Saint John's Magazine Summer/Fall 2018

SUMMER/FALL 2018

MAGAZINE

INSIDE 20

Reflections

from 75 years with Father Don

12

McDonough builds on his Saint John’s legacy

28

Kids have a pal, role model in SJU’s Mushatt

36

Benedictine Institute keeps the spirit flowing

INSIDE THIS ISSUE SUMMER/FALL 2018

28 35 Departments My Perspective View from Collegeville From the Archives Service to the Church In Sight Alumni Connection Johnnie Sports Advancing the Mission Class Notes Inspiring Lives

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MAGAZINE

SAINT JOHN’S MAGAZINE

is the alumni magazine of Saint John’s University. It is published twice a year, in the spring and fall, by the SJU Office of Institutional Advancement.

EDITOR Dave DeLand ddeland@csbsju.edu 320-363-3013

CREATIVE DIRECTION AND DESIGN Lori Gnahn

CONTRIBUTORS Margaret Arnold Jessie Bazan SOT ’17 Raj Chaphulkar ’08 Rob Culligan ’82 Dana Drazenovich Megan Glady Evens ’05 Mike Killeen Ryan Klinkner ’04 Joram Manka Eric Schubert ’92

PHOTOGRAPHY Jen McNelly ’20 Thomas O’Laughlin ’13

12 Features SJU prepared McDonough for a life of service and success P. 12 The nervous kid who showed up in Collegeville 30 years ago just hoping to make the football team went on to become White House chief of staff. Now, fortified by the faith and friendships he made at Saint John’s, Denis McDonough ’92 has his sights set on even greater accomplishments in public and global service.

Readers share life’s joys with Father Don P. 20

Devoted followers arise every single morning to the faith, guidance, gratitude and encouragement that define the daily reflections of Fr. Don Talafous, OSB. Those reflections have become the hallmark of Fr. Don’s 75-year legacy at Saint John’s, a legacy he continues to build upon with each passing day, interaction and inspirational message.

Mushatt’s passion is all about helping kids P. 28

Former Saint John’s football All-American Brett Mushatt ’98 became a police officer four years after graduating with a social work degree, and brought his passion for helping kids with him. The St. Cloud Police Department commander devotes time and energy to the Police Activities League, which enriches lives and builds bridges between families and officers.

UNIVERSITY ARCHIVIST Peggy Landwehr Roske ’77

EDITOR EMERITUS † Lee A. Hanley ’58

ADDRESS CHANGES Ruth Athmann Saint John’s University P.O. Box 7222 Collegeville, MN 56321 rathmann@csbsju.edu

SJU ALUMNI ARE SOCIAL Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/sjualum Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/sjualumni Follow us on Instagram at instagram.com/sjualumni Subscribe to blogs at sjualum.com

Find Saint John’s Magazine online at sjualum.com/saint-johns-magazine ©2018 Saint John’s University

MY PERSPECTIVE

Reunions by their nature encourage reminiscence and reflection, especially among older alumni. It is a time to revisit your 18-year-old self and consider how that adolescent became the man you are today.

Among many conversations with alumni during this June’s Reunion, I had the pleasure of talking with members of the classes of 1958 and 1968. Their reflections reminded me once again how transformative a Saint John’s education is for our alumni – often in ways that can take a lifetime to fully appreciate.

An Investment for a Lifetime Not surprisingly, given the obvious success of so many Johnnies, a Saint John’s education served these mostly retired alumni very well professionally.

By Michael Hemesath ’81, President

One humanities major alum recalled that when he took a job in the private sector he assumed that he wouldn’t be using his degree very much. He reported, however, that his broad-based liberal arts education served him incredibly well throughout several jobs over his career.

“Clear writing, good communication, analytical thinking and careful reading are needed in every job, which is something I did not understand at 22. Furthermore, I also found my academic work useful in parenting. Who knew?”

Others commented on the character development they often unknowingly benefitted from while students.

“I grew up so much at Saint John’s. I was a boy who became a man.”

“It was only several years later that I realized how much I grew and learned with the guidance of my professors.”

“In and out of class, the monks of Saint John’s taught the lessons that shape and guide me to this day.”

The alumni at Reunion also powerfully expressed their appreciation for relationships that started at Saint John’s.

A number noted that they had no clue how long-lasting and important their friendships would be.

“As we graduated, we were all looking to the uncertain future, worried about jobs and careers, without knowing that many of the friends we made at Saint John’s would accompany and support us throughout our personal and professional journey.”

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“The friendships of youth can be casual and fleeting, but many of my Saint John’s friendships matured and deepened to the point that, after my family, they are the most important human ties in my life.”

What is most interesting to me in these observations about a Saint John’s education is how little we often understand and appreciate at 22.

At commencement, Johnnie alums were fully men: ready to start careers, to go to graduate school, to start families and even to go to war, yet they were only dimly aware of how important the past four years of their lives ultimately would be to them. The natural course of personal development and maturing that can require much of a lifetime makes it hard for prospective Johnnies to fully appreciate the transformative power of a Saint John’s experience.

This is why our alumni are so important to SJU’s future. You are the embodiment of the commitment we make to each new student.

You are the brand promise fulfilled, professionally and personally. Thank you for that.

Read more perspectives from Michael Hemesath by visiting his blog Quad 136 at sjualum.com

VIEW FROM COLLEGEVILLE

By Dave DeLand He had just ascended to the highest echelon of the United States Army and been entrusted with one of the most demanding and vital jobs in the world.

General Paul Nakasone reflected on it all with typical humility – and with appreciation for the roots of where his journey began.

“Just being humbled by the selection was the biggest reaction I had,” said Nakasone, a 1986 Saint John’s University graduate who on May 4 was promoted to four-star general and confirmed as commander, U.S. Cyber Command and director, National Security Agency/ chief, Central Security Service at a ceremony at Fort Meade, Md.

Nakasone needs to be in his new position, where he directs civilian and military personnel at the NSA and Cyber Command in providing crucial security functions.

“His job is more difficult now than any other military commander,” Lyons said, “considering what’s important in the world – that’s cyber security.”

“Think about all that our nation relies on cyberspace, from our economy to our communications to our national security,” Nakasone said. “Being able to ensure the security of this new domain is really my focus every single day.”

He credits Saint John’s for helping develop essential skills.

Photo courtesy of National Security Agency

Saint John’s roots help Nakasone take command

“What Saint John’s provided me was an ability to think critically,” said Nakasone, who graduated from SJU and its ROTC program with an economics degree. “That was all about the liberal arts education I received at Saint John’s.”

He’s part of another team as well – “Team Nakasone,” wife Susan and children Sarah (21), Daniel (19), David and Joseph (16-year-old twins).

“There’s surprise that a kid from White Bear Lake, Minn., is taking over as Paul Nakasone credited the critical thinking skills he cultivated commander of U.S. Cyber at Saint John’s University after he was promoted to four-star “One of the things Susan general and confirmed as commander, U.S. Cyber Command Command and the NSA,” and I always emphasize he said. “And there’s rarely and director, National Security Agency/chief, Central Security is this idea of having a Service at a May 4 ceremony at Fort Meade, Md. a day that goes by that team,” said Nakasone, I don’t think about my whose Army career has taken him from Korea to Iraq, from experiences back at Collegeville.”

Afghanistan to Washington, D.C. and numerous state-side postings. “We’re going to go a lot of different places. We’re Those experiences included education, perspective and going to see a lot of different people. But we always have each friendships, all of which were evident at the ceremony. other.

“He’s very thoughtful on a humane basis, in a Saint John’s/ “We thought it was kind of cool to have our own team, and Benedictine/liberal arts way,” said John Lyons ’84, one of that’s how we named it.” a group of attending Johnnie friends that included Mike Zumwinkle ’86, Pete Godich ’86, Brian Tschida ’85 and Saint John’s is another essential part of that team. Nakasone John Klein ’86. “You knew that he was special. He always tries to visit campus at least once a year, just to reconnect had this resolve, this focus on the mission.” with his roots.

“Paul’s IQ raises the overall IQ of this group quite a bit,” Zumwinkle added. “He’s always been ahead of the curve.”

“It’s always fun to go back,” he said. “You realize how much the place means to you.”

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Space Station mission broadens Vande Hei’s perspective

By Dave DeLand When Mark Vande Hei ’89 took a look at Super Bowl 52 and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Feb. 4, he had a vantage point decidedly different from that of every other Minnesotan.

planet looking up through the atmosphere after having looked down on the atmosphere for so long,” said Vande Hei, who blasted off Sept. 12, 2017 from Kazakhstan and returned to Earth Feb. 28.

Vande Hei was 250 miles up.

“The biggest mountains don’t even show up on the horizon (from outer space). It’s very humbling.”

“I think I’m still trying to get my head wrapped around the view,” said Vande Hei, who in early February was looking down from space as Saint John’s University’s first astronaut during the final weeks of his 5½-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

“It’s very humbling,” he said, “to see all of life as you know it look like it’s painted onto a flat surface.”

You can see exactly what Vande Hei saw a little farther into this magazine (In Sight, Pages 18-19).

The rest of his extraterrestrial experience? His insights paint a vivid picture.

“The one lasting perspective change for me is being on the

“The Benedictine background is so firmly entrenched that it’s not something that takes conscious effort.”

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Vande Hei shared his perspectives as featured speaker at the Saint John’s ROTC commissioning ceremony May 12. It was his first public speaking engagement since his space mission.

He’s planning to share even more in May 2019, when Vande Hei is scheduled to be Saint John’s commencement speaker.

“It’s a really neat time up on the Space Station because the whole team is completely focused on one thing,” he said. “We got a lot done.”

Vande Hei took several slices of Saint John’s with him into space, including a stuffed Johnnie Rat and a small print from Genesis in The Saint John’s Bible.

He was featured in a memorable Christmas photo on the NASA website, floating weightless while wearing a Santa hat and Saint John’s T-shirt.

Other expedition highlights for Vande Hei included four spacewalks, which were a mixture of exhilaration and nervousness.

“The blackness of space and the isolation of Earth really struck me,” he said. “Basically, you’re looking into infinity.

“I’m really glad I got to do those, but like a lot of exciting things, sometimes the most joy comes when you know you’re completely finished. I was always happy when they were done.”

Vande Hei also carried with him elements of his Saint John’s undergraduate experience, which influenced his work and perspectives.

“The Benedictine background is so firmly entrenched that it’s not something that takes conscious effort,” Vande Hei said. “It just becomes part of your personality.

“The idea that you should be looking out for other people first is really an important idea that NASA helps train us for. We call it ‘expeditionary behavior.’ ” That became a collective guiding force in the mission for the multinational crew of the Space Station.

“That’s a really important part of the culture every day,” Vande Hei said. “Everyone really wants to help. It feels good to help.”

Returning to Earth didn’t feel quite as good – at least not the landing.

“A lot of people said it feels like a car crash. It was a lot harder impact than I expected,” said Vande Hei, who subsequently had to go through a 45-day re-acclimation to the Earth’s gravity before his Saint John’s engagement.

His subsequent engagements? A lot of them involve training others for future space flights – including a possible return trip to the Moon.

“What I’d like to do is help train the next folks that are getting ready to launch and pass along the things I’ve learned,” Vande Hei said. “I’d really like to stay engaged in the operational aspects.

“I think the next decade will get more and more exciting.”

Humble Wallace honored with Reger Award He doesn’t see himself as anything special. That’s exactly what people who know him best would expect from Prince Wallace ’68, who at Saint John’s University and elsewhere has done so much for so many with so little fanfare.

“The thing that’s amazing about him is he’s so humble,” said Saint John’s Trustee Philip Galanis ’75, one of Wallace’s nominators for the 2018 Fr. Walter Reger Distinguished Alumnus Award. “He’s not the kind of guy who blows his own horn.”

“He exudes the Benedictine mantra and spirit,” said Saint John’s Trustee Tom Nicol ’91, another award nominator, “and he practices it – in his personal life, his family life, his faith life, his business and what he does for Saint John’s.”

“I’m just trying to be the Benedictine that we’ve been taught to be,” added Wallace, 72, who received the Reger Award June 23 as part of Saint John’s Reunion 2018 celebration.

“I’m humbled. We just do what we do, so it came as a total surprise.”

It shouldn’t. Over the past five decades, Bahamas native Wallace has been instrumental in fostering Saint John’s connection with the Caribbean island nation and taking that connection to new heights.

“Prince is the ultimate success story,” Nicol said. “He’s a family man first, and a man of faith. He’s incredibly dedicated to Saint John’s.”

The only child of a butler and a maid, Wallace began his association with Saint John’s as an altar boy at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Nassau and arrived in Collegeville in 1964 with a full scholarship provided by those Benedictine monks.

“That’s one of the most grateful blessings that I ever received,” Wallace said. “In part, I’ve been trying to give back.

“I know I can never repay the Benedictines.”

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Twelve-year-old Axel Theimer came to Saint John’s University with the Vienna Boys’ Choir in spring 1958 and returned to Austria with the gift of an SJU sweatshirt.

“This was the prized possession for me when we got back home,” recalled CSB/SJU’s Director of Choral Activities (below center). “I wore it until I couldn’t fit in it anymore.”

He outgrew that sweatshirt, but 60 years after their introduction, SJU and Theimer ’71 are still a perfect fit.

“It’s one of those things that when we talk about our lives there are always circles,” he said, “that things come around, and there are some odd things where I always thought ‘Well, was it meant to be?’ ” Plenty of his students would say yes.

“My time in the music program with Axel truly made my years at Saint John’s even more special,” said Brian Fulford ’93. “There aren’t enough words to convey how special that guy is and how much he’s done for the university.”

A musical legacy When Theimer joined the music faculty in 1969 to replace Gerhard Track, his former Vienna Boys’ Choir conductor, he was “totally clueless, which was probably good,” he recalled with a laugh. “No sense of what was tradition.”

“He has his own cool factor, and it’s not just the Arnold Schwarzenegger accent,” said Fulford, a Men’s Chorus and Kantorei alumnus.

“It’s just his being, his presence. He has such a command of what he does, it’s like the students are pleased when he’s pleased — and he’s a hard person to please musically.”

An improbable start Theimer wasn’t even considering teaching when Track contacted him about Saint John’s. He was 23 and enrolled in veterinary school but still singing, playing piano and conducting.

He continued Saint John’s Men’s Chorus tradition while becoming the maestro behind so many more:

“I thought ‘Hey, I want to check this out’ because I thought if it works, why not?” Theimer said. “If it does not work, who can take away from you an experience like this to be in a different country, in a different culture, in a different setting and do something that you really like but you had never really expected to do professionally?”

• The CSB/SJU Chamber Choir, which he created in 1970 when the schools began to combine departments.

