Gilmour Academy to Honor Alumni Man and Woman of the Year on Saturday, December 14 at Christmas at the Academy party

Gilmour Academy will present its 2013 Alumni of the Year Awards to Bob Heltzel ’65 and Kristin Franco Kirkpatrick ’94. Heltzel is the retired president of Kenilworth Steel Company and a loyal supporter and Trustee of the Academy. Kirkpatrick is the manager of Wellness Nutrition Services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute and has served as a mentor to multiple Gilmour students. The awards honor Gilmour graduates who have distinguished themselves in their personal lives and careers and who have demonstrated leadership and service to the school.  The two alumni will be honored Saturday, December 14 at 5:30 p.m. at the Christmas at the Academy party in Gilmour’s Athletic Center. 

Heltzel graduated from Gilmour in 1965 and then graduated from John Carroll University in 1970. He is the retired owner and president of Kenilworth Steel, a carbon and alloy steel plate provider. He retired from the company in 2006, but remained as a consultant for several years following his retirement.

Heltzel joined the Gilmour Board of Trustees this year, but has been a loyal supporter of the school for years. Most recently, Heltzel and his wife, Heidi, have established an endowed scholarship at Gilmour for students living in the Cleveland metropolitan area and beyond. The scholarship is named the Thomas O. Callaghan Scholarship in honor of Heltzel’s classmate and longtime friend Tom Callaghan ’65, who passed away in November 2012.

Heltzel is involved in a number of other civic organizations as well. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at John Carroll University; on the board of Boys Hope Girls Hope Cleveland; as president of Values and Visions Foundation of Trumbull County Parochial Schools; on the board of Payroll 1, Detroit, Michigan; and, in 2000, received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal from Pope John Paul II, which is the highest honor a member of the laity can receive from the pope and is awarded for distinguished service.

The Heltzels have five daughters and five grandchildren. Two of their daughters, Jennifer Farrior ’91 and Katie Ricotti ’93, attended Gilmour as did their son-in-law, Brett Schumacher ’01.

As manager of the Wellness Nutrition Services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, Kristin Kirkpatrick oversees all the nutrition-related aspects of the Center for Lifestyle Medicine; consults with universities, hospitals and corporate clients on wellness programming; manages the nutrition criteria for the Cleveland Clinic’s proprietary food label, Go!; and works on Wellness Institute strategic planning with the Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Wellness Officer Dr. Michael Roizen.

She is an experienced presenter, an award-winning dietitian, author and regular television guest on local and national shows as well as a contributor to several national magazines and newspapers. The Huffington Post just named Kirkpatrick “one of 25 diet and nutrition experts you need to follow on Twitter.” She is a regular contributor on The Dr. Oz Show, serves on his advisory board, writes for The Huffington Post, is the nutrition advisor on the YouBeauty website, is a featured expert on the Cleveland Clinic’s Health Hub, and can be found quoted in newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Martha Stewart Living, Fitness, Women’s Health, Women’s Day, and Self. She has also been the featured expert on NBC Nightly News and CNN Health.com.

After graduating from Gilmour in 1994, Kirkpatrick graduated from The George Washington University in 1998. She then received her master’s degree in health promotion management from The American University and completed the dietetics coordinated program at the University of Akron in 2005.

 She has been actively involved with Gilmour since she began her career and frequently serves as a mentor to Gilmour students looking to do internships in the health management field. She has also participated in several on-campus career workshops designed to expose students to a variety of career options.

She and her husband, Andy, have a son, Jake, who will enroll at Gilmour’s Lower School in the fall of 2014.

Gilmour Academy is a Catholic, independent, coeducational, college-preparatory school.  It is sponsored by the Congregation of Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Ind., and offers a Montessori program beginning at 18-months-old and a Lower School, Middle School and Upper School. A boarding program is offered to students in Grades 7 through 12. It is located at 34001 Cedar Road in Gates Mills, Ohio.