Jesse Rulli certainly lived up to his favorite saying during his Bartlett High School academic-athletic career.

“Do the best you can,” is the inscription above his Class President photo in The Chronicle yearbook for 1961.

His best included starring on the diamond, court, gridiron, and in the classroom. Jesse played baseball for three years, serving as co-captain in his senior year. He also played three years of basketball, named captain in his senior year. He played on Indian football teams for the same three years as a sophomore, junior, and senior.

Achievements in those three sports earned him the Bartlett Athletic Award and American Legion Citizenship award in his senior year.

Jesse was class president all four years in high school and was a member of the National Honor Society. In addition, he was a member of the Alpine Club, Student Council, and the Classical League.

After high school, Jesse continued to perform at high levels at Nichols College. He played baseball for three seasons, serving as co-captain his senior year, 1966. He also was a three-year member of the Bison basketball squad, serving as captain as a senior and named team MVP as a junior and senior.

In 1965 Jesse was elected to the Nichols College Justinian Council and in 1974 he was elected to the Nichols College Athletic Hall of Fame. He attained his Master’s Degree from Western New England College.

Jesse received a commission as a second lieutenant in the US Air Force. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1987.

Jesse now lives in Beavercreek, Ohio with his wife Virginia. They have two sons, David, 37 and Richard, 36.