He came to Collegeville on a two-year visa — without an undergraduate degree.

• CSB/SJU’s All-College Choir.

“People usually say ‘You must be kidding me,’ ” said Theimer, who now holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance.

• Twin Cities-based choral ensemble Kantorei, originally an alumni choir.

• Christmas concerts at The Basilica of Saint Mary and in Saint John’s Great Hall.

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60 years later,

He received his Saint John’s diploma alongside his students.

• Central Minnesota’s Amadeus Chamber Symphony.

“I walked with my seniors,” Theimer said. “It was just phenomenal, and I loved that.”

• The National Catholic Youth Choir, which he co-founded with Fr. Anthony Ruff ’86, ’93 SOT, OSB.

Theimer remembers well the pressure of conducting his first Men’s Chorus performance in November 1969.

He performs with CSB/SJU music faculty ensemble Pastiche, teaches vocal pedagogy and conducting courses and mentors many of the students who sing in his choirs.

“I have never been so incredibly tense. After 10 minutes I literally thought I couldn’t move my arms anymore there was so much tension.”

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SJU is still growing on Theimer

By Dana Drazenovich Tension, he found, does not make a good teacher, and Theimer became dedicated to discovering what does. He has gained international recognition for his 35-plus years on the faculty of the VoiceCare Network, a Twin Citiesbased non-profit focused on educating vocal instructors and professionals about holistic, neuroscience-based teaching and learning techniques.

“It’s a phenomenal thing, and we have had people literally from all over the world come and take the course.”

A gift for mentoring As he nears his 50th anniversary teaching at SJU, Theimer has amassed a long list of honors for a conducting approach that both produces stunning music and transcends it.

“Music is a phenomenal tool that can expose you to how to deal with situations, how to go through learning processes, how to accept yourself where you are at and apply that to any kind of situation for the rest of your life.”

His insights made a lasting impact on Men’s Chorus and Kantorei alumnus Curtis Brown ’97: 1. The choir depends on you. “In singing with him I had a strong sense that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and also that the good of the entire chorus is more important than your own individualism or your own needs,” Brown said.

2. Keep your commitments. A talk with Theimer made Brown reconsider backing out of a Men’s Chorus spring tour. “If I say I’m going to do something, I remember that interaction and the importance of following through.”

3. Sing with conviction, even if you’re unsure of the note. As Brown put it, “It’s better to sing it boldly rather than to wait for perfection to make your contribution.”

This from a man who claimed “I never thought I would be a teacher.”

Theimer isn’t sure how long he’ll keep teaching, but even after he retires, he plans to remain involved at Saint John’s.

Nearly half a century later, it’s like a custom fit.

“If I would have a choice to do it again, I would wish it all would happen again in the same way because where I am finding myself is in a great spot,” he said.

“I’m finding myself loving what I do, being at ease with it, enjoying what I have learned, which includes that I know I don’t know everything yet, so there is so much to look forward to.”

Dana Drazenovich is a former journalist and public relations practitioner who teaches Communication and First Year Seminar at CSB/SJU.

Listen, contribute to music at Saint John’s If you know a prospective Saint John’s student who is interested in choir, tell him about music scholarships at SJU. Go to csbsju.edu/music/prospectivestudents/music-scholarships To hear Axel Theimer sing excerpts from his CDs – My Musical Heritage: Folk Songs from Austria and Germany and Christmas Carols from Austria and Germany – visit csbsju.edu/music/faculty/axel-theimer/recordings You can contribute to the Theimer Choral Education Scholarship Fund or the Choir Travel Endowment Fund by contacting Brad Neary ’81, senior development officer, at bneary@csbsju.edu.

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Gagliardi, Smith charter members of J-Club Hall of Honor Saint John’s University coaching legends John Gagliardi and Jim Smith have been selected as charter members of the J-Club Hall of Honor, which has been established to recognize excellence in Johnnie athletics.

“They’re our Mount Rushmore,” said Saint John’s athletic director Bob Alpers ’82. “It will be a thrill for all of us to celebrate their amazing contributions to Saint John’s and our student athletes.”

“To induct John Gagliardi and Jim Smith as the first inductees – words can’t describe how we all collectively feel about that,” added J-Club President Vic Moore ’72.

Gagliardi’s 489 career victories make him the winningest coach in college football history. He won four national championships and 30 conference titles during a 64-year collegiate coaching career that included 60 years and 465 victories at Saint John’s.

Gagliardi, who retired in 2012, will be inducted into the Hall of Honor during a Sept. 22 public appearance.

Smith’s 786 wins are the most by any collegiate basketball

coach in Minnesota history. He compiled 12 MIAC regularseason or playoff championships and 17 trips to postseason tournaments during his 51-year coaching career at Saint John’s.

Smith, who ranked second all-time among NCAA Division III coaches in victories when he retired in 2015, will be inducted into the Hall of Honor Feb. 16.

In addition to their coaching accomplishments, Gagliardi and Smith are being recognized for mentoring and character-building that helped their players achieve excellence on the playing field, in the classroom and in their lives.

“The J-Club Hall of Honor will provide a place to highlight those who exhibit what it means to be a Johnnie and their exceptional accomplishments,” Alpers said. “No one has done that better than John and Jim.” Subsequent Hall of Honor induction classes will recognize other deserving Saint John’s athletes and coaches for their accomplishments. Selections will be determined by the J-Club, the booster organization that supports Johnnie athletics.

Plans are being formulated for a physical Hall of Honor, to be located in Warner Palaestra at Sexton Arena.

From the Archives: Clemens Stadium celebrates 110th birthday Today it ranks among college football’s most hallowed venues, renowned nationally as one of the very finest places to enjoy the sport’s experience and traditions.

In 1908, it was a cranberry marsh in transition.

This year marks the 110th anniversary of the creation of the Natural Bowl – Clemens Stadium, home of the Saint John’s University football team and site of some of the most storied moments in the program’s history.

Sports Illustrated rated the Natural Bowl of Clemens Stadium one of the top 10 venues in America to watch college football. The stadium is the home field of college football’s winningest coach, Hall of Famer John Gagliardi, who retired in 2012 after the last of his 489 career victories.

Gagliardi broke Grambling coach Eddie Robinson’s

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Elliott in the running for College Football Hall of Fame On a football field or in business, Blake Elliott ’03 has never been one to do it alone.

“I’ve always been a pack animal. I’m not a lone wolf in any respect,” Elliott said, smiling.

Not throughout a playing career at Saint John’s University, where he became one of the most decorated wide receivers in collegiate history. Elliott played in four consecutive national semifinal games, was a two-time Stagg Bowl participant and helped Saint John’s to a national championship in 2003 – the same year he captured the Gagliardi Trophy as Division III’s most outstanding player.

Not throughout a business career that has seen him partner with friends – including many former teammates – to help care for people with disabilities.

Now, he’d like to be a member of a new pack – the College Football Hall of Fame.

Elliott is on the ballot for a sixth straight year. He is one of 176 former student-athletes on the ballot, including 100

victories record at Clemens Stadium Nov. 8, 2003 with his 409th win, a 29-26 triumph over Bethel that was part of his fourth national championship season. Gagliardi compiled a 241-52-4 (.818) all-time record in the Natural Bowl, where Saint John’s was 324-94-13 (.767) entering the 2018 season.

Prior to 1908, the patch of land where Clemens Stadium now stands was a cranberry marsh. The first Saint John’s football field was completed and put into service in 1909. It was greatly praised for its natural feel, but a year later football at Saint John’s was abolished on the grounds that it promoted “unfriendliness towards other schools.”

The football program resumed in 1920, when the Johnnies joined the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Enlargement of the field was completed in 1922, doubling its original size. Concrete seats and a cinder track encircling the field were added in 1933 when the stadium went through one of its many renovations.

The stone entrance for the field was constructed in 1939, and

from NCAA divisional and NAIA ranks. Inductees will be announced Jan. 7.

“I’m most excited for it because it’s just another spotlight on Saint John’s, and the special spot we have here,” Elliott said.

“I’m excited for it because it would be another opportunity to celebrate some of the teams that we’ve had, and the guys that we’ve had that were really successful.”

In football and in life, he’s a winner.

“At Saint John’s he excelled on the gridiron

and in the classroom as well,” said Joe Mucha ’66, who started at end on the first two SJU national championship teams. “Today, he is a successful entrepreneur whose companies are value-based and provide support services for the disadvantaged.”

Elliott ended his career second all-time in all NCAA divisions in catches (327) and second in NCAA Division III in touchdown receptions (56). He posted 369 receptions for 4,826 yards and 63 touchdowns in his career, as well as 744 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 109 carries.

In 2003, Saint John’s beat Mount Union 24-6 to win its fourth national championship as Elliott was named the game’s outstanding player. He produced 161 total yards (11 rushes for 110 yards and a touchdown, five receptions for 51 yards) while playing with an injured hamstring.

a press box and concession stand were added in 1943. The stadium was again enlarged in 1957 to seat 3,000.

Forty years later the stadium went through its largest renovation – including a new press box, fieldhouse, bathrooms and additional seating – and was renamed Clemens Stadium after Bill Clemens, who generously donated funds for the project.

In 2009, the press box and bathrooms were renovated again, and an elevator was added. In 2010, after 102 years, lights were installed in the stadium, allowing both day and night games and practices.

The cranberry bog is now just a distant memory, but more memories are being made at Clemens Stadium every year.

If you believe you have items of historical record that might be a good addition to the SJU Archives, contact CSB/SJU Archivist Peggy Landwehr Roske ’77 at proske@csbsju.edu or at 320-363-2129.

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SERVICE TO THE CHURCH

A Mother’s Call

By Jessie Bazan ’17 SOT/Sem

Laura Kelly Fanucci and her husband, Franco, are in the throes of life with littles.

Dishes from four growing boys adorn their kitchen counters.

Socks, loose pieces of homework and more socks are scattered across the floors.

A symphony of giggles accompanies the family out the door each morning. Laura wouldn’t trade this “sort of chaos” for the world.

“I’ve done more things before 9 a.m. than I ever used to during a day,” said Fanucci, a 2009 graduate of the School of Theology and Seminary. “This is an exhausting time of life, but I’ll miss it when it’s done.”

“Even though we knew this wasn’t the best-case scenario, the hospital is full of dreamy miracle stories on the wall,” Fanucci explained. “We thought, ‘This is rough, but of course they’re going to make it.’ ”

“We were right inside the heart of God”

The couple spends their days chasing sons Sam (9), Thomas (7), Joseph (4) and Benjamin (1).

Not a day goes by when they don’t wish their twin daughters, Maggie and Abby, could join in the fun. The girls died in

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February 2016 of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, a blood disorder that leaves one baby with too much blood and the other with not enough.

The surgery to save their lives was unsuccessful. Maggie lived for one day, while Abby lived for two.

Fanucci describes the experience as “gutwrenching” — and closer to the divine than ever.

“We were right inside the heart of God,” Fanucci said of the graced time holding Abby as she died. Her blog post about the experience is a must-read. motheringspirit.com “It’s not cliché to say God works through suffering to bring

life out of death,” Fanucci said. “There can be surprising growth that can happen even though it is so, so hard.”

Fanucci was already blogging about parenthood and faith at the time of Maggie and Abby’s deaths. She started the blog Mothering Spirit after graduate school, when she was pregnant with her first child.

“The world shifted so quickly from a dynamic, engaging

theology community at the SOT/Sem to being home with a newborn,” Fanucci recalled. “Writing helped me make sense of this 180 (degree) turn.”

In addition to her blog, which has several thousand followers, Fanucci is the author of numerous books, including Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting (Liturgical Press) and Grieving Together: A Couple’s Journey Through Miscarriage (Our Sunday Visitor).

She described her calling to write as an opportunity for her gifts to meet others’ needs.

“There were other people struggling with the transition into motherhood,” Fanucci said. “Sometimes people would write me and say, ‘You had put into words something that I had felt, but I didn’t know how to name.’

“Connecting with people in the depth of their grief made me feel like I’m not crazy for feeling this way.”

Fanucci hopes her theological work encourages people to ask big, vocational questions about meaning and purpose in their lives.

“The readers and I ask together: ‘Where is God in my life? What does faith have to do with life at home? Is this work of raising children worthy in a culture that doesn’t always value it?’ ” Fanucci said. “God does call each person in ways they might not be able to name. I want to give them language to make sense of it.”

Along with her writing projects and family commitments, Fanucci directs the Communities of Calling Initiative for the Collegeville Institute, a new ecumenical project to help Christians discover and deepen their sense of God’s calling in their lives. She said staying connected to Collegeville gives her hope.

“There are so many polarized corners in our church,” Fanucci said. “Collegeville is a place where people who love the church come to think in deep, informed and creative ways about how to serve God’s people.”

Jessie Bazan ’17 SOT/Sem is the program associate for the Collegeville Institute and outreach coordinator for the Saint John’s Abbey vocations team.

Laura and Franco Fanucci with sons (left to right) Sam, Benjamin, Thomas and Joseph.

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By Dave DeLand

MCDONOUGH KEEPS BUILDING ON SAINT JOHN’S

As he grappled with his thoughts and pored over the words of his impending commencement address, Denis McDonough was reminded of a nervous kid who showed up at Saint John’s University three decades earlier carrying a suitcase filled with doubts.

That 18-year-old kid was Denis McDonough.

Was he good enough?

Was he smart enough?

Could he make the grade?

“I still love going back and reliving all those memories,” said McDonough, 48, who since his 1992 graduation has thoroughly dispelled those qualms.

“Turns out that Saint John’s prepares you to succeed,” he said.

“You have to stop worrying about whether you can do it and get on with doing it.”

That was just part of McDonough’s message for the Saint John’s Class of 2018 during his May 13 commencement address at the Abbey Church.

It’s a message McDonough has lived, through an auspicious and rewarding career at the highest levels of public, national and global service that has taken him from Collegeville to the White House and beyond.

“Denis stuck to his values,” said 1992 classmate Matt Lindstrom, CSB/SJU professor of political science and director of the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement. “He has that conviction. He didn’t just jump on the train that was the popular one.”

Intellect. Diligence.

12 SUMMER/FALL 2018

A SENSE OF PURPOSE Intellect. Diligence. Empathy. Dedication.

They’re hallmarks of McDonough’s career, attributes that guide his course and discourse.

Saint John’s helped shape those attributes, developing character and principles and building relationships and faith.

“With time, I’ve gotten perspective that allows me to appreciate different things about Saint John’s,” said McDonough, whose work ethic was legendary even before he reached the White House.

“Faith is very prevalent every day (at Saint John’s). There’s a diversity of opinion and a diversity of views. And then of course there’s the friendships I developed here – that’s a huge blessing.”

