Kim Geyer and Sandra Ihlenfeld

County Commissioner Kim Geyer and Sandra Ihlenfeld, Butler YMCA executive director, will be recognized as this year's distinguished alumni by Butler County Community College.

Geyer of Mars received an associate degree in liberal arts from BC3 in 1984. She will become the second county commissioner since 2016 to be honored as a BC3 distinguished alumni.

Serving her first term as a commissioner, Geyer has been an ex officio member of BC3's board of trustees since 2011. Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel, a 1991 BC3 graduate, received a 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award and also serves on the alumni council.

Ihlenfeld, a Butler resident who enrolled when she was 45, received as an associate degree in physical education in 2007. She will become the third nontraditional graduate to be recognized in the past two years, following Lucille Shapiro and Ray D. Steffler, who began their BC3 studies at ages 36 and 37, respectively.

Geyer and Ihlenfeld will be honored at the Oak Hills dinner Oct. 13, which also serves to introduce recipients of the BC3 Education Foundation's 120 named scholarships to their donors.

The distinguished alumni awards honor graduates who have utilized their education and experience from BC3 to achieve significant levels of success and who have a commitment to community service.

“I am so humbled and honored,” said Geyer, a three-sport athlete. She played softball, basketball and volleyball. She was co-captain of her softball and basketball teams and a member of the college's state champion volleyball teams in 1981 and 1982. Ihlenfeld was a married mother of three working as the full-time health and well-being director at the Butler YMCA when she decided to enroll at BC3 because, she said, of the college's affordability, accessibility and quality of education.

“BC3 was convenient, and the cost was good,” Ihlenfeld said. “When I was considering whether attending college was even a possibility, the first thing I had to think about was 'Can I clear my schedule enough to do it?' And I realized I was going to have to fight that every day. And then, 'Can you afford to do it?' I did not take out any loans. I just paid for every course as I went. And I got a very good education.”

They will join 49 other BC3 graduates recognized as distinguished alumni since the awards were first presented in 2004 by the alumni council.

Geyer, a flight attendant for 11 years with USAir, works with husband Bob's construction and development company, served 12 years on the Mars school board, including six as president, and is midway through her second term as one of four executive officers on the state board of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.

“I am a person with many interests, and I have always been that way,” Geyer said. “And I still am to this day. Getting a liberal arts degree from BC3 helped to make me more well-rounded. It was a great degree for me because I have led a very versatile life. I have gotten to experience a lot of different things and I have enjoyed all of them.”

In September, Ihlenfeld was named executive director of the Butler YMCA, where she has worked for 21 years. Since she graduated from BC3, she advanced from senior physical director, association healthy living director, vice president of healthy living and community outreach and vice president of organizational advancement.

“As a member of the YMCA board of directors, I have observed Sandy grow in her leadership role with the Y while at the same time maintaining her passionate commitment to health and wellness,” said Ruth Purcell, executive director of the BC3 Education Foundation. “She has forged collaborations with numerous businesses and organizations in the community that are making a difference in the health of Butler County.”

Ihlenfeld went on to receive a bachelor's degree in exercise science from Slippery Rock University in 2010 and a master's degree in health and physical activity research from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014.