer or leadership efforts.

She was a member of the Nebraska State College Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2000. She is a native of Chadron and earned her bachelor’s degree as a non-traditional student from Chadron State in 1979. Her husband, Jim, earned a music education degree in 1967.

The Grimes were living in Grand Island when she was appointed to the Board of Trustees. Shortly after her final term on the board, the couple returned to Chadron where they currently reside. It is believed she was the first Chadron State graduate to serve on the Board of Trustees.

Grimes served three terms on the Chadron State Foundation Board and was the first female chair of the board. She led the board during the five-year Vision 2011 Comprehensive Campaign that raised $16.5 million. Funds raised in the campaign were instrumental in the construction of the Rangeland Complex, Eagle Ridge Housing, the renovation of the Armstrong Physical Education Building, and the construction of the Chicoine Center.

Grimes said she was amazed at the fundraising abilities of the members of the leadership team and the generosity of friends and alumni who contributed.

The Grimes have donated an annual scholarship to the CSC Wind Symphony as well as including CSC in their estate plans.

The Grimes attend CSC concerts and athletic competitions. Over the years, they have also hosted many international CSC students in their home for meals, holidays, and special events.

“We had a positive experience at CSC and want others to have the same opportunity,” she said. “Everyone at CSC was so helpful and accommodating when I was trying to earn my degree in Chadron while my family was in Ogallala. It was a good experience. Staff, faculty, and administrators bent over backward encouraging and supporting me.”

Jim taught music in Morrill, Ogallala, and Hastings before landing his dream job teaching elementary instrumental music at six elementary schools in Grand Island. He retired in 2002.

The Grimes’ son, Jeff, is the information technology director at the First National Bank of Gillette. He and his wife, Lusi, have three adult sons, Jeremy, Jacob, and Isaac who all live and work in Sheridan, Wyoming. In the past, Jeff played the trumpet with the Powder River Symphony, and was a board member and board chair.

Fran’s parents both attended CSC briefly in the early 1940s before her father volunteered to serve in WWII and her mother left school to work. Her sister, Roxie Schmitz, is a CSC alum.

Donnell is 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award winner at CSC

CHADRON – Actor, writer, and director Jennie May Donnell has been selected as one of two recipients of the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award at Chadron State College. Donnell and fellow honoree Col. Josh McConkey will be honored during CSC’s fall Homecoming ceremonies Oct. 7.

A native of Hot Springs, South Dakota, Donnell graduated from Chadron State in 1976 with Bachelor of Science degrees in Education, Speech and Theatre, Vocal and Instrumental Music. During her time at CSC, Donnell got her first summer stock theatre experience at the Post Playhouse at Fort Robinson and performed as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit.

Following graduation Donnell taught vocal music in Chadron Public Schools and directed school musical theatre performances. She has also taught creative dramatics and acting at the Performing Arts Center in Davenport, Iowa, and theatre training classes at Stage Door Manor in Loch Sheldrake, New York.

Donnell’s extensive acting experience includes community theatre, summer stock, children’s theatre, cabaret and touring with the first national tour of Steven Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George.

Among the roles she has played are Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly, Mama Rose in Gypsy, and Eunice in Streetcar Named Desire. She has trained with Anthony Hopkins at the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, Uta Hagen at HB Studios in New York, and Robert Neff Williams of the Julliard School in New York.

As a director, Donnell has worked at theatres in New York City, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Louisiana, Iowa, Oregon, and Washington.  

Donnell has performed and directed at the Black Hills Playhouse in South Dakota for 17 seasons and is currently president of the Black Hills Playhouse Alumni Association.

Now residing in Takilma, Oregon, with her husband, Menno Kraai, Donnell is a private music, theatre, and speech coach. She and her husband collaborate on theatre projects and are working on a stage adaptation of Leaning Into the Wind, an anthology of stories from women of the high plains. Donnell’s sister and her cousin are CSC graduates and her mother, Beulah, who wrote one of the stories in the anthology, studied at Chadron State.

Donnell said she cherishes her memories of Chadron State College and is looking forward to once again being in Memorial Hall. 

“I have lived many places, and the foundation I received from Chadron State College has kept me well-grounded and humble wherever I roam,” she said. “I am grateful for the seven years I spent in Chadron crafting my foundation in the theatre.”

Kolkman receives Distinguished Service Award

CHADRON – Rick Kolkman is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award given to friends of  Chadron State College who have demonstrated exceptional service to the college through their volunteer or leadership efforts.

“I’m honored, thrilled, and proud to have been able to be part of CSC and its presence in western Nebraska. The skills and knowledge students receive in Chadron help prepare them for their futures,” Kolkman said.

Kolkman served on the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State Colleges from 1993 to 1999. At the time, he was the head of the First National Bank of North Platte, where he lived. During his tenure with the bank, a branch was opened in Chadron. His involvement and leadership at the bank resulted in financial support for Chadron State College and its projects.

“My time helping at the college was a great, fun part of my career. I was pleased to associate with so many people in the community and bring the bank into active participation with the college,” Kolkman said.

In 2000, Kolkman’s bank pledged $50,000 to commission George Lundeen of Loveland, Colorado, to sculpt a life-sized statue of author Mari Sandoz that was placed in front of the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center in 2002.

