March 21, 2016
Wyandotte Distinguished Graduate
 Inductees

Kromrei, Dr. Heidi Therese- 1979
Matevie, William Roy - 1960

Dr. Heidi Therese Kromrei - Class of 1979

 

 Heidi Kromrei distinguished herself in the field of
 medical education. Her contributions to the
 science of behavioral health research and
 mentoring of students in academic environments
 has led to improved educational physician training
 programs.

 Heidi had a great time in her years at Roosevelt
 High School. She was a member of the National
 Honor Society and received several scholastic honors. Her most memorable experiences were participating in the W.A.C.C., playing in the band and singing in the special vocal group TR7. Heidi also played varsity girls’ basketball and even assisted as a score keeper at the boys’ basketball games. She graduated with her class in 1979.

Fresh out of high school, Heidi’s career path took many turns over the years, beginning in restaurant management, working on local and state political campaigns, and eventually leading to her current work in health and higher education.

In 1990, Heidi moved to Chicago with her two girls and began her professional training at the University of Illinois. She earned her B.A. degree in 1997 with a major in psychology. In 2004, she earned her M.A. degree from the University of Michigan. Her major was Education Performance Improvement and Instructional Design. In 2014, Heidi earned her Ph.D. from Wayne State University with a major in Instructional Technology, Performance Improvement and Training Emphasis. Cognate: Industrial Organizational Psychology.

While in Chicago, Heidi was doing clinical research site training. She served as a research assistant at the Health Research and Policy Center. While at the University of Michigan, during 2000-2001, Heidi was the senior survey manager for Social Research at the Survey Research Center in Ann Arbor.

During the years of 2001-2007, Dr. Kromrei headed the Epidemiologist and Field Team Selection at the Henry Ford Health System in their Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology.

In 2010, Heidi began her present association with the Detroit Medical Center. She was appointed Academic Director of Graduate Medical Education and served until 2014. Presently, Dr. Kromrei is the Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs and Associate Designated Institutional Official at the D.M.C.

Dr. Kromrei volunteers her time to many academic organizations.  She is a member of the Wayne State University School of Medicine Admissions Committee.  She mentors university students who wish to go on to medical school.  Dr. Kromrei  serves on many local, regional and national committees related to higher education.  Heidi is currently a faculty member at Oakland University where she teaches graduate courses in Program Evaluation.

Heidi Kromrei lives in Wyandotte and enjoys her two girls who live nearby and are also pursuing professional careers.

William Roy Matevie - Class of 1960

 William (Bill) Matevie distinguished himself by
 dedicating his life to serving and ministering to the
 less fortunate and jailed populations of Michigan and
 North Carolina.

 Bill was an average student while attending Roosevelt
 High School. He achieved good grades in the classes
 he enjoyed. He liked attending sporting events, but a
 full-time paper route from ages 12 to 19 didn’t leave
 much time to actively participate in a team sport.

 Following graduation, Bill work full-time for Security
 Bank as a collections manager, at the Wyandotte
 Chemicals Employees Credit Union as a loan officer,
 and for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company as an office and credit manager. Bill was drafted into the United States Army and from 1964-1966 served as a military policeman.

In 1969, Bill married and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was employed at Michigan Bell Telephone. Over the next several years, Bill enjoyed his three children and adjusted to married life and fatherhood. It was during this point in Bill’s life that he felt a need to be involved in social concerns in his community. He volunteered in the Big Brother program where he mentored two young boys.

In 1980, Bill moved his family to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he accepted a job in business marketing for Southern Bell Telephone. It was shortly after his arrival in North Carolina that his life changed forever.  A significant spiritual experience directed Bill towards a commitment to more actively serve those in his community that were downtrodden, desperate for help.

This new direction in life began with Bill spending nights in homeless shelters serving the “least of his brothers” and functioning as a pro-life coordinator for the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. His next volunteer effort was answering calls for a “Suicide Hot Line” where the silence on the other end of a call could be deafening. The years 1985-1995 found Bill serving with the Kairos Prison Ministry Program which took him inside several South Carolina maximum security prisons. As coordinator of prison ministries for the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, he ministered to three death row inmates at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Accepting early retirement from Southern Bell in 1991, Bill went to the Mecklenburg County Jail in Charlotte, North Carolina, spending the next four years as a volunteer jail chaplain. In 1995, he was hired by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff to a full-time jail chaplain position. Bill spent the next 16 years in that capacity ministering to the spiritual needs of some 2,000+ male, female and youthful offenders. He retired in 2011.

Bill Matevie did not pursue the degrees and employment sought by many of his peers at Roosevelt High School.   He received a different calling, and dedicated over 40 years of his life to serving and ministering to the less fortunate and incarcerated individuals in our society.  He made our world a better place.

Bill lives in Stallings, North Carolina, where he recently completed his memoirs, “Wounded Lambs--A Journey to Jesus.” He enjoys life with his wife, three children and six grandchildren.