Orrville High announces 2023 Outstanding Alumni

After an eight-year hiatus due in part to COVID-19, the Orrville High School Alumni Association recently announced three OHS graduates have been selected as 2023 Outstanding Alumni.

Selected for the honor are grads Becky Eshelman Jewell (Class of 1973), Alan Miller (1978) and Col. Clay Tipton (1988). The three inductees will be honored on Friday, Oct. 13 at the Orrville football game.

Becky Eshelman Jewell

Jewell, a graduate of OHS in 1973, went on to graduate from Wayne College and Malone College, then began her career with City of Orrville in 1974. In 1996 she was appointed as the first female safety service director before retiring in 2009.

During Jewell’s 35 years at City Hall, she was instrumental in launching the city-wide sidewalk program and curbside recycling program and sought new technology for street maintenance and the police and fire departments. Other programs that took place during her tenure were the City Hall addition and remodeling, the downtown improvement project, the addition to Fire Station #3, the new industrial park and more.

Past volunteer activities include serving on the following boards: Orrville Area Chamber of Commerce, Orrville Area Development Foundation Board, and Northeast Ohio Four County Regional Planning and Development Organization. She was a member of the Wayne Economic Development Council, Wayne County Planning Commission, Orrville Planning Commission and Strategic Planning Committee for the OrrViews newspaper.

She currently serves on boards at the Orrville Area Boys & Girls Club, Orrville Public Library, Dunlap Community Hospital/Aultman Orrville Hospital and Rails-to-Trails of Wayne County. She has been and continues to be involved with the Orrville Rotary Club, East Union Lutheran Church, Ohio Association of Public Safety Directors and the Ohio Homeland Security Task Force.

In 2013 Jewell was recognized as the Paul L. Powell Citizen of the Year and the Orrville Rotary Rotarian of the Year in 2015. She and her husband Jim live in Orrville and have a daughter, Stephanie, and a son, Chris, who is deceased.

Alan Miller

After graduating from OHS, Miller earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism. In 1984 he began his career at The Columbus Dispatch as a reporter covering regional news, urban affairs, Columbus City Hall and higher education. He also served as an assistant city editor, state editor and assistant managing editor before becoming managing editor in 2004. He was named executive editor in 2015 and held that position until retiring in 2022.

Prior to joining The Dispatch, he worked at The Repository in Canton, The Daily Record in Wooster and the Orrville Courier-Crescent. For 22 years Miller taught one journalism course each semester at Denison University, and following his retirement from The Dispatch, he became a full-time faculty member at Denison.

He is a past president of both the national Associated Press Media Editors Association and its foundation and is a member of the professional advisory board for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.

Miller received the Distinguished Service Award from Ohio University in 2015 and in 2022 received the Ohio University Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service Outstanding Service Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Central Ohio Society of Professional Journalism. He also was inducted into the Ohio Journalism Hall of Fame.

Miller’s roots in Orrville run deep as he was a key player in supporting the launch of the OrrViews newspaper. His experience in the industry was valuable in determining best practices for the paper to succeed. Along with a team of high school classmates and friends, he actively supports the Joyce M. Fast Scholarship, a $1,000 one-year scholarship offered to Orrville High School seniors. He also followed in the footsteps of his columnist mother Carol Kallberg and father Larry Miller, the Orrville reporter and photographer for The Daily Record.

Miller now lives in Granville. He and his wife Kris have daughters Katie, Sarah and Liz and enjoy house renovating, nature and travel.

Col. Clay Tipton

Tipton graduated from OHS and then Eastern Kentucky University, where he was a four-year member of the football team, with a bachelor’s degree in construction management. He was commissioned in 1992, and following graduation from The Basic School, he reported to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines as a rifle platoon commander in the United States Marine Corps.

During his military career, Tipton served in many roles. From 1996-99 he was an instructor at The Basic School and Infantry Officer Course, he attended the Amphibious Warfare School in 2003 with a follow-on assignment to the Expeditionary Warfare School staff, and he was an operations officer in Okinawa, Japan.

From 2004-07 Tipton was assigned as the executive officer for the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, where he deployed twice — first in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and again as the battalion landing team for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. After several other assignments, he was deployed in 2008, this time in support of the Western Pacific Deployment 09-01. Following this tour, he led the battalion to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom 10-1.

In 2011 Tipton attended the Naval War College, and upon graduation he was assigned to the United States Special Operations Command as a strategic planner. During this assignment in 2013 , he was again deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Tipton’s personal decorations include the Bronze Star (with Combat Distinguished Service) with one Gold Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Defense Medal with one Gold Star, Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with Combat Distinguished Service) with one Gold Star, Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon with one Gold Star. He retired from the USMC in January 2021 and is currently serving as a liaison officer.

Tipton is married to Dr. Julie (Falk) Tipton, and they have two daughters, Bailey and Riley.