Award Establishment
The Larry L. Morgan Service Award was established as the William K. Wilson Service Award in 1988 after Bill Wilson, a retired vice president of marketing at Diebold, Inc. Mr. Wilson played a pivotal role in the founding of Employers Health through his leadership as executive secretary of the Stark County Foundation, which provided initial funding for our organization.
Larry L. Morgan Service Award
In 2017, the award was renamed after Larry L. Morgan, longtime board member and advocate of Employers Health, who tragically passed away in late December 2016. Larry was the longest-serving Employers Health board member and served as chairman of the board from 2000-2015.
This Year’s Recipient
This award is presented each year for outstanding support and contributions to Employers Health. It has been presented annually since 1988. It recognizes the effort and service rendered to Employers Health.
Congratulations to the 2024 Larry L. Morgan Award recipient Diane Brake of Optum Rx.
Past Recipients, 1988-2023
C. Ken Dennis of The Timken Company – 1988
James Ewing of Belden & Blake Corporation – 1989
David Stewart of Diebold, Incorporated – 1990
Timothy Schiltz of The Hoover Company – 1991
Eugene Thorn of Doctors Hospital – 1992
Bill Jones of Nationwide Insurance Company – 1993
Nancy Adams of Stark County Medical Society – 1994
David Millington of Watson Wyatt Worldwide – 1995
John Baum of Citizens Savings Bank (Predecessor to FirstMerit) – 1996
Michael Novelli of Professional Claims Management – 1997
Larry Salasek of Rubbermaid, Incorporated – 1998
Kathy Hohner of Caremark, Inc. – 1999
Patricia Grischow of The Timken Company – 2000
Scott Streator of Parke-Davis (a division of Pfizer) – 2001
Emily Sitrin of Caremark, Inc. – 2002
Melodee S. Webb of The Timken Company – 2003
John Gaunter of Wyeth – 2004
Rod Sprang of Sanofi-Aventis – 2005
Sharon Aten of Akron Children’s Hospital – 2006
Dr. Timothy Newman of FirstEnergy Corp. – 2007
Kathy Flynn* of Novo Nordisk – 2008
Miguel Hechavarria* of Novo Nordisk – 2008
Donna Hedrick* of Novo Nordisk – 2008
Julia Hoff* of Novo Nordisk – 2008
Del Deem* of Astra Zeneca – 2009
John Miskella* of Astra Zeneca – 2009
John Westerbeck, MD* of West Medical – 2010
Joseph Lach, MD* of West Medical – 2010
Sheelah Westerbeck* of West Medical – 2010
Greg Paradiso of Glatfelter – 2011
Gary Thurnauer of Pfizer – 2012
Rob Fitzgerald of Abbott – 2013
Clare Miller of American Psychiatric Foundation – 2014
Sue Grabowski of Grabowski & Co. – 2015
Larry Morgan of Stark County Educational Service Center – 2016
Eddie Minor of CVS Health – 2017
Deborah Walter of Takeda Pharmaceuticals – 2018
Mike Napolitano of CVS Caremark – 2022
Ilona Smith of CVS Caremark – 2023
*Denotes team award recipient
No awards were given from 2019-2021
2024 Larry L. Morgan Service Award