John LaBreche
BA 1961: MPA Harvard 1971
Married - Shalimar Clark (May 1963); three children: Dennis, Renee, and Timothy.
I am the eldest child of Bernard and Effie Pearson LaBreche. Five of us children
graduated from Northern: Myself, Mary LaBreche Hicks, retired teacher (California and Alaska)
Paul, a retired teacher (Green Bay) Thomas, a practicing Pneuro-psychologist (North Carolina) Ann LaBreche Thill, a retired teacher (Marquette)
Only Ann remains in Marquette
1958 - Associate degree from St. Lawrence Seminary. Many credits did not transfer
1961 - after three years at Northern I received my BA.
Although History was my major, I particularly enjoyed classes with Dr. Lynn Halverson.
1961-1962 Union National Bank, Marquette.
1962 - accepted a position with the Social Security Administration in Chicago.
1963 - met Shalimar Clark at a training session in Baltimore MD.
1965 - moved to Baltimore for a position as a Disability Examiner and benefits
authorizer.
1965-1972 - advanced through several positions to a GS 12 rating.
1970 - evaluated for a senior executive (SES) position and transferred to Cambridge MA.1971 - Master of Public Administration (MPA) - The Harvard Littauer School of Government (Now Harvard Kennedy School) The former president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was a member of
our 1971 class.
1972 - our family decided that we preferred a rural life on the land of her parents and
ancestors, in Pike County KY, where our children thrived, and where Shalimar and I
currently remain.
1972 - accepted a position as claims representative at the Pikeville KY Social
Security Office, advancing to field representative and, then, manager of the Williamson WV Social Security Office. This also permitted Shalimar to resume her teaching career as a science
instructor in our local school system.
1978 - accepted a position with the Federal Department of Labor as supervisor in the Division of Workers Compensation Federal Black Lung Program (Coal Mineworkers Pneumoconiosis CWP).
1987-1988 - assigned Washington DC to evaluate contracts and revise claims
processing materials for the program.
1992-1993 - assigned Washington DC for further contract work and developing
correspondence system for the Division
1997 - retired from the Federal Government as a GS-13.
1997 - accepted a similar GS-14 position with the State of Kentucky Office of Workers
Compensation.
2002 - retired
Since 1993, I have been privileged to serve on the Board of Directors of Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) in Pikeville KY. During that time we progressed from a small rural hospital to become a 348-bed regional hospital with 500 credentialed physicians. Pikeville is a rural Appalachian city, in Eastern KY., with a population of 7200 Pikeville Medical Center has developed the largest Autism training center in the State of Kentucky. The Appalachian Valley Autism Center (AVA)currently has @ 200 learners and a waitlist of 500. We are expanding capacity.
Additionally, we have been instrumental in developing and expanding training opportunities for multiple healthcare positions, particularly four different nursing schools in the city. We recently opened the only children’s hospital in Eastern Kentucky. Pikeville Medical Center works closely with Pikeville University a private Appalachian University. Pikeville University is home to: The only osteopathic medical school in Kentucky, The only ophthalmology school in Kentucky, and A dental school that will open in 2026: one of three in the State of Kentucky.
John pictured on the far right.