Alum News a major children’s ministry initiative called Un Million de Niños (One Million Children). Greyson Alexander Vogelaar was born in June to Jody Vogelaar and Janeen Evenson-Vogelaar ’97. They live in Toluca Lake, Calif.
1997 Naomi Sue was born in April to Jason ’06 and Kris (Kraakevik) Hedstrand. She joins Henry, 4, Josh, 2, and Erik, 1.
1998 Christine Ferguson (SEM) is a nursing home chaplain in Marlborough, Conn.
1999 Bob Christian (SEM) is a volunteer sheriff’s chaplain for Spokane County in Washington in addition to his pastoral responsibilities at Heritage Church in Spokane, Wash. He joins eight other volunteer chaplains. Alexander Steven was born in March to Chad and Stephanie (Malone) Gerads. He joins Allison, 6, Skylar, 4, Andrew, 3, and Savannah, 1. Stephanie home schools the children and teaches parenting education and infant massage part time. John Groh was named the president and CEO of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau after a sixmonth search and 65 candidates. He also serves on the Bethel University National Alumni Board. Beth Eiserloh Johnson is the media and publications manager of the North Carolina Symphony. She and her husband Wyeth live in Raleigh, N.C.
John A. Kantke joined the law firm of Larry K. Houk ’66 in Roseville, Minn. The firm specializes in estate planning and elder law. Holly Larsen married Benjamin Hilty in July 2008. They live in St. Paul. Noelle Evelyn was born in March to Jeremy and Melissa (Hunst) Noble. She joins Joey, 2. Melissa teaches English at Jackson Middle School in the Anoka-Hennepin district. Jeremy is a senior project engineer at Buhler, Inc. They live in Medina, Minn.
2000 Bethel sports information director Dale E n g mar r i e d Courtney Hoehl ’07 in July at Roseville Covenant Church. Parents are Jack ’72 and Debbie (Hutchings) Hoehl ’72 and Cliff and Bonnie Eng. Bethel alumni involved in the wedding included: Jenny Oesterman ’07, Heather Hoehl ’00, Nikki (Murphy) Smith ’07, Mary Helen Schmidt ’08, Derick Lyngholm ’99, Ryan Carlson ’99, Eric Runyan ’99, Luke Smith ’99, Joshua Agrimson ’01, Joe Eckerle ’00, Andy Manthei ’01, and Blaine Soderholm ’99. Officiating pastor was Bethel Provost David Clark. Chloe Faith was born in June to Steve and Angela (Molitor) Landry. She joins Caleb, 5, and Grace, 3. Angie teaches fifth grade at Rum River Elementary in Andover, Minn. Molly Kaylin was born in March to Lance and Anna (Klett) Unger. They live in St. Paul. Matthew Sorensen completed his orthopedic fellowship in foot and ankle surgery at Ohio State University and joined Summit Orthopedics in Woodbury, Minn. He’s published numerous articles in academic journals and has been a contributing author for Web MD and E-medicine.
While Bethel strives for accuracy in all it does, we cannot be responsible for the content of news items submitted by alumni. The inclusion of news items here should not be construed as an endorsement of their content by Bethel Magazine or Bethel University.
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Fall 2009
2001 Linda and David Frisbie (SEM) were honored with a distinguished service award for ministry to marriages and families at the Global General Assembly of the Nazarene denomination in July. They’ve traveled to all 50 states; nine provinces and two territories of Canada; and 42 nations. They are the authors of 10 books and many articles. In March they were hired by the Nazarene denomination as coordinators of marriage and family life ministries. Adelyn Taylor was born to Tom and Rebeca Houle in January. Tracy L. King, formerly Tracy Sybesma (CAPS/GS), earned second place and an honorable mention in the 2009 BrainStorm poetry contest sponsored by Open Minds Quarterly. Charlianna Marie and S o p h i a Grace were born in March to St eve an d Stacy (Harrison) Simpson. Steve pastors an Evangelical Free church, and Stacy is a special education teacher. They live in Iowa.
2002 Thaddeus Bryan Scott Bray was born to Jasmine Lund in January. Owen Daniel was born in September to Aaron and Karolyn (Wood) Perkins. Aaron is a general contractor and owner of Wonderful Roofing and Siding, and Karolyn is a stay-at-home mom. They live in Blaine, Minn. Ezra Keith was born in March to Lee and Michelle (Dahlsten) Peterson. He was also welcomed by Caleb Axel, 2. They reside in Chaska, Minn. John Charles was born in May to Liz and Bjorn Peterson. They live in Maplewood, Minn., and Bjorn will begin emergency medicine residency training at Regions Hospital. Emelia Wolfgram married Brad Rogers ’01 in 2003. Their daughter Aliyah was born in March. Emelia is
a LICSW hospital social worker at Gillette Children’s Hospital in St. Paul.
2003 Samuel Lacy followed his time at Bethel with four years at Princeton Theological Seminary. He and his wife Jamie are now in Mainz, Germany, where he has a fellowship in the Fulbright Program. Chloe Rose was born to Scot and Jana (Hamann) Wick in April.
2004 Ellie Autumn was born in October 2008 to Jenni (Mielke) and Ben Brandt. They live in Cokato, Minn., where Ben is a music director at Elim Mission Church.
Lydia Grace was born in April to Adam and Christina (Dunlap) Severson. She joins Ayana Eileen, 3. They live in Northfield, Minn. Kristin Stoneberg is an assistant athletic trainer at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Ian David Meak was born in February to Tony and Lauren Hirsbrunner Sok. They live in Frisco, Texas. L auren is a stay-at-home mom while Tony works as a hazmat technician at Texas Instruments. Andrew Vitek is a teacher at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver. He lives in Lakewood, Col.