HIS

LEGACY “This is the kind of person we hope we’re producing,” said CSB/SJU history professor Ken Jones, who McDonough cites as one of his formative influences at Saint John’s. “He’s going to do what he sees is right to fix things.”

A résumé headlined by four years as President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff (2013-17) is now evolving toward addressing refugee and workplace issues in a changing world that can benefit from the Benedictine, teamcentric concepts McDonough learned from his family and at Saint John’s.

Those Saint John’s blessings still influence McDonough, and they’ve already helped take him to the pinnacle of governance.

“He values those connections,” Jones said. “There’s a generosity there. That Johnnie network thing is powerful for him.”

“He’s a patriot – an old-school, old-soul patriot,” Lindstrom said. “He’s a global citizen. It sounds cliché, but he’s into the common good, looking out for others.”

That Benedictine approach was a default setting during McDonough’s White House years, helping him handle the pressures of one of the world’s most demanding jobs.

“I felt like it was a critically important part of the (Saint John’s) experience for me,” McDonough said. “It’s obviously in the water, but it’s also something that I’d actively seek out.

Afternoon prayers were a great thing. Sunday night Mass was a great thing.

“It permeates the place, but it also gave me a sense of purpose while I was there.”

In some ways, McDonough never really left.

THE SECRET OF LEADERSHIP

“I’ve run into Johnnies all around the world,” he said. “The friendships that you develop stay with you forever.

That 18-year-old kid who first arrived on the Saint John’s campus in 1988 started with one overriding aspiration.

“That’s a really unique asset.”

“When I turned up at Saint John’s, I was wondering, ‘Could

Empathy. Dedication.

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I make the (football) team?’ ” said McDonough, a wiry defensive back from Stillwater. “I was a little daunted.

“Then I’m on the team, but can I play? Then I’m in class, but can I pass?”

McDonough played plenty as an undersized but hyperactive strong safety, recording 171 tackles and 12 interceptions during three years as a starter while helping the Johnnies win conference championships in 1989 and 1991.

“He was always bouncing a little bit,” Jones recalled, “anticipating long before the snap – just that real intense focus.”

McDonough’s interactions with his coaches – particularly legendary head coach John Gagliardi – helped shape the foundation of his professional interactions to come.

“The secret to John Gagliardi’s success started with a very fundamental character piece, which was that he knew you by your first name,” McDonough said. “That’s no small trick when there’s 180 guys on the team.

“Aside from the X’s and O’s and being a super-innovative football mind, John is also a profound leader whose teams always knew they had his respect.

“When you have someone’s respect,” McDonough said, “that person will go above and beyond for you. That’s the secret of leadership.”

Gagliardi, Jones and Spanish professor Thorpe Running were among McDonough’s notable Saint John’s influences.

So was Br. Paul Richards ’78, OSB, his director in AllCollege Choir during his senior year. He made an observation that still resonates with McDonough’s wife Kari and children Addie (17), Liam (14) and Teddy (11).

“Whenever we’re singing in church, my kids still say to me what Br. Paul said to me when I was in (choir),” McDonough said, laughing. “I have such a terrible voice.

“Br. Paul came up after several classes and whispered, ‘It’s OK for you to just mouth the words.’ ” And so, with “vocalist” effectively removed from his career options list, McDonough went to work.

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Defensive coordinator Jerry Haugen ’76 (right) was a coach and mentor to Denis McDonough during his three years as a starting safety on the Saint John’s football team.

TAKING SJU ON THE JOURNEY After graduating with a B.A. summa cum laude in history and Spanish in 1992, McDonough began a winding career path inspired by a J-term trip to the U.S./Mexico border and by those Benedictine values.

“The things I learned at Saint John’s pushed me to public service,” he said, “to an interest in wanting to help and support those who are in greater need.”

That path took him through South America and a teaching job in Belize … through Georgetown University’s Master of Science in Foreign Service program … through positions on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and with Senators Tom Daschle and Ken Salazar … and to a senior fellow position at the Center for American Progress.

McDonough became then-Senator Obama’s chief foreign policy advisor in 2007, his deputy national security advisor in 2010 and his White House chief of staff in 2013.

But Saint John’s was never far away for McDonough, whose White House office featured a framed picture of Lake Sagatagan taken from an issue of Saint John’s Magazine.

“People were always asking about that picture,” he said. “It gave me a nice chance to talk about Saint John’s.

“It also served as a very constant reminder of a very important place – some honesty and truthfulness in the midst of a city that too often has too little of both.”

THE POWER OF FAITH McDonough’s relationship with President Obama was anchored by principles instilled and reinforced at Saint John’s.

“The same way I got to develop a good relationship with John Gagliardi, I got to develop a good personal relationship with President Obama,” said McDonough, whose duties included carving out family time for both the president and himself.

“I did that because the president knew that was a priority for me, just like it was a priority for him – he had to be home every night at 6:30 for dinner, and if he wasn’t I got in a lot of trouble,” McDonough said with a laugh.

Similarly, the faith element cultivated throughout McDonough’s life was built into his White House schedule, including weekend worship visits to Saint Anselm’s Abbey in Washington, D.C.

Saint John’s is never far away for McDonough.

McDonough (left foreground) talks with CSB/SJU political science professor Matt Lindstrom during a McCarthy Center “Politics and a Pint” interview March 14, 2017 at SJU’s Pellegrene Auditorium. The backdrop photo – taken in the White House Situation Room during his tenure as deputy national security advisor – shows McDonough, President Barack Obama and others observing the May 2011 Navy SEAL operation in Pakistan that resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden.

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McDonough is all about sharing that optimism.

“His religion is a big deal for him,” Lindstrom said. “The way he interprets it is not a personal salvation religion, but more of a platform to promote justice and help others.”

“It was important to be able to get there,” McDonough said.

“The faith thing is without it, you just can’t survive.

“That’s where things like staying close to your family and maintaining your prayer life become so important. You see the importance every day.”

PAYING IT FORWARD There is no such thing as “down time” when you work at the White House.

“The pace is kind of unrelenting,” McDonough said. “You’re never off the clock.”

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Still, McDonough made time to repay the Saint John’s community, and to pay it forward.

“He was extremely loyal to meeting our students,” said Lindstrom, who brought groups of McCarthy Center students to the White House throughout McDonough’s tenure. “He would always say yes. He was at the very top of global governance, but his humility – super important.”

That humility extended to White House guards and custodians, who received exactly the same treatment.

“They’d say, ‘Oh, he’s the best!’ ” said Jones, recounting his conversation with a guard during his own Oval Office tour.

“He’s the best because he never acts as though he is above you. It’s always ‘How are you? How are your kids doing?’

That sort of thing.”

A very Benedictine thing. Ultimately, that helped McDonough stay grounded through the stresses of White House life.

“It’s hard for me to separate that from Saint John’s,” he said, “and there are many, many men who share that feeling.”

A BRIGHTER FUTURE The best words to describe Denis McDonough also describe his approach to his mission.

“Intense. Passionate is another pretty good word to describe him,” Jones said. “The refugee piece is his passion. That’s what he wants (to do).”

“That’s his big thing, to run a team that works on global humanitarian causes,” Lindstrom said. “That’s where his heart is. It goes back to his values and sense of the greater good for everyone.”

Since leaving the White House in January 2017, McDonough has worked with the Markle Foundation’s Rework America Task Force, focusing on training workers for the new economy.

Last spring, he taught at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, the first new school there in a century.

“Ultimately, my real goal here is to get involved with work around refugees,” McDonough said. “It’s consistent both with Benedictine teaching about hospitality and that we be welcoming to all visitors, but also because of the enormity of the challenge facing the world right now.”

Helping face that challenge reflects both McDonough’s passion and his upbeat approach.

“I’m still fundamentally very optimistic,” he said. “The president used to like to say that if you could choose anywhere, anytime to be born, that you’d want to be born in this country right now.

“It’s not to say that we don’t have problems. But none of the problems that we have is something that can’t be addressed by Americans. That makes me very optimistic.”

In every possible way, McDonough is all about sharing that optimism.

EXTENDING THE LEGACY He struck precisely that upbeat tone May 13 during his Saint John’s commencement address, which focused largely on past Johnnies and the notable things they went on to do.

“I wanted to underscore to them that if I can do this, anybody can do this,” said McDonough, who also was a student speaker at his graduation in 1992. “This is something that not only can they do, but in fact the country needs them to do it.

“This is what Uncle Sam runs on – talented, committed patriots from Saint John’s and Saint Ben’s. The sky’s the limit for them.”

McDonough cited SJU grads like Cleveland Cram ’38 and Gen. Paul Nakasone ’86, decorated patriots who famously served their country, and challenged new graduates to make their own contributions.

“Every one of them did something that was uniquely Benedictine,” McDonough said, “which I think is particularly needed at the moment – they joined the common instead of separating themselves into the particular.”

He could have added Denis McDonough ’92 to that list. The nervous freshman football player has already done a lot, with plans for a lot more.

Wherever that takes him, McDonough will bring Saint John’s with him.

Dave DeLand, editorial and content director for SJU Institutional Advancement, is an award-winning writer, guest lecturer at Saint John’s University and former columnist for the St. Cloud Times.

McDonough to speak at McCarthy Lecture Denis McDonough will be the guest speaker at the 12th annual Eugene J. McCarthy Lecture, which will take place at 8 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Abbey Church at Saint John’s University.

Ticketing information is available on the Lecture webpage csbsju.edu/mccarthy-center/eventsand-programming/mccarthy-lecture For more information, contact the McCarthy Center staff at 320-363-3266 or mccarthycenter@csbsju.edu

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Saint John’s University

Minneapolis 18 SUMMER/FALL 2018

St. Cloud

IN SIGHT An out-of-this-world view of Collegeville Photo courtesy of NASA

Saint John’s University graduate Mark Vande Hei ’89 was nearly four months into his mission aboard the International Space Station when this photo of Minnesota, Canada and the Northern Lights was shot on Feb. 4, 2018 – the date of Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis.

Lake Superior

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20 SUMMER/FALL 2018

Reflections from 75 years with Father Don

By Dave DeLand

Faith, guidance, gratitude and inspiration arrive via email early every morning, courtesy of a 92-year-old monk whose daily reflections speak to readers around the world and across the spectrum.

And just as dependably, that gratitude comes rolling back in from those readers to Father Don Talafous.

“I wanted you to know how inspired I am when I read the daily reflections. Often I have felt as though God is confirming my thoughts.”

“You are a beacon in this night. Keep up the inspired work. Those who read will be enlightened.”

“Every morning I rise around 6 a.m. The first thing I do is read your daily reflection. Thank you for that gift.”

Fr. Don enriches readers’ lives. In turn, their responses to his reflections make a profound impact on a nonagenarian who finds inspiration in those readers’ gratitude.

“Oh, there is. That’s what overwhelms me,” said Fr. Don ’48,

’52 SOT, OSB. “It’s a stimulus in many ways.”

Stimulus is a perfect way to describe the daily reflections and Fr. Don, an iconic Saint John’s presence whose lifelong contributions and omnipresent smile literally make him the face of the University.

“There IS no one else who knows so many people and has such a vast connection within the Saint John’s community,” said Adam Herbst ’99, Saint John’s director of alumni relations and Fr. Don’s frequent travel companion. “It’s just unprecedented, unparalleled.”

“He has that ability to make each of us feel like we’re the only one that has this level of connection,” added close friend Mike Baumann ’87, whose sentiments are echoed by countless others.

“They really strike a chord in my life, often when I am experiencing difficulties.”

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“Your reflections have become my daily bread and I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

September marks the 75th anniversary of Fr. Don’s arrival on the Saint John’s campus as a 17-year-old freshman.

“Seventy-five years?” he said. “I don’t think of those things.”

A lot of others do, daily. They’re thankful for his welcoming

very gentle presence – solid and emotional spiritual guidance, being a faithful person and living your life day by day – is evident.”

Nowhere is that impact more evident than in the daily reflections.

Spanning the globe “Your reflections have gone flying into more corners of the world than you can imagine.”

“Everyone likes to know if they are making a difference in the world. Well, you are.”

The internet provides Fr. Don with a global audience. He has 3,554 email subscribers to his daily reflections, which during the 12-month inventory period through October 2017 generated 123,799 page views in 109 countries.

Those reflections also are available daily on the Saint John’s Abbey web site saintjohnsabbey.org/reflection.

New reflections are posted Wednesdays on the Saint John’s Alumni Association Facebook page.

Fr. Don’s writings span the spectrum of human experience and emotion – love and faith and happiness, loss and longing and disappointment.

“I tell people – and I hope they don’t take me literally – that I wrote (Facebook co-founder) Mark Zuckerberg and said, ‘You win,’ ” joked Fr. Don, whose letters to alumni began in printed form more than six decades ago.

“He says he likes the online reflections because unless you’re Stephen King, you don’t get responses to a book,” said Saint John’s student Brandon Spratt ’20, who profiled Fr. Don for his Advanced Media Writing class last spring. “It was very clear to me that’s his passion.”

“With the internet,” Fr. Don said, “I get responses every day.”

They come from around the world, with a sense of gratitude and compassion, of faith and humor. spirit, his sage advice, his friendship and guidance and devotion.

Fr. Don has made an indelible impact during his 92 years – at Saint John’s, on people around the world, in myriad ways.

“Saint John’s has changed dramatically across that span of years,” said Abbot John Klassen ’71, ’77 SOT, OSB, “but a constant is the connection of Fr. Don and the way that his

22 SUMMER/FALL 2018

“An attorney in Dublin sends me pictures of his kids playing soccer,” Fr. Don said. “Another (doctor) in New Zealand had a brain tumor and almost died. He’s written me over and over again.

“I had an American living in France who translated them into French for some Benedictine sisters living nearby.

Another guy in Portugal was translating them into Portuguese for an abbot he knew.”

Fr. Don Talafous was ordained in 1952 at the Old Abbey Church inside Saint John’s University’s Great Hall (left). The serious young man who took his vows 66 years ago (right) has become more joyful than ever in his 80s and 90s.

His reflections are pertinent to everybody, from every possible background.

“A lot of the feedback I get from my non-Catholic friends is it’s not just a Catholic reflection – it’s a Christian reflection, and maybe a world reflection,” said Baumann, who traveled with his former faculty resident to San Francisco for the start of Fr. Don’s July trip. “In one of them he said, ‘I cannot imagine Gandhi not being in Heaven.’ ” “I don’t care if you’re a Catholic or an atheist,” added Paul Judge ’64, another student turned close personal friend.

“There are plenty of Catholics and atheists and Muslims and Jews that read his column, just because it makes a lot of sense.

“When he quotes Scripture, he brings it to a real-life situation that most people can relate to.”

