Shalini Krishan ’03 currently works as a senior editor with Speaking position that allows me to work from home, coach my son’s basketball team, and have time for family and friends. This year, my husband and I will celebrate our 10-year anniversary. Pete’s a physical therapist who visited Knox as a prospective basketball player (when I was a junior—and no, I didn’t meet him on that visit!) but ended up at Marquette University. We live in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and have two kiddos (Wesley 7, Haylee 5) and two dogs. We love to spend time outdoors, travel, watch Marquette basketball, and just try to keep our busy life as simple and uncomplicated as possible. For the many teammates and friends who remember my parents… ‘Toni K and Super Dave’ are great! I treasure all the times since ’98 (though few and far between) that I’ve been able to spend with friends on the golf course, vacations, mud runs, and everything in between! Sarah Lewis Gish, April Owen-Faoro, Maddie Stapleton Fay, Wendy Salger Spizzirri ’99, Rhonda Moravek Meeker, Kris Nelson, and Ben Van Vlerah...I expect you to give your own updates in the next issue!” ❯ Kathryn Moakley says, “I moved to the Pacific Northwest after Knox and haven’t found a reason to leave. I did find time to go to law school, of all things, and then practiced law and ate really great food from carts in Portland. I now live in Eugene and work for the University of Oregon School of Law. My husband and I have two amazing sons, about whom I cannot say enough good things. I continue to eat great food.” ❯ Michael Vanlandingham sends these updates. “I currently live on Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma. Lake life is great. Mistie, my wife of 13 years, and I have three daughters, Brianna (14), Makenna (11), and Corinna (4). Like me, my daughters enjoy music and singing. I work for Oktaha Public Schools. I have had the distinct pleasure of having two works of poetry published in the last few years and am now writing my first full-length play. I still own the family farm in Arkansas and plan to retire there. I am an avid reader and am often told that I need to do something with my books, as I keep filling up every available space in our home. Mistie is disabled and can no longer work, so she spends her days quilting and researching genealogy.” Class Correspondent: Kip Conwell kipconwell@gmail.com
1999 Thank you to all who sent updates to share. I wish it was all joyous, but I have received some truly sad news. ❯ Dipa Sarkar reports, “With great sadness, I would like to inform the Knox community that, on November 8, 2015, we lost Desmond Fortes ’00. Desmond succumbed to a tragic accident at sea, while vacationing in Portugal. He was a real family man, a good friend, a thorough gentleman, a citizen of the world. A biology major at Knox, he went on to complete a master’s in urban and regional planning at University of Wisconsin–Madison. He
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later worked as an environmental and social officer at FMO, the Dutch development bank in the Netherlands, where he lived with wife Femke Brouwer, son Luca (2), and infant daughter Nina. Desmond loved nature, adventure, and, above all, was passionate about making the world a better place for the rest of us!” Thank you, Dipa, for sending this! Those of us who knew Desmond will miss him terribly! ❯ In other news: new baby arrivals. Lucas McIntosh reports that Andrew Wiemers recently had twin girls with wife Paola. Their names are Mia and Nina, born October 14, 2015. Allison Wenk Maki and husband John welcomed their second child, Ryan Christian, on November 15. He joins big brother Adam. Courtney Crandall and Bridget Gotz expect their first child, a boy, any day now! ❯ News from Mike Bailey: “I have taken a new position with the same company I have worked for the last 12 years, Schulman IRB, which allows me to work remotely from home. As a result, my family has been able to relocate to Central Illinois this year. We now reside and work out of the Peoria area, which allows us to be close to our family and friends in all parts of Illinois, and, of course, Knox!” ❯ Jason Kesselring has worked as a community pediatrician in an underserved population for the past 9 1/2 years. At different points during this time, he served as the chair of pediatrics for Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation and chair of pediatrics at Gateway Regional Medical Center. He continues teaching many healthcare professionals in his clinic, resuscitating babies at the hospital, and devoting his spare time to his family: wife Sonia Hibberd Kesselring ’00, Andrew (10), and Allison (7). ❯ Erin Severs shares: “It has been an exciting past couple years for husband Kenney and me. Just this past summer, we bought a 6.75kw solar panel system that is generating all our electricity—no more dirty energy or electric bills for us! We are still getting our little organic farm up and running and have all kinds of wonderful projects planned for what will be our 20 acres (we currently own 10 and closed on the other 10 in January). We also added two new family members, German Shepherd sisters Anika and Greta, who are our pride and joy! Professionally, I was promoted to assistant professor two years ago and was granted tenure last year. In addition, with a colleague, I just finished the final edits on a book chapter, “Empowering Faculty: A Shared Governance Model,” which will be part of a book SUNY Press will publish next fall. I also just found out that I have been awarded a teaching fellowship that will start next year. This three-year position is a great honor that will involve leading some of our internal professional development at the college and a course load reduction. Lastly, I have been working on numerous writing assignments (content and review) for McGraw-Hill and have enjoyed contributing to products used by students across the country. On a different note, I am working on designing and implementing a gender studies A.S. degree
program at the college—hopefully, I will have some exciting updates on that project here in the next few years!” ❯ Sharwari “Sherry” Badola shares that she gave birth to a baby girl, their second, on New Year’s Eve 2014. She lives with her family in Santa Clara, California and works as a UX designer. ❯ Jessica Jurgens Salsbury reports: “Donald and I will celebrate 15 years of marriage in January, and son Joshua turns eight in April. I am in my second year of creating plays for the 365 Women a Year: A Playwriting Project. I got to see Bree Elrod Novak ’00 at a playwriting event in Kansas City and wrote a small skit with her in it. That was a blast. My day job is recruiting interpreters for Propio Language Services in Overland Park, Kansas.” Class Correspondent: Valerie Saks Kihslinger S3042 W. Salem Ridge Rd., La Farge, WI 54639, 608-268-6903, vsaks@hotmail.com
2000 Class Correspondent: Kristie Wagher Scarffe, D.C. 6985 Merriman Road, Garden City, MI 48135, 734-402-2225, kgwscarffe@gmail.com
2001 Class Correspondent: Allison Honaker allisonhonaker@gmail.com
2002 Class Correspondent: Jennifer Wreyford 1850 Bassett Street, #626, Denver, CO 80202, 813-482-4112, jwreyford@gmail.com
2003 Katie Nelson Cation and husband Michael had a son, Graeme Archer, on May 26, 2015. She writes, “It was a big year for us! We relocated to Austin, Texas, from Gainesville, Florida, in May 2014. Michael works in marketing and communications for a healthcare company, and I still teach elementary art. I was named Teacher of the Year last year! We bought our first house in April and welcomed Graeme at the end of May.” ❯ Bruce Steinke writes, “After serving on the Cook County Sheriff’s Police for six years, and nine years total with the Sheriff’s Department, working as the Sheriff’s Police Training Academy’s report writing instructor, a DUI enforcement specialist, and gang crimes investigator, I am happy to announce that I was promoted to sergeant of police in September 2015. I am eager to begin the next phase in my service to the citizens of Cook County as a sergeant in the Markham district. Wife Sarah Van Niewaal Steinke ’04 has kept busy, splitting her time working as a high school chemistry teacher, D.A.R./C.A.R. member, and volunteering for Schools Count Corp. We can’t believe our daughter Mckenzie will start kindergarten in fall 2016!” ❯ Brynna