Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette The Houghton High School Alumni Honor Roll hung in the main hallway of the old Houghton High School, on Houghton Avenue. The plaque was discovered in storage this past February, was meticulously restored, and is now in display in the high school on Gundlach Road.

HOUGHTON – The Houghton High School Alumni Association’s Military Alumni Appreciation ceremony on May 15, included a special ceremony.

The ceremony was to rededicate the Houghton High School Military Honor Roll, which had disappeared nearly 40 years ago, about the time the old Houghton High School, located on Houghton Avenue, closed, in 1989.

“Today, we bring it back where it belongs,” said Houghton-Portage Township Schools (HPTS) Superintendent Anders Hill during the ceremony. “It was found in a storage closet, where it had been since the old school closed.”

Before the honor roll was rededicated, it underwent extensive restoration.

Hill said the restoration was a team effort of the Houghton High School Alumni Association, school staff, students and the Junior ROTC program.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to our Industrial Arts teacher John Filpus, and his students for their hard work in refurbishing the plaque,” said Hill. “We also thank Colonel Dylan Carlson and Sergeant Major Randy Meyer, whose vision ensured that the names on this Honor Roll would be preserved and seen once again.”

Hill said looking at the names on the honor roll, reminds all of the humility and pride that define service.

“These alumni walked our halls,” he said, “sat in our classrooms, and on to serve their country with distinction.”

Col. Carlson later said the plaque formerly hung in the entrance of the Houghton Avenue (north side) of the old high school building, until 1989, when it was put into storage without much care.

“The glass was broken, a lot of the names started coming off,” he said, “until Mr. Hill discovered it about February. He came to us and asked if we could do something with it.”

Carlson said the JROTC program though it would be a good opportunity to refinish the wood, replace the broken glass, and replace lost letters and rededicate the plaque during the High School Alumni Association’s Military Alumni Appreciation Ceremony.

“It will now hang in the Common Area of the current Houghton High School,” said Carlson, “where it can be seen by everybody.”

The Honor Roll was originally dedicated by the Class of 1946 and includes names of military veterans from World War I through 1946.