Late doctor, advocates for veterans, disabled to receive Greensburg Salem alumni honors

Editor’s note: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Greensburg Salem Distinguished Alumni banquet has been tentatively rescheduled for June 18, 2020.

A Vietnam veteran who assists today’s wounded warriors, a consultant for nonprofits who advocates for people with physical challenges and a late Greensburg pediatrician who cared for young patients for more than 60 years will be honored at April’s annual Greensburg Salem Distinguished Alumni banquet.

Presented by the nonprofit Greensburg Salem Education Foundation at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield, the latest alumni awards will recognize, respectively, Daniel Pultz of Pittsburgh’s North Side (Class of 1961), Linda Dickerson of Pittsburgh (1978) and the late Dr. Pascal Spino (1941).

The event has been held since 2014. It honors graduates of Greensburg High School and Greensburg Salem High School who are “dedicated to public service professionally and personally” and serve as role models for today’s youth.

Pultz, who grew up in Southwest Greensburg, served two tours as a Marine Corps officer in the Vietnam War, surviving the siege of Khe Sanh. He was awarded the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star.

In a varied civilian career, Pultz worked as a counselor and cottage supervisor at the Warrendale Youth Development Center for adjudicated delinquent boys, founded the Chariot Group of Companies, which specialized in leasing cars, and developed Applied Business Computers, a technology firm that sold and serviced hardware and software networks for regional companies.

Most recently, he assisted at Semper Fi Odyssey, a transition program for wounded service members. He has been a team leader at 47 of the program’s weeklong events, accumulating more than 10,000 volunteer hours.

Dickerson operates 501(c)(3) Squared, a Pittsburgh firm that provides management consulting services to clients including nonprofit organizations, and is a principal in Lynch and Dickerson Resource Development. She serves on the boards of the River City Brass Band, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and Carnegie Mellon University and is an ex officio member of the Point Park University board. She has chaired the boards of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and VisitPittsburgh and served for two years as CEO of the National Aviary in Pittsburgh.

Dickerson, who uses a wheelchair, is a longtime advocate for disability rights. As noted by the nonprofit Disability Rights Pennsylvania, Dickerson founded and served on the board of Accessibility Development Associates, an organization that performs accessibility audits around the country.

She worked with entertainment venues to ensure they have wheelchair-accessible seating and created a business plan for Bender Consulting, a company that operates nationally to locate jobs for people with disabilities. She also is credited with working toward passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

Spino earned the Citizens Service Before Self Honor from the Medal of Honor Association, in 2011, “for a lifetime commitment to treating children, often not charging those who could not afford health care.” He received the Westmoreland County Community College Humanitarian Award in 2001.

A World War II Navy veteran, he served as a lieutenant on the medical ship the USS Hope. In a 2008 Tribune-Review story, he noted that his desire to become a doctor was reinforced after he contracted tuberculosis as a teenager and spent time in a sanatorium.

Spino retired from medical practice in 2008 and was 91 when he died on July 27, 2013. His son, Domenic Spino, is expected to accept the alumni award on his behalf.

The banquet is 5:30 p.m. April 3, at Ferrante’s Lakeview, Route 30, Hempfield. Contact Anita Leonard at anitaleonard65@comcast.net to make reservations or arrangements to help sponsor the event. The deadline for sponsors to be included in the event’s program is March 15.