Beatrice Educational Foundation honoring new Hall of Fame members

BEATRICE – The Beatrice Educational Foundation will induct four new members into its Hall of Fame this spring. 

Kevin Mar is a head referee for the Big 12 football conference. He began by refereeing high school football, then some small college games and is now the head referee for division one college games. He has worked 13 Bowl Games, the 2017 Mountain West Conference Championship Game, and 2008 FCS National Championship Game.

Mar created the Nebraska High School replay protocol for the state championships and has been the Replay Official for the Nebraska State High School Football Championships since 2019.  Once the football season is over Mar begins refereeing high school basketball games and he was honored this March for being a registered basketball official for 25 years.

He then moves on to umpiring high school baseball and has done so since 2021.  Now living in Omaha, Mar returns regularly to ref middle school football games or high school basketball games. He also visits the Beatrice Community Hospital for his job in medical sales for Zimmer Orthopedics & MiMedx Group.  His contributions to sports have ensured that games are played according to the rules and that all the participants have a fair chance to compete. Mar is a 1989 Beatrice High School graduate.

Inductee…the late Gary Nickels’ passion for the arts and his commitment to education and to students is his legacy. He began his teaching career as an art teacher at Beatrice High School and went on to work with the Nebraska Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts as an Artist in Residence traveling the state.

Nickels was hired as the first art consultant for Grand Island Public Schools in 1977, working with the elementary schools. He was recognized for his outstanding work as the recipient of the Nebraska Art Teacher's Supervision and Administration Award during the 1990-91 school year. He became an art teacher at Grand Island Senior High where he was in charge of designing the new art department that included an art gallery. He retired from GIPS in 2001.  Following retirement, he took a position for one year as a gifted teacher at Saint Francis Indian School in South Dakota. While there, Nickels became highly respected by the Elders.

The art gallery at CHI Good Samaritan in Kearney still has Gary’s art exhibit up for patients and families to enjoy. He was also talented at silversmithing and goldsmithing and early in his teaching career he learned how to blow glass. He loved working with clay and may be best remembered for helping elementary students create clay monster pots.

In addition to teaching, Gary worked as a crop-hail adjuster, starting in the summer of 1980. Upon retirement from itching Gary continued as an adjuster until his death. Gary was known to have served as one of the longest crop-hail adjusters in the nation, with farmers dubbing him “The Legend.”  Nickels  was a 1958 graduate of Beatrice High School.

Dr. Mark Vrtiska’s passion for wildlife management started in Beatrice when his father took him hunting and fishing. He is currently a professor at the University of Nebraska and a Wildlife Management Specialist, with the School of Natural Resources with his primary focus on undergraduate courses in Wildlife Management Specialist and Wildlife Techniques.

He has co-authored books in wildlife management and conservation. In addition he has written articles in Nebraskaland and Ducks Unlimited on subjects from Canadian geese in Nebraska to the movement of trumpeter swans in the Sandhills.  Vrtiska’s writing has received several awards including the Charles E. Bessey Award for best natural science article published in Great Plains Research, 2004 and 2009.

Other honors include the Ernest A. Gluesing Memorial Award from Mississippi State University in 1994 as the Outstanding Graduate Student and the David H. Nabi Memorial Award from Mississippi State University in 1993. The award was given to the student which best exemplifies selflessness in leadership, service, research, academics, and social endeavors.

The Beatrice Educational Foundation is almost 40 years old and enjoying the success which comes from being well cared for by dedicated board members. One of those members that helped the BEF become financially sound is Paul Whaley.

He joined the board of directors in 1993. The Foundation’s portfolio was worth $610,899.13. When he left the board in 2022 its portfolio was worth 2.7 million. Paul’s tireless work was instrumental in this growth.

Whaley had a vision for the Foundation to move from an organization with just a volunteer board of directors to an organization with an executive director and other paid staff. The Foundation reached out to graduates, community members, and businesses to grow the foundation. Whaley started his career in education, receiving a bachelor in science in Education/Speech and Theatre in 1970 and a master of arts in 1972 from Emporia State University. He taught at Hiram College, in Hiram, Ohio, and at Morehead State University.

Later he became an Assistant Professor of Theatre/Design at the University of Nebraska where he started a PhD program in Theatre Design.  After moving to Beatrice in 2003 he worked at Pinnacle Bank from 2003 to 2014 managing and advising individual retirement accounts. He continued working as a retirement planning specialist with Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.

The Beatrice Educational Foundation has been able to help teachers with grants, provide a quality afterschool program for elementary students, supporting the Backpack program, honoring an outstanding teacher and paraeducator, and developing additional programs to support both students and teachers because of the dedication of Whaley.