Limitless insight “I keep a small collection of ‘Talafous Gems,’ the ones which have helped or inspired me most. Please keep the reflections coming.”

“The writing transports those of us in cubicles to better realms.”

Fr. Don’s writings span the spectrum of human experience and emotion – love and faith and happiness, loss and longing and disappointment.

“You’re amazed by some of the things he has to say,” Spratt said. “It’s very contemporary. It’s not the old-school, monastery monk, Catholic Church thing you would expect him to say.”

“He provides insight into my daily life when he doesn’t have that exact same personal experience,” Baumann said.

Fr. Don’s reflections come with wisdom that sometimes supersedes those experiences, enabling him to connect with readers on subjects that he has never personally lived.

“He’s never been married. He’s never had kids,” Herbst said.

“But yet when he does write about those things, they’re very pertinent. I don’t know how he does it.

“He’s incredibly intelligent. He’s super well-read. He’s very observant. As he’s interacted with alumni over the course of years who have been married, who have had kids, have had issues, he listens. And he’s thoughtful enough that even if he hasn’t necessarily lived those things, he can listen and empathize.”

Cumulatively, those reflections are products of a rich Saint John’s background that spans three-quarters of a century.

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The roots of reflection “They are great for so many reasons, but I enjoy the humility that comes with each one.”

“Your messages are simply wise, yet I know that they are not simple to write so clearly and with such a soft touch.”

When 17-year-old Duluth native Don Talafous arrived at Saint John’s in September 1943, he brought with him an odd preconceived notion.

“I had such dumb ideas about myself,” he said. “I thought I was suited for the Carthusians, who are a form of hermit.”

Fr. Don would make an atrocious hermit.

“What was I thinking?” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t know any better.”

The influence of Saint John’s helped dispel those thoughts, refine his thinking and launch a rich life of service to others.

“After I got here, I was very impressed by the Benedictines,” Fr. Don said. “I had never met such a wonderful kind of men before.”

He subsequently became one of them, completing seminary at Saint John’s in 1952. Other than teaching assignments at Saint Augustine’s College in Nassau, Bahamas (1952-54) and at Saint Anselm’s Parish in Bronx, New York (1954-56), and a graduate school stint in Berkeley, Calif. (1968-70), Fr. Don never left.

“Saint John’s invigorates him, and he invigorates Saint John’s,” Baumann said of Fr. Don, who has served as theology professor and faculty resident, university and alumni chaplain. “One of his greatest blessings is being around young people.”

In many ways, Fr. Don is doing the most inspired work of his career at age 92.

His current role with SJU Institutional Advancement includes interacting with alumni at a variety of visits and functions – and, of course, writing reflections.

“I’m pretty humbled to pieces, really,” Fr. Don said. “I didn’t think I’d ever be doing this kind of work.”

What he’s mostly doing now is making connections.

24 SUMMER/FALL 2018

A cup of inspiration “I laughed audibly and deeply at today’s reflection.

Tremendous last lines!”

“Your smile still conveys a mirth that only contentment with a life well-lived can produce.

More people should be so blessed.”

There are several quirks about Fr. Don, including one notable vice: He’s a coffee snob.

“He’s not going to drink it out of a paper cup,” Herbst said of Fr. Don’s favored frothy lattes. “At age 92, he’s decided, ‘You know what? If I want to eat good muffins and scones and drink good coffee, I’m going to do it and I’m going to savor it.’ What’s not to love about that?”

“Some individuals, when they drink a bottle of wine, they’re not going to drink an average bottle of wine,” Abbot John said. “They’re going to drink one that’s a little bit higher.

“Don is that way with coffee.”

Fr. Don enjoys travel, particularly to his beloved San Francisco. He’s a voracious reader with a weakness for biographies and a penchant for variety – H.L. Mencken to

Margaret Visser, Madeleine Albright to Peggy Lee.

“He hasn’t lost a marble,” Judge said. “It’s pretty amazing.”

“I remember a Sunday night mass where in his homily he quoted Gandhi, Billy Idol and Saint Francis of Assisi,” Baumann recalled.

References to those readings frequently surface in his daily reflections because Fr. Don – at age 92 – seemingly forgets nothing.

“Unheard of,” Abbot John said. “That kind of memory is a gift and it’s a cultivated skill. He works really hard at remembering, and he’s got a system. It’s phenomenal.”

Mining memories “It is so uplifting and amazingly relevant to my current life. You can’t imagine the tremendous impact you have.”

“Their timing is often a small miracle in and of themselves, because you will often hit on a subject that just happens to be preying on my mind at that very moment.”

Fr. Don’s mobility isn’t what it used to be, but his astounding memory – for names, faces, virtually everything – almost seems better than ever.

That “system” helps immensely in Fr. Don’s interactions, visits and letters to alumni.

It also helps in the writing of his reflections, which began in 1956 with his chaplain’s letters during the first of his two stints as university chaplain.

“When I was a student here back in the ’60s, he would put out a weekly chaplain’s newsletter,” Abbot John said.

“He would put in provocative quotes, all keyed in with a typewriter on a page, and everybody would get it.

“Everybody read the newsletter. It was a reflection on faith, on prayer, on disappointment, on the Gospel, the church – you name it.”

The electronic version of the daily reflections began in 2000 but really took off about six years ago.

Fr. Don has written about 400 of them and is constantly jotting down notes on whatever is handy when he has an

Fr. Don serves as the face of Saint John’s at a variety of functions, including weddings (like this one he officiated in 2006), funerals and alumni gatherings. He also provides an uplifting influence from his office in Saint John’s Institutional Advancement and around campus.

25

inspiration for another. He intentionally keeps them succinct, citing advice from former Saint John’s English professor Stephen B. Humphrey ’29.

“Short items get more attention,” said Fr. Don, who usually limits himself to 300 words. “Long stuff puts people off.”

Whatever the length, they make an indelible impact that often transcends his own personal experience.

Giving thanks “I read them all, and always find thoughts that resonate with my life.”

“I can’t help but be in awe of how you are able to write so eloquently and eruditely, day after day. It must be Divine inspiration.”

In many ways, Fr. Don is doing the most inspired work of his career at age 92.

“It’s a real gift to us. I’m grateful.”

So is Fr. Don, in so many ways.

“I’m grateful for pretty darn good health, wonderful work and (being) surrounded by very wonderful people,” he said.

“I need myself to be encouraged and hopeful every day.”

There are ongoing discussions about publishing a book of Fr. Don’s “greatest hits.” In the meantime, they’re available online daily at about 1:45 a.m. Collegeville time, although others around the world see them at different times.

They impact readers in their daily lives.

They impact Fr. Don every single day.

Looking ahead with joy “You have a way of encouraging people to become better in a gentle, positive way.”

“I think I feel that way, too,” he said, smiling.

“You bring peace of mind to everyone who reads your daily reflections. God loves you and so do we.”

“This set of reflections he does now is a continuation of that (work),” Abbot John added.

Comedian Woody Allen is another writer on Fr. Don’s list of unlikely favorites.

“He had this line: ‘I’m not afraid of dying – I just don’t want to be there when it happens,’ ” Fr. Don said.

He laughed, but only at the joke. It’s a pertinent thought when you’re 92.

“I TRY to think about it,” Fr. Don said. “The Rule (of Benedict), for instance, says to keep death daily before your eyes. At my age, it could happen any time – any moment, really.”

But most of his moments are occupied with his work, his friendships, his reasons for living. Fr. Don has all that and more to reflect upon and keep him going, and he projects that positivity.

“I would say he’s more joyful in his 80s and 90s – not that he was ever joyless, but he’s more joyful than he was,” Baumann said.

Saint John’s Director of Alumni Relations Adam Herbst ’99 (left) serves as Fr. Don’s wingman at countless functions, and marvels at the wisdom and insight he brings to his writings and interactions.

26 SUMMER/FALL 2018

“There are some like myself that are involved in such rewarding work that you feel it’s going to be hard to

Fr. Don is looking forward, putting the past, present and future into context along the way.

To subscribe to Fr. Don’s Daily Reflections, go to saintjohnsabbey.org/reflection

let go,” said Fr. Don. “I think that’s a responsibility to other people. I’m very conscious of that.

You can connect with Fr. Don via email at dtalafous@csbsju.edu

“I hope that it’s rooted in my trust in the Lord. It’s hard to think of leaving.”

Most 92-year-olds are looking back. Fr. Don is looking forward, putting the past, present and future into context along the way.

His readers are looking forward, too. Their day wouldn’t be complete without seeing Fr. Don’s reflection.

Dave DeLand, editorial and content director for SJU Institutional Advancement, is an award-winning writer, guest lecturer at Saint John’s University and former columnist for the St. Cloud Times.

Created in 2004, the Fr. Don Talafous Endowed Scholarship Fund provides scholarships to Johnnies with financial need who contribute to the cultural, geographic and ethnic diversity of Saint John’s student body.

To contribute to the fund, contact Associate VicePresident for Institutional Advancement John Young at jyoung@csbsju.edu

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Kids have a real PAL and role model in Mushatt

By Dave DeLand

Excitement is as palpable as humidity on this sweltering summer night at St. Cloud’s Southside Boys & Girls Club, which literally is buzzing with activity.

There’s an escalating sense of anticipation as scores of young kids excitedly swarm around the man with a badge, radio and pistol strapped to his belt.

It’s a Police Activities League (PAL) night, and St. Cloud Police Department Commander Brett Mushatt is in his element.

Southside Boys & Girls Club. “He’s still an adult with them, but he’s not coming at them like an authority figure.”

“I’m a social work major who turned into a cop,” Mushatt said with a grin as a maelstrom of elementary school-age kids swirled around him.

“That’s generally not the way it works.”

“How fortunate for the St. Cloud Police Department and St. Cloud youth to be able to interact with Brett,” said Saint John’s Director of Alumni Relations Adam Herbst ’99, Mushatt’s friend and three-year Johnnie football teammate.

“He’s a great guy.”

But there’s nothing typical about Mushatt.

A 1998 Saint John’s University graduate and Division III All-America football player who as an SJU freshman devoted himself to working with kids, Mushatt switched from Boys & Girls Club unit director to the St. Cloud Police Department a few years after college – then found a way to blend the two together.

“He has always had an amazing ability to connect with kids,” said 1996 College of Saint Benedict graduate Christine Kustelski, unit director of the

28 SUMMER/FALL 2018

Mushatt is making a difference – at the Boys & Girls Club and the St. Cloud Police Department, in young lives and in his community.

“You always knew Brett was destined for great things,” said Officer Nancy Lang, his coworker for 16 years. “Brett’s an amazing role model.”

“I can impact kids,” said Mushatt, 42. “I can help bridge the gap in how police are seen and how police and kids and communities interact.

“I’ve always felt like maybe I can make a difference, and maybe I have just enough arrogance to say I can do something about that.”

A passion for PAL Roughly 100 kids ages 5-11 show up Tuesday and Thursday evenings during June and July to be part of the happy herd.

Mushatt’s official position with the SCPD is Support Services Division Commander, which means he oversees the technology and support staff that keep the department running.

Working with young children can be like herding cats.

The Police Activities League resonates with perpetual motion and seemingly boundless energy.

“They’re like the central nervous system of the whole place,” St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said. “That stuff has to be efficient.

That’s what he is.”

“I love this job,” said Mushatt, who joined the department in 2002 and was promoted to sergeant (2009) and lieutenant (June 2015) before becoming a commander (December 2015).

His connection with the Boys & Girls Club goes back even farther – to 1994, his inaugural year at Saint John’s, when Mushatt first began working with kids while also juggling his academic and football obligations.

“Having such a well-rounded education – socially, athletically and academically – made me a more well-rounded person, which gave me the ability to do different things and not just put all my eggs in this basket,” said Mushatt, who gladly pours time and energy into PAL and the Boys & Girls Club.

“That’s not false passion,” Anderson said.

“That’s not just him trying to get a promotion.

That’s actually right in his wheelhouse.”

All of that took root during Mushatt’s time in Collegeville, which was noteworthy for a variety of reasons.

29

interceptions at Saint John’s and was a two-time All-MIAC and 1996 AllAmerica selection.

“Going against him (in practice), you didn’t face a better defensive back all year,” said Herbst, who honed his own AllMIAC receiving skills by trying to catch passes against Mushatt.

“What I knew of him was the All-America football player,” added Kustelski, who was two years ahead of Mushatt at CSB/SJU. “Everybody knew who he was on campus.

“But he doesn’t see himself as a big deal.

That humility – it always has blown my mind.”

Mushatt rarely talks about his athletic accomplishments, but he’s eager to cite the Saint John’s connections that led the social work major to take a work-study job at the Boys & Girls Club during his freshman year.

“I think back to that being a pivotal moment for me,” said Mushatt, who was initially recruited by SJU grad Tom

Mushatt’s connection to the PAL program is so strong that it basically became his identifier at the Boys & Girls Club.

“I go down there, and kids would say, ‘Oh, PAL is here!’ They’d think my name was PAL, because that’s how they’d associate things.”

Deep roots Mushatt was born Dec. 6, 1975 in St. Cloud. He never knew his father, Rannie Mushatt Jr., who died of a heart attack seven months later.

Still, they share a unique link. Rannie Mushatt played football at Grambling State University for Coach Eddie Robinson, who held the all-time college football coaching victory record – until it was broken in 2003 by Saint John’s Coach John Gagliardi, for whom Brett Mushatt starred from 1994-97.

“There’s no one else out there who has that one-two combination,” said Mushatt, who recorded 15 career

30 SUMMER/FALL 2018

Lonneman-Doroff ’89. “My supervisor, Kyle Darnell ’91, was a Johnnie grad. Mark Sakry ’78 (executive director of the Boys & Girls Club) is a Johnnie grad.

“When you talk about that network, that’s what really got me to where I am – working with kids. I’m 18 years old, and someone thinks I have something to offer.

“That’s where I started to roll and developed a passion for it.”

Breaking barriers Mushatt has also been involved with the SCPD’s Youth Leadership Academy and coaches defensive backs for the Sauk Rapids High School football team.

But the PAL program is truly his passion – and vice-versa.

“The kids adore him,” said Lang, who on this particular evening was one of six other SCPD officers participating. “It’s just a good way to build relationships.”

Those relationships are central to PAL, fostering positive community interactions.

“As Saint John’s becomes more diverse, I think it’s good for our students to see that there are alumni (of color) who were here before them,” Herbst said.

“Brett’s done great things with his career. He’s been willing to give back and come back to campus and be a resource for our students.”

At the core of all those interactions – with kids, officers and fellow Saint John’s alums

Kids at PAL are hanging on Mushatt’s every word as he introduces the other officers and outlines the evening’s activities. A few are actually hanging on HIM. – are the Benedictine values that Mushatt exemplifies.

