Individuals who made their impact as a physician, suffragist, writer, referee and soccer coach comprise the Neenah Joint School District’s fourth annual Hall of Fame class in 2018.

Graduates Dr. Omar Atassi, Dr. Emma Jaeck, Dick Jorgensen and Jill (Lieber) Steeg along with longtime soccer coach Harry Kelderman will be inducted. The group brings the total members of the Hall of Fame to 27.

The inductees were selected by a committee of 15 individuals that included former and current employees and alumni. They will be honored at a banquet on Sat., Oct. 6 at 11:30 a.m. at Best Western Premier Bridgewood Resort Hotel and Conference Center in Neenah as part of the District’s homecoming festivities. Tickets will go on sale in July.

Atassi, a 1982 graduate, is a board-certified urologist and has been practicing in his hometown since 1995. He graduated from Duke University in 1986 and earned his medical doctorate from Loyola University in Chicago in 1990. In high school, Atassi was a three-sport athlete in soccer, basketball and tennis. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 1981 soccer team and earned academic all-state honors in basketball his senior year. Atassi has been active in the community, serving on several boards, including the Theda Clark Center Foundation and the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. He specializes in treatment of urinary cancers, diseases of the prostate and kidney stones. In 2001, Fox Valley Magazine named him the best urologist in the Fox Valley.

Jaeck, an 1892 graduate, was a teacher, professor, published author, poet and songwriter. Jaeck was active in the women’s suffrage movement, interviewing senators and representatives and participating in the first automobile parade in Washington, D.C. in 1913. Locally, she was active in a campaign to preserve the Kimberly Point in Neenah for public use in 1947. Jaeck earned degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed a doctorate at the University of Illinois in 1910. Jaeck studied Christmas customs from throughout the world and lectured on them globally, while writing many poems and articles. She spoke seven languages and taught foreign languages at colleges throughout the United States. Jaeck retired from teaching in 1933 and sailed around the world in April of that year. She returned home to live in Omro, Wis. and died in 1963.

Jorgensen, a 1952 graduate, was the head referee for the 1990 Super Bowl and also a prolific athlete and noted community member. The son of longtime Neenah coach Ole Jorgensen, Dick was a WIAA state champion in doubles tennis title during his senior season and also placed runner-up at state track and field in the pole vault. He quarterbacked the football team and helped the basketball team to a state semifinal appearance. He earned a basketball scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and captained the Badgers’ 1956 squad. Jorgensen served as a National Football League official from 1968-1990 and refereed 12 playoff games and four conference championship games. He served two years in the U.S. Navy and was president of Marine Bank in Champaign, Ill. He died of cancer following the 1990 Super Bowl and all NFL officials wore a black armband in his honor the following season.

Lieber, a 1974 graduate, was among the first national female sportswriters and earned multiple awards and three Pulitzer Prize nominations. In high school, she participated in track and field, French Club, swinging strings and cheerleading. She graduated from Stanford University in 1978 and began her career as a columnist and features writer for the Milwaukee Sentinel. Lieber was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated from 1981-95 and was the magazine’s first female NFL writer while also spearheading the investigation into the Pete Rose gambling scandal. From 1995-2008, Lieber was a senior writer at USA Today where she specialized in cover stories and covered most major world sporting events. In 2012, she wrote a piece about NFL player Junior Seau for the San Diego Union-Tribune that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She and her husband, Jim, who was an NFL executive for over 30 years and oversaw 26 Super Bowls, reside in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Kelderman has the most wins of any boys soccer coach in Wisconsin high school history while coaching from 1980-2015. In his 36 seasons, he led the Rockets to three state titles, two state runner-up finishes, 28 Fox Valley Association titles and a winning record every season while posting a 603-143-55 career record. He coached the girls team for one season in 2010 and went 22-5-1 in leading the team to the state semifinals. A 2011 Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame Inductee, Kelderman also coached six seasons at Lawrence University and won 672 matches at all levels. He was one of the founders of the Paper Valley Youth Soccer program that is now known as the Neenah Soccer Club with age-group teams at all levels. Kelderman still resides in Neenah.

Nominations for future Hall of Fame classes are accepted through the Neenah Joint School District website. Forms are also available at the District Office. Individuals need to be nominated by November 30 to be considered for the upcoming year. Once an individual is nominated, he or she will be considered every year.