Tom and Becky Brandt stood on stage together in front of hundreds of attendees at graduation Sunday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium.
The last time the Brandts were on that stage was in 1972, when they received their high school diplomas from Alliance High School.
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“It’s hard to imagine it was 44 years ago that Becky and I crossed this stage to receive our diplomas,” Tom said. “We were ready to set the world on fire.”  “I know this is a cliché, but you get out of life what you put into it,” Becky said.

Tom and Becky certainly put plenty into their lives over the last six decades. So much so that the couple, who now live in Council Bluffs, Iowa, were honored at Alliance High School’s graduation as the third inductees into the Alliance Public Schools Foundation Wall of Fame.
The APS Foundation Wall of Fame recipients will eventually be displayed just inside the main doors of the Performing Arts Center.
“Thank you so much for this honor,” Becky said. “Tom and I appreciate it and are very humbled.”

Though the Brandts have lived in a number of towns across the state and across the nation, the Class of 1972 couple never loosened their ties to Alliance High School.

The couple donated the inflatable Bulldog mascot to Alliance High School, donated a pitcher's mound to the Oldtimers Baseball organization, routinely donated College World Series tickets to the Alliance Public Schools Foundation, and oftentimes donated Husker football tickets to be raffled off by any number of AHS organizations.

Tom and Becky have also given generously to the communities of Norfolk, Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa, during their time living there.

“Philanthropy is an essential trait of Midwest values,” Tom said. “Remember your roots and be generous to the community and school system that has given you so much.”

Yet Tom and Becky donated much more than money over the years.  Becky is a founding chair on the American Heart Association Go Red For Women fundraiser. She was also a founding chair on the American Heart Association’s Red Dress Dash, and the Norfolk Arts Center Soup R’ Art fundraiser, which brings restaurants and artists together for a competition for best soup and art.

She served as the president of the Northeast Nebraska Medical Society from 2002-2009, started a cosmetic business in Omaha that grew over 200 consultants in six states and was awarded the sixth-largest dollar increase in the nation (1998).

Becky volunteers at Goodwill Industries, teaching classes to women on how to prepare for a job interview, and she is on the Live Auction Committee for SPREE (St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School).

Tom serves as the medical director for the ACLS program at Northeast Community College and the Escape Spa in Norfolk and is the director of cardiology at Methodist Jennie Edmundson.

He serves on the American Heart Association and is on the Board of Directors for the Link, Inc., an organization licensed by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Alcoholism, Drug Abuse & Addiction Services.

He’s the founding cardiologist of the Faith Regional Cardiovascular Institute in Norfolk and served as Director of Cardiology for Scottsdale Healthcare/Osborne in 2000-2001.

Tom was presented with the American Heart Association’s “Sudden Death” award in 1976 for performing CPR on a gunshot victim at the Lincoln Hilton Hotel, and was honored as the “best of Omaha – Cardiologist” in 1996-97 and in 2009-10.

None of those accomplishments are possible, the couple explained Sunday, without the base of education and encouragement provided by Alliance High School.

“Whether it’s regarding your future academics or employment, give 100 percent. Find your passion in life and never forget where you came from,” Becky said. “Alliance High School has helped build your foundation as they did for Tom and me.”

“What I do know is that the teachers, staff and administration from APS have sought to provide you a core set of values and a basic fund of knowledge that when harnessed will allow you to follow your separate paths to success in the future,” Tom said.
The Brandt’s path has now led them into the APS Foundation’s Wall of Fame.