Two Austin High School graduates took lessons from their roots here in Austin around the world, and soon they’ll be honored for their achievements.

Peggy (McLaughlin) Keener, Class of 1956; and June C. Kjome, Class of 1938; were selected by the Austin High School Alumni & Friends Association as the 2012 Distinguished Alumni. Keener and Kjome plan to travel to Austin for a reception and dinner Sept. 27 and will be part of Homecoming on Sept. 28.

Keener, of Minnetonka, Minn., lived almost 20 years in Japan, helping to teach English in many ways to Japanese citizens, including starting an English-language program for Keener began working in 1963 for NHK-TV, Japan’s largest national TV studio, making English lesson radio programs, recording books-on-tape and traveling throughout the country as a teacher and lecturer.

Her book, “Potato In a Rice Bowl,” about her memories from living in Japan, won the Readers Favorite International Award for Best Memoir of 2011 and the Award Winning Finalist in the Humor Category of the 2012 International Book Awards.

Keener began working in 1963 for NHK-TV, Japan’s largest national TV studio, where the English TV program for the country, airing three days a week in prime time.

Keener said that at the time, Japan’s prime minister realized Japan would never be competitive globally unless its citizens could speak English. The program proved highly successful, giving many in Japan the chance to practice English in private.

 

Kjome, of LaCrosse, Wis., served as a nurse, midwife and midwifery teacher as part of a Lutheran mission in South Africa for nearly 20 years. In LaCrosse, she served as Head Nurse of Pediatrics at Gunderson Lutheran Hospital from 1965 to 1972; and Director of the Department of Education at Gunderson Lutheran from 1973 to 1985.

Kjome has worked for nearly seven decades as a hard-working advocate for the rights of marginalized and persecuted people at home and around the world. Her efforts began in 1945 as a missionary nurse in Zululand, South Africa, where she spent 19 years as a “bush nurse” witnessing firsthand the inequities imposed on black people living there. Upon returning to the United States in 1964, Kjome started her career in LaCrosse but made several trips back to South Africa and Namibia.

In LaCrosse, Kjome helped found the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity; served as an advocate for local anti-poverty programs and food pantries; and worked to provide emergency shelter and transitional housing for women and children fleeing violence. She has been deeply involved in the League of Women Voters and an Interfaith Justice and Peace Group. In recent years, Kjome helped Hmong in Laos and in refugee camps in Thailand, continuing her efforts for them in the late 1970s and 1980s, when many came to the United States to escape persecution in Laos.

She has received numerous awards for her work and advocacy, including being the first recipient of the League of Women Voters in Wisconsin’s Meg McLane Award for Advocacy. In 2007, LaCrosse also held a “June Kjome Day” citywide celebration.

 

AHS 2012 Distinguished Alumni

What: 2012 Distinguished Alumni dinner for honorees Peggy (McLaughlin) Keener, Class of 1956; and June C. Kjome, Class of 1938.

Where: Hormel Historic Home, Austin.

When: 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 27.

Tickets: Available at the AHS cashier’s office or by calling the Austin Public Education Foundation office at 460-1838.

Contact: Jeni Lindberg, Chair AHS Alumni & Friends Association 507-460-1800 jeni.lindberg@austin.k12.mn.us