Tabor College announces 2004 alumni award recipients years ago
Dr. Perry Klaassen and Bryce Unruh will accept the 2004 Merit and Medallion Awards, respectively, from Tabor College Oct. 8 during the Homecoming Festival Dinner.
These awards are presented annually to one or more alumni to give alumni recognition for outstanding accomplishments and service, to encourage and challenge other alumni to greater efforts and service, and to make known the significant role of Tabor College by revealing the accomplishments of its alumni.
The recipients were selected because they show a significant interest and loyalty to Tabor College, they have a record of outstanding, devoted service to mankind in the public as well as church life, they have a record of meritorious achievement and success in his/her profession, and they hold a position of leadership in a recognized organization or business.
Klaassen graduated with highest honors from Tabor College in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. He went on to earn his M.D. from the University of Kansas, June of 1966.
Following the completion of his degree, he participated in a rotating internship at Gorgas Hospital in the Panama Canal Zone where he was a medical officer.
From 1968-71, Klaassen worked with the Mennonite Central Committee as medical director of a program for Bengali refugees in West Bengal, India.
Klaassen then received a master's in Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University in 1972. He completed his residency in General Preventive Medicine at Tulane in 1973 where he worked as a physician in several community health centers in New Orleans, which resulted in board certification in General Preventive Medicine in 1973.
Upon completion of his residency, Klaassen took the position of medical director of the Mary Mahoney Memorial Health Center in Oklahoma City where he has remained for over 30 years. Klaassen works to provide primary health care to uninsured and underinsured patients. In 1992, the medical clinic at the Mary Mahoney Health Center was named the Klaassen Medical Clinic in recognition of his years of service to the center.
Currently, Klaassen is a member of the Oklahoma County and State Medical Associations and the American Medical Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, a member of the Oklahoma and the American Academy of Family Physicians and a member of the National Association of Community Health Centers.
Klaassen has been the recipient of the Delta Omega Society, an honorary public health society; physician of the year in 1966 from the Oklahoma Primary Care Association; "Keepers of the Dream" Award from the Ebony Tribune, 2002, for exemplifying and making Dr. Martin Luther King's Dream a Reality in Oklahoma; 2003 Samuel U. Rodgers Achievement Award from the National Association of Community Health Centers; 2004 Festival of Hope Honoree from the Contact Crisis Helpline for contributions to physical, mental, and spiritual wellness in central Oklahoma.
Throughout his career, Klaassen was appointed Clinical Professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and appointed Adjunct Clinical Professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing.
He is a member of Memorial Road Mennonite Brethren Church, Edmond, Okla. , where he has served in such positions as moderator, deacon, worship leader and teacher.
Unruh graduated from Tabor College in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He went on to earn his master's degree in mathematics from Colorado State University in 1993.
Unruh is a project engineer at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., where he leads a team of engineers which designs, builds and tests flight avionics hardware and software for NASA's Kepler mission. In 1999, he received Ball Aerospace's "Outstanding Achievement Award." Ball Aerospace is building the spacecraft and payload for the Kepler mission with a purpose of detecting terrestrial planets around other stars.
Unruh attends Good News Community Church, Broomfield, Colo., where he has been active as a worship leader for eight years. The Unruh family is also active with a home fellowship group, and he has taught Vacation Bible School.
