Three to be honored as Distinguished Clay High School Alumni
Eugene “Gene” Gulish, Michael P. Dansack, Jr. and John S. Szuch will be among the honorees at the Distinguished Alumni & Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet Thursday, Oct. 3 from 6-10 p.m. at St. Michael’s Centre, 4001 Navarre Ave., Oregon.
• Eugene “Gene” Gulish was born June 10, 1937, in Curtice, where his parents had a restaurant and small farm.
When he graduated in 1955 from Clay High School, he was the first in his family to do so. He attended the University of Michigan, planning to be a high school biology teacher, but he decided he’d rather teach at a university.
He earned a Master’s Degree in Embryology and a Doctor of Medicine Degree from The Ohio State University. He did his internship and residency at LA County-USC Medical Center, and a four-year orthopedic residency followed. It was during this time that he decided to enter private practice.
Gulish was drafted into the Army as a Major and was sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana. He was an orthopedic surgeon while there, and operated on many wounded soldiers from the Vietnam War. He received the Army Commendation Medal upon his discharge in 1971.
He started a private practice in Sebastopol, California. About this time, arthroscopic surgery was introduced. He performed the first total knee replacement north of San Francisco and the second total hip replacement.
Gulish moved to Paris, Tennessee, in 1994 because “they were in desperate need of an orthopedic surgeon.” At age 82, he was still practicing three days a week.
All of his children work in healthcare – one is an orthopedic surgeon, two are physician’s assistants, one works with autistic children, and one teaches marriage and family therapy on the college level.
Early in his career, Gulish realized how much he enjoyed medical mission work. He has traveled many times to a mission hospital in Kolo Ndoto, Tanzania. In 2010, he traveled to Haiti to assist earthquake victims. He traveled to Nigeria on a medical mission trip to Nigeria in June.
• Michael P. Dansack, Jr., graduated from Clay High School in 1978, and went on to the University of Toledo College of Engineering, graduating in 1982 cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering. He subsequently graduated from the Toledo College of Law in 1985.
He is a partner at the law firm of Gallon, Takacs, Boissoneault & Shaffer. He participates on a bi-weekly basis on 13abc’s “Ask the Expert” segment, providing answers to viewers’ legal questions during the noon newscast.
Dansack served on Oregon City Council from 1983-89, serving as president from 1984-89. He earned the distinction of being the youngest person in Oregon’s history to be elected as mayor at the age of 29. He served as mayor from 1989-93.
He has been an elected member of the Educational Service Center of Lake Erie West Governing Board from February 2010 to the present, serving two years as board president. His community service also includes serving on the Toledo-Lucas County Library Board, the Lucas County Mental Health Board, the Harbor Behavioral Health Care Board of Trustees, the St. Charles Mercy Hospital Advisory Board of Trustees, the Oregonian Club, the Oregon Plan Commission, the Oregon Growth Corporation and Bethany House.
He participated in several volunteer activities, including coaching from 1978-1985 for the Oregon Recreation Department and coaching for the Anthony Wayne Recreation Department. He was an announcer for the Clay High School Fighting Eagle Marching Band from September 1978-November 1988.
Dansack provided pro bono legal services in 2000 to the Clay High School Athletic Boosters, Inc., including the incorporation of a non-profit corporate entity and application for a 501(c)(3). He also offered his services to the Oregonian Club Charitable Fund for the same services. His services in 1997 to the Clay High School Stadium Renovation Fund, Ind., included the creation of a non-profit corporate entity.
• John S. Szuch graduated from Clay High School in 1966. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and an MBA from The University of Toledo. He completed the University of Michigan Graduate School of Banking and Financial Services Program and is a graduate of the Sheshunoff banking programs.
Szuch was employed in various lending and management positions at Trustcorp, Toledo from September 1973 through June 1988. As senior vice president of Trustcorp, he was responsible for the operation of the Metropolitan Banking Division.
He was a co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Capital Bank, N.A., a $1 billion organization which opened for business in August 1989. Capital Bank merged into Fifth Third Bancorp on March 9, 2001 with a total transaction value of approximately $250 million. Formerly chairman of Fifth Third Bank of Northwestern Ohio, a $3 billion subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp, he is currently an executive officer and member of the board of directors of Signature Bank, N.A., a $800 million regional bank headquartered in Toledo.
Szuch is a member of St. John’s Jesuit High School Foundation Board, chairman of their Technology Center Fund Campaign and chairman of their “Setting the Pace” capital fund drive.
He was an Ernst and Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 1996, and received the University of Toledo Pacemaker Award in 2005.
Szuch currently serves on the Trustee Committee of the University of Toledo Foundation and as the chairman of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. He is also a trustee and member of the Finance Committee of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and a trustee and chairman of the Toledo Museum of Art Finance Committee. He serves as a trustee of Second Harvest Community Services of Northwest Ohio and a trustee and finance chairman of St. Ursula Academy.