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Booster Banquet

Five Inducted in 2023 Class

This year's 2023 Boys Town Alumni Sports Hall of Fame class has five new members. Three are living inductees, while two in the Legacy class are being honored posthumously.​

The five will be inducted into the Alumni Sports Hall of Fame at the annual Booster Banquet May 2, 2023. Their exploits on the field of play at Boys Town have earned them the honor of joining a long list of athletes from the school's storied athletic teams. Sports have always been a major part of the program of opportunity for Boys Town youth and these inductees represent the best of the best.

Dennis Chinault
Dennis Chinault
Arrived at Boys Town from Richmond, Virginia, June 26, 1963.

He was an exceptional athlete, earning varsity letters in several sports, including track and field, gymnastics, and football. He played on the Cowboys’ Metro Conference championship football team in 1968 and was voted All-Metro in football his senior year. Chinault won recognition as both the outstanding running back and outstanding gymnast at Boys Town in 1969. He excelled in pole vaulting, winning a district championship. He was also a three-year member of the B Club.

Chinault was offered a full-ride athletic scholarship to Midland College in Fremont, Nebraska. He was a pole vaulter on the track team and played both cornerback and fullback on the football team.

He joined the Marine Corps’ Platoon Leader’s Program (PLC) while in college and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1973 after earning his bachelor’s degree in English education. After serving as a communications electronics officer, Chinault rose to the rank of Major. He served 20 years in the Marine Corps, retiring in 1993.

He had a multi-faceted career as a civilian that includes entrepreneurship and civil service. He served 10 years as a civil servant, while serving as the operations officer for the Marine Corps College of Distance Education and Training. He retired in 2016 and was awarded the Department of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

Chinault and his wife of 43 years, Darlene, reside in Stafford, Va. They have two sons and two grandchildren.

Frank Jachimiak
Anthony “Frank” Jachimiak
Arrived at Boys Town from Chicago, Illinois, September 20, 1949.

He was an outstanding swimmer, but performed even better in a difficult role – he was the team’s best diver – and possibly the school’s best diver ever. He was a member of Cowboy swim teams that won four consecutive Nebraska State Swimming Championships. In 1952-53, he was a member of the state champion 400-yard relay team and finished first diving. He won Boys Town’s Outstanding Swimmer Award in 1954. He subsequently followed up by winning the Midwestern AAU Men’s Diving Championship.

Jachimiak pursued tailoring as a profession in the trade school. He was well known because of his participation in so many activities. He was an Explorer scout his junior and senior year and won his “wings” in the Ground Observer Corp. He was a 4-H Club member, an Acolyte Society member, and a member of the Knights of Altar.

After graduation, Jachimiak accepted a full-ride scholarship to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he competed two seasons in diving competitions. Jachimiak and his wife, Jackie, had two daughters. He worked for 30 years at Lindberg Products where he was a technical writer, developing instruction sheets for model airplanes, cars, and boats. He now lives in Elkhorn Village, a small community outside Chicago, Illinois.

Eugene Becker
Arrived at Boys Town from Kansas City, Missouri, October 23, 1948.

He was an outstanding athlete.

Becker earned three varsity letters in football and was known as a fearsome competitor on the line. He was voted All-State his senior year in 1953 and was a stalwart on Boys Town’s undefeated 1953 football team. Becker also won two letters as an infielder on Boys Town’s first State Championship Baseball team in 1953.

Becker pursued an academic curriculum and was very well respected among his peers. He earned the rare distinction of being cottage commissioner his junior and senior years. He was also elected both class secretary and treasurer his senior year.

​Steve Green
​Steve Green
Arrived at Boys Town from Kansas City, Missouri, August 19, 1965.

He earned five varsity letters -- three in baseball and two in football. Green started on both sides of the ball, playing quarterback and defensive back. His senior year he was an All-Metro honorable mention in football and received the Kiwanis Football Award in 1969. He was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl in 1969 and won the Blue Howell Trophy in the Shrine Bowl, the first ever given to a defensive player.

Green developed a profile as an achiever and was seen as a leader on campus. He was in B Club three years, served as class secretary his junior year and was voted class president his senior year.

Dennis Binkowski
Dennis Binkowski
Arrived at Boys Town from Chicago, Illinois, January 19, 1965.

He excelled in football and earned two varsity letters playing under legendary coach Skip Palrang during the era of Boys Town’s Class A powerhouse teams.