“It’s exactly what he’s doing,” Kustelski said.

“That’s who Brett is. He brings that with him.”

“When I look back now, I would say absolutely yes,” said Mushatt, who lives in Sauk Rapids with his wife Aime, son Tyson (16) and daughter Brooke (12).

“The focus of our PAL program is so the kids get to see officers in a different light, and not just as a uniform,” Mushatt said. “People generally aren’t calling us because they’re having a good day.

“Also, it gets our officers to be able to see kids in a different light. It’s really trying to bridge that gap.”

Mushatt’s PAL message resonates with kids, who get to interact with officers in a positive context.

“Once we take off the uniforms, it doesn’t matter that we’re police officers,” Lang said. “That barrier is gone.” “(Mushatt) likes to talk about making good choices, overcoming adversity, being persistent,” Anderson said. “The vast majority of them appreciate that you’re there, that you’re giving of your time and sharing the wisdom that you’ve acquired.”

It also resonates in Collegeville, where Mushatt is involved with Reaching Back/Moving Forward – a Saint John’s event that brings back American-born alumni of color to meet current American-born students of color.

“When I talk about who I’ve become and a lot of the opportunities I’ve had, it’s because of my experiences at Saint John’s.”

Hometown humility Tonight’s PAL activities options include Duck Duck Grey Duck (this IS Minnesota, after all), jump the creek, field games, ultimate football, open playground and an art room.

With everything, it’s about positive engagement.

Mushatt was director of the La Cruz Boys & Girls Club program and then the Southside Boys & Girls Club from 1998 until 2002, when he joined the SCPD. But he never gave up his attachment to helping kids. And when Anderson became chief in 2013, PAL became a reality in St. Cloud.

“He said, ‘Hey, do we have a PAL program?’ ” Mushatt recalled. “Well, funny you should ask, because it’s been one of my goals since I got here but haven’t been able to do it.

“He looked at me and said, ‘Well, we do now.’ ” This is the sixth year of St. Cloud’s PAL program. It has

31

“No matter where I end up in this organization, (PAL) is going to be my thing. I’m not willing to give it up.”

“He gets it, and these officers get it. It’s the right thing to do,” Kustelski added. “They’re a blessing to this neighborhood and this community.”

Regardless of his role, Mushatt’s common thread has been his passion for kids and youth programs.

“I just feel like I have some things that inspire me,” he said.

“I want to help people. I want to try to make things better for people.”

That’s driven him since he arrived at Saint John’s.

That’s what drives him still.

That’s the definition of a real pal.

PAL is organized chaos, but it’s happy chaos. Kids are happy to be there.

So are the police officers. Bonds and relationships are being formed that can last a lifetime.

grown steadily, influencing countless kids.

Its success and credibility draw from Mushatt’s humble, home-town roots.

“He’s from here, born and raised, went to college here and never went far from home and stayed,” Anderson said. “All that speaks to how he feels about what he does and his hometown.”

Photo courtesy of St. Cloud Times

“If somebody asked give me Brett in one word, ‘humble’ is the first word that would come to my head,” added Kustelski, who has been with the Boys & Girls Club for 22 years.

“With everything he’s got going for him, he doesn’t carry himself that way. He’s just Brett.”

A driving force Mushatt could end up being St. Cloud’s police chief someday.

He probably could be one somewhere already.

“I can think of a couple dozen places he can leave here for right now and sit in the (number) one spot,” Anderson said.

“No doubt in my mind that he’s got all the credentials.”

“In a perfect world, will I be chief here someday? I hope so,” said Mushatt, who also serves on the Boys & Girls Club board. “But I’m also in a position where I can make just as much difference doing what I’m doing right now.

32 SUMMER/FALL 2018

Mushatt (27) celebrates one of his two interceptions during Saint John’s playoff victory over Simpson (Iowa) Nov. 23, 1996 at the Metrodome.

Dave DeLand, editorial and content director for SJU Institutional Advancement, is an award-winning writer, guest lecturer at Saint John’s University and former columnist for the St. Cloud Times.

ALUMNI CONNECTION

Celebrating Coming Home 2018 Nearly 1,600 graduates of SJU and CSB classes ending in 3 and 8 returned home for Reunion 2018, a joint celebration of the two schools held June 22-24. Reunion has something for every attendee, including a widely shared bond – a love of a place and community like no other.

Mark Your Calendars for Reunion 2019, Friday, June 21 to Sunday, June 23 for classes ending in 4 and 9.

Visit sjualum.com for many more memorable scenes from Reunion 2018.

33

JOHNNIE SPORTS

Scorecard BASKETBALL Saint John’s (23-4, 19-1 MIAC) won its eighth MIAC regular-season championship in program history and first since 2001, and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the

first time since 2007. SJU became just the sixth team to tally a 19-1 or better MIAC record and eighth to win the conference by four games or more since the league moved to a 20-game conference schedule in 1983-84.

Post Tyler Weiss ’18 was named All-West Region and guard David Stokman ’19 earned his second consecutive Academic All-America honor. Weiss (first team) and Stokman (second team) received All-MIAC honors, while wing Jubie Alade ’20 was named the MIAC Sixth Man of the Year. Pat McKenzie ’04 was named the MIAC Coach of the Year.

BASEBALL The Johnnies ended the 2018 season with a 33-8 record and won the MIAC regular-season championship, the program’s 14th and first since 1998, with a 16-4 mark in conference play. SJU made its ninth consecutive appearance in the MIAC Tournament

34 SUMMER/FALL 2018

May 11-13 and finished second with a 2-2 record. The team set school records for wins (33), fielding percentage (.974), ERA (2.73) and WHIP (1.18) this spring.

Jake Dickmeyer ’19 was named the MIAC Pitcher of the Year and was joined on the All-MIAC team by centerfielder Max Jackson ’19, pitcher Danny Kuhn ’19, first baseman Jeron Terres ’18, rightfielder Wyatt Ulrich ’20 and pitcher Bennett Wiggins ’19.

Jerry Haugen ’76 was named the MIAC Coach of the Year. Dickmeyer, Jackson, Terres, Wiggins and second baseman Brennan Swan ’18 earned All-Region honors.

GOLF SJU made its 16th trip to the NCAA Division III Championship and tied for 19th out of 42 teams May 15-16 at Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C. The Johnnies recorded a two-round total of 608 (+32) and missed the cut (top-18 teams) by one shot.

Sam Olson ’18 was named Golf Coaches’ Association of America (GCAA) Division III PING All-America honorable mention and a semifinalist for the Division III Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award. Olson and

Matt Lutz ’20 were named GCAA All-Central Region, while Olson, Austin Kottke ’18 and Jack Koehler ’19 were GCAA Scholar All-Americans.

Koehler, Lutz, Olson and David Schneider ’20 were All-MIAC. HOCKEY The Johnnies finished second in the MIAC, one point from the regularseason championship, with an 11-5 conference record (16-8-2 overall). The 11 conference wins were the most since the 2005-06 season for SJU, which earned its fifth trip to the MIAC Playoffs in the past seven years.

Forward Sam Valerius ’18, defenseman Sean Lang ’19, forward Brady Heppner ’20 and goaltender Andrew Lindgren ’20 were named to the AllMIAC first team. Defenseman Travis Brown ’21 and forward Ryan Kero ’21 were named to the six-man MIAC AllRookie team.

SWIMMING AND DIVING The Johnnies showcased their depth by placing third out of eight teams at the MIAC Championships in February despite not having an All-MIAC honoree (top three individually, champion relay).

Bill Saxton announced his retirement Feb. 27 following 20 seasons as head coach of the Johnnies.

TENNIS SJU ended the 2018 season with a 7-2 MIAC record (13-5 overall) to finish third in the conference, its best season since 2004 (14-9 overall). The Johnnies won their first seven conference matches to earn their ninth trip to the MIAC Playoffs in the past 12 seasons.

Tim Larson ’18 achieved his fourth straight All-MIAC honor in singles

competition, third in doubles play, and earned the 2018 MIAC Arthur Ashe Award, which annually recognizes a senior tennis student-athlete with outstanding sportsmanship and exemplary athletic, academic and humanitarian accomplishments.

Ryan Meger ’19 and Thomas Gillach ’21 achieved All-MIAC distinction in singles, while Gillach, Larson, Jonah Punnoose ’19 and Nate Jordre ’21 did so in doubles.

INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SJU finished fifth out of 11 teams at the 2018 MIAC Indoor Championships. Jordan Theisen ’18 won the conference title in the pole vault. Theisen, Drew Schoenbauer ’19 (60-meter dash) and Collin Trout ’20 (triple jump) earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Central Region honors.

OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD The Johnnies finished third out of 11 teams at the 2018 MIAC Outdoor Championships and won three events: Max Martin ’19 in the 400-meter hurdles, Ryan Miller ’21 in the 100-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay, which consisted of all freshmen (Miller, Nick Gannon ’21, Charles Haik ’21 and Brady Labine ’21). Miller and the 4x100-meter relay competed at the NCAA

Division III Outdoor Championships but did not reach their respective finals.

Ten Johnnies earned USTFCCCA All-Central Region distinction: Gannon (4x100-meter relay), Labine (4x100-meter relay), Martin (400-meter hurdles), Miller (100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay), Theisen (pole vault), Trout (triple jump), Matthew Burgstahler ’18 (steeplechase), Mitch Peck ’18 (400-meter hurdles), Colton Peterson ’18 (triple jump) and Schoenbauer (4x100-meter relay). Miller broke the Johnnies’ 50-year-old 100-meter school record, set in 1968 by Dave Lamm ’68, with a time of 10.61 seconds April 26 and surpassed that with a 10.57 in the preliminary race at the MIAC Championships. Burgstahler was named an Academic AllAmerican and earned his second MIAC Elite 22 Award (highest GPA among All-MIAC honorees) of the academic year (cross country).

WRESTLING Luke Dodd ’19 (184 pounds), Anthony Hennen ’20 (141 pounds) and Quincy Spiering ’20 (285 pounds) each posted 2-2 records at the revamped NCAA Upper Midwest Regional in February. Noah Becker ’20 led the team with a 20-10 season record at 133 pounds for first-year head coach Kevin Schiltz.

SJU’s Franta earns Scholar-Athlete Award Saint John’s University senior linebacker David Franta ’18 received the 2018 Stein-Fallon College Scholar Award from the Minnesota chapter of the National Football Foundation at the 11th annual Minnesota Football Awards April 29 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The Stein-Fallon College Scholar Award is awarded to one senior football studentathlete from a Minnesota college or university who demonstrates outstanding academic achievement, football leadership and community citizenship.

The award is named in honor of former University of Minnesota football studentathlete Bob Stein and the late Pat Fallon, who was CEO of Fallon Worldwide and a Minnesota graduate.

Franta, a Winnebago, Minn., native, was the second consecutive Johnnie to win the award. Fellow linebacker Carter Hanson ’17, a childhood friend and Blue Earth Area High School teammate of Franta, won the 2017 Stein-Fallon College Scholar Award.

Former Saint John’s head coach John Gagliardi and the Johnnies’ 1976 NCAA Division III national championship team were also honored at the banquet.

The squad was the third SJU team to receive the 2018 Murray Warmath Legendary Team Award. The Johnnies’ 1963 team, which earned the program’s first national championship, was honored in 2013, and the 1965 title team was honored in 2015.

GOJOHNNIES.COM

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ADVANCING THE MISSION

10 YEARS AFTER

Br. Dietrich’s vision and spirit live on in the Benedictine Institute “The Benedictine Institute furthers Saint John’s University’s commitment to the Catholic intellectual tradition, and it perpetuates the hallmarks of a Benedictine education: love, prayer, stability, conversation, obedience, discipline, humility, stewardship, hospitality and community. This dynamic relationship creates arenas for vital Christian living and service, each following the venerable Benedictine tradition of being a seedbed for social and cultural renewal.” –Br. Dietrich Reinhart ’71, OSB, former Saint John’s University president

By Dana Drazenovich

S

aint John’s University’s strong sense of community drew visiting assistant professor Hassan Hussein to the Global Business Leadership faculty in fall 2017.

He soon learned through the Benedictine Institute that community was one of the hallmarks of the Benedictine tradition upon which Saint John’s was founded.

The Benedictine spirit is so integral to SJU’s culture that we often say “it’s in the water.” The Benedictine Institute was created 10 years ago to keep that spirit flowing and help employees like Hussein understand the religious values and ethos that characterize a Saint John’s education.

“Part of the history of the Institute is how do we keep this in the water?” said Institute director Rodger Narloch ’91. “And when there are fewer monastic members directly involved in the academic institution so that it just sort of filters through the entire culture, somebody has to be more intentional in helping to ensure that happens.”

The Institute offers a variety of ways for faculty and staff to experience and learn about Saint John’s Catholic Benedictine tradition. Hussein signed up for the Benedictine Education Program to learn more about Catholicism, rare in his home

36 SUMMER/FALL 2018

country of Egypt. It proved to be a valuable social agent, and more.

“It affects everything I’m doing in class,” he said.

Keeping the spirit flowing The Benedictine Institute is one of the many ways Saint John’s continues to feel the ripples of the visionary leadership of former President Br. Dietrich Reinhart ’71, OSB. The Board of Regents established the Institute in October 2008 to honor Br. Dietrich upon his retirement after 17 years as president. He died two months later.

A decade after its inception, the Institute continues to carry out the mission to strengthen the Catholic and Benedictine character of the University.

“Dietrich really was a true visionary,” said Gloria “Chick” Hardy, the Institute’s recently retired assistant director. “He set the sail and the winds of the sail in a certain direction.

We’ve had to pare it down a little bit from his original vision, but the sails are still open and I think we’re being effective.”

You don’t have to be Catholic or Christian to fully tap into the Benedictine wisdom and lifestyle, Hardy explained. The

Benedictine Institute founder and Saint John’s University President Dietrich Reinhart, OSB (right) and Abbot John Klassen, OSB (left) presented Sister Wendy Beckett with the Colman J. Barry Award for Distinguished Contributions to Religion and Society Jan. 30, 2006 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England.

Benedictine Institute strives to help employees of all religious backgrounds understand Benedictine character and adopt or integrate elements of it into their work as they choose.

“You can understand what’s going on in the Rule (of Benedict) with respect to hospitality even if you’re not Christian — it makes sense,” said Abbot John Klassen ’71, OSB. “You can understand what Benedict is saying about leadership even if you’re not an abbot, but if you’re a dad or a mom, in terms of ways you want to raise your kids.”

Learning Benedictine principles can have a dual benefit – what Fr. Hilary Thimmesh ’50, OSB, former Saint John’s president and the Institute’s first director, described as “a kind of combination of thoughtfulness – interiority – and community awareness.”

