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Class of 2018 / Biographies

Zanesville City Schools \ ZCS Hall of Fame \ Class of 2018 / Biographies

John Dantonio

John was a ZHS Blue Devil from 1972-75, earning All-Central Ohio League District Honors in basketball during both the ’74 and ’75 seasons. He was also pinned All-District, All-Region and First-Team All-Ohio in 1974 for his football achievements, and ended the season playing in the 1975 North-South All-Star Game.

After graduating with a 3.5 GPA, John accepted a football scholarship to the University of South Carolina. He was a 4-year letterman and 2-year starter for the Gamecocks, anchoring a defense that appeared in the 1975 Tangerine Bowl. In ’77, he was named the ABC-TV Defensive Player of the Game for his efforts against East Carolina while also winning the Defensive Pride Award selected by his teammates in games in 1977 and 1978.

After a brief stint as a high school teacher and coach, John entered private industry, working for a manufacturer in Columbia, S.C. Years later, he accepted a role as a Product Manager for a Washington D.C., based building supply distributor before helping to start an independent distribution company in 1987.

As President and part-owner of Global Building Supply, John elevated independent distribution in the DC-Metro area before selling the company in 2005 and officially leaving his business in 2011.

He then returned to his true passion, coaching and helping young people achieve success in any and all aspects of their lives. John currently remains the freshman basketball coach at Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va.

Today, John’s greatest quest is to help those in need inside or outside of sports. This desire was shaped in his early years by his parents, Justin and Maryan, and is stimulated by his wife of 38 years, Jackie, who continues to mentor today in their community. His source of inspiration and constant encouragement is provided often from his two sons, Justin and Johnny.

Libby McCandlish-Hitchens

Libby McCandlish-Hitchens played basketball, softball and tennis for Zanesville High School, and was the school’s first three-sport, four-year female letterwinner. In basketball, Libby was honorable mention All-League as a freshman, second team as a sophomore, and first team as a junior and senior. Libby earned first team All-District her senior season, and also All-Ohio. The Lady Devils were district champions during her junior season, and sectional champions her final year.

In softball, Libby was first team All-League all four years, and first team All-District her final two seasons. In tennis, she was second team Buckeye Central Conference in 1994.

Libby played basketball for four years and tennis for two years at Marietta College. She was the school’s fifth all-time leading scorer with 1,283 points, with a career single-game high of 30 points. Libby started 98 games, including 75 straight. She was a three-time team captain, earning Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Week, and honorable mention All-OAC two years in a row. Libby earned her Bachelors’ Degree in Elementary Education.

After graduation, she returned to Zanesville and taught for six years for Zanesville City Schools. Libby coached girls basketball at Roosevelt Junior High for three years, then became girls varsity coach for two more. During this time, Libby earned a Masters Degree in Education from Marygrove College.

Libby relocated to Columbus, where she was an elementary teacher and the varsity girls basketball coach for Whitehall-Yearling High School. While at Whitehall, she earned her second Master’s Degree, in Athletic Administration, from Ohio University.

Libby then returned to Zanesville to teach at National Road Elementary. After one year, she became Dean of Students at Zane Grey Elementary, while also earning a third Masters Degree, in Administration, from Concordia University. Libby became assistant principal at Zane Grey in 2016, and then was elevated to principal at National Road in 2017.

Shirley McCollister

Shirley Lent McCollister graduated from Zanesville High School in 1956. The next year, she married her high school sweetheart, E. Scott McCollister, a 1955 ZHS graduate. Together, they have established deep and lasting roots in this community that continue to thrive today.

As a young married couple, Scott and Shirley developed a business of building and selling houses while starting their family. They would become the parents of Stephanie, Kelly, Kevin, Chad and Matt, all graduates of Zanesville High School.

Shirley would show the houses that Scott built and, one day in 1968, a friend encouraged Shirley to become a licensed Realtor. Since that year, Shirley has had a major impact on the residential and commercial real estate development of Zanesville and Muskingum County.

In 1988, Shirley became the Broker/Owner of her own real estate franchise, The Prudential-McCollister & Assoc. Realtors office at 807 Adair Avenue. She became an excellent role model for local women in business and received numerous real estate awards at the local, state and national levels. In 2004, Shirley turned the business over to her son and broker, Kevin McCollister, and the business name was changed to McCollister & Assoc. Real Estate. Shirley continues to be active in listings and sales and is a supporter of community goals.

Throughout her life, her leadership skills have been utilized by local charities and service groups as well, and in 2015, she received the Genesis Community Service Award.

Growing up and being educated in Zanesville has provided the vital foundation for Shirley’s numerous personal and professional achievements. From student, to wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, businesswoman, and philanthropist, Shirley Lent McCollister embodies the attributes of one of Zanesville’s finest citizens. Her long-standing support of the Zanesville City School District and to its special projects over the years makes her inclusion into the ZHS Hall of Fame an honor of distinction.

Robert McEvoy

Bob McEvoy was born and raised in Zanesville, and graduated from Zanesville High School in 1969. He accepted a basketball scholarship to Kent State University. Bob returned to ZHS after graduation in 1973, and served two years as a history teacher and assistant basketball coach.

