Centenarian
Hilda Jane Howard Castleton of the Logan 5th Ward, Logan Utah Central Stake, celebrated her 100th birthday in April. She was born in Bountiful, Utah, in 1897, one year after Utah received statehood. As a child, she lived in a tent with her family after moving to the Big Horn country in Wyoming when her father was called as a colonizing missionary.
Education was important to her. She road to school on horseback behind her father who was her teacher. He taught her English literature, algebra, Latin and German.
The family later moved by covered wagon to Malad, Idaho. She was asked by the school board to attend summer school at the University of Utah and take examinations for a school teaching position. She returned three months later to teach 8th grade.
She married Harold James Castleton, a sugar beet boiler for U&I Sugar Co., on Oct. 10, 1917. They raised two boys and three girls while living in Garland, Utah. They filled missions to New York and South Dakota, and served as workers in the Logan Temple. Brother Castleton died in 1982.
Citizenship
Hassan B. Campbell, a priest in the Burkeville Ward, Richmond Virginia Chesterfield Stake, and a senior at the Fuqua School, received the Daughters' of American Revolution award for outstanding citizen of the year.
He is a member of the National Honor Society, attended Boy's State and has been accepted to attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
He was captain of his state championship Fuqua Falcons football team and was awarded as the all-conference linebacker, all-conference defensive player and all-conference player of the year for 1996.
Academics
Lisa Hopkins, a freshman at Yale University, won first place in the Utah State History Day competition for historical essays, and was chosen Best Entry from the State of Utah in the National History Day competition in Washington, D.C. Her paper was selected for publication in a recent issue of The Concord Review.
Rohini Dhand, a Laurel in the Barron Ward of the Duluth Minnesota Stake, was elected Region 4 vice president of the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America during the national summer conference. She will represent 13 Midwestern states.
Rachel Wilson of the Huber Heights Ward, Dayton Ohio East Stake, was elected governor of the Ohio Buckeye Girls State. She was also elected president of both her sophomore and junior classes at Wayne High School. She serves as Laurel class president.
Martin Miguel Conda Sheridan, 19, of the Buenos Aires Argentina North Stake recently won a silver medal at the first annual Youth Project Scientific and Technology Studies at the General San Martin National University in Buenos Aires.
This award qualified him to attend the VI Argentine Chemical Olympics, from which he was one of 10 finalists among 5,500 high school and university level entrants. This qualified him to join the Argentine Olympic team competing in the World Chemical Olympics to be held in Canada in late 1997.
He declined the opportunity to join this team in favor of filling a full-time mission. He explained that "in each test, I asked for the Lord's help to pass the next round, but I always renewed my decision to serve a mission soon.
`I felt a tremendous satisfaction in achieving my goal. But I felt the Lord had blessed me so abundantly that I should keep my promise to serve a mission soon."
Professional
Ferrol L. Truman, first counselor in the Kansas City Missouri Stake presidency and a member of the Blue Springs 1st Ward, has received the Administrator's Award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Department of Commerce.
This national award was given "for leadership and resourcefulness in delivering effective human resource services." Brother Ferrol retired in March after 34 years of service.
Mark A. Vander Does, a member of the Sunnyside Ward, Portland Oregon Stake, received the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal for "exceptional dedication in support of the NASA mission." The award is considered NASA's highest award to a non-governmental employee. It was presented in Washington D.C. to Brother Vander Does for his "exceptional service, personal dedication and superior technical leadership."
Brother Vander Does is a software engineer who serves as second counselor in the bishopric.
Student body president
Emily Andrus, 21, was sworn in May 6 as the 1997-1998 student body president of Stanford University.
Sister Andrus, who will be a senior next year, is majoring in public policy with a focus on international business and possibly a minor in economics. During her junior year, she served on the student senate and as chair of the appropriations committee. She has also held a part-time student job in the university president's office. Because of these experiences, she said, "I had a good sense of how to deal with administration and how to go about solving problems."
She won the general election in early April with just over 50 percent of the majority vote. Her swearing in was delayed when an opposing candidate called for a run-off election. The student senate, however, rejected the request and validated the results.
Sister Andrus attributes some of the development of her leadership skills to previous callings in the Church's Young Women program where she served as Laurel president and counselor, Mia Maid president and counselor and Beehive president. At Stanford, she has served as president of the Latter-day Saint Student Association.
She is the daughter of Ed and Fay Andrus of the Stratford East Ward, Salt Lake Highland Stake.
Harvard law graduate
Lisa Anne Grow, 23, of the Cambridge 5th Ward in the Boston Massachusetts Stake, is the first woman in the 180-year history of the Harvard Law School to graduate summa cum laude. When she received her juris doctor degree on June 5, she was the first student in 15 years to graduate with the highest academic distinction.
She earned perfect scores on her law school entrance exam and has twice received the Sears Prize, awarded annually to Harvard's top two law students during their two years of law school.
She will clerk for a federal appeals judge, then, in a year, she will be a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
A graduate of Brighton High School in Salt Lake City, she earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Utah, also graduating summa cum laude. Her parents, Robert J. and Linda G. Grow reside in the Little Cottonwood Ward, Sandy Utah Granite View Stake.
