Southeast to honor five with new award

Former state Sen. Al Spradling Jr. of Cape Girar-deau and Jackson, Mo., businessman Vernon Kasten will be among five people to receive Southeast Missouri State University's first Distinguished Service awards during Homecoming festivities on Oct. 19.

The other honorees are Rolla Anderson of Kalamazoo, Mich., Don Burggrabe of Roseville, Calif., and Brandon Mehrle of Whittier, Calif.

The Distinguished Service Award is a new award at Southeast. It will be presented to people who attended Southeast but didn't graduate from there, said Jane Stacy, director of alumni services and development.

"Each of these people have brought distinction to the university and remain active in the life of the university," she said.

Spradling attended Southeast from 1937 to 1939 while pursuing majors in history and English. During that time, he was a member of the Benton Literary Society.

He received his law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law in 1942. He served with the FBI from 1942 to 1945 and as city attorney in Cape Girardeau from 1948 to 1952.

Spradling was elected to the state Senate in 1952. He spent 25 years in the Senate.

A member of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation, he has practiced law for 60 years.

Kasten is president of Kasten Masonry and co-founder and president of Ceramo Co. Inc., a company that manufactures red clay pottery.

Kasten attended Southeast from the fall of 1941 to the spring of 1943. During his years at Southeast, he was a member of the university band and orchestra.

He earned undergraduate and master's degrees in ceramic engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Kasten is a member of the International Business Institute at Southeast.

Anderson attended Southeast from the fall of 1939 to the second quarter of the 1942-1943 academic year.

Anderson is the former director of athletics at Kalamazoo College, where he was named to the College Hall of Fame in 1992.

He is a member of the Western Tennis Association Hall of Fame, the Western Michigan Hall of Fame and the NCAA Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.

Burggrabe, who grew up in St. Louis, attended Southeast from the fall of 1951 to the spring of 1954, when he was drafted. He later enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. During his years at Southeast, he was active in drama.

He was a charter member of Sigma Tau Gamma, the first fraternity recognized at Southeast.

Burggrabe spent 26 years in the Air Force, retiring in 1980. He then joined G.D. Searle & Co. in Skokie, Ill., as a regional public affairs director. He was named vice president of public affairs of Searle Labs, U.S., in 1981. He retired in 1991. Mehrle attended Southeast from the fall of 1941 to the spring of 1946. He participated in the Benton Society, choir, band and orchestra.

Mehrle is retired as associate dean of student services at the University of Southern California School of Music in Los Angeles.

The awards will be given at the All-Alumni Luncheon on Oct. 19 at the Show Me Center. Tickets are $9.25 and can be obtained by calling 651-2259.