OSBORNE — The Osborne County Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 consists of an Air Force flying ace, a wildly successful craft brewer, a noted painter, a revered illustrator and artist, and the county’s first military veteran. To read their full stories go to the Hall’s online website at www.wordpress.com.

Gerald “Jerry” Jean Beisner (1923-2018) was born on September 30, 1923 in Salina, Kansas and spent his early years in the community of Natoma, Kansas. After attending Maur Hill High School in Atchison, Kansas, Jerry joined seven of his brothers and sisters in the war effort by enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1943. Following flight training Jerry earned his wings and began a distinguished 30 year career in the United States Air Force, retiring as a Colonel. During his career Jerry flew fighter missions in the Korean conflict and in Vietnam. He traveled all over the world, served as a fighter squadron commander, a Wing Director of Operations at MacDill AFB, and Tactical Air Command Chief of Safety at Langley AFB, in addition to countless other assignments. Gerald received many awards and honors, including the Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism with One Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal with 15 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star. After retirement from the Air Force Jerry founded the market research firm Beisner Research Associates and continued in that business for approximately 30 years. He passed away in Macon, Georgia.

John Reed McDonald (born 1953) was the founder and guiding force behind one of the most prosperous and well-respected regional specialty breweries in the United States. Born in Osborne, Kansas, John graduated from the University of Kansas in 1976 with a degree in fine arts and then moved to South America and taught in Ecuador. Upon his return, he worked as a carpenter for 15 years when he decided to market the beer he had been homebrewing in his woodshop. In 1988 John McDonald formed the Boulevard Brewing Associates Limited Partnership in Kansas City, Missouri and the first batches of beer were produced in the fall of 1989. A major expansion in 2006 made Boulevard Brewing Company the largest specialty brewer in the Midwest. By 2017 Boulevard Brewing was the 12th largest craft brewer in the nation and served in 19 U.S. states. John McDonald served as its President and also served as its Chief Executive Officer until September 5, 2012. In October 2013 the Duvel Moortgat Brewery of Belgium bought a controlling interest in the Boulevard Brewing Company. At the time the company was brewing 178,000 barrels a day and selling in 40 states. In 2017 those figures had leaped to 640,000 barrels a day and selling in 42 states and territories and in 11 foreign countries. After the sale John McDonald became a developer, responsible for the renewal of the dilapidated East Bottoms and West Bottoms areas in Kansas City into modern centers of commercial and recreational commerce. John also co-founded Ripple Glass, a glass recycling company that plays a significant role in making Kansas City a green business-friendly location. In 2018 McDonald served as a director of the Greater Kansas City Chamber Of Commerce.

Vinnorma (Shaw) McKenzie (1890-1958) was born in Downs, Kansas. She began drawing and painting at an early age, winning national prominence. After Vinnorma graduated from the Downs High School she attended the Chicago Art Institute two years and the Chicago Institute of Fine Arts. Vinnorma married John Harrison McKenzie in Downs, Kansas, on July 9, 1921, and settled in Port Huron, Michigan. She was art instructor in the public schools there for two years and attended the summer session of the Chicago Alumni society of Painting, and the Art Students’ league in Woodstock, New York. Vinnorma was the subject of numerous art exhibits in Michigan, New York City, at Wichita, Kansas, and with the Detroit Society of Women Painters, winning several awards. Vinnorma became ill with leukemia and died in Sarnia, Michigan in 1952 at the age of 58.

Willis Acton Pyle (1914-2016) was born in Portis, Osborne County, Kansas. He moved to Bethune, Colorado with his family as a child and later to Boulder, Colorado. He later studied art at the University of Colorado but left school to join Disney Studios in 1937. He worked on the classic animated films Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), and Bambi (1942), before leaving the studio during a strike in 1941. Willis subsequently worked briefly with Walter Lantz on Woody Woodpecker cartoons. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, animating training and propaganda films for the First Motion Picture Unit. Willis worked as an animator for United Productions of America (UPA) after the war. He also worked as a fashion illustrator for the magazines Vogue and Harper’s. Willis was animator for the Oscar-nominated cartoon shorts The Magic Fluke (1949) And Ragtime Bear (1949), which introduced the character of Mr. Magoo. He also animated Dr. Seuss’ animated short Gerald McBoing-Boing, which earned an Academy Award in 1951. Willis formed his own studio, Willis Pyle Productions, in the early 1950s. He retired from animation in the early 1980s but briefly returned to work on the 1989 televisions series This is America, Charlie Brown. He became a leading painter of watercolors and oils, and was frequently exhibited at New York galleries. Willis was the older brother of actor Denver Pyle (of Grizzly Adams and Dukes of Hazard fame), who died in 1997. He died at his penthouse apartment on Broadway in New York City at the age of 101.

Edward R. Roche was born in 1846 in County Tipperary, Ireland. He immigrated to the United States aboard the passenger ship “Fidelia” without his parents or any known family. The “Fidelia” left Liverpool, England, and arrived in New York City, New York, on August 5, 1851. In March 1866 Edward enlisted in Company I of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was assigned to escort duty for the Deputy U.S. Surveyors in the summer of 1866 as they set the boundaries for what is now Osborne County, Kansas. Roche was killed in action defending the surveyors during an Indian attack on July 21, 1866, “near the Solomon River” in Osborne County, the first military veteran killed in the line of duty within the county’s environs. A prominent headstone was placed at Roche’s initial burial site, atop a knoll near where the four corners of Penn, Hancock, Corinth, and Bloom Townships now meet. He was later reinterred in the Osborne City Cemetery in 1879.

The Osborne County Hall of Fame (OCHF) is an all-volunteer organization first formed in 1996 to celebrate the heritage of Osborne County, Kansas, on its 125th anniversary of organization. Since 2001 the OCHF has annually inducted three to five individuals tied to Osborne County who have made an impact at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels. “To honor not only those who are famous but also those who should be famous” is the unofficial motto of the OCHF. The honorees are chosen by a committee of past and present Osborne County citizens. To see all of the stories of the OCHF inductees be sure to visit the Hall’s website at www.ochf.wordpress.com.

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