The principles of community, hospitality and stewardship prompted Hussein to adapt his instruction to better address his students’ different learning styles.

“I should accommodate everyone so everyone feels part of the community, everyone feels important, every voice counts,” Hussein said. “Changing or diversifying my teaching methods was one way to accommodate everyone.”

Ideally, employees who take part in the Institute’s programs

will help keep the Benedictine spirit circulating.

“It’s about understanding what the hallmarks are,” Narloch said, “seeing them in their day-to-to-day lives and then thinking ‘How can I facilitate this in a more intentional way?’ ”

Going to the source When Fr. Hilary took the Institute’s helm in July 2009, he had only a few of Br. Dietrich’s correspondences to guide him. He knew one important piece would be Benedictine Heritage Tours, which were established by interim Saint John’s President Dan Whalen ’70. Whalen and his wife Katharine also funded the tours from 2009-14.

The tours offer faculty and staff full immersion into Benedictine history through a 12-day journey following Saint Benedict’s footsteps in Italy and visiting SJU’s and CSB’s founding monasteries in Metten and Eichstatt, Bavaria.

“I could still feel like a visitor in this setting, not having the Catholic tradition or family history in the area,” said academic advisor Theresa Anderson. “One of the things the Heritage Tour did for me is help me feel like I can more genuinely be a part of this community.”

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ADVANCING THE MISSION

Participants first study the history of the sites they will visit and then take the tour as a group, living and learning Benedictine values such as listening and community and sharing their own expertise or experiences as equals.

“One of the really impactful pieces was being with colleagues,” Anderson said. “All of the people on that trip came from different perspectives, I think, which made for interesting conversation and really good humor.”

A donor has funded another trip for May 2019, and Narloch hopes to continue to offer Heritage Tours periodically as donations permit.

Branching in new directions The Benedictine Institute continues to evolve as it enters its second decade.

Fr. Hilary started with Heritage Tours and significant speakers, and new programs took shape under the leadership of Fr. Mark Thamert ’73, OSB, Br. David Paul Lange, OSB, and then Narloch.

Events such as Lunch and Learns, which feature members of the monastic community and others presenting Benedictinerelated topics, have swelled from 10-12 attendees to more than 100.

The Benedictine Education Program, introduced in spring 2016, features four conversational sessions on each campus, led by members of the communities of both monasteries and focused on Benedictine principles.

“It was a discussion, it was a gathering, it was a learning

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process — and eating,” Hussein said. He appreciated the social aspect of sharing meals in the monks’ own dining room and experiencing their daily rituals.

More recent additions that will continue into the coming year include Building Community, an informal gathering Friday mornings in rotating locations (including a new one at CSB), and Lectio in the Library, weekly lunchtime contemplative readings of the Scriptures in Alcuin and Clemens libraries.

A decade after the Benedictine Institute was founded, Hardy thinks Br. Dietrich would be pleased.

“One that it’s still going,” she said, “but two that we really have had an impact on especially employees, and hopefully that carries over into the students, too.”

A complete list of 2018-2019 Benedictine Institute events is available at csbsju.edu/benedictine-institute Dana Drazenovich is a former journalist and public relations practitioner who teaches Communication and First Year Seminar at CSB/SJU.

Above: CSB/SJU academic advisor Theresa Anderson (third from left) was part of the Benedictine Heritage Tour that in May 2013 visited Subiaco, Italy – site of Saint Benedict’s three-year hermitage during the fifth century in which he established the groundwork of the Rule of Saint Benedict.

Above left: Fr. Mark Thamert shared his final reflections on life during a Benedictine Institute “Lunch and Learn” session April 5, 2017 at the SJU Quad’s Centenary Room.

Fr. Mark died 24 days later.

Three Johnnies Share Stories of Gratitude

By Raj Chaphalkar ’08 and Megan Glady Evens ’05 Three grateful Johnnies shared their stories with a roomful of Fellows Society benefactors June 5 at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis.

WILL GILLACH ’19 Will (center) is a legacy student from Lindstrom, Minn. His mother, Ann Knobbe Gillach ’90, is a Bennie and his father, Jim Gillach ’90, is a Johnnie, but at first Will wasn’t sure he wanted to follow them to Saint John’s. To make Ann happy, Will agreed to dutifully tour SJU, then decide. This proved to be a winning choice, as he is now deeply involved in life in Collegeville.

While preparing for medical school, Will is an Entrepreneur Scholar and a wide receiver on the football team. He is chair of the senior class gift committee and serves on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee. Will thanked donors for their stewardship of time, connections and financial treasure shared with Saint John’s, including his Legacy Scholarship given by Fellows Society donors. He plans to give back generously as a graduate.

DAVID JOHNSON ’19 David (left) is from Nassau, Bahamas. His parents initially responded with uncertainty to his interest in a private college in Minnesota – until they saw his financial aid package. They soon realized that given his strong prospects for success, Saint

John’s offered him the best return on investment of any college he considered.

He is an Entrepreneur Scholar and the newly elected president of the 2018-19 Saint John’s Senate. David is grateful for scholarships given to him by Fellows Society donors. As a student senator and member of the senior class gift committee, David is a model of leadership and engagement among Johnnies and across cultures.

OSBALDO MATIAS ’20 Osbaldo (right) is from Immokalee, Fla. His immigrant father, a skilled carpenter, wanted his son to become the first member of their family to graduate from high school and college. Osbaldo worked construction with his dad, but the money wasn’t enough for the rigorous computer science programs for which he had prepared. Thanks to the persistence of Matt Beirne ’94, SJU’s director of admission, and generous funding by the Lyden-Marshall Immokalee Scholarship and Fellows Society donors, Osbaldo became a Johnnie. To save money, Osbaldo cut his own hair in his dorm room. After several compliments, word spread, and now Osbaldo can be found cutting hair every Friday night.

His successful business has gained him Johnnie friends from all over the world.

The Fellows Society The Fellows Society is a distinguished group of Saint John’s alumni, parents and friends who set the pace with an annual gift of $1,000 or more to the Student Fund. 100% of the Student Fund goes directly to scholarships for undergraduates at Saint John’s.

During the 2017-18 fiscal year, 759 members of the Fellows Society gave $2,522,090 to the Student Fund, 81% of the total.

You can join the Fellows Society with as little as $85/month, automatically paid from your checking account or credit card.

To learn more visit sjualum.com/givesju or call Megan Glady Evens ’05 at 320-363-2591

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CLASS NOTES

Alumni Achievement Awards

The Saint John’s University Alumni Achievement Award is given to outstanding alumni in seven Reunion classes annually and presented at their Reunion dinners. Recipients are nominated by classmates, with final selection made by the Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Congratulations to this year’s award recipients!

Jim Gelbmann, M.D. ’68 Jim Gelbmann, M.D. ’68 is cited for his contributions to the Brainerd Lakes Area’s development into a regional hub. In 1975 Gelbmann was in the group of doctors who founded Brainerd Medical Center, Brainerd’s first multi-specialty clinic, which merged with the Essentia Healthcare system in 2007. For 38 years he served as a physician and eventually chief of staff at St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center. He also worked with Mike Musty, M.D. ’68 to establish medical ethics policies.

Gelbmann impacted other areas of the community as well, helping start the Brainerd Area Arts Alliance, serving on Crow Wing County’s Child Protection Board and contributing his expertise to the Brainerd school district’s sex education curriculum.

He retired in 2014 and lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Cheryl.

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James Mohs, M.D. ’68 James A. Mohs, M.D. ’68 has contributed to the Melrose community’s health in the literal sense and beyond.

He practiced in Melrose for nearly 40 years and was named the Minnesota Family Physician of the Year in 1997. He was instrumental in helping establish a clinic and practice that now includes 10 primary care physicians and became CentraCare Health’s first regional center. Mohs was equally invested in education, serving as the Melrose school district’s chairman of the board and helping expand school facilities and curriculum, which have a lasting impact on students’ education.

He also volunteered on Melrose’s Chamber of Commerce, Community Improvement Association and Lake Improvement Association, Saint John’s Alumni Association board and continues to be involved with the Church of St. Mary in Melrose.

Steve Armstrong ’73 His financial acumen earned him Minneapolis/ St. Paul Business Journal’s CFO of the Year status in 2015, and his generosity has won Steve Armstrong ’73 the respect of the Saint John’s community – particularly his classmates. Under Armstrong’s leadership as executive vice president and chief financial officer, St. Paulbased Patterson Companies, Inc., grew into a world leader in dentistry and animal health technology and equipment. He also served three terms on the Saint John’s Board of

Trustees, from 2006 to 2015, chaired its finance committee for five years and contributed to the new Dietrich Reinhart Learning Commons.

Armstrong took the lead when the Class of ’73 established a scholarship in honor of late classmate Rodney C. Anderson and has helped maintain an annual gathering of ’73 graduates.

Joe Gilles ’78 Joseph A. Gilles ’78 retired as a top executive at Liberty Mutual Insurance, where he was president of affiliate Wausau Insurance Companies before becoming Liberty Mutual’s executive vice president. His Saint John’s floor mates could have predicted his professional success. Gilles was so even-keeled and adept at his math major that he’s remembered for calmly making popcorn for finals study sessions instead of stressing out.

That steady hand, coupled with his business acuity, helped propel him to an impressive career, but he also has earned respect for his dedication to education, his industry and his community, with service ranging from insurance continuing education and professional accreditation organization The Institutes to his work with Wisconsin’s Workforce Development Council and the North Central Technical College Foundation board, among many other past and present roles.

Brig. Gen. Joe Kelly ’83 Brig. Gen. Joe Kelly ’83 has dedicated his professional life to serving the state and nation.

He began his military career in 1980 by enlisting in the Minnesota Army National Guard and then joining the Saint John’s ROTC. He rose through ranks, commanding troops at the company, battalion and brigade levels. Over 31 years of service, he held several senior staff positions, including chief of staff and assistant adjutant general. Kelly performed a tour of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was promoted to brigadier general in 2007.

Upon retiring from the Army in 2011, he continued his service by going to work at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Kelly was appointed as the state’s director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in 2015.

Jerry Morris ’83 Jerry Morris’s leadership skills are in high demand at work and at home, internationally and locally. As General Mills vice president and chief tax officer, Morris ’83 oversees global tax matters in the 150 countries where General Mills operates and is recognized as a strategic tax-management leader. He is equally respected in his Twin Cities community, where he has volunteered his expertise and leadership to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Minnesota 21st Century Revenue Tax Reform Commission, Prepare + Prosper board

of directors, and a variety of school-, sports- and church-related programs.

Above all, he has served as an example to the five children he raised with his wife, Karen Torborg Morris (CSB ’83).

Rick Wojciechowski ’88 Parkway Construction president and chief executive officer Rick Wojciechowski ’88 has led the Dallasbased company to unprecedented revenue growth that placed it in the nation’s top 300 contractors since he took the helm in January 2014.

Wojciechowski joined Parkway in 1996 as its director of construction, became a partner in 2004 and served as chief operating officer from 2008-2013, spurring its success as he managed the company’s daily operations. Wojciechowski is noted for remaining humble and grounded in his family with his wife Erin (Brown) Wojciechowski (CSB ’88) while being highly successful in his profession.

He contributes to his community by introducing and developing young people who enjoy the outdoors. He also makes valuable contributions to the Saint John’s community, helping Johnnies stay connected as president of the Dallas alumni chapter.

Joe Blee ’93 Joe Blee ’93 is recognized for his contributions to his company and community.

Blee, senior vice president at Eden Prairie-based Christensen Group Insurance, played an integral role in making it an employee-owned company and inspired teamwork

by initiating an annual project for employees to buy and wrap Christmas gifts for single mothers impacted by abuse and violence. Outside of work, he chairs the board for Midwest Challenge in Minneapolis, which provides housing and care solutions for men released from prisons, treatment centers or who are homeless. He also is a 15-year member of Lakeville Rotary, served 11 years on the Lakeville City Planning Commission, and was a board member and coach for the Minnesota Sled Hockey Association, a program for players with disabilities.

Nathaniel Nelson ’98 Nathaniel Nelson ’98 is an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Professional Psychology. He also practices as a clinical neuropsychologist in the Twin Cities area and enjoys clinical, teaching and research collaborations with others in the field.

He is recognized for his research on various topics, including outcomes of blast-related concussion and trauma exposure among combat veterans.

Nelson teaches several courses at UST and has also supervised graduate students in clinical neuropsychological evaluations through the UST Interprofessional Center. He is an editorial board member for Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, the continuing education coordinator for The Clinical Neuropsychologist and president-elect of the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology. Nelson and his wife Rebecca (CSB ’02) enjoy spending free time chasing after their three young and rambunctious children.

SJUALUM.COM/CLASSNOTES

41

CLASS NOTES

Milestones … in the spotlight 1969 Fr. Robert Flannery, SOT ’72 will receive the Alumni Merit Award from Saint Louis University in September. The award recognizes distinguished graduates for outstanding achievement, dedication to a chosen profession and commitment to the mission of the university. Fr. Flannery is pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church, Carbondale, Ill., and is a member of Saint John’s School of Theology Board of Regents.

1975 Dave Hartmann has earned induction into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony will be held Sept. 15 at River’s Edge Convention Center, St. Cloud, home of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame Museum.

Hartmann, a former player and manager on the Arlington A’s baseball team, retired as Alexandria Area High School activities director in 2015. He spent 40-plus years playing baseball and also served on the Minnesota Baseball Association Board of Directors.

Aaron Burtzel ’11, Sam Dittberner ’13, Patrick Butcher ’14, Aaron Barmore ’12 and Kevin McKenzie ’14, all former Saint John’s basketball student-athletes, were members of the team from the Allianz location in Minnesota that won the gold medal in July at the Allianz Games at Munich Olympic Park in Munich, Germany. Allianz holds Olympic-style games every four years for employees at its world-wide company locations. Former Johnnie Matt Ohme ’07 coached the team, and Andy Burns ’12 also made the trip to Germany with his father, Allianz chief distribution officer Tom Burns. Allianz of Minnesota beat teams from France, Germany, Croatia and the United Kingdom to take the gold medal.

1987 Jeffrey Donius has been 1997 Jeffrey Sieben is a 2018 appointed by Michigan Gov. Minnesota Top 100 Super Rick Snyder to the state’s Lawyers® honoree. Sieben has Residential Builders’ and been recognized by Super Maintenance and Alteration Lawyers since 2006. An attorney Contractors’ Board. The and partner at SiebenCarey, he nine-member board assists practices in all areas of personal the Michigan Department of injury law and is licensed to Licensing and Regulatory Affairs practice in Minnesota Federal with licensing and regulating District Court, the Eighth the construction, alteration Circuit Court of Appeals and or improvement of residential the state of Wisconsin. He is structures. Donius is president certified as a Civil Trial Law and owner of Premier Veneers, Specialist by the Minnesota a decorative concrete flooring State Bar Association, and Board company.

