Alumni News and Notes

Hello Alumni Friends and Family, I am so excited to serve as the new President of the Alumni Board of Directors! Please allow me to introduce myself: I am a native of Fayette and graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree. I am employed at Commercial Trust Company as Vice President, and I also work at Emmet’s Kitchen and Tap as a tax preparer. My heart and passion rests in being an active supporter and leader in organizations that strengthen the local communities.

The Alumni Board of Directors has been busy discussing many exciting events coming up including Alumni Social in Kansas City on June 22, Eagle Athletic Auction on July 15, Band Day on October 1, and Homecoming weekend on October 7-9.

Last year’s Homecoming was filled with fantastic memories and events! The Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony held on Homecoming Sunday was the closing event for the weekend, and the love for Central overwhelmed the room. That memory will forever make my heart glow. I observed friends tightly hugging after years of time had separated them; then they would jump straight into reliving stories from the past about our beloved Central Methodist. Celebrating Central has brought us together, and that legacy will continue forever. I am anticipating 2022 Homecoming to be just as delightful and filled with excitement for Central.

I am looking forward to seeing you all there and making more memories to cherish!

Sincerely,

Julie Parrish, Class of 2005

President, Alumni Association Board of Directors

Send us your special news and we’ll share it in an upcoming issue of the Talon.

Michael Jones, ’64, retired after more than 40 years in the insurance business with Mutual of Omaha and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Barry Orscheln, ’72, was awarded the Governor’s State of Missouri Conservation Award.

Stephen Hamilton, ’73, retired after 48 years of public service in Alabama and North Carolina.

Laurie Muns Turner, ’73, has retired as an accounting professor at Truman State University.

Rev. Robert B. Kolvik-Campbell, ’77, will be the conference superintendent for the Binghamton and Oneonta Districts with the Upper New York Conference beginning July 1.

Keith A. Gary, ’82, PhD is the vice president of mission acceleration at the Washington, DCbased ALS Association.

Fr. Dominic Lenk, ’82, published a new book, Voices From The Upper Room.

Andrew Glover, ’83, was appointed president of C.L. Barnhouse Co. in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Elaine Eversmeyer Henderson, ’83, is the interim superintendent for the Pike Co. R-III (Clopton) School District.

Curtis Tucker, ’88, is in his 8th year as artistic director for First Coast Opera in Saint Augustine, Fla. His original family opera, The Trial of B.B. Wolf, was performed at the National Opera Association’s annual conference in January 2022.

Jill Wilmsmeyer Wiseman, ’96, will retire as the Fayette superintendent at the end of the 21-22 academic year.

Jeremy Barclay, ’98, is the branch chief for training and development within the Mitigation Readiness Division of the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Deborah Davenport Lands, ’99, was named a 2022 Exemplary New Principal by the Missouri Association of Elementary Principals. She is the principal at Kelso Elementary in Kelso C-7. Spring 2022 | The Talon 33

Dean’s Fifth Book to Hit Presses Darren Dean, ’01, now a professor of English at Lincoln University, is preparing for the launch of his fifth book, Roads, a powerful story of revenge, justice, salvation, and retribution. Dean was an English Fellow at Central. He earned his MFA in fiction from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times. Dean lives in Jefferson City, Mo., with his wife, Cassie, and their children, Claira and Finn.

CORRECTION A group of Central alumni gathered recently in St. Louis to share a lunch and many memories. From left: Billie Devine, ’54; Bob Devine, ’56; Dottie Luther, ’56; Shirlee Kirby, ’56; Sondra Spalding, ’57; and Dr. Caryl (Stinson) Schieszer, ’56; and her husband, Professor Fred Schieszer. Some of their names were misspelled the last edition of the Talon. We apologize for the error.

Amy Sneed Hodge, ’00, was selected as one of 20 fellows for the Nashville Chamber Commerce Leadership in Public Education cohort. It is a 6-month public education leadership development appointment, comprised of community leaders from a wide array of professions. The program empowers individuals with the knowledge and skills to serve in community leadership roles that will further support and advocate for Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Scott Pierpoint, ’00, was promoted to crew leadership with Tallawah MPC in San Diego, Calif.

Xaivier Tipler, ’00, was recognized by Continental Who’s Who for his years of work in the chiropractic field.

Daren Dean, ’02, has a novel, The Black Harvest: A Novel of The American Civil War, that has been nominated for the Pen/Faulkner and for the W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction. In addition, an excerpt (The Centralia Massacre) was nominated for a Pushcart prize.

Valerie Simpson, ’03, and her husband, Scott, started Simpson Machining in Fayette, Mo. Zachary F. Towe, ’03, was an honoree at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame basketball luncheon. Zach was a member of the Filbert Five men’s high school basketball team.

