The Woodward Alumni Hall of Fame Association
Richard Buchholz Inducted 1993 - Class of 1948
"Great! Fantastic! Terrific!"
These words of encouragement are just three of the "99 Ways to Say Very Good" that Dick uses in his motivational speeches. They are also a few of the interjections uttered when Dick was chosen as an inductee into the Woodward Hall of Fame!
Dick is an educational consultant and author of three books and many tapes. As an enthusiastic speaker, through the American Praise Institute, Dick addresses businesses and organizations about the power of praise.
This nationally recognized speaker is also a member of the International Platform Association. Within his first two years of membership in the Ohio Speakers Forum, that group gave him three opportunities to speak. The National Speakers Association waited less than a year to invite him to
speak at their National Convention!
Within the past 20 years, Dick has given more than 2,000 talks, interviews, and seminars to individuals, organizations, schools, churches, and businesses. In 1987, he addressed select mathematics and journalism students at Woodward. He is one of Toledo 's most recognized and active speakers, averaging 100 talks per year.
But Dick wasn't always Great, Fantastic, and Terrific. During high school, he did have his moments!
"One school day in my senior year, I went fishing with a buddy. When I got home, I was surprised to find my dad awake. He asked, 'How was school today? 'I said fine, not knowing a Woodward student in Mr. Meeks' office woke him up at 10 a.m. asking where his son, Dick, was. What he did to me isn't funny! But after marriage, I found out the Woodward student who woke him up was my wife, Joanne Mattes!" (Despite this tattling incident, Dick has been married to Joanne, Class of 1948 valedictorian and SAGA Staff Business Manager, for more 40 years. They have two daughters, Kim and Karen, who also graduated from Woodward, and five grandchildren.)
Dick's other high school memories include hanging out with Jack Munger, Chuck Samson, Ernie Simpson, Mike Gusses, Bob Jones, David Zink, as well as Ken Eble and Richard Sulewski.
And how many of you remember movies for 2 cents a day? "We could eat lunch and watch one reel of a movie in the auditorium. We didn't have any "R" movies then." To this day, Dick is a movie buff. "Movies at Woodward, the Savoy, the Alan, and the Ohio Theaters got me hooked."
But Dick didn't spend all of his time watching films. During his senior year, he ranked first on Woodward's Cross Country Team, first in the city, second in the district, and eighth in Ohio. For the mile run, he placed first for Woodward and the city, second in the district, and fourteenth in the state. It was during this latter event that Dick ran the best mile of his high school career in 4:41!
Sports were Dick's key to college. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial arts. Dick earned a Master of Education degree from Bowling Green State University in 1958, majoring in industrial education. He also holds a counseling certificate from the University of Toledo.
Dick spent 27 years in the Toledo School System before receiving early retirement. He is a former principal of Jefferson Center for Vocational Rehabilitation. As a counselor at Waite, Dick started the Waite High School employment program that helped hundreds of students per year perform odd jobs around school grounds. This in-schoolwork program was part of the Toledo Public Schools’ employment program. It was so well received, that in a few years, TPS put a work coordinator in Waite, Woodward, Scott, and Libbey.
His other affiliations include: *Past president of Toledo Federation of Teachers [1960-1961]; *Past president Old Newsboys Goodfellow Association [1982-1983]; *Past president St. Vincent’s Parish School Board; and *Originator of the parenting family life curriculum for kindergarten through twelfth grades.
In March, 1992, St. Mary of the Assumption Church/School, Page Street, inducted Dick into its Hall of Fame.