POCATELLO — The Pocatello High School Education Foundation awarded its 2012-13 Distinguished Alumni to Roger W. Chase, former mayor of Pocatello, and Bill Ryan, a columnist for the Idaho State Journal, at a special banquet at the Juniper Hills Country Club Saturday evening.

    They were honored along with 2012 Teacher of the Year Jean Hancock, a math and chemistry instructor who began the chemistry AP program at the high school and retired last year to a life of quilting, traveling and just enjoying herself. After 26 years, she was given an award she had never thought she would receive.

    “It was very unexpected, to tell the truth, but it was appreciated,” Hancock said. “It’s a privilege to be recognized, though. I always wanted my students to accept a challenge and would tell them that I didn’t care what career they choose, just as long as they understood that life was a series of problems to be solved.”

    Hancock, a 1970 graduate of PHS and 1974 graduate of ISU with a B.S. degree in biology, began her career at Franklin Junior High teaching pre-algebra through college algebra. She left teaching for 10 years to raise her family. All four of her children are also PHS graduates. Hancock then returned to the classroom at PHS, where she was cheerleader adviser, Key Club and junior class adviser, faculty senate president and member of the leadership team.

    Hancock shared how she would meet pupils years later who would talk, share stories, give her recipes and offer her thanks for the job she did.

    “I have even taught the children of some of my earlier students,” Hancock said. “My kitchen table still hosts kids who come to talk or ask for help in a subject. I’m always there for them. You never get too far away.”

    Hancock was also the recipient of numerous awards including the Simplot Inspirational Teacher of the Year, Micron Technology Outstanding Science Teacher, and honorable mention for the Governor’s Industry Award for Notable Teaching in Science.

    Chase, who graduated from PHS in 1970, said he still loves politics and public service, but has no immediate plans to seek the office he lost four years ago to Brian Blad.

    “You never rule anything out, but I have a successful consulting business right now and life is good,” Chase said. “I think about politics a lot, but have no definite plans for any run at this time.”

    He attended Idaho State University for three years, left to serve a mission for the LDS Church, then returned to town to start a successful lawn maintenance company and a grocery store. He later sold the businesses and spent the next 21 years with the J.R. Simplot Company.

    During the 1980s, Chase served on the founding board for the Aid For Friends Homeless Shelter, was actively involved with the redevelopment of Old Town Pocatello and chaired the Chief Theater Foundation. He was also a behind-the-scenes worker and supporter of the arts community, was actively involved with the State of Idaho Centennial celebration, organized and chaired the Idaho Heritage Festival and chaired the Portneuf Valley Aquifer Protection group.

    In 1990, Chase was elected to the Pocatello City Council, served two terms, and was council president for four years. He was first elected to the Idaho State Legislature in 1999 and served as the Minority Party Caucus Chair for four years. He was a co-sponsor of the Farm Workers Protection Act and the Minimum Wage for Farm Workers Bill. His mayoral term spanned two terms from 2001-09.

    “I have done a lot of things in my life, but this honor is truly the greatest I have ever received,” he said. “To be recognized by your high school and peers is a wonderful thing. There are two things I love, the city of Pocatello and Pocatello High School. I have had the rare privilege of serving both of them. Pocatello High School is the best school in the state, no exception. I am extremely honored and humbled by my selection tonight.”

    Pocatello native Bill Ryan was from the class of 1947. He began his media career in his senior year as writer and announcer of the weekly “Poky Highlights” on KEYY Radio.

    After graduating, Ryan enrolled at ISU and began working in radio full-time. Bill married his college sweetheart, Marguerite Phillips, in December of 1955 and they moved to Milwaukee, where he completed his master’s degree at Marquette University. They then returned to Pocatello, and Bill became the news director at KSEI until 1965.

    Ryan joined ISU as its alumni director, then taught in the journalism department. He and Marguerite moved to Texas, where he spent 17 years with United Press International until his retirement.

    “The university gave me four years to achieve a Ph.D. and when I couldn’t, I was out of a job,” he said. “I took my wife, four sons, a mother-in-law and two poodles with me to Texas, but my heart was and always will be in Pocatello.”

    A widower, Ryan now lives in Richardson, Texas, and even though officially retired, he couldn’t resist a request from the Journal to write an “occasional” piece for the newspaper, now numbering more than 300 columns and several longer Sunday features.

    “I don’t get a penny for the Monday columns, it’s just a labor of love,” he said. “I don’t live here any more, but I keep up on Pocatello happenings through friends, the media and the Internet.”

    Ryan said his column writing keeps his mind active.

    “Tonight, I am honored to be honored,” Ryan said. “I don’t come back to Pocatello for just anything, but I am happy to come here and accept whatever they give me.”