Hampton School District inducts 8 veterans into Hampton Heroes program

The Hampton School District inducted eight local veterans into its 2025 Hampton Heroes program.

The Nov. 3 event at Fridley Field included student speakers and performances by the chorus and band.

Those inducted were:

• Christopher Finnigan of Pittsburgh served in the Marine Corps for four years. He served on active duty from 1991-95 and later in the Reserves from 1995-97. He is now a Hampton Township police officer.

Finnigan is married to Melanie Finnigan, and he enjoys going to sporting events and honoring the memory of their late son, Liam.

• Steven Korey Gehry is a petty officer first class on active duty with the Navy. He currently is stationed in Pittsburgh but is preparing to move to Naples, Italy, in 2026.

Gehry enlisted in 2005 and started as a master-at-arms with Mobile Security Squadron 3 before training as a hospital corpsman and serving at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth.

After field medical training, Gehry deployed to Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, earning his Fleet Marine Force warfare pin. He later served in leadership and training roles with the 2nd Marine Division and at Naval Consolidated Brig Chesapeake, where he became a certified instructor and emergency response team member.

In 2017, he joined Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, officially converting to the Navy Counselor rating in 2019. Subsequent assignments included VFA-87 in Virginia Beach — where he completed two deployments and earned his Aviation Warfare pin — and his current role as Command Career Counselor at NTAG Pittsburgh.

Gehry lives in Gibsonia with his wife, Catherine, and their three children, Kayla, McKenna and Savannah, all of whom are students at Hampton. He enjoys hunting, watching the Steelers and spending time with his family and two dogs, Zoey and Bernie.

• Robert H. Haller of Gibsonia served in the Army for several years, attaining the rank of specialist 2nd class. He enlisted in November 1955, completed basic training in South Carolina and moved to advanced training at Southeastern Signal School in Georgia.

He was a cryptographer at Secure Communications and stationed in Fort Wadsworth, N.Y., and Fort Jay, N.Y. He had temporary duty at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Haller worked at Rockwell International for more than 40 years. He is married to Carol and they share two sons, Ron and Robert, and a daughter, Sharon. Haller is a longtime Steelers season ticket holder and enjoys gardening in his spare time.

• Jeff Haus of Gibsonia served in the Marine Corps for four years. He started in the Security Force Company in Naples, Italy, from 1998 to 2000 before moving to the 3rd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment in 29 Palms, Calif., from 2000-02. He attained the rank of sergeant.

He is married to Beth Haus, and they have two children, Tyler and Brandon, who are both students at Hampton High School. He works at the Hampton Township Police Department as a sergeant, patrol supervisor, range master, firearms instructor and training sergeant. He also is part of the North Hills Special Response Team as a sniper.

• Dr. Rizalina Lim-Co of Allison Park served in the Air Force for 20 years, from 1978 to 1998. She served in active duty practicing medicine and specializing in pathology, living in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Mississippi. The highest rank she attained was colonel.

During her time in service, Lim-Co received the Meritorious Service Medal. She was the medical director of Anatomic Pathology Service, Clinical Laboratory Flight, 81st Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. She was a caregiver to her late husband, her mother and continues to care for her adult son with special needs.

Lim-Co is the mother of four children and a grandmother to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who have followed in her footsteps with careers in medicine and health care. She enjoys watching local sports, knitting, following the stock market and spending time with family.

• Mary Romans of Allison Park served in the Army for eight years, first in active duty and then in the Army Reserves.

She joined right after high school at 17 in 1989 and was stationed at Fort Bliss as a Patriot Missile Crew Member. She was deployed to the Middle East and participated in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. She maintained a Patriot Missile Launcher System, and her combat unit and sister unit successfully knocked down eight SCUD missiles.

Her highest rank was E-5 sergeant. She has been a nurse for 22 years, working in labor and delivery before recently cross-training to cardiac surgery.

Romans has three children and one granddaughter. She loves to travel, craft and spend time with her family and friends. Additionally, she spends a lot of her free time volunteering with veteran organizations.

• Graham E. Wagner of Gibsonia served in the Army for two years, enlisting in 1957 and completing basic training at Fort Carson, Colo. He was then stationed at U.S. Army Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia until being discharged in May 1959. He attained the rank of Specialist E4.

Wagner worked at Westinghouse for 30 years. He is married to his wife, Sue, and together they share a son, Scott, and a daughter, Julie Haller. In his free time, he enjoys reading, poetry, painting and playing the piano.

• Doug Watson of Gibsonia served in the Marine Corps for five years as a Signals Intel Analyst in Fort Meade, Md. During his time there, he was awarded Military Performer of the Year for the National Security Agency’s Operations Division.

Watson is married to Megan Watson and currently works at Hampton High School as a paraeducator. They have two sons, Liam and Owen. He enjoys gardening, pottery and collecting antique marbles in his free time.