The Class of 2024 • Saginaw County Hall of Fame Induction Dinner

For over 60 years the Saginaw County Hall of Fame has inducted over 150 individuals for accomplishments that have done much to impact the Saginaw community and shape the contours of the city’s and our region’s cultural environment. 

Nominations are accepted from the community throughout the year using a nomination form on the organization’s website at saginawcountyhalloffame.org, which also contains biographies from prior inductees.

These outstanding individuals will be honored at the Saginaw County Hall of Fame Induction Dinner, which will be held on Tuesday, October 22^nd at The Saginaw Club on the second floor, beginning with a Cash Bar at 5:30 PM, Dinner at 6:00 PM, and the induction program starting at 7:00 PM.

According to Hall of Fame president Thomas Mudd, “It is exciting each year to receive nominations of so many qualified men and women who, each is his or her own way, made Saginaw proud. It does, however, make choosing just a few very difficult. The results of this year’s balloting were reviewed by the Board of Directors at their September meeting and we are pleased to announce the following 2024 Inductees”.

JEAN ROCKWELL BEACH •

With numerous talents as an artist, author, and passionate historian of Saginaw’s history, Jean’s work as a visual artist and writer frequently celebrated the Saginaw community and its people. Her diligence and commitment elevated her stature as a definitive source for information about all things Saginaw.

Born in 1929 in Saginaw, Jean graduated from Saginaw High School in 1947 and received her BFA from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1951 and continued to be. Lifelong learner. In May of 1962 she married Glenn M. Beach and went on to write several books, including A Century on Canvas about the art careers of Julia and Henry Roecker, three Saginaw Hall of Fame volumes, and ‘Undefeated’, which was a biography she cowrote with Don Steele about the Shepler Family who founded Shepler’s Mackinaw Island Ferry.

Jean also authored histories of First Congregational Church, Pit & Balcony Community Theater, and the Saginaw historical cookbook Savoring Saginaw with Patricia Shek, which won the top award in the Saginaw News Critic Choice in 2007.

Her unique accomplishments include creating the ‘Slim Chipley’ character for Paramount Potato Chips, and starring as ‘Miss Merryweather’ on WNEM TV-5.  As a recognized artist with exhibits throughout Michigan art museums, Jean was in various shows held at the Saginaw Art Museum, where she was awarded Best of Show in 1998.

HARRY HAWKINS •

He was never too busy and his favorite motto was, “If you want something done, ask a busy man.”  While he gained more fame for his activities with the University of Michigan football team in the early 1920s, Hawkins also enjoyed an outstanding track record in industry with General Motors Corporation and his his civic endeavors with the Saginaw community.

A graduate from Arthur Hill High School in 1922, Harry went on to attend the University of Michigan on a full scholarship where he became an All-American and was called “one of the outstanding tackles of all time” by coach Fielding Yost. He would also excel on the track team, was senior class president, and a member of the Tau Beta Phi Honorary Engineering Society.

Upon graduation in 1926, Hawkins was first employed by the White Motor Company in Cleveland and 10 years later in 1936 would return to Saginaw as Product Engineer at Saginaw Steering Gear, where he became Chief Engineer in 1940. For the next 17 years he would rise through the ranks as Service Manager, Plant Manager, and finally Director of Sales & Engineering.

When General Motors wanted Power Steering in the 1950s, General Manager Bud Doerfner put Harry in Charge of an engineering corps to accomplish the task, and through his work redefining the hydraulic assisted power steering system of 20 years earlier, by 1952 power steering was in all General Motors’ vehicles.

That same year Hawkins was elected to the Board at the YMCA and put in charge of the Building Committee for the new YMCA building.  In 1963 he left Saginaw to become General Manager the products division in Rochester, New York, but was also a trustee and involved in the creation of Delta College, and is also a 2010 inductee into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame and U of M Hall of Fame.

DORIS E. MARSH

A Saginaw native and lifelong resident in 1957 she opened the Doris E. Marsh School of Classical Ballet in Saginaw Township. In 1971 she formed and served as artistic director/choreographer of Saginaw Valley Dancers company.

Over the years this company performed at Temple Theater, Dow Event Center, Germania Club (with the Germania Symphony Orchestra), Delta College, Midland Center for the Arts, Saginaw Valley State University, Fischer Opera House, for the Saginaw Eddy Band, Pit & Balcony, Bay City Friendship Shell, and many more venues across the state of Michigan.

Her production of ‘Peter and the Wolf’ was performed by the company more than 80 times in schools and for special events.

For 20 years the company performed her version of The Nutcracker Ballet, with upwards of 50 people in the cast, often entire families, and 150 costumes designed and made by Marsh and her friends.

Numerous girls grew up in this production, performing the smallest role as mice and eventually the lead role of Sugar Plum Fairy.  Productions included guests from the National Ballet of Canada, Minnesota Dance Theater, San Diego Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, and at its zenith were student performances at the Temple Theater, attracting more than 4,000 students from throughout mid-Michigan.

Her former students have performed with Minnesota Dance Theater, Colorado Ballet, Norwegian Opera Ballet, and the Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. In 1986 Marsh received the All Area Arts Award and in 2010 she donated 500-plus costumes to the Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy, as well as props.  That same year she established Saginaw Valley Dancers Endowed Fund to promote dance projects that was seeded with $35,000.

WILLIAM C. & EMMA L. WIECHMANN •

With a natural business instinct, Mr. Wiechmann owed his success to a natural business instinct, capacity for hard work, and to his wife, Emma.  After attending Saginaw Public Schools through the 5^th grade, he started to earn his living along with the retail business by selling notions with little or no capital and along with wife, Emma, opened a business at 506 E. Genesee back in 1900.

Over the next 30-years the store grew to three store fronts on Genesee and in the 1920s he bought property at 116 S. Jefferson and hired Beckbissinger - a local architect - to design a new 5-story building with new departments four times the size of the previous one.  The Wiechmanns wanted Saginaw to have a  REAL department store!

The store opened in 1930 and was immediately well-received. Recognized as an astute businessman, his acts of charity were seldom made known, even to the recipients.  When Emma & William saw shabbily dressed children come into the store, they supplied clothing free of charge from the inventory.

In 1925 William and Al Zauel built a 21-unit apartment building equipped with the newest appliances and services at East Genesee and Cherry streets that was called Edemarms, after Edith Zauel & Emma Wiechmann by merging the wives’ first names.

Emma and William were married in 1897 and he praised her judgement in market fluctuation and the art of merchandising, which was possessed by few. When Nathan Rosenfeld, President of Jacobson’s, asked her where in Saginaw he could locate a store, she replied that he should purchase the vacant store across the street from Wiechmann’s, which is exactly what he did!

Her community work included supplying both St. Mary’s and St. Luke’s hospitals with iron lungs and oxygen tents. At Christmas time she had a ready checkbook for various charities, and devoted many hours to working with patients at the Home for the Aged.

Following the principles of good merchandising and building a relationship of customer trust, the pair succeeded during the Great Depression, which was an incredible performance by two community oriented people. 

The public is invited to attend this 2024 Saginaw County Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Tribute. Please send a check for $40.00 per person payable to Saginaw County Hall of Fame to Irene Hensinger, 320 Ardussi Ave., Saginaw, Mi, 48602.

The menu will include the following: Dinner Rolls, House Salad, Smothered Chicken Breast with redskin mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetable, Char Grilled Salmon with dill cream sauce, Braised Boneless Short Rib, Mushroom Ravioli, with deserts.