Five honorees to be inducted into Blinn Hall of Honor

Michael Griffin, Edward Hueske, Renee Mueller, William Jene Tebeaux, and Lonnie Tegeler being honored at Oct. 11 banquet

September 9, 2024

Five distinguished honorees with ties to the Blinn College District are being inducted into this year’s Blinn College Alumni and Friends Association Hall of Honor.

Michael Griffin, Edward Hueske, Renee Mueller, William Jene Tebeaux, and Lonnie Tegeler will be recognized as 2024 inductees during a banquet on Friday, Oct. 11.

The luncheon will be held at 11:30 a.m. in the Janis Sneed Banquet Room in the Student Center on the Blinn-Brenham Campus. Tickets are $40 for an individual and $300 for a table of eight. Reservations are available by email to sharon.loukanis@blinn.edu or by calling 979-830-4344.

The Hall of Honor recognizes Blinn’s most distinguished alumni, local business leaders, and those who have made a significant impact in their communities or professions. They are recognized during Blinn’s homecoming week each year.

“We are honored to induct five individuals into the Blinn Hall of Honor this year,” said Hannah Schulz Jenkins, President of the Alumni and Friends Association. “All inductees are being recognized for their extraordinary contributions to Blinn College. We are thankful for individuals, such as them, who continue to pave the way for a great future for Blinn College.”

The Alumni and Friends Association maintains contact with all former students and friends of the College, encourages support for and participation in the educational, cultural, athletic, and social programs of the College, encourages personnel recruitment by members, assists the College in achieving planned goals and objectives, and provides fellowship among former students and friends.

MICHAEL GRIFFIN

Griffin attended Blinn College in 1971-72, when he served as an athletic trainer for the men’s football and basketball teams. That included Blinn’s 1972 undefeated football team that was inducted in 1992 into the NJCAA Hall of Fame.

Griffin transferred to Texas A&M University, where he served as athletic trainer for the Aggie football team. He graduated from A&M in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. Griffin taught school for three years in Killeen, Texas, before joining Dow Chemical Co. in Lake Jackson. He worked for Dow for more than 37 years, including being responsible for a fleet of 600 railcars.

Griffin is a life member of the Blinn Lettermen’s Association and the Alumni and Friends Association and is a long-term member of the “Back the Bucs” athletic finance program. He was recognized as Buc Backer of the Year for 2024.

Griffin has been deeply involved in Boy Scouts of America, including earning designation as an Eagle Scout in 1970. He served as a scout or a scout leader for 58 years, including at the troop, district, council, regional, and international levels of scouting.

Griffin attended or staffed 10 National Scout Jamborees and two World Scout Jamborees. Over the years, he has attended or staffed 18 National Order of the Arrow events.

Awards he has received include the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, National Eagle Scout Association Outstanding Eagle Award, Lutheran Lamb Adult Religious Award, Order of the Arrow’s Centurion Award, and the first Cradle of Texas District Lifetime Achievement Award.

Griffin served 34 years as a member of the Bay Area Council in Galveston as a member of its Executive Board or on committees.

He and his wife Judy, a Brenham native, are retired. They moved to Brenham in 2019.

EDWARD HUESKE

Hueske, one of the country’s foremost forensic scientists, attended Blinn from 1962-64. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry, teaching chemistry at Blinn from 1971-74.

Hueske’s career as a practicing forensic scientist has spanned more than 40 years, including 20-plus years with government crime labs in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arizona.

He also spent 14 years as a full-time faculty member in the Criminal Justice Department at the University of North Texas before retiring in 2012.

Now semi-retired, Hueske still consults with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and police agencies in civil and criminal cases and provides training to police agencies.

He has provided specialized forensic training, primarily in shooting incident reconstruction, over the past 30 years to the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Police Department, Texas Rangers, New York State Police, New Jersey State Police, San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, and numerous other agencies as well as the Canadian Office of Special Investigations, Turkish National Police, the Toronto Center of Forensic Science, and the Guatemala Attorney General’s Office.

