Congratulations to our De La Salle Society Inductees - Mike ‘79 and Martha Strawser

Congratulations to our De La Salle Society Inductees - Mike ‘79 and Martha Strawser!

 

Our 2021 De La Salle Society Inductees were heavily involved in the betterment of people in education and construction fields.

 

She graduated from Bowling Green in 1983

From there she started her teaching career.

Due to all of her dedication to her students she received the Crosby Elementary Teacher of the Year Award in 1988.

 

He is a member of the graduating class of 1979.   While attending school here he participated in the school newspaper for 2 years, involved in drama on the stage crew during his junior year then performing in his senior year and participated in the football program for four years.

After La Salle High School he attended Penn State and graduated in 1983.

This developed into his career as a CEO for Valley Interior Systems.

Valley Interior Systems was founded in 1981 as a union interior subcontracting firm specializing in drywall, framing, acoustical ceilings, and plastering serving the Tri-State area.   In 1986, Mike, alongside his brother John and Jeff Hudepohl joined the company.   In 1997 the trio bought the company from Mike’s father, Mr. Bill Strawser.   This core team, in addition to working on many marquee projects in the Greater Cincinnati area, began to define the principles of Valley Interior Systems that remain today.   

This led to him working with the Allied Construction Industries:

• He was on the Board of Directors for 30 years from 1989 to 2019 
• He was the President from 2008 to 2009
• He was a trustee for the Painters Health and Welfare Fund, Plasterers Pension Fund and Carpenters Apprenticeship Fund
• He was the chairman for Allied Construction Industries Workforce Development Committee from 2012 to 2018 and the Partners for a Competitive Workplace from 2010 to 2016

He has served his community as football and basketball coach at St. I’s for 6 years and was on La Salle’s development board for two years.

 

This couple also created a family scholarship in 2015 to assist students with tuition assistance as their way of giving back to our alma mater.