Edwardsburg Public Schools is proud to announce the 2010-2011 inductees for the EPS Hall of Fame.

Nominations were solicited in the spring of 2010. The categories for nomination were Student Activities, Former Staff Member, Special Award and Lifetime Award.

A nominating committee reviewed the entries to assure that criteria was met, and then forwarded their validation to a selection committee. The nominees were then notified of their selection into the Hall of Fame. An induction dinner will be held on April 30 at 6 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center Atrium to recognize the following inductees who will be awarded the Lifetime Award at an induction ceremony at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium.

Following are the selected inductees:

• Richard Dean Franz has been selected as an inductee of the Edwardsburg Public Schools under the Lifetime Award category (Jan. 5, 1924 — June 13, 1998).

A lifetime resident of the Edwardsburg area, Franz was born in 1924 to Dean and Carrie Franz. He was the oldest of three children and attended Edwardsburg Public Schools his entire life. He graduated in 1943 from the Chicago Road School. Franz was an outstanding athlete as well as an honor student during his high school years.

After graduation he attended Western Michigan College, where he played basketball. His post-secondary education was cut short when he returned home to help with the family farm. He became the third generation of his family to farm the family land.

He married Anna Frucci and they were blessed with four children: Robert of Dowagiac, Diann Morris of Gobles, Debra Blume of Edwardsburg and Michael of Niles. There are six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Franz was elected to the Edwardsburg Public Schools Board of Education in June 1959 and served from 1959 through 1969. He was instrumental in the plan to purchase the land where part of the current town campus is located. During his tenure on the board he served as treasurer for seven years and was paramount in establishing course offerings and extending partnership with the Elkhart Area Career Center.

While operating the family farm he was also plant superintendent for the second shift at Simplicity Pattern Co. in Niles, where he received several service awards. He retired in 1989 after 42 years of service. Franz remained a civic volunteer his entire life. After leaving the school board he served as president of the Smith Chapel Cemetery Board and involved himself with a variety of activities associated with Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church.

Franz’s dedication and commitment to civic duty have benefited those in the Edwardsburg district and his contribution  have become a legacy to the community.

• Keith Duane Kirkdorfer is being inducted into the Edwardsburg Public Schools Hall of Fame under the category of Lifetime Award (May 28, 1948 — May 9, 2008). Kirkdorfer was a name synonymous with farming in the Cass County area.

He was owner and operator of Kirkdorfer Farms and in 2008 was farming 8,000 acres and custom harvesting an additional 2,500 acres for Pioneer Seed Co. from Plymouth, Ind. He was a member of the 100 Bushel Soybean Club and 300 Bushel Corn Club. The goal for these clubs is to attain a higher bushel per acre average. Michigan’s average for soybeans was 55 bushels and for corn was 180 to 200 bushels. Kirkdorfer was the top soybean producer for the state in 2006 and 2007. In 2007 he was the largest seed corn grower for Pioneer Seed at the Plymouth plant.

Kirkdorfer graduated from Edwardsburg High School in 1966 and went on to Southwestern Michigan College; he was a member of their first graduating class. He received his degree in agriculture. Kirkdorfer worked at Miles Laboratories in Elkhart and White Farm equipment from 1972 to 1983, while continuing to farm. While at White he drove across the country delivering and setting up farm equipment.

Kirkdorfer served on the HOC Farmland Preservation Committee and was a member of the Cass County Farm Bureau Board. He was instrumental in helping pass the Cass County Farmland Preservation Ordinance in 2007. He was a member of the Michigan Bio-Diesel in Bangor, Mich. and on the board of managers with Liberty Renewable Fuels in Ithica, Mich. Kirkdorfer also served on the Jefferson Township Board and planning commission. He was on the Edwardsburg Fire Department board and a former member of the department.

He was the treasurer of the Cass County Tractor Pullers Association and built the pulling track at the Cass County fairgrounds. He and his employees also built the stage at the fairgrounds and he was also on the sponsorship committee for the fair. Kirkdorfer was a lifelong member of 4-H and 5-H horse clubs.

Kirkdorfer met his wife, Cindy, in 1992 and they were married in 1996. He has three daughters, Michelle Jensen, Laura Kempf and Brooke Krupp; and one son, Cameron Mendenhall. His wife, son and daughter-in-law continue the farming operation in his memory. They have also established scholarship awards in Kirkdorfer’s memory for students who wish to follow a career in the agriculture field.