CLASS NOTES
UPDATE: WENDELIN NEUBERT ’03
W
hen I first set foot on the Collegiate campus, I thought to myself: Can you believe this place? That was before I met its people! Now, it’s been over 13 years since I was a foreign exchange student at Collegiate, and wherever I go, my amazing experience there with its inspiring teachers and multifaceted students are constant companions. After going back to Berlin, my German hometown, in 2002 and graduating from my high school – which is somewhat similar to Collegiate – I studied law at the University of Freiburg, a college town beautifully situated at the hems of the Black Forest, and the University of Geneva. I specialized in international law and finished my German law degree in Freiburg. After working as a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, I got a PhD in constitutional law and the laws of armed conflict. Now I am a legal trainee at the Berlin Appellate Court and currently working at a law firm with a European Union, constitutional and public law focus. For all these years, my memories of my time in Richmond and especially my close relationship with the Northen family – Ellen, Buzzy ’73, Sarah Brucker ’02 and Blair ’04 – have been and remain an important part of my life, and I am thankful for every moment of this transatlantic adventure. Being a student at Collegiate teaches you a lot about the great things this world has in store, and it offers an education that few are fortunate to relish. It is a reason to be grateful and diligent, to get involved and take responsibility, to share your strengths, accept your weaknesses, and learn from your mistakes, to excel in helping others and to make the world a better, safer, more peaceful place.
Tristan Benson, who is teaching social studies at an international school in Shanghai, China, recently traveled with a tour group to North Korea for a four-day stay in Pyongyang. Read more in Alumni News. BORN: Aaron George Stutts to Peter Stutts and Barbara Kahn Stutts on Dec. 21, 2015. Peter, Barbara and George live in Lexington, KY where she has been doing her medical residency, but they’ll be moving in July to Chicago where Barbara will complete her Northwestern University Andrology Fellowship.
2003
MARRIED: Melissa Preston to Eric Jessell (from Kensington, MD) on Sept. 19, 2015 on Fishers Island, NY. Alex Sooy to Abigail Chambers on Oct. 3, 2015 at the Museum of the City of New York. They live in Palo Alto, CA where Alex works on the corporate strategy team at eBay Inc. and Abigail manages product operations for Facebook. BORN: Anna Carol Cruickshanks to Elizabeth Broadbent Cruickshanks and husband Allan on Nov. 16, 2015. She joins big brother Vaughan. Bryce Christopher Bier to Christina Sweeney Bier and husband Chris on Sept. 10, 2015.
2004
Wendelin Neubert ’03 worked for the public prosecutor’s office in Berlin last spring as part of his legal traineeship in Germany.
80 SPARK
MARRIED: Davis Gouldin to Frances Grimball on June 27, 2015 in Charleston, SC. Kemp Gouldin ’98 served as best man and Harrison Jones ’03, Jimmie Massie, Alan Miller and Steve Vorlop were groomsmen. Bridesmaids included Meghan Gouldin Young ’00 and Becky Massie ’10. Davis and Frances live in Richmond where he works at Capital One and she is in dental school at VCU. Christin Lipscomb to Mike Walsh on Oct. 24, 2015 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Richmond. A reception was held at the Country Club of Virginia. Classmates Margaret Overton Geiger ’04, Tyler Massey Helfrich ’04 and Blair Phillips Hoffmann ’04 were bridesmaids and brother T.J. Daly ’88 was a groomsman. Christin and Mike honeymooned in Thailand and Cambodia and now live in Wilmington, NC. Will Mertens to Michelle Kutcher on July 11, 2015. Brothers Andrew Mertens ’08 and Robert Mertens ’09 were the best men. Ian Chavis ’05 was a groomsman. Will is an audit senior manager for KPMG, and Michelle is a tax manager for KPMG. They live in Richmond. Chad Zalesiak to Sarah Tyler Shands on Sept. 19, 2015 at Tuckahoe Plantation in Richmond. Sarah is a graduate of Douglas S. Freeman High School and Continued on page 82