Bob was a member of two ZHS varsity basketball teams that had a combined record of 40-5. The team ranked as high as No. 2 in the state during his senior year, and captured the Central Ohio League Co-Championship. Both the 1967-68 and 1968-69 teams won sectional and district titles. As a senior, Bob earned first team All-COL honors, was the COL’s co-leading scorer, made honorable mention All-Ohio, and was elected to play in the North-South Ohio All-Star Game. Bob was a four-year letterwinner at Kent State, earned honorable mention All-MAC honors, and was a team captain his senior year. After earning his bachelor’s degree at KSU, he earned his M.Ed. at East Carolina University in 1976, and pursued doctoral studies at the University of Alabama in 1980.

Bob became Vice President and Director of Athletics at Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C., from 1998-2017, with oversight of 20 sports and 600 student-athletes and staff. MU teams captured 15 NCAA Division III national championships and 13 other top-five finishes in NCAA championship competition. The Monarchs earned the USA South Conference President’s Cup for athletic excellence five times and MU teams won 100 conference championships, more than any other conference member.

Bob served the NCAA and USA South Conference in many ways. He directed multiple Division III tournament events. Bob served on two Division III national committees, was a facilitator for various student-athlete Division III Leadership Conferences, and served two terms as president of the USA South Conference.

Bob was men’s head basketball coach at UNC Greensboro and Methodist before his adminstration career, earning five coach of the year awards and taking MU to the Division III Elite Eight in 1997.

Bob and his wife, Pam, have been married 44 years and have two adult children, Michael and Lindsey.

Glenville Thomas

Glenville Davies Thomas was born in 1924 in Ystalyfera, Wales. Music was an important part of life, and that interest and love for music influenced his entire life. The family moved to Cleveland when Glenville was a young boy and he performed in a Welsh choir at an early age.

After earning a scholarship, he graduated from Baldwin Wallace College Conservatory in 1948. Glenville worked briefly as a classical tenor soloist in New York City. He returned to Ohio, married Mari Frantz, and returned to college to become certified as a teacher.

From 1953 through 1958, Glenville taught Vocal Music for Marion Franklin Schools. In 1958, he accepted a similar position with the Zanesville City Schools, and he remained there until his retirement in 1990. Glenville also served as Chairman of the Zanesville City Schools Vocal Music Department. During his 32-year tenure, he was instrumental in organizing citywide music festivals and his tour/show choir performed at various civic events and community organizations.

Glenville started the Greater Zanesville Youth Choir in 1959. That led to the founding in 1963 of the All-Ohio State Fair Youth Choir, comprised of high school students from all 88 counties. Eventually, members could choose to be a part of the European tour group, which did a concert and sightseeing tour every summer. Glenville directed these choirs until his passing in 1991.

Over the years, the choirs were featured on national TV, the Tournament of Roses Parade, and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They also performed for two Presidents, foreign officials, and at the inaugurations of three Ohio governors. Glenville was inducted into the Ohio State Fair Hall of Fame in 1976, received the Ohio Newspaper Association Governor’s Award in 1975 and 1982, and the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music Achievement Award in 1979.

Girrard Stewart, organizer of the Ohio State Fair 50-year tribute to Glenville, said, “Glenville was that ‘wow’ teacher that some of us were lucky to have when we were growing up. He was always challenging you to do more, to do better. He challenged you to dream big. He taught us how to develop plans and never settle for mediocrity.”

Ira Wentworth

Ira is a 1989 Zanesville High School graduate who also attended McKinley Elementary, Hancock Junior High, and Grover Cleveland Junior High. He was National Honor Society student who also ran for the cross-country and track teams. Ira won numerous District and League Runner-of-the-Year awards, and earned two All-Ohio finishes in cross-country, including a State Runner-Up finish in 1988. However, the pinnacle of his high school athletic accomplishments is being a two-time State Champion in the 3,200 meters in 1988 and 1989. His school records in the 3,200, 1,600, and 4 x 800-meter relay still stand today.

Ira went to Malone University in Canton, Ohio, amassing seven NAIA All-America honors between cross-country and track, and was only the second runner in Malone history to earn four All-America titles in cross-country. Other highlights include winning the 1990 Ohio Collegiate Cross County Championship, a 1991 National Runner-Up finish in the 5,000 meters, and being the 48th fastest American during the 1992 Olympic year with a 5th place finish at the prestigious Penn Relays. His time of 13:53 for 5,000 still stands as Malone’s school record.

Ira graduated Cum Laude from Malone in 1993. He was an NAIA Scholar Athlete, and was named Outstanding Secondary Education Graduate by the education faculty. He earned his Masters degree from Malone in 1997, was named Malone’s Graduate Alumnus of the Year in 2008, earned his principal’s license at Youngstown State University in 2003, and his superintendent’s license at Ashland University in 2006.

Professionally, Ira has been a high school math teacher and a school administrator. At Indian Valley Local Schools in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, he led Midvale Elementary to an Excellent Rating and School of Promise accolades before moving to the superintendency in 2013. Recently, the State Support Team noticed Indian Valley’s improvement with new state standards and assessments.

The son of the late Gary and Becky Wentworth, Ira lives with his wife Amy in Sugarcreek, Ohio. The couple have four children: Samuel, Rachel, Ariel, and Noah. Ira and Amy also serve as deacons at Uhrichsville Christian Fellowship in Uhrichsville, Ohio.