The Lake Highlands High School Alumni Association will host their second annual awards presentation dinner Sunday, April 6th at Royal Oaks Country Club. The organization was founded in 2014 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the school and to connect classmates, uphold traditions and celebrate the accomplishments of former students and teachers at The School of Champions.
The following alumni will be honored:
Roy Gene Evans
Roy Gene Evans — Distinguished Alumni Award
Roy Gene Evans was a standout on Lake Highlands’ first varsity football team in 1961, where he teamed up with Kenny Woods for the winning touchdown in the opening game against Anna. He graduated with the first class in 1964 and went on to North Texas State, now the University of North Texas, where he later served on the Board of Regents and was named a Distinguished Alumni. He earned a master’s degree at Pepperdine and developed a successful banking career. He has been active in multiple nonprofit organizations, including the Dallas chapter of the American Heart Association, Goodwill Industries of Dallas, the Dallas chapter of the March of Dimes, the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, the Dallas Civil Service Board, the City Plan Commission and Bonton Farms.
Dr. Bob Iden
Bob Iden — Distinguished Alumni Award
Bob Iden was a three-year letterman in football for the Wildcats before graduating in 1970. He played at Kilgore College before graduating from UNT with a bachelor’s and master’s in secondary education. He returned to teach and coach at LHHS from 1978 to 1985, and he was part of the coaching staff which earned the school’s only state football championship in 1981. He returned again to serve as principal in 1997, and four years later LHHS was named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the Department of Education. When he retired in 2008, the LHHS Outstanding Character Award, given annually to a senior who embodies respect, trustworthiness and caring, was renamed the Dr. Bob Iden Award. In May, teachers and office staff famously donned t-shirts proclaiming “I heart Dr. Bob” to send him off in style. He’s often seen on the sidelines of athletic contests and other school events to support current students and the community.
Bill and Sue Passmore
Sue & Bill Passmore — Distinguished Service Award (posthumously)
Bill Passmore opened Lake Highlands’ first school, Lake Highlands Elementary, as its first principal, and he later served as the first principal of Merriman Park Elementary. In 2004, the Texas House of Representatives proclaimed him “The Father of Lake Highlands Education” and praised his work as assistant to Richardson ISD Superintendent J.J. Pearce, principal of Richardson High, first counselor at El Centro, the first campus of the Dallas County Community College District, and first associate dean of instruction for Richland College, among many other accomplishments.
Sue claimed the moniker “The Original Wildcat” after serving as the first student teacher at a Lake Highlands school in 1959. She joined the LHHS faculty as an English teacher in 1961 when LH’s first graduates were just sophomores, and she married Bill five years later. She retired in 1994, but the couple continued to support education through the Richardson Retired Teachers Association.
Joan and Alan Walne
Joan & Alan Walne —Distinguished Wildcat Award
Alan graduated from LHHS in 1971 and later from Texas Tech. He returned home to join the family business, Herb’s Paint and Body, founded by his father in 1956. Alan ran the business after his father’s death in 1986 and sold it in 2019. He created Walne Family Holdings and generously uses funds from that foundation to support groups and causes in Dallas. He served District 10 on the city council and was president of the Exchange Club. He’s been active with the State Fair of Texas, Cotton Bowl, Down Syndrome Guild, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Salesmanship Club and Parkland Hospital among others, and the Exchange Club engraved him in their “Golden Book of Deeds” for selfless work.
Joan has served as PTA president at multiple LH schools and as president of the Lake Highlands Women’s League. She’s been active at Children’s Medical Center, the Junior League of Dallas, the Dallas Arboretum, Parkland Hospital, Fair Park, Preservation Dallas and the Dallas Historical Society. She been board chair at the Dallas Zoo, the Dallas Park Board and Kershaw’s Challenge, a foundation created by Clayton Kershaw to meet the needs of underserved youth and families. Friends of Fair Park presented the couple with the Spirit of the Centennial Award, to name just one honor.
You may learn more about last year’s recipients here.
The dinner will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Royal Oaks Country Club, 7915 Greenville Avenue. Sponsorship opportunities and ticket sales will be posted in late February at www.lhhsfoundation.org. You may follow the LHHS Alumni Association on Facebook and Instagram and join here.
