DOWNEY – Longtime employees of the Downey Unified School District, along with more than a dozen retirees, were honored at the DUSD Personnel Commission meeting on May 20. 

Commission members Dianne Lumsdaine, John Kennedy and Angie Rademaker, along with school board members Tod Corrin, Donald E. LaPlante, Barbara Samperi, Martha Sodetani and Nancy Swenson, and Superintendent Dr. John A. Garcia, congratulated each of the 124 classified (non-teaching) employees for their years of service. 

Fifteen employees were recognized for their retirement, including Jeffry Collier, Virginia Gandara, Cheryl Hallam, Louis Jaurequi, Elva, Laguna, Rita Ortiz, Rodolfo Ortiz, Lillian Raggett, Karen Reneau, Linda Rounds, Dolores Silva, Jim Tallo, Suzanne Trujillo, John Vande Brake and Jeffrey Young. 

Employees were honored in five-year increments of service. In all, the workers represented 2,092 total years of service to Downey Unified students. 

Employees recognized at the five-year service point were Rosangela Aguilar, Ang Choy, Candida Diaz, Jaclynn Gibson, Susana Hernandez, Ana Holly, Susan Karli, Regina Luevano, Cecilia Martinez, Jaime Martinez, Adriana Navarro, Victoria Orozco, Andrea Ramirez, Charlie Rhim, Robert Roark, Maria Rodriguez and Melinda Woolen. 

Employees honored for their service at 10 years were Anabel Andrade, Maria Del Rosario Andrade, Maria Del Carmen Anguiano, Mario Archibeque, Aurelio Arevalo, Rebecca Bell, Giovana Cano, Fernando Cisneros, Juana Cisneros, Hilda Duron, Jonathan Edrial, Loyjean Estrada, Richard Fernandez, Maria Flores, Martha Garcia, Dora Garcia, Luz Iturbe, Sandra Jarquin, Shirley Jordan, Erendira Juarez, Wendy Keller Hernandez, Sandra Laverde, Martha Llamas, Jennifer Luque, Bernice Madariaga, Valerie Marmolejo, Lurdes Martinez, Matthew Moisa, Tania Montanez, Jesus Ortiz, Claudia Padilla, Ruth Palacios, Laura Pereira Ornelas, Raelyn Rangel, Gabriel Rodriguez, Regina Rodriguez, Peter Rudeesirichot, Leticia Ruelas, Alicia Salazar, Nelly Salinas, Monica Stebok, Cristina Ulloa, Sandra Velazquez, Edmundo Vizcaino, Kathy Weeks and Farshid Zargar.

Honored for 15 years of service were Rita-Marie Anthony-Hester, Ruth Brown, Angel Brunet, Roseli Dalka, Christina Danna-Tournay, Jason Dykes, Kelle Eidinger, Kerri Forsythe, Devon France, Eduardo Gonzalez, Patricia Hofstra, Isabelle Huerta, Mary Kitchener, Tracy Kline, Pamela Langford, Elisa Lopez, Ruthy Millette, Jorge Negrete, Albert Perez, Esther Ramirez, Leticia Rodriguez, Gabriela Ruiz, Roman Torres, Lorena Vidrio and Michael Young. 

Employees recognized at the 20-year service point were Minerva Alvarez, Raquel Arellano, David Cubas, Calvin Davis, Maria Hall, Steven Maldonado, Peter Mynar, Susan Orin-Phillips, Yolanda Ortega, Guillermina Robles, Ana Rodriguez, Gregory Ruiz, Barbara Savage, Yvonne Somohano, Mike Telles, Juan Velasco, Ladislado Villa, Dale Whisler and Allen Yokum. 

Honored for 25 years of service were Geraldine Childress, Beatrice Colon, Clifford Dunham Jr., Rebecca Felix, Sally Hoffman, Craig Lackey, Debra Lee, Raymond Lucero, Catherine Pecka, Anna Perez, Virginia Reeves, Gloria Valdez and Elaine White. 

Employees honored for their 30 years of service Donna Bergstedt and Dania Wilder. Serving Downey Unified students for 35 years were Board of Education member Donald E. LaPlante and Raul Pineda.