Monessen School District to host 3rd annual Wall of Fame ceremony
Five more alumni will be inducted during an Oct. 18 ceremony at the high school.
Monessen City School District will hold its third annual “Wall of Fame” ceremony with a red carpet event at 6 p.m. Oct. 18 in the high school auditorium.
Five alumni will be honored in the categories of educator, trailblazer, military, professional sports and government. It’s also a fundraiser to give back to a school program.
Sarah Graby, a 1999 Monessen graduate and the founder of Sparkle My Head Scarves, pitched the idea to the school district based on her interaction with another member of the inaugural class of inductees, the late Ed Filipowski (Class of 1979).
Graby told the Mon Valley Independent in 2023 that meeting Filipowski helped her start looking into other Monessen natives who had gone on to great acclaim in their careers so that others could reach out to them.
“It goes to show how close knit a community Monessen really is and how somebody has graduated from Monessen and has gone on to do great things,” Graby said. “If you say you are from Monessen, they will do whatever they can to help you.”
Starting this year, Graby has had help from a committee of 10 Monessen community members — ranging from retired educators to previous inductees — to get five nominees together as well as a sixth this year that is voted on by the public. The group meets each summer and sorts through nominations to narrow down inductees.
Guests at the Oct. 18 event can pose on the red carpet, see each honoree inducted and celebrate in a complimentary dessert room afterwards. Guests are encouraged to show their spirit by wearing the school colors, black and white, but the event is business casual.
The dessert room will feature special “black and white” desserts baked especially for the event by Oakmont Bakery in Pittsburgh.
The high school has installed a new digital Wall Of Fame display, showing on a big screen each inductee, their picture and their entire biography. Graby said showcasing the whole biography gives students the chance to read about their fellow Greyhounds.
“I am very excited for this year, mostly because the school was able to get a digital Wall of Fame made,” Graby said. “I haven’t even seen it yet in person. I have only seen pictures, but I think it’s amazing, and I can’t wait to see it in person. I hope everyone in the community will come out and take a look at it in person.”
Tickets to the event are $15, with students admitted free. Guests are encouraged to buy tickets online at http://MHSWallOf-Fame.eventbrite.com. Only a limited number of cash ticket sales will be handled at the door.
All inductees will be recognized during halftime of the Greyhounds’ home football game Oct 17.
“I think it’s a great event to bring the Monessen community together at the school,” Monessen Superintendent Dr. Robert Motte told the MVI last year. “I think it’s been very beneficial for the community. And I think a lot of people from the past have been showing up. It really shows the older Monessen and Greyhound pride.”
This year’s inductees are:
Educator Randall Marino
Randall Marino, a 1973 graduate is this year’s educator. He taught the
Randy Marino
youths of Monessen for 34 years – teaching and serving as a principal in a variety of grade levels over the years.
Marino retired from the school district in 2011, and created the
local nonprofit Mon Valley Paws, which provides emergency grants and offers assistance to senior citizens in need to help them care for their pets.
He now serves as the organization’s director, and by the end of 2025 Mon Valley Paws will have distributed close to $200,000 to local shelters and rescues.
Trailblazer Stephanie Urchick
Stephanie Urchick, a 1972 graduate, began her career working as a higher education administrator at Westmoreland County Community College and California University of Pennsylvania, where she directed the offices of
Stephanie Urchick
Career Planning & Placement and Career Services.
Urchick joined the Rotary Club of California in 1991, and currently serves as a member of the McMurray Rotary Club. In 2008, Urchick started a consulting and training company, Doctors at Work LLC.
She has participated in a number of international service projects over the years and in 2024-25, she served as president of Rotary International, becoming the second female to do so in the organization’s 120-year history and the first woman from the United States.
Military Stephen “Ron” Chromulak
Class of 1960 graduate Stephen “Ron” Chromulak was in the Air Force seven days after graduation, and his military career spanned more than 21 years. He participated in “Life Support Systems,” which included learning and later teaching survival, escape, evasion and combat rescue techniques to all whose duties included flying.
Over the years, Chromulak has been stationed all over the world, including
Ron Chromulak
during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, the capture of the USS Pueblo by North Korea and the evacuation of the American and British embassies in Beirut, Lebanon, during their civil war.
Chromulak returned to Monessen after retirement, where he began working with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a veterans service representative. He has served as president of the Monessen Chamber of Commerce, has been commander of every veterans organization in Monessen and is chairman of the War Veterans Memorial Trust.
Professional sports Charel Allen
Charel Allen played basketball for the Greyhounds from 2001 until her graduation in 2004, and became the second all-time leading scorer in WPIAL history and fifth-highest scorer in state history.
Charel Allen
Allen attended Notre Dame from 2004-08, where she was the first player in the school’s history to amass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 200 steals. Allen was selected in the third round of the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Sacramento Monarchs, helping the team to the playoffs, and then played eight seasons internationally in Bulgaria, Turkey and Israel.
Allen started coaching in 2017, joining the coaching staff at Cal State Fullerton. In 2022, she returned to Notre Dame as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team.
Government Gary Caruso
Gary Caruso graduated from Monessen in 1966, attended Waynesburg College, graduating cum laude in 1970, then received his juris doctor from Duquesne University School of Law in 1973.
Gary Caruso
Practicing law in Monessen and Rostraver Township from 1973 to 1985, Caruso served as president and other roles of the Conference of State Trial Judges from 2000 to 2001. He has also served as a commissioner on the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing and as a hearing officer with the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Caruso served as president judge of the court from 2012 to 2014, and retired from the bench in 2014, becoming a mediator and arbitrator.
