Bob Foos
Lisa and Jeff Montgomery were honored as this year’s Distinguished Citizens Monday during the 22nd annual Webb City R-7 Schools Foundation Honors Banquet at Webb City High School.
Recipients of the Cardinal Teacher Awards and Pillars of Education were also honored. And there were three Webb City R-7 Hall of Fame inductions.
Foundation coordinator DeeAnn Allen announced that as the school district approaches its 150th anniversary in 2017 the Foundation Board has launched its 1877 campaign to raise $150,000 by the end of 2027 to continue building its scholarship program. More information is available online.
Lisa and Jeff Montgomery have been supporters of the school system in a variety of ways ever since they moved to Webb City in 2000 as Jeff took over a State Farm Insurance agency. Both of their daughters, Brooke and Bethany, are WCHS graduates.
Lisa, who serves as president of the Schools Foundation, taught at Harry S Truman Elementary School before joining Jeff at his agency.
They thanked everyone for allowing them to be Cardinals the past 26 years.
Dr. Robert “Bob” Basnett volunteered to join the U.S. Army Air Corps after graduating from WCHS in 1940. As a navigator/bombardier with the 416th Bomb Group, he flew four missions over Vrance in the D-Day Invasion and flew 65 other missions over Europe.
He was awarded a Purple Heart, six Bronze Stars, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the American Campaign Medal, the WWII Victory Medal and an Air Medal with 11 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Upon his discharge in 1945, he attended the University of Missouri and became a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. He had his own practice in Fulton for 30 years. He received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Mizzou Alumni Association in 2028.
Bob and his wife, Lanola “Puz” Basnett were married for 72 years before they passed away within a month of each other in 2020. Their son, Dr. Michael Basnett accepted his father’s honor.
Teddy (Hoffman) Steen, a 1971 WCHS graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from now Missouri State University in 1980 and a teaching certificate for social studies in 1983.
She had a 24-year successful career as marketing manager and regional sales manager of Cable One. In 2008, while employed with Cable One, Teddy founded Ascent Recovery Residences, an intensive, residential program for men working through addiction recovery.
Two more recovery programs have been established through Ascent – a women’s recovery program and the Recovery Outreach Community Center. Ascent has assisted thousands of individuals and was the very deserving recipient of the 2014 Recovery Support Outstanding Performer Award.
Judge Joe Hensley graduated from WCHS in 1991 and received his JD degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law in 1998.
In his private practice, he handled general civil litigation, family law and appeals, with an emphasis in juvenile and adoption law. He represented and assisted families in adopting over 1000 children between 2004 and 2014. Meanwhile, he was the county juvenile office’s attorney and special prosecutor from 2002 to 2007.
In 2013, Hensley was inducted into the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, an international association of approximately 470 attorneys, judges and law professors throughout the world who distinguished themselves in the field of adoption law and are dedicated to the highest standards of ethics and practice in the field.
He was vice-chair of the Missouri Bar’s Juvenile Courts and Laws Committee, a certified Guardian ad Litem, a licensed mediator, an alumni of the Missouri Bar Leadership Academy, and a former adjunct professor at Drury University.
In 2014, Hensley was elected as the Jasper County Associate Circuit Judge in Division 5. In 2017, he was appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court’s Task Force on Criminal Justice. In 2019, he was the first associate judge in Jasper County appointed as Presiding Juvenile Court Judge.
In 2022, Hensley received the Theodore McMillian Judicial Excellence Award. Two years later, in 2024, he also received the Missouri Bar Judicial Leadership Award.
Also in 2024, Hensley was elected to the Division 1 Circuit Bench. That same year he graduated from Harvard Law School’s Judicial Executive Leadership Program. Last year, in 2025, he was invited to be part of the Missouri Court Management Institute, a year-long program for judges, court administrators, clerks, and juvenile officers designed to improve the effectiveness of the legal system and the administration of justice.
Outside of his judicial responsibilities, Hensley has been or is currently a Board Member of The Joplin Family Y, Hope 4 You Breast Cancer Foundation, Crimestoppers, the WCR-7 Foundation, Fostering Hope, and Member of the Carl Junction Lions Club. Hensley and his wife, Dina, have two children, Ella and Joseph.
Hensley told the audience while studying side-by-side with graduates of high schools considered the best in the state, he always felt he had received an equal or better education at Webb City. He also gave credit to his mother, Lucinda Copeland, a longtime member of the Webb City R-7 Board of Education.
Tim Doss, a teacher and coach in Webb City schools from 1977 to 2001, as well as driver’s ed instructor long after retirement.
Judy Adair, known primarily for teaching high school algebra, geometry and pre-calculus.
Cathy Hall was a kindergarten and first-grade teacher and the district’s early childhood coordinator.
Stan and Patty Crane have two sons who have served on the school board, Kevin and Stephen (current member), two other sons, Bryan and Aaron, along with 22 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren – a majority of which have or are going through the Webb City school system.
Patty worked for the district for 24 years, and Stan, a 1969 graduate, worked a short time at the high school.
Kim Christensen – preschool teacher at Heritage Preschool.
Jennifer Strickland – music teacher at Bess Truman Primary Center and Harry S Truman Elementary School.
Sarah McDowell – fifth grade teacher at Webb City Middle School.
Ashlea Bell – math teacher at Webb City Junior High School. (unable to attend)
Camie Schultz – secretary at Bess Truman Primary Center.
Christina Wells – bus driver.