HOMECOMING 2016 REVIEW by Brigid Avery ‘01 Homecoming 2016 was yet again a home run, underscored by “The Ninth Inning,” a celebration of Terry Bocian’s 43 years of service to the College as coach and athletic director. Over 400 guests honored Coach Bo at the event. Other highlights included live music accented by AQ’s own Conrad Shock ‘17 and a Kids Zone hosted by the College Chorus as a fundraiser for their upcoming concert tour in Italy. Aquinas successfully executed a Zero Waste Event, meaning that 95.1% of trash generated that day was diverted to recycling, compost or TerraCycle; only 7.1 pounds of trash found its way to the landfill. See you next September!
ALUMNI NEWS DANIELLE ALEXANDER ‘13 opened Bombadil Books in September 2015, a used bookstore offering repair services, events, and workshops at 315 Division Ave S. in Grand Rapids. CURTIS R. BURDETTE ‘04 was hired as General Manager at Double JJ Resort in Rothbury, MI. MADELEINE BURNS ‘15 will be traveling to Casablanca, Morocco in July 2017 for a six month long job as an Admissions and PR Coordinator at George Washington Academy. BRYAN CAREY ‘10 was recently hired as the National Sales Account Manager at Sports Addix in Lowell, Mi. CHERRY (FYFE) CHRISTENSEN ‘96 published two titles, “The Fearful Heart” and “A Secret Angel,” with Eskape Press. SUSAN CLARK-PRAGASPATHY M.ED ‘98 moved home to Michigan last fall and started a new business as a professional fine artist and oil painter after years of training in traditional classical realist methods. CLARE M. CONWAY ‘13 graduated from the Heider College of Business with a Master of Business Administration in Information Technology from Creighton University in May 2016. SCOTT I. DAVID ‘98 was recently named the Northern Regional Vice President for the Lighthouse Insurance Group. Scott lives in Traverse City with his wife Dr. Rose David ‘98 and their three children.
NANCY (VOSS) HOPKINS ‘78 was promoted to Volunteer Services Manager at the Grand Rapids Symphony. JULIE KENDRICK (JOHNSON) ‘10 was recently promoted to Recovery Program Coordinator at Mel Trotter Ministries. TOM KUSLIKIS ‘05 was recently promoted to the role of VP of Accounting and Finance at University of Michigan Credit Union in Ann Arbor, MI. MARY KATE (CALDWELL) NORMAN ‘10 was recently promoted to Senior Purchasing Specialist at Parker Hannifin Aerospace (Hydraulic Systems Division) in Kalamazoo, MI. ANGELA PEAVEY ‘10 Marketing Manager for the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, just won “Best Branded Content— Nonprofit” for a promo video she created last summer from the Communicator Awards. TIM PRIEST ‘98 was recently promoted from Collections Manager to Asset Manager at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. NICK RUDOFSKI ‘15 was promoted to establish the Sustainable Energy Fund’s second office in Harrisburg, PA. RYAN SCHMALL ‘95 was recently hired as the Director of Talent Acquisition at Signature HealthCARE, LLC.
PAT DEBRUCE ‘80 is studying for a Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of New England.
AMY SHERMAN ‘94 took a job with the MLive Media Group as “Michigan’s Best” reporter, searching the state for the best food and drink Michigan has to offer. She is also the host of the statewide radio show “Behind the Mitten with Amy Sherman and John Gonzalez.”
STACEY (PHELPS) DUCKETT ‘00 was promoted to Vice President, Inbound Sales and Retention with Suddenlink Communications/Altice in May 2016.
MICHAEL SWEENEY ‘74, an accounting professor at Hillsdale College, recently received the 2016 Michigan Association of CPA’s (MICPA) Accounting Teaching Excellence Award.
KENNETH DUTKIEWICZ ‘71 Ken has recently retired from a 39-year career with Steelcase working in training, sales and marketing. His most recent assignments were for two years each in Hong Kong and Munich.
LAUREN SYTEK ‘13, biology major, was matched to her first choice of orthodontic residencies, the University of Michigan.
MARK DORIAN DYEHOUSE ‘80 retired from Steelcase after 34 years as a Graphic Artist and Senior Writer. BRYAN ESLER, ‘08 Left Mindutopia in December 2015, and is now running Bryan Esler Photo full-time. Bryan specializes in capturing events, theatre, architecture and corporate promotion photos. TERESA HALL (BUIOCCHI) ‘11 graduated from Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in May 2016 with honors. She matched into an orthopedic residency, which she will complete at Metro Health Hospital. She starts in July 2017. 30 AQUINAS
REBECCA (LODEWYK) VANDENBROECK ‘10 was hired as a Senior Associate Scientist at Zoetis in downtown Kalamazoo in December 2015. BETH ANN WILLS ‘90 is celebrating her 15th year as an Independent Mary Kay Beauty Consultant a.k.a. Beauty by Beth. ANGELICA ZAHRT ‘12 opened her own accounting business, A to Z Accounting Services, LLC in Grand Rapids in January 2016. Zahrt received her MBA from Davenport University in June 2015.