Tony Vestal, ’03, is the head baseball coach at Moberly High School.

Amy Pottebaum Switzer, ’04, started her own business as an independent contractor for Fedex Ground.

Brent C. Holtgrewe, ’05, received the Mid America Athletic Trainers’ Association Denise Fandel Award for Advocacy and Diversity.

Nolyn Nyatanga, ’05, is a medical oncologist with New York Cancer and Blood Specialists.

Maria Winn-Ratliff, ’05, is the new softball coach at Trinity Valley Community College.

Derek Skaggs, ’06, is the secondary principal at Pilot Grove High School.

Adrienne Holloway Mills, ’08, accepted the role of vice president, ancillary and support services at Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, Kan.

Kelly L. Loepker Theiss, ’08, was promoted to assistant vice president and processing manager with Citizens Bank in New Haven, Mo.

Eric Reigelsberger, ’11, Is the athletic trainer for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimps.

Lyndsey Talbot, ’11, received the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Diamond 9 Award. Lindsey is the softball coach at State Fair Community College.

Ashanti Williams Caine, ’12, is the softball coach at Battle High School.

John Coleman, ’12, is an elementary school nurse in the Hazelwood School District.

Addie Layne, ’13, is a senior project manager at Barkley Advertising in Kansas City, Mo.

Gregory Ray, ’13, was named head coach of the Oklahoma Pandhandle State University women’s basketball team.

Alex Kirby, ’14, is the director of bands at Greenville University.

Herman Lee Jimerson, ’18, has been named a college unit director for Northwestern Mutual in its Chesterfield, Mo. office. Jimerson will continue to serve as a financial advisor while he coaches and leads a team of college financial representatives who are participating in the firm’s internship program.

Jessica Travlos, ’14, is the director of events for The Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia, Mo.

Conner White, ’14, is the head football coach at Webster Groves High School.

Nathan Goodwin, ’15, was recognized for five years of service with the Kirksville Police Department.

Carlei Bryan Wies, ’15, was named the new principal at Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Columbia, Mo. for the 2022-2023 school year.

Danielle Beumer, ’17, was named State Fair Community College 2022 Instructor of the Year.

Juliaetta Nichole Bratton, ’17, is a pediatric nurse practitioner with St. Francis Clinic in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Michele Laas, ’17, was named chief nursing officer at Bothwell Regional Health Center in Sedalia, Mo.

Remington Slama, ’17, is an attorney with Keating O’Gara in Lincoln, Neb.

Jacob R. Kent, ’18, is the director of athletic training at Buena Vista University.

Jessica N. McCain, ’18, is a family nurse practitioner with Regional Physician Services in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Kansas City Comets as a forward in the Major Arena Soccer League.

Courtney Scott Owens, ’21, is the chief nursing officer at Texas County Memorial Hospital.

Hannah Lilienkamp Nacarato, ’20, and Matt are expecting their first child, September 2022.

Mikayla Schoolcraft, ’20, married Adam Schoolcraft Oct. 23, 2021.

Kelsy Parrott Saunders, ’14, & Mitchell had a baby girl, Waverly Grace Saunders, Sept. 24, 2021

Aaron, '12, & Sabrina, ’14, Shockley had a baby girl, Ember Reign, Nov. 16, 2021.

Kathleen "Katie" Harris, ’10, and Derek Jones had a baby, Jesse Thomas Harris-Jones, Nov. 18, 2021.

Mauka M. Shaw, ’06, married Meganne K. Greenwood Shaw, ’10, Feb. 14, 2022

Jason Jarvis, ’00, and Tarilyn Jarvis had a baby boy, Westin Edwin Jarvis, Nov. 22, 2021.

David ’00 & Kate Samson celebrated the birth of their third child, James Lorenz, October 14, 2021. Gray Goes Into Southwestern’s Hall Of Fame Dr. Wallace Gray Jr., ’48, was posthumously inducted in April into the Leaders in Service Hall of Fame during Southwestern College’s Founder’s Day ceremony in Winfield, Kan.

Gray was professor and chair of the department of philosophy and religion at Southwestern, where he taught for 40 years. He did his postdoctoral work at the University of Hawaii and pastored small churches in Missouri and Texas before taking a pastoral appointment at First Methodist Church in Lawton, Okla. He and his wife, Ina Turner, ’48, were married in 1948.

As a scholar, more than 200 publications are credited to him, including several contributions to various print and electronic media.

At Central, Gray graduated with a BA in English. He was a member of Pi Gamma Mu, Alpha Phi Gamma, and the Student Christian Organization. He received Central’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008.

Gray passed away in 2019.