Four inducted into high school alumni hall of fame
POTTSTOWN » Pottstown High School’s Alumni Honor Roll gained four new members during a recent ceremony.
Inducted were the late Jim Smale, a musician from the class of 1952; Bruce L. Moyer, an attorney and Washington lobbyist from the class of 1970; Terry Ziegler, a businessman and philanthropist from the class of 1972; and journalist Jim Kerr, currently an editor at the Reading Eagle, from the class of 1981.
Known as the “Bobby Shantz of the music world,” Smale played trombone and formed a big band and played with the Reading Symphony Orchestra. He died in 2007.
A premier trombonist with the U.S. Marine Corps Band, he spent much of his career in music studios in Las Vegas, Miami, Philadelphia and New York.
He played with the Glenn Miller touring band and appeared in three movies — “Brewster’s Millions,” “Lenny” and “Star of India.”
In 2005, he composed “High Street Blues” as a tribute to Pottstown.
Moyer graduated from George Washington Law School in 1977 and held several positions with the U.S. government, including the U.S. International Trade Commission. In the late 1990s, he helped then Vice President Al Gore with his “reinventing government” initiative and served until 2014 as the chairman of the Federal Postal Coalition, an alliance of more than 30 organizations representing the interests of more than five million public servants.
Ziegler graduated from Bloomsburg University in 1976 and is the founder and president of Datacap Systems Inc., a developer and manufacturer of integrated electronic systems for the past 34 years.
He also spent seven years with Transaction Management Inc., leaving as the executive vice president.
Ziegler is also co-founder of the Ziegler Family Foundation, which focuses on financial literacy in school districts and provides support to local charities.
He serves on the board of the Bloomsburg University Foundation and endowed the Ziegler Institute for Professional Development, along with several scholarships.
Ziegler also endowed the College of Business at Bloomsburg University, now renamed the Ziegler College of Business.
Kerr graduated from Shippensburg University where he was named the sports editor of the student newspaper, a role he also filled at the high school student paper.
A former carrier for The Mercury, he received a carrier scholarship and began his newspaper career there in 1987 as a staff writer. He was named city editor in 1995 and in 1998, he left The Mercury to take a copy editor job at the Reading Eagle.
He was promoted to metro editor in 2001 and in 2013 was named assignment editor.
Kerr has served as a member of the Alumni Honor Roll Committee, a youth coach with the Amity Athletic Club and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
He has won numerous state level awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association for his work.