Certified Civil Trial Advocate

42 SUMMER/FALL 2018

by the American Board of Trial Advocates. Sieben sits on the Board of Governors for the Minnesota Association of Justice and also is a member of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Community Advisory Board.

2009 Chase Kroll, managing director of strategic communication at Hogan Lovells, was recognized in April by his national professional organization, American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC).

Kroll received AAPC’s 40 Under 40 recognition. A Eugene J. McCarthy Center mentor and supporter, he was recognized for his years of diversified experience in major political campaigns, legislative operations and advocacy efforts. Kroll holds a master’s degree in global security studies from Johns Hopkins

University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Saint John’s.

… on the move

board of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.

1989 Lawrence “Larry” Fraher, SOT ’08 completed a Ph.D. in art and religion at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., in December 2017. His dissertation, The Incarnational Imagination, is on the role of the imagination in faith formation and education.

and women’s soccer coach at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

A three-year starter for Johnnie soccer and MIAC AllConference and Academic All-Conference in 2005, Flintham – who received a master’s degree in sports management at St. Cloud State University in 2013 – previously served as associate head soccer coach at Saint John’s University and the College of Saint Benedict.

1984 Two Johnnies have been appointed Minnesota judges by Gov. Mark Dayton. Douglas B. Clark was appointed as a district court judge in Minnesota’s Seventh Judicial District. Clark is chambered at Wadena in Wadena County.

Clark, who received his J.D. from Arizona State University, … on the bookshelf previously served as an attorney at Mid-Minnesota Legal 1973 Mark Reps has published the eighth novel in the Zeb Hanks: Assistance. He is a frequent Small Town Sheriff Big Time lecturer at the University of Minnesota and University of Trouble series, Native Destiny.

Featured in Class Notes in St. Thomas schools of law.

Brian Lenzmeier was recently 1992 Christopher A. Neisen was August 2017 for his seventh named provost and vice president novel, Reps’ main character, appointed as a district court for academic affairs at Buena judge in Minnesota’s Third Zeb Hanks, was inspired by a Vista University in Storm Lake, Judicial District. Neisen chance meeting with an old-time Iowa.

Lenzmeier joined BVU in colorful sheriff in Arizona. All previously served as a managing 2003 as a professor of biology. In partner with Wornson, Goggins, books in the series are available addition to this role, Lenzmeier on Amazon.com.

Neisen, Morris & Brever, has held several leadership roles P.C., where he was a general 1976 Tom Palmer has published at BVU including interim vicepractitioner.

Fly in Formation: One president of academic affairs and Professional Athlete’s Journey, dean of the faculty. He earned Dreams & Bipolar Battle. his Ph.D. in biochemistry from The book chronicles Palmer’s Colorado State University and a personal, athletic and spiritual bachelor of arts in biology from development, his career as a Saint John’s. professional water skier and the challenges he faced in overcoming 1988 Kevin Cummings has mental been named president of illness.

Lockton Companies’ Phoenix Also a operations, a part of Lockton professional Companies Mountain West musician, operations. Cummings will be Palmer lives responsible for office strategy in Three 2006 Tudor Flintham returns to and growth. Lockton is a global Lakes, Wis. He will attend the Minnesota Intercollegiate professional services firm and a book signing at the Saint Athletic Conference to serve the world’s largest privately held John’s Bookstore before SJU’s as the head men’s soccer coach independent insurance broker.

Homecoming game against at Gustavus Adolphus College Cummings also serves on the Carleton on Sept. 22. after serving as head men’s SJUALUM.COM/CLASSNOTES

43

CLASS NOTES

1993 Paul J. (Thoemke) Green, SOT duplication machine, has been startup at the College of Saint named one of the America’s ’05 has published his first book, Benedict and Saint John’s fastest growing companies The End of Divine Truthiness: University in spring 2015. four times running. With Love, Power, and God (WIPF and … serving the Church 3,500 locations, the company Stock Publishers and available on anticipates 5,500 locations in the Amazon.com). Green earned his next year.

Ph.D. in systematic theology in 2014 from Luther Seminary in St. Paul and serves as an assistant … doing cool stuff professor of 2001 Jordan Foley, producer and theology. founder of Mill House Motion In his Pictures, produced the film All book, and Square, a story about a down-onsupported his-luck bookie who befriends by three an ex-girlfriend’s son and begins 1984 Rev. William Lies was elected world taking bets on his Little League provincial superior of the religions – games, creating chaos in the Congregation of Holy Cross, Buddhism, community. The movie, which United States Province. As Christianity is being screened and favorably provincial superior, Fr. Lies will and Taoism – he discovers a reviewed at film festivals, will be oversee the work and welfare of remarkably harmonious and released fall 2018. more than 500 priests, brothers revolutionary divine power that and seminarians in the U.S. is fully aligned with divine love. province. A Little Falls, Minn., native, Fr. Lies earned his ... in the news bachelor’s degree in English with 1963 Dennis Showalter was featured minors in French and philosophy in the Star Tribune for winning at Saint John’s. He has been this year’s Pritzker Military vice-president for Mission Museum & Library Literature Engagement and Church Affairs Award for Lifetime Achievement at the University of Notre Dame in Military Writing. The award since 2012, and previously includes $100,000. Showalter served as Notre Dame’s executive is professor emeritus of history director of the Center for Social at Colorado College, where he Concerns from 2002-12. started teaching in 1969. He has 2001 Rev. Shaun Crumb, M.M. ’01, 2017 Ian Fritz, Conor Murphy and written or edited more than SOT ’07, who was ordained Patrick Reagan of SSQTCH two dozen books and 150 a Maryknoll priest in 2015, is Creative received an Upper articles. His specialty is German currently living in Shenyang, Midwest Emmy® Chapter/ military history. A native of China, and works as an English Foundation Student Crystal Delano, Minn., Showalter’s first professor at the Sun Wah Pillar Award at the 2018 award came at age 12 when International Business School, NATAS-Upper Midwest Student he won the Minnesota State Liaoning University. While at Production Awards.

SSQTCH Spelling Bee. the School of Theology, where received the award in the 1988 Chris Lohmann was featured in he received a master’s degree in College: Non-Fiction category an article in the Boulder, Colo., pastoral ministry, Fr. Crumb for its video on the Saint John’s newspaper Daily Camera for served as the SJU Campus Maple Syrup Festival. The video his role as senior vice- president Ministry social justice and was posted May 5, 2017 (the of sales and marketing for service coordinator. awards are for calendar year minuteKEY, the maker of key2017). The group, whose name making kiosks. minuteKEY, is pronounced “sasquatch,” the world’s first self-service key began as an independent student

44 SUMMER/FALL 2018

Marriages 2002 2008 2010 2011

Keisha to Denard Cleare, June ’14 Amy Pierce to Steven Babcock, Oct. ’17 Emily Norton to Drew Waldbillig, June ’18 Hannah (Balder ’11) to Ben Bauer,

Sept. ’17 2012 Annie (Rogosheske ’13) to Hans Gunness,

Feb. ’17

Krisite (Mueller ’13) to Stephen Johnson,

Sept. ’17

Caroline (Haik ’12) to Ben Rossow,

Sept. ’17

Kristin (Donner ’12) to Adam Weber,

Aug. ’17 2013 Julie (Knutson ’13) to Ryan Spengler,

May ’18 2014 Ali (Mick ’15) to Charles Heitner,

Nov. ’17 2014 Emily to Dan Larson, Dec. ’17

Kaileigh (Nicklas ’15) to Alexander Robbins, Oct. ’17

Erin (Wissler ’14) to Harrison Wissler

Gerdes, Nov. ’17 2015 Stephanie (Loecken ’14) to Erik Larson,

May ’17

Laura (Posthumus ’15) to Paul Lundberg,

July ’18

Annie (Gorman ’15) to Alex Toninato,

Jan. ’18

Births

1988 Philip Cronce, boy, Alessandro, June ’17 1999 Elizabeth & James de Leon, boy,

Raymond, April ’18

2001 Larissa (Omann ’01) & Kyle Mrozek, girl,

Scarlett, April ’18 Melissa & Tory Oelfke, girl, Haley, April ’18 Teresa (Kerres ’00) & Nick Schicker, boy, Isaac, Feb. ’18 2002 Keisha & Denard Cleare, boy, Kristian,

Dec. ’15

Jessica & Luke Meyer, boy, Remy,

June ’18

Katie & Nick Rendahl, boy, Luke, Feb. ’18

Stacy & Ryan Tamm, boy, Brady,

March ’18 2003 Mary & Peter Ehresmann, girl, Clara,

Feb. ’18

Melissa & Mike Fandrich, boy, Will,

Feb. ’18

Amy & Joshua Weiss, twin girl/boy,

Gwenna and Rhett, Sept. ’17 2005 Erin & Nichols Gee, boy, Harrison,

Jan. ’18

2005 Annette & Adam Holmgren, boy,

2010 Joy (Pohland ’10) & Tim Janssen, boy,

Aiden, Aug. ’17 Patricia (Nolan ’06) & Shaun Meling, boy, Asher, April ’18 2006 Megan (Haines ’06) & Tony Berendes,

girl, Madison, Jan. ’18

Jodi (Johnson ’05) & Ryan Carreon, boy,

Grant, Jan. ’18

Brianne & Jon Casper, girl, Kathryn,

Feb. ’18

Sarah (Spaanem ’06) & Matt Foehrenbacher, boy, Maxwell, March ’18

Kathryn (Young ’08) & Brian Gasser, boy,

Brekken, March ’18 2007 Alison & Scott Andreasen, boy, Jack,

March ’18

Elizabeth (Sauer ’07) & Bryan Bauck, girl,

Sophie, June ’18

Samantha & Adam Frie, boy, Maxwell,

March ’18

Megan & Adam Gosiak, boy, David,

April ’18

Emily & Joe Kocik, girl, Nora, April ’18

Marguerite & Samuel Koelbl, boy, Wilson,

Jan. ’18

Katie & Sam Krystosek, girl, Abigail,

Dec. ’17

Kyrsten & Justin Theodotou, boy, John,

Feb. ’18

Lindsay & Tom Wentzell, girl, Annie,

Feb. ’18 2008 Hannah & Trevor Chambers, boy, Carson,

Feb. ’18

Holly & Lincoln Haugen, boy, Everett,

April ’18

Michelle (Peltz ’12) & Jason Hoffmann,

boy, John, March ’18

Carlene & Zach Samuelson, girl, Sienna,

March ’18 2009 Danielle (Rothfork ’09) & Brian Baker,

boy, Jensen, May ’18

Stephanie (Hall ’09) & Andrew Braith,

girl, Eleanor, Dec. ’17

Kara (Solberg ’10) & Boe Brink, boy, Elliot,

Feb. ’18

Jennifer & Brian Cooper, girl, Zoe,

Nov. ’17

Ashley Kibutha (Studniski ’11) & James Kimeu, boy, Bakari, March ’18

Hannah & Peter Stommes, boy, Forrest,

Feb. ’18

Cassy & Chad Vos, boy, Lewis, March ’18

Dana (Scheppmann ’09) & Alex Wieme,

girl, Natalie, March ’18 2010 Katie (Kalkman ’06) & Gabriel Harren,

boy, Edison, March ’18

2011

2012

2013

2014

Louis, March ’18 Erin (Herberg ’10) & Pat Sinner, boy, Thaddeus “Thad,” Feb. ’18 Kaila (Eberhardt ’11) & Brett Kramer, girl, Aubrey, June ’18 Kayla & Benjamin Minke, boy, Alex, June ’18 Cassondra & Kevin Opatz, girl, Emmie, March ’18 Clare (Murn ’13) & Trent Johnson, twin girls, Joie and Lennon, May ’18

Deaths

1941 Rev. Pius Mardian, March ’18

Patricia Coyne O’Dougherty, spouse of deceased James Aquinas, mother of

Patrick ’68, March ’18 1942 John “Jack” O’Connell, father of

John ’67 and Tom ’69, March ’18 1944 Bernice Weber, spouse of deceased

Francis ’44, Feb. ’18 1946 Gene Katzmarek, father of David ’82,

March ’18 1947 Marion Fandel, spouse of deceased

John, May ’18 1948 Rev. Msgr. Joseph Huebsch, March ’17

Dr. Robert Sauter, May ’18 1949 Kenneth Schlichting, May ’17

John “Jack” Cassidy, Feb. ’18

John Corrigan, April ’18 Mary Loeffler, spouse of Paul ’49,

March ’18 Esther Hessburg, spouse of Art,

Sept. ’17 Jeanine Hawkins, spouse of George,

mother of Mark ’86, May ’18

John Buettner, June ’18 Mary Weis, spouse of deceased Rainer,

July ’18 1950 Dorothy Matakis, spouse of deceased

Donald ’50, Feb. ’18

Gilman Miller, Feb. ’18

Paul Garvin, Jr., June ’12

George Sinner, father of George ’75,

brother of deceased William ’44 and Rev. Richard ’46, March ’18 Joan Fischer, spouse of deceased

Donald, mother of Robert ’78,

May ’18

Joseph Pawlowski, May ’18

Ralph Vos, brother of deceased

Norbert ’41, May ’18

Edward Bitzan, April ’18

Joseph Zylla, brother of Jim ’51, May ’18 1951 Margaret Nelson, spouse of deceased

George, March ’18

SJUALUM.COM/CLASSNOTES

45

CLASS NOTES

John Delebo, father of John ’81, March ’18 Arthur Arnold, April ’18 Michael Hundemer, Dec. ’17 Shirley Ann Mund, spouse of deceased Mark, June ’18 1952 Ray Keating, Feb. ’18

