Alumni Hall of Fame
Academic and Professional Achievement (2014)

Joel S. Dill, a native of St. Marys, was a member of the St. Marys Memorial High School graduating class of 1958. While a student at Memorial, Joel was an achiever who demonstrated tremendous talent in almost everything he pursued. Musically, he was a gifted trumpet player and pianist. Athletically, he was an outstanding basketball and baseball player. His successes at Memorial were a precursor of a lifetime of academic and professional achievement.

Joel attended Capital University and graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Education. At Capital, he continued his interest in music and also continued to be an outstanding basketball and baseball player. As a basketball player, he was named All Ohio Athletic Conference for the 1960 – 1961 and 1961 – 1962 seasons respectively, and the Crusaders’ Most Valuable Player in 1962. In baseball, Joel was named All Ohio Athletic Conference three times, from 1960 – 1962, and he was the Crusaders’ Most Valuable Player in baseball in 1962. Joel S. Dill was presented the Berea Boots Award in 1961 by Wayne Woodrow (Woody) Hayes and he won the Outstanding Senior Award in 1962. Joel Dill was inducted as a member of the Capital University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987.

Mr. Dill started his professional life as an English Teacher at Buckeye Valley High School in Delaware, Ohio, and Riverdale High School in the Mount Blanchard, Ohio, area. At these two high schools he also coached basketball and baseball. While teaching, he pursued a Master’s Degree in Counseling and Psychology at Wittenberg University, earning this degree in 1967. Upon completion of his Master’s Degree, Joel Dill accepted a position with Urbana University as Dean of Students. He held this position for two years.

Mr. Dill then set his career aside to pursue a Doctorate in Psychology at Ball State University, a degree he earned in 1970. After earning his doctoral degree, Dr. Dill taught graduate classes for United States Military officers in England and Germany on United States Air Force bases for the University of Maryland.

When Joel returned to the United States he accepted a position at the University of Evansville in Indiana where he taught graduate courses in the University’s School of Education while he served as Chairman of the University Athletic Committee.

On the professional level, Dr. Dill was active in the American Psychological Association and served as President of the Association of Humanities, Education, and Development.

Dr. Joel S. Dill’s appetite for knowledge was insatiable, and he went on to earn a Post Doctorate in Neuropsychology from Ball State University in 1987. Neuropsychology is a scientific discipline that studies the structures and function of the brain related to specific psychological processes and overt behaviors. This drove Dr. Dill to open up his own practice where he specialized in closed head injuries as well as evaluating learning disabled children and adults.

Dr. Dill founded and operated the Educational Enrichment Center where he conducted psychological evaluations, cognitive counseling, career counseling, and tutoring services. Due to his expertise, he was highly sought after in the Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky legal communities in many legal matters.

In the midst of his professional life, Dr. Dill established the Community Rehabilitation Services of Evansville, Indiana. It provided a transitional home environment to individuals with traumatic brain injuries, or who were undergoing rehabilitation but were not yet prepared to live independently or re – enter the workforce. Community Rehabilitation Services’ individual client programs were developed and these included cognitive, speech, vocational, and occupational therapies.

Joel and his wife, Janet, owned twenty – five older homes in the Evansville, Indiana, area. To renovate the homes, the Dill family hired “hard- to-employ” carpenters, whose lives were turned around by the experience. Joel personally supervised them every day, while balancing his demanding professional life.



Dr. Dill died suddenly at the age of sixty, leaving a void in the many lives he profoundly affected as a professional and humanitarian.

For achieving academic and professional excellence while faithfully serving as a humanitarian to those who struggle to regain their lives after traumatic brain injuries and other psychological obstacles, the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation inducts Dr. Joel S. Dill into its Hall of Fame for Academic and Professional Achievement.

The above text, in its entirety, is embossed on a St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Hall of Fame plaque permanently on display in Memorial High School.