Robert A. May (Bob)
Bob came to Hope in 1932 from Indianapolis when he was 5 years old and lived on a farm two miles north of town. Hope was the family's destination during the Great Depression because his grandfather was in poor health, and Bob's father was needed to help on the family farm. Those bad economic times proved to have a silver lining, in that it brought him to this wonderful community.
Bob Spent eight years at the old Central School and went on to graduate from Hope High School in 1945. After declining a scholarship from Purdue, he accepted a position working for Robert A. Grindle and Company Public Accountants and immediately applied his remarkable aptitude for numbers. In May of 1946 he married Hope High School graduate, Peggy Duesenberg and had two daughters who went on to graduate from Hauser High School in 1969.
In 1949 Bob and Robert DelVechio opened an accounting business in Columbus and eventually Bob established his own business in 1965. As of today he still works for the business he sold in 1987 on a semi-retirement status.
To this day Bob remains an avid Hauser sports fan and supporter of community events including selling ice cream with the Masons at Heritage Days. He fondly remembers his classmates and believes that there is no better place to work and live than in Hope.
Some of Bob's accomplishments and or awards include:
- Inducted as a member of the Hope Masonic Lodge #150 and was honored to be Worshipful Master of the Lodge
- 60 year member of the Scottish Rite
- Tipton Knoll Chapter of the ABWA "Businessman of the Year" in 1975
- Board member of the Yellow Trail Museum
- Columbus Elks Lodge #521 "Elk of the Year" in 2004
- Active in gaining support for the School Renovation Referendum 2007-2008
- Treasurer of the Flat Rock-Hawcreek Multi-School Building Corporation Committee 2009-2011
- Influential in establishing the Cox Family Scholarship
Paulette Munn
Paulette was born and raised in Hope and is a 1973 graduate of Hauser High School. She is married to Ron Munn and they have two sons and 5 grandchildren. Paulette taught for 36 years in the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corporation before retiring in May of 2013. She began her years of service at the old Hope Elementary School on Washington Street then moved to Cross Cliff and finished up at the current Hope Elementary. She taught first grade for the majority of her career.
Near the end of her teaching career, Paulette had the opportunity to take a sabbatical leave and go to China to teach in a primary school for 3 months. This leave not only gave Paulette a wealth of knowledge but the students of FRHC who benefited from the experiences she was able to share upon her return.
Although Paulette has retired from Flat Rock-Hawcreek she has not given up teaching and molding students in the Hope community. She is keeping busy as the director of the Children's ministry at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, serving as a School Marm at the One Room School House, volunteering and substitute teaching at Hope Elementary, as well as writing a series of articles for the Hope Star-Journal highlighting her visits to China.
Howard "Bud" Herron
Almost everyone who has read a local newspaper since 1980 has chuckled as some well-written tidbit or was sobered by a particularly poignant description of life's happenings under the byline: Bud Herron.
After graduation from Hauser High School in 1963 and graduating from college he went on to teach in the Indianapolis Public School system from 1967-1969. He was then called to serve as a missionary in Sierra Leone, West Africa from 1970-1971. After returning from Africa he began his newspaper career. He was a Reporter and News Editor of Home News Enterprises (1972-1973), Associate Editor & Senior Staff Writer for United Methodist Reporter (1974-1980), Editor and Publisher of the Daily Journal in Franklin, Indiana (1980-1998) and Publisher of The Republic in Columbus, Indiana (1998-2007). To this day readers continue to enjoy his writings in our local newspaper, The Hope Star-Journal.
Some of Bud's contributions/civic endeavors include:
- Trustee of Franklin College (1990-1994)
- Honored by Indiana University for Fiction Writing (1992)
- Board of Directors of Hospice of South Central Indiana (1998-2008)
- Founding Board Member of Hawcreek-Flat Rock Area Endowment Fund (2002)
- Indiana Court Appointed Special Advocate of the Year (2010)
- Member of Hope Area Chamber of Commerce & Welcome Center Committee
From creator of the independent Hauser newspaper to numerous other publications, he always found a way to touch others through his words while always giving credit to his roots.