VERSAILLES — A former Russia teacher and her husband have been named honorary parade marshals of the 2016 Versailles Poultry Days Parade.

Shila (Dapore) and Tom Magoto will be honored during the parade, which begins at 11 a.m., June 11, during the 2016 Poultry Days festival in downtown Versailles.

Shila and Tom are Versailles natives, high school sweethearts who both graduated from Miami University.

Tom opened a State Farm Insurance agency in Versailles in 1972 and ran the business for 42 years. He earned many industry awards and is a past president of the Miami Valley Association of Life Underwriters. He started the Versailles Bike Rodeo, coached girls softball for 14 years and T-ball and Little League for more than than 10 years. Tom served on the Poultry Days board and chaired it in 1991. He was the fraternal chairman of St. Denis Knights of Columbus for 10 years, is a past president of the Heritage Park Board and serves on the Ruth and Emerson Booher Advised Fund Board.

He is also a member of the Versailles Chamber of Commerce, Versailles Lions Club, Versailles Eagles, Versailles Area Historical Society, Versailles Music and Athletic Boosters, Versailles Alumni and Miami Alumni Club.

Shila taught in Russia and Greenville and then served as Tom’s office manager. She was a Girl Scout leader for 15 years, served on the Downtown Restoration Committee, was a member of the Coterie Club and was a founding member of the Versailles Handcrafters. She participates in the mat-making-for-the-homeless ministry of Trinity Lutheran Church. The couple retired from State Farm in 2014 and have a winter home in The Villages, Florida.

The Magotos have two sons and a daughter-in-law, John and Denise Magoto, of Denver, Colorado, and Brian Magoto, of Charleston, South Carolina; and three daughters and sons-in-law, Wendolyn and Kevin Groff, of Mocksville, North Carolina, Amanda and Brian Egan, of Los Angeles, California, and Kimberly and Josh Brooks, of Versailles. They have nine grandchildren.