Gerald Huch, April ’18 1953 Thelma Kuyink, spouse of Roger,

mother of Charles ’75, March ’18

Robert LaLonde, March ’18

Dale Lungwitz, brother of Jim ’59,

May ’18

George Moudry, brother of deceased

Rev. Richard ’80, June ’18 1954 Donald Wernimont, March ’18

Louis Filiatrault, MD, father of John ’79,

April ’18

Rev. Al Ludwig, April ’18

James Tarnowski, DDS, May ’18

Ken Rothstein, father of Pat ’98 and

Kurt ’99, May ’18

Mary Jane Brix, spouse of deceased

John, June ’18

Rev. Julian Schmiesing, OSB, July ’18 1955 Paul Nicklaus, brother of deceased

Robert ’50, March ’18

Alvin Meyer, brother of Harvey ’56,

Jan. ’18

John Urbanski, May ’18

Paul Schaepi, May ’18 Marilyn Berg, spouse of Norb, mother of Mitchell ’81, June ’18 1956 Rev. Philip Krogman, March ’18 Helen Verkuilen, spouse of Bob, sister

of deceased Robert Hasling ’51,

March ’18

Patrick McInnis, May ’18

Gene Heltemes, brother of Don ’58

and deceased Rev. Alfred ’50, May ’18 Shirley Hermsen, spouse of Jude ’56,

Jan. ’17 1957 Jo White, spouse of Bob, Feb. ’18

Theodora Fujan, spouse of deceased

Eugene ’57, mother of Bruce ’85,

March ’18 1958 Bill Widman, Feb. ’18

Donald Reisford, brother of Richard ’59

and deceased brother George ’49,

April ’18

Richard Knar, Sr., July ’17

Fred Commers, brother of Clem ’57,

Joe ’66 and deceased brother

Danny ’63, May ’18

Herbert Kenworthy, Jr., June ’18

Bob Flynn, father of Jim ’85, June ’18

46 SUMMER/FALL 2018

1959 Joanne Lischke, spouse of John,

1974 Florence Chavez, mother of Steve,

Feb. ’18

Howard Rassier, April ’18 Joan Kowalkowski, spouse of deceased

Norbert, mother of Thomas, MD ’89,

June ’18 Sharon Jasper, spouse of David, sister of James Packard ’58, June ’18

John Nordlum, Jan. ’18 1962 Rev. Dennis Ryan, brother of Br. Kelly

Ryan, OSB ’65, March ’18

Robert Mariana, March ’18 Audrey Ricci, spouse of Mike, Sr.,

mother of Mike Jr. ’85 and Jon ’90,

March ’18

Clara Ann Stolz, spouse of deceased

Robert, Jr. ’62 mother of Robert ’92 and

Peter ’94, May ’18 1963 Crystal Ebnet, spouse of Ron, Feb. ’18 Kathleen Sauer, spouse of Ervin,

April ’18

Rev. Lawrence Heitke, brother of

Lester ’71, Feb. ’18

Harold Froehle, brother of Peter ’59 and

Tom ’85, March ’18

Bob Krause, July ’17

John Tschida, father of Dan ’87, April ’18 1964 Judi Kearney, spouse of Jim, Feb. ’18

Tim Leahy, father of Dan ’96, brother of deceased James ’61, April ’18

Jim Marrin, father of Gavin ’05, brother of Bill ’65, Dan ’69 and KC ’71, son of deceased Francis ’26, June ’18 1965 Francis Demello, Feb. ’18 Oliver Schumacher, father of Don,

Ken ’66, Jerry ’68, Roy ’76 and Phil ’79,

April ’18

Paul Luedtke, Sept. ’16 1966 William Cermak, Jr., brother of

Peter ’67, April ’18 1967 Raymond Cunningham, brother of

John ’63 and deceased Jim ’60, April ’18

Rev. Kenneth Irrang, May ’18 1968 Tom Stadther, June ’18 1969 Gladys Tripp, spouse of David, Feb. ’18

Deacon Gregory Beckel, June ’18 1970 John Becker, Nov. ’17 1972 Carmen Peterson, Sept. ’17 Siri Gadbois, spouse of Mark, April ’18 1973 Florence Smid, mother of Dennis,

April ’18 Pam Hoffmann, spouse of Tim,

Dec. ’17 Rosemary Lovett, mother of Rick ’73,

May ’18

John Connolly, brother of Br. Isaac

Connolly, OSB ’73, May ’18

March ’18 Rev. James Moore, May ’18 Mary Jane Platten, mother of Jim and Jeff ’76, April ’18 Leonard Johnson, brother of Samuel ’66, June ’16 1975 Bill Krueger, April ’18

Tim Fruin, father of Cody ’09, April ’18

Hon. Jack Weyrens, May ’18 Donald Kuhn, father of Jeff and

Tom ’82 May ’18 1976 Peggy Schley, spouse of Michael ’76,

sister of John O’Brien ’88, Feb. ’18 1978 Vicki Bailey, spouse of Lou Speltz ’78,

Feb. ’18 Clark VanHooser, Jr., father of Steven and Kevin ’80, April ’18 1980 Kevin Kiffmeyer, April ’18

Rev. Richard Mudry, brother of deceased George ’53, June ’18 Marjorie Long, mother of Bernie,

Marty ’83 and Pete ’85, June ’18 Louis Polack, Jr., father of Jeff ’80,

July ’18 1981 Mary Balder, spouse of Tim and

mother of Joe ’14, Feb. ’18

Scott Nelson, March ’18

Sister Kathleen Green, RSM, Aug. ’17 Eileen Crevoiserat, mother of Brian,

May ’18

Anne Krmpotich, spouse of Bob

Marolt MD, June ’18 1984 Greg Lawler, July ’18

John Bresnahan, brother of

Brennan ’86, July ’18 1985 Dave Pietruszewski, father of Jack ’17,

Dan ’21, brother of John ’85, Nov. ’17 1986 Martha Atkins-Sakry, spouse of Joe,

May ’18

Steve Kane, June ’18 1987 Thomas Gallagher, father of Tim,

July ’18 1989 Charles Hooley, Sr., father of Mark,

June ’18 1991 Patrick Sowada, July ’18

Brent Weber, brother of Brian ’96,

July ’18 1993 Shannon Bogan, sister of George,

June ’18 1996 Mason Sorenson, May ’18 1997 Jeff Ayer, Feb. ’18 1998 Michael Kelly, father of Scott, Dec. ’17 2008 Mary Kelly, mother of Larry Fraher,

Feb. ’18

Deacon Walter Sweeney, Aug. ’17 2012 Danny Patterson, April ’18

Networking options for CSB/SJU alums

By Scott Hennis ’02 The Saint John’s Alumni Association Board of Directors and the Student Prep Committee have done a lot of exciting work during the past year helping current students prepare for life after college.

The Student Prep Committee’s purpose is to foster mentoring relationships and experiences to help Johnnies realize and achieve their professional goals and prepare for life after college. This is done through several programs and events during the year in conjunction with the Experience and Professional Development (XPD) office and the Saint Benedict Alumnae Board.

As alumni, many of us have experienced the power of the Johnnie and Bennie network firsthand and are looking for ways to give back.

INTERACTION Grab coffee or lunch with a current CSB/SJU student to have casual networking conversations and share career advice.

SEAM The Student Exploration through Alum Mentorship program provides Bennie and Johnnie sophomores with an inside look at the working world. This annual program takes place over CSB/ SJU’s spring break and is built around a three-day job shadow experience with an optional homestay component.

CAREER RELATED ACTIVITIES Volunteer your time to interact with students at various career-related events throughout the year such as Connections XPO on campus (early November) or the Job and Internship Fair Network Reception in the Twin Cities (midFebruary).

CAREER CLOSET Donate to a needs-based, on-campus closet that provides students with professional business attire at no cost.

You can learn more about programs and events for alums and students to connect by visiting csbsju.edu/ sjualum/volunteer/student-career-preparation Scott Hennis ’02 is vice president of the Student Prep Committee.

He is married to Theresa (Brine) Hennis ’02. He owns and runs Curt’s Special Recipe, a specialty sauce company in Stillwater, Minn. Contact him at scott@curtssalsa.com

THE PASSING ZONE Saturday, Sept. 8 @ 7:30 p.m.

Escher Auditorium, CSB

AMAHL & THE NIGHT VISITORS Nov. 16-18 @ 7:30 p.m.

Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU

THE WAILIN’ JENNYS Saturday, Sept. 15 @ 7:30 p.m.

Escher Auditorium, CSB

MIDTOWN MEN HOLIDAY HITS Thursday, Dec. 6 @ 7:30 p.m.

Escher Auditorium, CSB

TAIKOPROJECT Saturday, Sept. 22 @ 7:30 p.m.

Escher Auditorium, CSB

SONS OF SERENDIP CHRISTMAS Friday, Dec. 7 @ 7:30 p.m.

Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU

TRINITY IRISH DANCE COMPANY KAKI KING Saturday, Jan. 26 @ 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 28 @ 7:30 p.m.

Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU Escher Auditorium, CSB STORM LARGE Friday, Oct. 12 @ 7:30 p.m.

Gorecki Family Theater, CSB

PASTICHE Friday, Feb. 8 @ 7:30 p.m.

Escher Auditorium, CSB

CIRQUE MECHANICS NOBUNTU Saturday, Feb. 9 @ 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 19 @ 7:30 p.m.

Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU Escher Auditorium, CSB WE SHALL OVERCOME: A PASTICHE CELEBRATION OF DR. MARTIN Saturday, Oct. 20 @ 8 p.m.

Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU LUTHER KING JR. RON K. BROWN AND EVIDENCE, Friday, Feb. 15 @ 7:30 p.m.

Escher Auditorium, CSB A DANCE COMPANY A Dance Company Saturday, Oct. 27 @ 7:30 p.m.

Escher Auditorium, CSB AQUILA THEATER IN MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN Thursday, Nov. 1 @ 7:30 p.m.

Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU

THE WESTERLIES Saturday, Feb. 23 @ 7:30 p.m.

Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU

Fine Arts Series

College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University

To order call 320-363-5777 or visit csbsju.edu/wow

47

INSPIRING LIVES

A quest for justice found a home at Saint John’s

By Jeanne Cofell

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” – Frederick Buechner Perhaps William Cofell ’49 was called to Saint John’s University.

As a student at Saint John’s, Cofell found his vocation for teaching and a philosophical home in the Benedictine values of community and human dignity.

Cofell experienced a deep gladness in his 33 years of teaching SJU undergraduates. The core of his educational outlook, as for all of his life, began with the “philosophical premise of the goodness of people, especially children and youth ...”

He believed “the joy of teaching relies on the student who constantly teaches as well as rejuvenates the teacher. It is part of a shared learning process that proceeds both ways.” Every year he would remark to his wife, Lorraine (Westrup CSB ’49), “This is the best class I’ve ever had!”

Once, when he heard some teachers complaining that kids these days don’t know how to write, Cofell quietly responded, "Those were always my favorite students, because with them I knew I really got to be a teacher.”

His educational outlook also required that he confront problems in education, particularly addressing racism in schools. The Benedictine value of human dignity was the core of Cofell’s anti-racism and anti-oppression work.

In his formative teen years in North Dakota during the Great Depression, Cofell was profoundly influenced by his farm family’s struggle to survive. He grew an understanding and compassion for people who experienced difficulty and pain.

Cofell’s compassion expanded when he was stationed in India during World War II. In a letter home, he reflected on the problems of oppression in both India and America. He felt a sense of responsibility. “It depends on us. We must remember that we have fought a war so that men might be free and that means the other fellow as well as ourselves. We can’t have freedom and still keep it from the other fellow.”

In 1970, CSB/SJU African-American students advocating for civil rights presented “A Proposition Concerning Black Survival” with demands to the administration. When their demands were not met, they occupied the Saint John’s president’s office and were subsequently arrested.

When the students asked Cofell to mediate and advise, he worked diligently to respond and vowed to “help make Saint John’s a place noted for its humane concerns and a place where human rights, human relations and human understanding flourish and develop.”

He spearheaded human relations training for faculty and administration, and brought in speakers and specialists with lived and studied expertise on racism.

He wrote a paper, Racism: A Challenge to the Colleges. It was distributed to almost every college in the state.

He also lobbied hard for mandated human relations training for all K-12 educators, which was implemented in Minnesota in the early 1970s. He facilitated human relations workshops for K-12 educators and conducted workshops to train leaders to run anti-racism/oppression workshops.

Cofell died in 2017, nine days before his 98th birthday.

Thoughtful and engaged until the end, his life had continued to be one of lifelong learning, studying, writing and being with Lorraine and the family he treasured.

Although his eyesight began to fail, his convictions did not diminish. Weeks before his death, he wrote letters of concern regarding climate change and the problem of guns.

In his last few days he kept up his practice of seeing goodness in everyone – the nurses, his wife, his family.

Among his last words to those surrounding him at his death: “Life is a gift. What a beautiful gift.”

Jeanne Cofell is the daughter of William Cofell.

Inspiring Lives is reserved for reflective pieces with a Benedictine theme. Please submit essays, poetry or other reflections for consideration to Dave DeLand at ddeland@csbsju.edu.

48 SUMMER/FALL 2018

A Gift

to honor his SJU roots A chemist with a liberal arts degree.

A baseball coach who doubles as international humanitarian.

Family man. Philanthropist.

Johnnie.

There’s an eclectic array of achievements on his resume, but Tom Mitchell ’57 never followed a conventional path after arriving at Saint John’s University.

You now can add “major donor” to that list for Tom, whose recent generous gift to SJU is the crowning moment of his decades of donation.

“I’ve contributed to Saint John’s for quite a few years,” said Tom, a Minnesota native who now lives in Maumee, Ohio. “I’m going to be 83 soon. I figured I’d better do some estate planning.”

All this comes from a man who spent just 1½ years at Saint John’s, but those three semesters provided a springboard for a rich life.

Tom arrived at Saint John’s in fall of 1953 – the same year as the Johnnies’ youthful new football coach, 26-year-old John Gagliardi.

“I’d go out and watch him, and I was just so impressed with the way he ran his practices,” Tom said. “It proved to be really good.”

Marriage and fatherhood altered his educational path.

“I went (to Saint John’s) a year and a half, and then I got married and started working,” Tom said. “From 1953 to 1961 I was going to college and raising kids and had a job.”

Tom graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1961, and moved to Ohio in 1967 to work as director of research and development for Spartan Chemical Co. He retired in 1997.

In retirement, he has donated his time as treasurer of the Universal Initiative Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting impoverished nations. Its current major project is building a sanctuary for albinos in Tanzania, which has one of the world’s largest albino populations.

Your Gift, Your Impact.

To learn more on making a bequest to Saint John’s, contact Jim Dwyer ’75, director of planned giving at 800-635-7303 or jdwyer@csbsju.edu

He’s also is still coaching American Legion baseball. “I’ve coached for over 50 years,” said Tom , who began by coaching his sons.

And 65 years after his arrival, he now has made his ultimate gift to his alma mater.

“Saint John’s has got an excellent reputation,” Tom said. “I just feel that’s a good place to put money.

“Fortunately, I’ve been able to do it.”

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID

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Saint John’s University

P.O. Box 7222 Collegeville, MN 56321

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ONE WEEKEND I TWO EVENTS

2018 SEPTEMBER 21 –23 This year everyone is coming back to campus to reconnect. Parents and families will visit their current Bennies and Johnnies. Alums of all ages will find good times and familiar faces.

Johnnies vs. Carleton, Saturday, Sept. 22 at 1 p.m.

To register for events, go to csbsjuhomecoming.com