ALUMNI NEWS
ALUMNI NEWS
EAGLE THROUGH THE YEARS
FOR LIFE
Paul Twist ’51 retired from Lakes Community Church in Clitherall, MN, which he helped organize and pastored for 19 years. He pastored three other churches—65 years in all. Paul and his wife Patricia (Ciminski ’51) live in Henning, MN. (His first wife, Dolores, died 11 years ago. He and Patricia have been married two years.) One of his five children, Marilyn (Twist ’81) Johnson, graduated from UNW, as well as four of his grandchildren.
1964 Dick Schirmacher ’64 was awarded the Caregivers of Minnesota Volunteer of the Year Award. Now retired after 33 years as a music teacher at Carl Sandburg Junior High, he volunteers at Good Samaritan Society playing piano and interacting with residents and at the Bibles for Missions thrift store in Robbinsdale.
1977 Anthony G. Arends ’77 was ordained into ministry in 1978 and retired in 2012. He and Erma celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary in December and live in Trinity, FL. They have four children and four grandchildren. They often reminisce about the students they loved as dorm parents during their years at Northwestern. 24
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LELAND COLEMAN ’13
Major: Psychology Career: Police officer, City of Hopkins Hometown: Golden Valley, MN Current home: Shoreview, MN A desire to serve others Leland Coleman began his college career in kinesiology but changed his major to psychology because he wanted to help people. Eventually, with the guidance of Northwestern staff, he discovered the field of law enforcement. After graduation, Coleman served as a corrections officer with Ramsey County for two years and is now a police officer with the City of Hopkins. He spends most of his time in a squad car doing traffic enforcement and meeting with community groups or schools. He has received two Lifesaving Awards for intervening in life-threatening situations for two people while on duty. These incidents made a significant impact on Coleman and have served as reminders of why he went into law enforcement. Positive and helpful Coleman says the climate of law enforcement has been challenging with recent tensions, but he continues to focus on the positive moments. “The thing I most enjoy is being able to help people, whether I am helping to keep a community safe by catching a criminal or just talking to a kid who made a bad choice and trying to help them to see they have other options.” He considers each day an opportunity to show kindness and be the hands and feet of Christ to those he comes in contact with.
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Jeffrey Evensen ’81 and his wife Laura started the Elk River House of Prayer in 2005. They now spend many months each year in Ukraine and neighboring Slavic countries encouraging the Church to know Jesus in every way, inviting them to “pursue the genuine relationship for which they were born.”
Scott ’89 and Julie (Pettman ’89) Nelson celebrated the marriage of their son Joshua Nelson ’16 to Amy Nyquist ’15 in June. Many of the Nelsons and the Nyquists are alumni or current students at Northwestern. The groom’s uncle (Scott’s brother-in-law) is Mark Baden, former art professor and dean of faculty. Scott is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Two Harbors, MN.
James Komoszewski ’96 was named president and chief executive officer of Investment Centers of America, Inc.
Christopher Schaefer ’89 has been the pastor of American Reformed Church in Woodstock, MN for two years. Before that, he was a youth pastor for 27 years. He currently works as a substitute teacher in five different school districts and also leads Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) groups in four area high schools. His wife Cheryl works with him at the church. The Schaefers have four grandchildren. Cheryl and Christopher met at Northwestern during a dorm Bible study, were married by Dr. Harvey Martin in Nazareth Chapel in 1987 and have been happily married for 29 years.
Anne Michelle Bolsem ’97 earned her master’s degree (education in reading and literacy) from Walden University in 2003 and completed her doctorate of education in teacher leadership in 2013. She currently teaches kindergarten at Garlough Environmental Magnet School in West St. Paul, MN where she has worked since 1998. Anne currently serves as a site mentor for new teachers, a negotiator for the teachers’ union and a representative on the leadership team.
Shereen (Kramer ’00) Wolters taught high school math in the Anoka-Hennepin School District for five years until the birth of her first child. She and Lynn Wolters ’00 have seven daughters: Elliana Joy, Madeline Grace, Abigail Hope, Violet Mercy, Clara Peace, Mabel Faith and Hazel Charity. She wrote, “Our latest additions were our twins, born in August 2015. Now I teach my girls! Recently we moved to the countryside, south of the Twin Cities.” They enjoy the acreage and their animals.
1982 Gary ’82 and Ann (Simengaard ’82) Keeler are moving to downtown Minneapolis from their suburban home to be part of Harvest Bible Chapel, a church plant there.
1987 Stephen ’87 and Kristie (Friesen ’87) Lindskov welcomed Ruth Xinting, born on September 1, 2014, in China and adopted in March 2016. She joins big brothers Noah (17) and Isaac (14), and big sister Hadassah (4). Ruth Xinting Lindskov
1992 Juliette (Parker ’92) Reiland and her husband Paul have been called into stateside missions with Time to Revive/reviveMINNESOTA. They are in the support-raising process and eager to complete 22 years of real estate work and launch into revival full time.
Rachelle (Stanger ’96) Tesser relocated to Longview, TX where her husband Dave is an instructor in the aviation department at LeTourneau University.
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1999 Ryan Simat ’99 is the new general manager at Octane Fitness. He was previously the vice president of sales (since 2003).
William ’00 and Jenevieve (Aune ’00) Rannow welcomed Noah Charles on March 22, 2016.
The Wolters
2001 Nathan and Alison (Fontana ’01) Hakseth welcomed their third son, Jude Nathan, on April 15, 2016.
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