Central grads and former AD honored in Hinsdale Central Foundation’s annual awards
The Hinsdale Central Hall of Fame will induct six new members tonight, Sept. 21, at its dinner at Ruth Lake Country Club. The event has taken place every year since the inaugural class was inducted in 1997.
Following are brief bios of members of the Class of 2023.
Stephen Cashman
Class of 1978
A National Merit Scholar, Cashman was a member of the National Honor Society, Latin Club and gymnastics team. He was part of the 1978 team that won sectional and regional championships en route to taking fifth at the state. He had studied architecture in Rome, Italy and has had a stellar career in Hinsdale and throughout Illinois. Projects at Benet, New Trier, St. Viator, District 181, District 86 and many other districts were led by his architectural firm, Cashman Stahler Group. He has been a member of the Hinsdale Plan Commission since 2011 (chair from 2016-21). Cashman is involved with the Hinsdale Golf Club, District 181 and District 86. He lives in Hinsdale with his wife, Mary Jane (Class of 1979). He has two children, Charlie and Jane, who are both HCHS alums.
Richard Eck
Class of 1981
Richard “Rick” Eck is a lifelong contributor to the Hinsdale community, currently serving as the CEO/president of Hinsdale Bank & Trust, which recently acquired the naming rights to the Hinsdale Central stadium and gymnasium under Rick’s leadership. Through the bank, Rick supports ongoing efforts of school improvements and student athletes. A former Red Devil student-athlete, Rick served on the Hinsdale Little League Board for 15 years. He is a former Wellness House board member and a member of the Hinsdale Hospital Advisory Board The Community House Board. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of Iowa and an MBA in finance from DePaul University. Rick and his wife, Karen, raised their children — Everett, Vivian, Emerson and Violet — in Hinsdale.
David Tetenbaum Hope
Class of 1973
David Tetenbaum Hope was a brilliant scientist and engineer, a gifted musician and a wonderful husband, father, son, brother and friend. David graduated from MIT in 1977 with a degree in electrical engineering. He not only started playing harpsichord but built the first of several instruments in his dorm room. He did his graduate work at the University of Illinois and the University of Colorado, earning his Ph.D. in 1987. While working at MIT’s Haystack Observatory, he was recruited to work for EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Group), which meant moving his family — wife Amelia and sons Alex and Jay — to Tromsø in the north of Norway. While living in Tromsø, David was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor. David and Amelia did not want the tumor to define their lives, so they changed their last name to Hope. David died June 29, 1998, at age 43.
Dan Jones
Former AD
Dan Jones served as Central’s athletic director for 12 years. He was the AD at DeKalb High School for seven years before coming to Central and taught/coached for 15 years before that. He was named Athletics Director of the Year in 2016 and 2022. He is a Hinsdale Central Boosters volunteer and a PTO Make a Difference Award winner in 2015 and 2021. When he wasn’t working 12 hours a day six days per week, he used his free time as a Feed My Starving Children volunteer and to chaperon Central students to the CADA Student Leadership Camp in California. Jones embodies what it means to be a Red Devil and is loved by students, parents, peers and community members.
J. Scott Spiker
Class of 1973
J. Scott Spiker is a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, earning a bachelor’s in chemistry and engineering. He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy and served as a surface warfare officer on board a frigate. He later became head of enlisted recruiting for the Midwest Region. Following his military service, he earned an MBA in marketing/finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Scott served in several senior executive roles in the investment, insurance and banking industries, specializing in financial planning, investment management and culture transformation. His past executive position was at First Command Financial Services as CEO, later becoming board chairman. In 2020, he retired as CEO, but continues to serve as board chair. Spiker is actively involved in his community, serving on several nonprofit boards.
Stanley Walton III
Class of 1958
Stanley A. “Sandy” Walton III was a four-year football starter, sophomore class president, VP of Student Council and the lead in the senior class play (Mr. Banks in “Father of the Bride”). Walton earned his bachelor’s in history and his law degree from Washington & Lee University. Post graduation, he relocated back to Hinsdale, where he spent time as Hinsdale Historical Society president (two terms), the lawyer for the committee to preserve KLM from development, Hinsdale village trustee, HCS Family Services board member, Nantucket Homeowners Association president, Hinsdale Central Foundation board member and chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee. Walton helped to preserve and rehabilitate the 121-year-old Historical Immanuel Hall. He died in October 2021 and is survived by his wife, Karen Kayser Walton (HCHS 1958), and three children, two of whom were Central graduates (Classes of 1986 and 1989).
