Ron Vodenichar, Publisher and President of Eagle Media, was honored Saturday night by the Freedom Area Educational Foundation as a member of its 2019 Hall of Fame. Vodenichar was celebrated for his "Outstanding Achievement in Communications and Journalism."

For Ron Vodenichar, success boils down to one thing.

“Everything comes down to being in it together,” Vodenichar told the crowd gathered at Wexford's Columbian Room on Saturday night. “I've surrounded myself with the right people.”

The veteran newspaper publisher was honored by the Freedom Area Educational Foundation as one of its newest inductees into its Hall of Fame. The foundation benefits students and staff of Freedom Area School District through higher education scholarships, mini-grants for teachers and improvements to athletic and other facilities.

Vodenichar, a 1973 graduate of the Beaver County school district, grew up in New Sewickley Township. He joins an elite class of Freedom Area High School alumni inducted into the foundation's Hall of Fame. The annual induction ceremony and banquet started in 2008 and has raised more than $56,000 for scholarships, grants and Project Graduation events.

“As a retired teacher, I love to hear stories about my former students,” said Donna Pfeifer, a 2010 inductee into the Hall of Fame who served as toastmaster for the evening. “They've become so successful and you want to feel like you played a little part in their success.”

Vodenichar joined the Butler Eagle as its general manager in 1989 when he and his wife and college sweetheart, Linda, returned to Western Pennsylvania from Oklahoma. Today he serves as publisher and president of Eagle Media.

With a career spanning more than four decades, Vodenichar was honored by the foundation for Outstanding Achievement in Communications and Journalism.

He was joined by Jack Linn Jr. and Sharon Smith Ribner in being honored this year. Linn was a 1985 graduate and standout athlete who went on to play briefly in the NFL after college. He died in a Florida motorcycle crash in 1985. Ribner, a 1988 graduate, went on to University of Notre Dame and joined The Wall Street Journal in 2003, where she now serves as a general manager.

Vodenichar was introduced by his niece, Stacie Young Aland, who called her uncle's ambition and determination “a force to be reckoned with.” She credited his faith and love of his family as two other drivers behind his successful career in the newspaper industry.

“In the simplest terms as I can put it, I've had the most blessed life that anyone could ask for,” Vodenichar said. “My whole life and my career has always been about family.”