The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame board of directors  announced this week it voted to induct 15 recently deceased Rhode Islanders in a special convocation.

President  Dr. Patrick Conley noted that despite the fact the individuals were not inducted during their productive lifetimes the Hall of Fame proudly recognizes them posthumously.

 “These inductions are necessary because the Hall of Fame is dedicated to telling the history of Rhode Island through the achievements of its citizens via books and its website and the absence of these eminent Rhode Islanders from the Hall of Fame would be a serious omission,” he said.

Conley noted that space limitations require that this induction ceremony be by invitation only. It will be held at the new Shark’s Restaurant in Central Falls on the Blackstone River on Sunday, October 30 at 1:00 p.m. The following are to be inducted:

LLOYD E. BLISS was a major real estate magnate whose company, Bliss Properties, developed Bellevue Gardens Shopping Center in Newport and the Warwick Mall where he once hosted the refurbished statue of the Independent Man during America’s bicentennial of independence. Numerous Rhode Island landmark structures were either built or managed by his company. Bliss was a civic leader, the chairman of the Providence Civic Center Authority and a generous philanthropist. The Armenian Historical Society Museum is located in one of his East Side Buildings courtesy of Bliss and his son in-law, Hall of Fame inductee Aram Garabedian.

ROSWELL S. BOSWORTH, JR. was the owner of the East Bay Newspaper chain for 25 Years and the recipient of numerous awards in the field of journalism. He was a major force in the affairs of the Town of Bristol serving as founding president of the Friends of Linden Place, chairman of the Bristol Harbor Commission, and three-term chairman and 1981 chief marshal of the Bristol Fourth of July Committee.

2005. ELMER E. CORNWELL, JR. was a nationally renowned political scientist who taught at Brown University from 1960 to 2005. He was an authority on state constitutions and the lead adviser to the 1964-69 and 1973 state constitutional conventions. He was also the state’s leading authority and consultant on home rule charters, parliamentarian of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1994, town moderator of Little Compton, 1984-2004, and the author of several books on American politics.

ATTORNEY GENERAL HERBERT F. DeSIMONE was a star defensive tackle at La Salle Academy and Brown University. After receiving his law degree from Columbia University in 1954 he became involved in politics. As a Republican, DeSimone served ably as attorney general of Rhode Island from 1967 to 1971 and then made two unsuccessful runs for governor. President Richard Nixon appointed him assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and in 1985 he became Rhode Island Director of Transportation. DeSimone also served as Director of the Providence Industrial Development Corporation upon appointment to that position by his protègè, Mayor Vincent Cianci. DeSimone maintained a successful law practice in Providence with his two sons, Herbert Jr. and Douglas.

ELAINE AND LOUIS LORILLARD were Newport socialites who conceived the idea of bringing jazz music from the smoky, overcrowded nightclubs to an open-air environment whereby hundreds of people could enjoy the cream of American music in one place with Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Erroll Garner, Ella Fitzgerald, and other jazz legends performing. Elaine and her husband, Louis founded the Newport Jazz Festival that presented its initial summer concert in 1954. The Lorillards, whose fortune was based upon the tobacco industry, had the name, reputation, and background to make their dream a reality and the money to fund it. The couple later found Boston musician, George Wein, who could continue the project on a grander scale.

JOHN J. McCAULEY, JR. was an outstanding athlete in football and basketball at La Salle Academy and Boston College who devoted his life to football. He first coached at Boston College and then the Army team at West Point. He wound up his successful 35-year career at Portsmouth Abbey in 1988. The focus of this much-beloved coach was on building the character of his players.

WALTER F. McLAUGHLIN was a prominent and successful businessman who moved from banking to founding the McLaughlin Auto Stores, which eventually numbered eight throughout Rhode Island. Walter was active in civic affairs serving one term as president of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame and the chairman of La Salle Academy’s Board of Directors from 1997 to 2000. He was a principal donor to La Salle, and its modern athletic center is named in his honor.

JOHN MECRAY was a native of New Jersey who moved to Newport when that city was home to the America’s Cup Competition. In Newport he established himself as one of America’s leading maritime artists. He produced over 60 major works throughout his career including the steamers of the Fall

River Line and the J-class racing yachts, especially those designed by Captain Nat Herreshoff of Bristol. Mecray founded Newport’s Museum of Yachting and later he co-founded the International Yacht Restoration School.

PETER J. O’CONNELL was a World War II Marine combat veteran who joined the Rhode Island State Police upon his return from war. As a state trooper he served with distinction for 25 years rising to the rank of major. During his tenure he served as chairman of the New England Police Intelligence Unit and designed a school for state police that became known nationally.

In May 1974, Governor Noel appointed O’Connell as first executive director of the Rhode Island Lottery, a position he held until his retirement in 1993 during which he also served as the first president of the Multi-State Lottery Association. In 2014, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Criminal Justice Hall of Fame.

RICHARD OSTER was a prominent Rhode Island entrepreneur who greatly expanded his family’s businesses (A.J. Oster Co. and Leach Machinery). In 1979, after acquiring A.J. Oster, Co. the giant English conglomerate, Cookson, made Richard Oster the head of its fledgling North American division. By 1986, Cookson America had acquired 37 companies from diverse industrial sectors, 14 of which were located in the Providence metropolitan area. In addition to his business operations, Oster was active in a variety of civic and philanthropic causes including the Rhode Island Special

Olympics. He also served as founding chairman of the Rhode Island Civic Center Authority.

MATTHEW J. SERPA, JR. and JEANINE (CARROLL) SERPA were parents of nine children and grandparents of 19, but they had other achievements in their spare time. Matthew, a former seminarian, was a legendary Catholic layman from South Providence who founded the CYO Day Camp and built a 110-vehicle school bus business that transported thousands of students to schools and sporting events throughout New England. He even personally paid tuitions at LaSalle Academy and Bay View Academy for many needy children and coached various sports teams in his neighborhood.

Jeanine was a school teacher, a nationally recognized professional artist, businesswoman, a magazine columnist, the author of six art design books, a cookbook, and an inventor of a proprietary paint glaze marketed by the Illinois Bronze Company.

JUDGE WALTER R. STONE was a prominent lawyer, jurist and a civil rights activist. He was raised in Kentucky, fought as a Marine in the Vietnam War, and was a recipient of the Purple Heart. After graduating from Case Western School of Law he came to Rhode Island and achieved immediate prominence as an assistant attorney general and then as a founder of the law firm Stone, Clifton, and Clifton. He was a highly effective trial lawyer and longtime legal counsel to the International Boxing Federation

before his appointment as Superior Court judge in 2010, a position he held until his death in 2017. Stone directed the Rhode Island Foundation from 1998 to 2007 and was an original director of the Heritage Harbor Foundation (2015-2017).

1. KENNETH R. WALKER, SR. was a professor of Education at Rhode Island College with a Ph.D. from Boston University. Previously, Walker had served as director of Project Upward Bound, a program for educationally disadvantaged youth and the Assistant Principal at Central High School. He was a veteran of the Korean War. Walker served as member and then chairman of the Rhode Island Parole Board for 35 years. He was also a gifted athlete who was a Division One NCAA basketball referee and served as a mentor to many Providence College basketball teams. He was also a president of Big Brothers of Rhode Island and earned many honors for his work with youth, parolees, and the mentally challenged communities