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husband, Steve, have one daughter and one son. They live in Fort Collins, CO, and can be reached at: lcmcsu@webaccess.net. Byron Konschuh, ’82, is running for Lapeer County prosecutor in the November election. Byron has worked for the prosecutor’s office for the last 11 years, serving currently as chief assistant. He holds a law degree and a master’s degree in business administration from Wayne State University. Byron and his wife, Lorraine Perogini Konschuh, ’84, live in Lapeer. Jeff Rehm, ’82, has completed his post bachelor’s certification in secondary education at Western Michigan University and began teaching English at Sturgis High School in January. Jeff is
also a published songwriter and was a professional brass player and singer after graduating from Albion. He still performs with two bands, the Brent Chilton Situation and the Mystery Cowboys. Jeff lives in Sturgis and has two children. Mary Sue Stonisch, ’84, has operated her own practice, Faircourt Dental in Grosse Pointe Woods, since 1987. The practice underwent an extensive renovation and welcomed an associate. Mary Sue holds a dental degree from the University of Detroit and has achieved accreditation through the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, a fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry, and is a medical staff member of St. John’s Hospital. She lives in Grosse Pointe Woods.
worked for colleges and universities in Ohio, Maryland and California. She lives in Cape Girardeau, MO.
85-89 Class of 1985 Reunion Chair: Bob Hotchkiss Home Telephone: 248/593-8411 E-mail: hotchkissR@aol.com
Suzanne Counterman Wright, ’85, and her husband, Mark, relocated to Franklin, TN, where Suzanne is a business team finance representative for the panels area of Body Systems at Saturn.
Mary Kay Poljan, ’85, was promoted to director of the University Center at Southeast Missouri State University. In this position she will work with campus events, student activities, Greek life, leadership development and facility management. Mary Kay holds a master’s degree in higher education from Bowling Green State University and has
Daniel Brubaker, ’87, was elected to the management committee of Mika, Meyers, Beckett & Jones, PLC, a Grand Rapids law firm. Dan is a member of the firm’s litigation, local government and employment law groups. He and his wife, Tamara, live in Lowell.
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Catherine Shepherd Atchison, ’89, has been named program officer of the Charlevoix County Community Foundation. Prior to accepting this position, Catherine had lived in Texas and was involved with the Peace Corps and youth employment training programs. She holds an M.A. degree from Michigan State University. She and her husband, Michael, live in Charlevoix.
90 Lisa Lucido Thams, ’90, and her husband, Eric, have moved from Cleveland, OH to 308 Kerby Rd., Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236.
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Serving human needs: The story continues PHOTO COURTESY OF B. DOUBLESTEIN
The following features add to our fall 1999 Io Triumphe coverage of Albion alumni in the medical field. As president of Georgia Osteopathic Institute, Barry Doublestein, ’76, was searching for a way to establish a health-care outreach program that would provide osteopathic students a broader range of clinical experience and help people in need at the same time. A chance meeting with a Haitian missionary provided just the solution he was looking for. Working with Father Jean Bien-Aime, Barry has since set up a clinic in Tapio, a village of 7,000 residents in the remote mountains of western Haiti. Virtually no health care had been available in the region until the clinic was created. Now run under the nonprofit Americans for Haitian Healthcare, Inc., which Barry also heads, the clinic serves as many as 85 people a day. The clinic’s patients seek treatment for a wide range of ailments including some not routinely seen in the U.S.: malaria, tuberculosis, fungal and parasitic diseases, and leprosy. Barry has made several trips to Haiti to get the clinic up and running, and he also has been involved in raising funds and obtaining medical supplies and equipment. Assistance has come from medical supply firms,
pharmaceutical companies, physicians’ offices and hospitals. He has also enlisted help from the Air National Guard, which is flying supplies from the U.S. to Haiti, and from the U.S. Army, which has provided transportation for seriously ill patients in areas where paved roads are nonexistent. Eventually, the clinic will be staffed for a week each month by a physician volunteer, assisted by Georgia Osteopathic Institute students, and is operated in the interim by nurses and other medical personnel living in Haiti. Among those who has already donated time to the clinic is William Gray, D.O., ’74, a dermatologist from Cheboygan, MI. Gray spent 10 days in Haiti in January 1999 and again in February 2000. “It is a blessing to be involved in changing lives,” Barry says, “especially in one of the poorest nations on earth. Our motivation to help these people comes from Jesus’ words, ‘To whom much is given, much is required.’” For more information on Americans for Haitian Healthcare, contact Barry Doublestein, 3571 Baywater Trail, Snellville, GA 30039, (O) 770/934-2495 or (H) 770/978-6324; e-mail: bad_one@mindspring.com
Albion alumni have been represented in five consecutive classes at Northwestern University’s School of Medicine. Beginning with Shari Solomon Burns, ’93, the legacy continued with Kevin Bohnsack, ’94, Nicole DuPraw, ’95, Jeannette Prentice, ’96, and Christopher Pelloski, ’96 (Pelloski entered medical school in fall 1997). Burns, Bohnsack and DuPraw are in residency programs in Milwaukee, WI (Medical College of Wisconsin), Marquette, MI, and Durham, NC (Duke University), respectively. Christopher Pelloski, ’96, Kevin Bohnsack, ’94, and Nicole DuPraw, ’95, are among five Albion alumni to pursue medical degrees at Northwestern University since 1993.
Barry Doublestein, ’76, (center) has worked with missionary Jean BienAime (far right) in establishing a medical clinic in a remote region of Haiti. They are pictured with one of Barry’s medical colleagues from Georgia Osteopathic Institute and two of the clinic’s nurses.
Craig Neitzke, ’85, is a lieutenant commander with the U.S. Navy. In May 1999 he received a Navy Commendation Medal for meritorious service as the director of the San Onofre (CA) Branch Dental Clinic, 1st Dental Neitzke Battalion, from 1997 to 1999. He implemented new dental health programs and lectured on prosthodontics. He also consulted at the naval hospital at Camp Pendleton. Craig holds a D.D.S. degree from the University of Detroit, a certificate of prosthodontics from the National Naval Dental School, and an M.Sc. from the George Washington University.
Rena Salyer, ’95, will graduate in May from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Rena is one of 20 medical students in the country selected to begin an Army surgical residency and is the first female osteopath Salyer ever to receive this honor. Additionally, Rena is one of 250 students nationwide to receive an Army Health Professions Scholarship. On June 5 she will report to the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, TX, to begin her promotion to the rank of captain.