“We were excited to participate in helping with the Center. Mari Sandoz was a very important part of Nebraska history,” Kolkman said.

Kolkman was on the Chadron State Foundation Board for two terms and chaired it leading up to the college’s centennial. He was a catalyst instrumental in developing the Foundation’s first comprehensive campaign called Vision 2011.

“My theory was that people were out there waiting to give to CSC and it turns out that was correct. I put the idea out there and they took it and ran with it. I don’t take any credit for the success of the campaign. They raised more than the goal. It was well-timed coinciding with the centennial of the college,” Kolkman said.

The campaign received a $100,000 gift from the First National Bank of North Platte. Campaign funds contributed to the construction of the Rangeland Complex, the Coffee Agricultural Pavilion, and the Chicoine Center.

“Chadron State College is a diamond in western Nebraska,” Kolkman said. “It has a solid administration, faculty, and staff. I can’t imagine western Nebraska without this institution to educate our leaders, motivate us to expand our horizons, and move us forward economically. It makes such an improvement to quality of life with cultural events, the students that attend, and the economic impact.”

Kolkman also participated in the CSC Golf Classics for nearly 20 years until he retired in 2014.

He and his wife, DiAnn, live in Omaha. Their daughter, Lisa, is a bank manager in Beatrice where she lives with her husband, Jeff. Their son, Aaron, is a certified financial planner in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and has three children. Their son, Dr. Paul Kolkman, is chief of surgery at Methodist Hospital in Omaha. He and his wife, Marcy, have four children.

McConkey receives CSC Distinguished Alumni Award

CHADRON -- United States Air Force Colonel Dr. Joshua McConkey is one of two Chadron State College graduates being honored with CSC’s 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award. Col. McConkey and Jennie May Donnell will receive the award during CSC Homecoming ceremonies Oct. 7.

An Alliance native and Alliance High School graduate, McConkey participated in the Rural Health Opportunity Program (RHOP) at Chadron State. He graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology degree and went to earn his medical degree from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 2003 and complete a Residency in Emergency Medicine at Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, in 2006.

McConkey joined the Nebraska Army National Guard as a Medical Service Corps officer in 2000 and served as the Chief of Aviation Medicine for the Nebraska Guard from 2007-09. His military medical experience includes more than 340 hours as flight surgeon in both fixed and rotor wing aircraft. Deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007, he was awarded the Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal for his service there.

McConkey transferred to the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 2011 and earned the rank of Colonel in 2019. He completed the USAF Aerospace Medicine Course in 2011 and served for a time as Chief of Medical Staff at the 916th Aerospace Medicine Squadron.

Currently serving as Commander of the 459th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, McConkey is in charge of a 100+ bed mobile patient staging system with a $1.5 million budget and oversees 122 medical professionals.

In addition to working clinically as an emergency physician for more than 20 years, McConkey owned and operated a free-standing emergency room business in Texas for two years and has been an Emergency Medicine professor and adjunct faculty member at Duke University in North Carolina. He has also worked and trained abroad, including three years in Australia and New Zealand, where he consulted on international health policy and development.

McConkey is the author of a recently released book, Be the Weight Behind the Spear, that emphasizes his leadership ethos and focus on youth leadership initiatives. Earlier this year he announced his candidacy for U.S. Congress from the 13th District of North Carolina.

McConkey and his wife, Elsa, live in Apex, North Carolina, with their 12-year-old son, Luca, and 11-year-old twins Alexandria and Gabriel.

Terrell honored as Distinguished Young Alumni

CHADRON -- Dr. Shane Terrell is one of three recipients of this year’s Chadron State College Distinguished Young Alumni Awards. Terrell and the other DYA honorees, Megan Helberg and Mike Sandstrom, will receive the award during Homecoming ceremonies.

Terrell, a Hay Springs native, graduated Cum Laude from CSC in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology degree. His CSC career included four years as a student-athlete for the Eagles’ football team and membership in Blue Key.

Following graduation from CSC, Terrell went studied at Kansas State University, where he earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 2011, a masters in Veterinary Biomedical Sciences in 2012, and a PhD in Pathobiology in 2018.

During his time at KSU, Terrell worked as a graduate research assistant for the Beef Cattle Institute, where he assisted research in food-borne pathogens and vaccine technologies. He also served as president of KSU’s student chapter of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners.

Now a bovine veterinarian and partner in Production Animal Consultation (PAC) located in Oakley, Kansas, Terrell and his team provide veterinary services to beef cattle feedlot clients representing more 30 percent of the cattle on feed in the U.S. In addition to providing expertise in animal health, wellbeing and production for PAC’s clients, Terrell is director of the company’s research division, which has special interests in projects focused on new technologies, antimicrobial stewardship, and animal care.

Terrell has been a presenter and panelist at a number of national and international professional conferences for bovine veterinarians and has published articles in several academic publications, including the Journal of Veterinary Medicine. A member of the University of Nebraska’s LEAD Class 36, he graduated this year from the University of Illinois Executive Veterinary Program.

Terrell and his wife, Kelly, live in Gothenburg with son Clay and daughters Brett and Quinn. Kelly is business manager for her family’s feedlot and farming operation. The couple are partners in Terrell Farm and Terrell Ranches in northwest Nebraska.

Terrell’s mother, Marjean Terrell serves on the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State College System.