2005 Adam Arnold is adolescent therapist and artistic director of the blank slate theatre in St. Paul (blankslatetheatre. com).
Kyle Richard and Jacob Steve were born in June to Jason and Brittany (Graves) Dalum. Coleman James was born in October to Ryan and Andrea Davis. They live in Des Moines, where Ryan is attending medical school at Des Moines University. Arleigh (Heeren) Hagberg is a videographer/producer and lives in St. Anthony, Minn., with her husband, Jeff. Melissa Johnson received her master’s degree in social work from St. Catherine University/University of St. Thomas in May. She works for St. David’s Center, Child and Family Development, in the Family Place program and lives in St. Louis Park, Minn. Greg Schutte married Shannon Tri in July. Greg is an electrical engineer with Great River Energy. They live in Blaine, Minn.
Rebekah Ruth was born in July to Emili and Nathan Hibbs. They live in Long Prairie, Minn. Anna Michalko married Evan Miller ’06 in April. Michael Teeter graduated magna cum laude from the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis.
2006 Hannah and J o nat han Kuriscak were featured in Minn e s ot a B rid e (Fall/Winter issue). They were married in September 2008. Melinda Hallstrom and Eric Berg ’05 were married at Calvary Church in Roseville, Minn., in November 2008. Bethel participants included: Jaclyn Hallstrom ’08, Alissa Hallstrom ’05, Travis Wermedal ’06, EvieLyn Larson ’06, Amy Wanggaard ’06, Dave Sauer ’06, David Franke ’06, and Doug Kvamme ’05. The Bergs reside in Davenport, Iowa, where Melinda is a third-year medical student and Eric is a middle/high school teacher.
The Art of Science
Pair a theatre minor from Bethel with a doctorate in physics and what do you get? T. James Belich ’97. The versatile actor and playwright combined his two passions—acting and physics—at the Minnesota Fringe Festival in July and August where he presented 10 performances of his original play, Schrödinger’s Cat Must Die!, to rave reviews. Part physics lecture and part storytelling, the one-man play tells the story of Dr. Volt, a crazed scientist obsessed with a plan to control the world. But his intentions are thwarted by his ill-fated assistant, who hinders his work at every turn. Worst of all, this assistant hounds his cat and soon plots to destroy it. The title of Belich’s play is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Schrödinger’s Cat thought experiment, devised by Erwin Schrödinger of Austria in 1935. The physicist was attempting to explain quantum theory by the use of this experiment, which stated that a cat placed inside a box containing radiation could be both dead and alive at the same time…until the box is opened, and the world learned the cat’s final fate. Think philosophy meets science. As a physics major and theatre minor at Bethel, Belich participated in several theater productions and as an alumnus he returned to act in Measure for Measure, where he met his wife, Kelly (Brookman) ’02. He continues to act and work backstage in numerous productions around the Twin Cities. When not acting, Belich also works as a playwright, having penned nearly 20 works in various genres that have been performed around the world. Writers such as C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L’Engle, and Anton Chekhov have influenced him. As for his latest work, Belich says, “I shared my dual passions of art and science in a way that people really clicked with, which was extremely gratifying.” Both James and Kelly work for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and live in St. Paul.
2007 Owen Bolt married Karis Krussow ’09 in July. They live in Eagan, Minn. Jessica Fletcher is a comedian based in New York City. Check out her stuff on YouTube. Jonathon Svendsen wrote “Narnia and Middle-Earth: The Stories That Meant Something,” a reflective essay on the fantasy worlds of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien featured in Silver Leaves, the journal for the White Tree Foundation (an international Tolkien society). He is a staff writer and editor for the website NarniaFans.com where he writes “Tumnus’s Book Shelf: The
A Classic Time
NarniaFans Book Reviews.” He’s also had a number of poems featured in the Minas-Tirith Evening Star, the journal for the American Tolkien Society.
contemplating grad school in 2010 to pursue a master’s degree in social work. She and her husband Brad live in Brooklyn Park, Minn.
2008
Michelle Lydia (Richer) Osborne is a social worker at Children’s Inn in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Meghan Donner taught third grade and worked in the library at the American Christian Academy in Nigeria for the school year. In July The Clara City Herald included a photo of her with Nigerian soccer players whom she hosted when they came to the United States to play soccer at the Blaine Sports Center. Naomi (Otterness) Pitlick is a supervisor at PetSmart Hotel and is
Nearly 120 golfers, many Bethel alumni, played in Bethel’s annual Golf Classic on June 23, this year held at StoneRidge Golf Club in Stillwater, Minn. The winning foursome Dan Conrad ’90, Paul Schurbring ’92, Jeff Smith ’92, and Mark Perunovich ’90, came in 16 under par. Longtime Bethel friends and roommates, the four had not connected in more than 19 years—since college graduation. Save the Date: 2010’s Golf Classic is Tuesday, June 22.
Lindsay Sterchi (SEM) is the 18 to 20-something ministry director for New Hope Church in Effingham, Ill.
2009 Lisa Alf married Trevor Stoneberg in July. They live in Coon Rapids, Minn. Joshua Owen was born to Tammy S. Schexnaider (CAPS/GS) and her husband Michael Dreher in August. Mike is professor and chair of the communication studies department and director of forensics at Bethel University.
Read stories of alumni Joel Carlson ’93 and Sarah (Carlson) Wauterlek ’00
Bethel University
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