SANTA ANA : College Alumni to Be Honored for Service

Officials for the Rancho Santiago College District will honor two alumni today for their service to the community by inducting them into the district’s Hall of Fame.

During a private ceremony, district officials will recognize Anaheim firefighter Jerry D. Austin and Mary Halvorson, a dean at Rancho Santiago College, spokesman Dale Ruhe said.

Austin graduated from the college’s Fire Academy program in 1978 and has worked for the Anaheim Fire Department as an arson investigator, fire education specialist and acting fire marshal. He was promoted to the rank of battalion chief in January. Austin lives in Long Beach and is pursuing a master’s degree in public administration, Ruhe said.

Halvorson graduated from Rancho Santiago in 1978 and worked as a nurse for several years before returning to the school to teach. She later became the assistant dean of applied arts and sciences, a position she has held for two years, Ruhe said.

An accomplished pilot, Halvorson is a member of the Flying Samaritans, a group that runs medical clinics in Mexico. She has also worked with single mothers at Casa Teresa Home in Orange. She lives in Santa Ana.