By PHIL OSBORNE

Danville Schools Education Foundation

You may have read last week that Jim Rogers — a Danville High School alum and former CEO of Duke Energy — passed away unexpectedly while visiting in Louisville recently. I had the pleasure of sharing a microphone with Jim at a utility conference several years ago in Colorado when I was doing a good bit of consulting work in the energy industry.

We rekindled the acquaintance when I met his niece in Tennessee and she put me in touch with him in Charlotte, where he had moved when he assumed the reins at Duke — the largest electric utility in the United States.

After he retired from Duke, he started working on an initiative to bring electric power to remote areas of third-world nations through renewable energy sources. He was a generous man with his time and commitment to improving the quality of life of those who struggle. He will be missed by his family — obviously — but also by the thousands who he touched in a career that spanned five decades in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina and the world.

Jim was recognized previously as a Distinguished Alum of Danville Schools, joining a long list of others that we hope will grow even longer this year. That’s because we are within days of formally announcing the nomination process. Our foundation board meets this Thursday to adopt the final draft of the process. You will read more about it in this space next week.

And speaking of our board, here is some additional information about our members.

Jean Crowley is a Danville native and graduate of Danville High School. She and her husband, Terry, have three children, all of whom went through the Danville system.

In addition to her volunteer service in schools, Jean also served for 15 years on the Danville Board of Education, most of them as chairperson.

Jean has served on the foundation board since 2015, when she retired from the Board of Education and served for two years as the foundation president.

Allen Goldie lives in Danville with his wife, Janine. They have a daughter, two sons and two grandchildren. Sons Greg and Chase are proud graduates of Danville High School. Greg is in the Air Force and is a candidate for the Air Force Academy. Chase attends college at Campbellsville University. Daughter Laura, her husband Christian and two grandchildren, Haven and Ezera, live in Ocala, Florida.

Allen is a financial planner with Goldie Financial located in Harrodsburg. His firm advises and plans retirement needs, wealth accumulation and transfer, college saving and income building. He’s originally from London, Kentucky, where he graduated from Laurel County High School and then attended Sue Bennett College and Eastern Kentucky University.

In addition to the foundation’s Alumni Association, Allen sits on the board of United Way of the Bluegrass, is chairman of the Harrodsburg First board and is past president and board chairman of Harrodsburg Rotary.

If you are interested in serving in some role with the foundation, let me know.

That will do it for this week. Go Ads.

Phil Osborne is executive director of the Danville Schools Education Foundation. Email him with questions about the foundation at posborne@danvilleschoolsfoundation.org.