Dean Dobbins
GREENFIELD — It’s time once again for a new crop of honorees to be inducted into the Greenfield Central School Foundation’s Alumni Hall of Fame.
Each year the foundation honors a select group of past graduates who have made exemplary lives for themselves since high school.
This year’s inductees include Dean Dobbins, Class of 1965; Brent Eaton, Class of 1993; the late Ronnie Mohr, Class of 1966; and Marciann McClarnon Miller, Class of 1969.
All four will be inducted at the school foundation’s annual Red Letter Gala, to be held Sept. 24 at Adaggios Banquet Hall in Greenfield.
Dean Dobbins
Loveland, Colo.
Hancock Central High School, 1965
Although he now lives in Colorado, Dean Dobbins left quite a mark on the Greenfield community he once called home.
Dobbins and his wife, Barbara, lived in Hancock County 63 years before retiring to Colorado in 2012.
“At least five generations of Dean’s family, both paternal and maternal, have called Hancock County home,” wrote Gary and Marcia Hunt, the Charlottesville couple who nominated Dobbins for the alumni hall of fame.
“Dean was the first member of his family to attend college. To say that he has had a lifetime of always doing his best would be an understatement,” they wrote.
After graduating from Hancock Central High School, Dobbins earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, then attended both law school and medical school at the same time.
The accomplished lawyer would eventually serve as Hancock County Prosecutor from 1975 to 1978, followed by another term from 2007 to 2010.
Dobbins was a leader from an early age, serving as district president for the Future Farmers of America and class president of the Purdue Student Senate pledge class.
As a law student, he clerked with a chief judge in the U.S. District Court in southern Indiana before passing the bar.
In 1973 he was admitted to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeal in Chicago, and in 1987 was admitted to the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.
He was named the national Jaycees Outstanding Young Man of America in 1976, and was named to Who’s Who in American Law Enforcement from 1976-78.
Dobbins served on the boards for the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council and the Indiana Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. He was a longtime delegate to the Indiana State Bar Association and served as Hancock County Bar Association president.
In 1998 he was named a master fellow by the Indiana State Bar Foundation and was a pioneering member of the Indiana Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program committee, as appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court.
In Hancock County, Dobbins won the Rotary International Chapter Award for starting scholarships at all four Hancock County high schools.
He also won a Stephen Dyer Community Award for launching the Teacher Appreciation Apple Award in Hancock County through Neighbors Against Substance Abuse.
Dobbins held multiple offices in the Greenfield Sertoma Club and Rotary Club of Greenfield, and served as president of both. He won the Hancock County Community Service Award in 1985.
Brent Eaton
Greenfield-Central High School, 1993
Brent Eaton has served as Hancock County’s prosecutor since 2015, and won this year’s Republican primary to run again this fall.
He was nominated for the Hall of Fame by Marie Castetter, who worked with him as Hancock County’s chief deputy prosecutor from 2015 to 2019.
In her nomination form, Castetter said she’s seen Eaton’s commitment to the Greenfield community first hand, and thinks he’s worthy of the recognition.
“Brent serves the community daily in keeping Hancock County safe,” she wrote.
After graduating from Greenfield-Central High School in 1993, Eaton earned an undergraduate degree at Wabash College and a law degree at the Indiana University-Indianapolis School of Law.
He was named “Crime Fighter of the Year” by the Cumberland Police Department in 2015.
He has also been recognized for his work in combating substance abuse in Hancock County by Neighborhoods Against Substance Abuse (NASA) and for his work in prosecuting impaired driving by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
“He diligently works with individuals who are fighting addiction through Hancock County Drug Court and Heroin Protocol Program,” said Castetter.
Eaton currently serves on the Board of Zoey’s Place Child Advocacy Center, The Landing, and Love INC.
He lives in Greenfield with his wife and four children, and frequently attends band and sporting events at the high school.
Marciann McClarnon Miller
Greenfield, Ind.
Greenfield High School, 1969
It takes a lengthy list to encapsulate all that Marciann McClarnon Miller has done since graduating from Greenfield High School in 1969.
According to Karry Book, the high school classmate who nominated her for the alumni hall of fame, McClarnon Miller has made an indelible impact on Hancock County throughout the years.
Perhaps her most notable achievement was founding Hancock County CASA — Court Appointed Special Advocates — which supports children embroiled in the court system. McClarnon Miller first became a CASA in Shelby County in 2016, then established the Hancock County CASA program in 2020. She served over two years as director before retiring last year.
Her longest running role has been that of an educator. After receiving a master’s degree in education from Indiana University, McClarnon Miller taught for 37 years. She taught primarily in the Greenfield-Central school system, where she started the Gifted & Talented Program in the elementary schools.
She twice recognized on the Indiana Senate floor for excellence in teaching, and was awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash by Gov. Frank O’Bannon in 1998.
While teaching at Weston Elementary she won a statewide award for creating the Regreening Greenfield program, which has since planted and inventoried thousands of trees throughout the community.
The Indiana Humanities Council presented McClarnon Miller with an Outstanding Achievement in Teaching award in 1992, and she received the Influential Educator Award — as voted on by students — in 2006, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Her list of local service runs long. McClarnon Miller serves on Greenfield Historic Landmarks board and is a member of the Brandywine Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
She is a third-generation Past President of the philanthropic sorority, Psi lota Xi, and a past commissioner of the Hancock County Pioneer Cemetery Commission.
She was also a founding board member/treasurer of the Hancock County Community Foundation and a founding advisory board member for Zoey’s Place, a child advocacy center in Hancock County.
She was recently awarded the Super Hero honor from that organization for her work in advocating for abused and neglected children.
“Marciann has a servant’s heart. She has devoted her whole life to the service of others, especially children. She loves her community and takes great pride in helping the world to be a better place,” said her husband, Tom Miller.
Ronnie Mohr
Hancock Central High School, 1966
Friends say Ronnie Mohr made a huge impact in the agricultural community both in Hancock County and beyond, “Ronnie made regular trips to Washington D.C. to lobby for agriculture issues and in varying capacities,” said Dan Leary, who nominated Mohr for the alumni hall of fame.
Leary said the late farmer was the perfect example for a model rural citizen.
“He promoted ways to make rural life better through his activities and progressive ideas while on such boards as NineStar Connect, Hancock County Sheriff’s Merit Board, Hancock County Drainage Board, and as Green Township Trustee, to name a few,” Leary wrote.
“At times he would visit our nation’s capital repeatedly in a year to meet with various members of Congress, on their schedule, to advocate for the farming industry.”
Mohr was recognized as an Indiana Prairie Master Farmer, and Greg Pence publicly recognized him for his dedication to farming and agriculture.
He was also active with the National Corn Growers Association, the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and the Hancock County Drainage Board, in addition to serving multiple terms as the Green Township trustee. Mohr also served on the boards of the Hancock County Farm Bureau and Land O Lakes Harvest Land Co-op, and was a longtime supporter of the Greenfield-Central Future Farmers of America.
He was a longtime member of the NineStar Connect board of directors, and was instrumental in forming the company by helping to merge Central Indiana Power and Hancock Telecom in 2010.
Mohr was also active with the local FFA Wabash Valley Electrical Association, serving as both director and chairman. He was a board member for the Hancock County Soil & Water Conservation District and the Hancock County Community Foundation.
He was a member of the Willow Branch United Methodist Church, Eden Masonic Lodge and Greenfield Rotary Club, and a founding member of the Green Township Volunteer Fire Department and Hancock County Meals on Wheels.
Leary also noted Mohr’s military service in Vietnam, which earned him a sharpshooter medal.