He had an outstanding senior year, garnering numerous accolades and awards. He was a team captain, All-Metro and All-State in 1967 when Boys Town won the Metro championship. He was also voted the Stockyard 400 Club lineman of the year and took home the Palrang Outstanding Football Player Award.

After his high school graduation, Binkowski accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Wyoming and enjoyed four successful years for the Cowboys. It was during this period that he realized his calling – teaching and coaching.

Following his college graduation, he accepted a job at the University of Oregon as a graduate assistant for the football team. He also earned his Master’s in Education during this period. With this valuable experience under his belt, Binkowski took a job teaching and coaching for four years at Servite High School near Anaheim, California. He then accepted a head coaching job at Central Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon. After a successful tenure there, he served six years as the defensive coordinator at Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington. Binkowski then moved to Battleground High School in Battleground, Washington, where he assisted with coaching the track team and served as the assistant football coach for 4 years.

Binkowski retired in 2014 and lives in Oregon City, Oregon. He has been married to his wife, Ivy, for 23 years. He enjoys golf, wood working, remodeling homes, and just about anything requiring tools.

​​​​​​​Previous Inductees...

Legacy Inductees were posthumously inducted

2005

  • George Pfeifer, '44
  • Lavern Bush, '47

2006

  • Leonard Kroll, '47
  • James Mitchell, '47
  • Charles “Deacon” Jones, '54
  • Wilburn Hollis, '58

2007

  • Ed Novotny, '43
  • Tom Carodine, '48
  • David Nelson, '51
  • Bill Maddux, '53

2008

  • Larry Kennedy, '37
  • Nicholas Loncarich, '40
  • Jerrod “Jake” Williams, '49
  • James Cook, '55

2009

  • Charles Mitchell, '43
  • Kenneth Morris, '46
  • Frank Kerns, '48
  • Robert Hicks, '54

2010

  • Leo Magers, '48
  • Robert Mitchell,  '48
  • John Medlock, '54
  • Robert Maddux, '56

2011

  • Jim Swaim, '55
  • Glen Hepburn, '56
  • John Sterner, '57
  • Robert Cross, '58

2012

  • Edward Twohey, '43
  • Cecil Schirtzinger, '50
  • Michael Sterner, '57
  • Duane McAndrews, '62

  Legacy

  • Robert Rose, '49
  • Donald King, '50
  • John Wreath, '53
  • Eugene Becker, '53

2013

  • Richard Thomas, '45
  • Ernest Keahy, '54
  • Bill Grill, '54
  • Curtis Devers, '60

  Legacy

  • Harold Popp, '47
  • Joseph Grabowski, '48
  • Jim Tucker, '50
  • Manny Fierro, '61

2014

  • Albert M. “Bo” Rhudy, '60
  • George L. Buckler, '64
  • Kenneth L. Geddes, '66
  • Robert S. Schmit, '69 

  Legacy

  • Marlyn “Whitey” Myers, '52
  • Raymond G. Broy, '54
  • Roy Burns, '61
  • James A. Johnson, '61

2015

  • John Slobodnik, '59
  • Melvin Hamilton, '65

  Legacy

  • Thomas E. Render, '54
  • Robert D. Rutledge, '55
  • Larry M. Watt, '55
  • David H. Dirkx, '63

2016

  • Patrick L. Fitzgerald, '56
  • Kenneth B. Gilchrist, '65

  Legacy

  • John F. Curry, '55
  • Richard Badillo, '56
  • Richard J. Girouard, '56
  • Gerald T. Schulte, '60

2017

  • Dean Ward, '50
  • Cornelius Arnold, '61

  Legacy

  • John Brogan, D '45
  • William Eichelberger, '61
  • John Chesire, '62
  • Byron McCane, '64

2018

  • Ronald White, '66
  • Nathaniel L. McKinney, '68

  Legacy

  • Thomas Robbins, '64
  • David McGuire, '65
  • Percy Kight, '68

2019

  • James R. Rhudy, '66
  • David Aaron, '68

  Legacy

  • Raymond L. Keele, ‘59
  • James F. McGovern, ‘59
  • Gary G. Hodge, ‘61

2020

  • Daniel Chesire, ‘65
  • Terrance Costello, ‘69

Legacy

  • Arnold Johnston, ‘65
  • Clarence Jones, ‘66​

2022

  • Phillip Whitworth, ‘70
  • Joe Ortiz, ‘69
  • Bernard Jackson, '69

  Legacy

  • Ray Williams, ‘54