Hueske is the author and contributor to several textbooks and more than 40 articles on crime scene and shooting reconstruction. He is a retired Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Science, Emeritus Member of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, Emeritus Member of the Southwestern Association of Forensic Scientists, Distinguished Member of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners, and a member of the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts.

He and his wife Gretchen have been married for more than 55 years. They have two daughters and five grandchildren.

RENEE MUELLER

Mueller is a 1981 honors graduate of Blinn College. She received a bachelor’s degree in management/finance from (then) Texas Lutheran College in 1983 and is a 1986 graduate of the South Texas College of Law.

Mueller was the first woman elected Washington County Attorney (1999) and the first woman elected 21 ^st Judicial District Attorney, serving from 2000-08. She is a past president of the Washington County Bar Association and was one of the first two women inducted into the Brenham Rotary Club.

Mueller was an officer in the Blinn Alumni organization in the 1990s and served as its vice president from 2000-09. She is a part-time instructor at Blinn (criminal justice and paralegal studies).

While attending Blinn, Mueller was a member of the Beta Alpha Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, vice president of the Lutheran Student Association, and a member of the Circle K organization.

She was a Girl Scout leader from 1989-2000 and was named a “Woman of Distinction” by Girl Scouts of Central Texas in 2009.

Her community involvement has included serving as president of the Faith Mission Board and the Fortnightly Education Department, vice chair of the Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library Advisory Board, and two terms on the Washington County Chamber Board of Directors.

Her parents were both graduates of Blinn, with her mother Shirley being salutatorian of her graduating class.

WILLIAM JENE TEBEAUX

Tebeaux, a College Station resident, is the owner and Chief Executive Officer of Paragon Financial Advisors. Even though he didn’t attend Blinn, he has volunteered to promote the College, including serving on the Blinn College Foundation Board of Directors from 2004-13.

Tebeaux earned a bachelor of science degree from Baylor University and a Master of Business Education degree from the University of Houston. He is a Certified Financial Planner, a Chartered Financial Analyst, and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

Tebeaux is very active in the community, including volunteer roles with the Bryan Rotary Club, St. Joseph’s Regional Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, the Bryan School District Educational Foundation, American Red Cross, Texas A&M University Memorial Student Center OPAS, and the Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley Investment Committee.

He has taught classes at the University of Houston and Texas A&M. Since 2009, Tebeaux has been an invited Executive Professor at A&M, teaching graduate courses in which students manage live portfolios with actual money. Tebeaux also has co-authored two college-level mathematics textbooks oriented toward business students.

Before starting Paragon Financial Advisors, Tebeaux had a 27-year management career with AT&T.

LONNIE TEGELER

Tegeler is a native of Washington County, attending rural elementary schools and graduating from Brenham High School in 1962. He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Blinn in 1964.

After graduating from Blinn, Tegeler planned to attend the University of Texas but instead accepted a position with the Marketing Department of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (SWBTC) in Austin.

During his career with SWBTC, he was responsible for managing phone service in the Astrodome complex, which included the Astrodome, Astroworld Park, Astroworld Hotel, and three adjacent hotels.

He also was responsible for phone service during presidential visits, with the Secret Service and White House Communications Staff depending on SWBTC to provide communications.

Tegeler was assigned as SWBTC's point of contact for press communications services at Johnson Space Center during a host of NASA’s Apollo missions, including the Apollo 11 moon landing and the Apollo 13 mission.

He currently serves as a board member of the Blinn College Alumni and Friends Association and previously served as president and board member of the American Chuck Wagon Association, president and treasurer of the St. Paul-Phillipsburg Lutheran Church Council, Exalted Ruler and board member of Brenham Elks 979 and vice president of the Washington County Fair Association. He also is a member of American Legion Post 48 in Brenham.

Tegeler outfitted his grandfather's farm wagon into a working chuckwagon and joined the American Chuck Wagon Association. He and his wife Barbara competed in chuckwagon events throughout Texas and New Mexico, where they won numerous gold buckles and awards and were featured in a television Food Network Special filmed in Ruidoso, N.M.