Ripon College R Connections Fall 2018

Connections A Ripon College Class Letter Publication Fall 2018

AL

UM

Loo k

NI

WE for im EK info porta EN rma nt c D tion lass r ins ide eunio n !

20

19

Fall 2018

1

CATALYST DAY WILL HIGHLIGHT RIPON’S INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO LIBERAL ARTS We all have experienced the transformative value of Ripon College’s liberal arts education — developing the ability to tackle any challenge and solve any problem. Our first Catalyst Day — April 24, 2019 — will spotlight our juniors as they demonstrate the truth of this claim. Throughout the day, small teams of students will present to the public their proposals to address some of the most challenging global, national and local issues. They will have worked together all semester to develop their proposals — applying their creativity and critical capacities to develop innovative solutions to vexing problems. Their audience will include business leaders, community members, faculty, staff, fellow students and returning alumni. Our students have been preparing for this day since the launch of the new Catalyst curriculum (ripon.edu/catalyst) in fall 2016. Catalyst uses the liberal

On Catalyst Day, our first class of students

arts to develop the skills that make Ripon College graduates stand out from their peers. Advocates are confident that the liberal arts produces students who can communicate clearly, work with data, analyze and integrate information, collaborate effectively, understand other cultures, and apply

to complete the new curriculum will demonstrate the power of the liberal arts by showing their mastery of these skills in high-stakes, public presentations.”

critical thinking to complex problems. Today’s employers say these also are the skills that they most value but that they don’t see in a majority of college graduates. Catalyst ensures that every Ripon student develops, practices and masters these essential skills, and that they learn how to apply them to solve real-world problems. On Catalyst Day, our first class of students to complete the new curriculum will demonstrate the power of the liberal arts by showing their mastery of these skills in highstakes, public presentations. Ripon College faculty designed the integrated set of five seminars to foster these skills while employing traditional liberal arts disciplines. The capstone

ED WINGENBACH

experience, Catalyst 300: Applied Innovation, validates every Ripon College

VICE PRESIDENT AND DEAN OF FACULTY

graduate’s capacity to address significant problems rigorously, creatively and

If you have photos for future editions, please send them to Yvonne Nicklaus, associate director of engagement and outreach, at nicklausy@ripon.edu or 920-748-8117. You also can contact Yvonne if you are interested in serving as a Class Agent. News to share can be sent to alumni@ripon.edu or your Class Agent, or can be submitted via the online form at ripon.edu/update-contact-info.

pragmatically. The rest of the country is taking notice of our cutting-edge efforts and recognizing Ripon College as a leader in American higher education. Colleges around the country have consulted our faculty, requested information, attended our presentations at national conferences, and asked for our help to pursue similar reforms. Prominent philanthropic organizations endorse the importance of our work, providing more than $1 million to support it, because they see in Ripon College a model for the future of the liberal arts. Most importantly, Catalyst helps prospective students and their parents appreciate the value of a Ripon education; since Catalyst was implemented, entering classes have grown at a pace well exceeding other colleges like us. Come see for yourself. I invite you to join us on Catalyst Day, April 24, 2019. Help us spread the word about our innovative approach to the liberal arts — which makes intentional the values and skills Ripon College has always exemplified.

Ed Wingenbach Vice President and Dean of Faculty

CONTENTS 2

Alumni Sightings

7

Class Letters

50

Staying Connected: William Ainslie ’79/P’11 Ariana Myers ’14 Brad Alberts ’92 Jenan Jamal Kharbush ’09

54

Campus Snapshots

58

In Memoriam

R Connections is published annually in the fall by Ripon College, 300 Seward St., Ripon, WI 54971. Postage paid at Ripon, Wisconsin. Copyright ©2018 Ripon College. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to R Connections, 300 Seward St., Ripon, WI 54971.

Connections Fall 2018 Volume 4 ON THE COVER: Rally the Red Hawk welcomes home

To submit a note for a future issue or to update contact information, contact Ripon College Office of Constituent Engagement, 300 Seward St., Ripon, WI 54971. Phone: 920-748-8126 Email: alumni@ripon.edu Web: www.ripon.edu/update-contact-info

Amanda Luttenberger Riesenberg ’03 during Alumni Weekend 2018.

ripon.edu Editorial Staff Yvonne Nicklaus Jaye Alderson Melissa K. Anderson ’02 Ric Damm Amy Gerretsen ’04 Kelly Nielsen

facebook.com/ripon.college instagram.com/riponcollege linkedin.com/company/ripon-college twitter.com/riponcollege

Haley Stowell ’20

Design

youtube.com/riponcollegevideo

Ali Klunick

Fall 2018

1

ALUMNI SIGHTINGS

Current students MICAELA RIVERA ’21, left, and MAGGIE OIMOEN ’19, right, met up with alumna LAUREN GUILLETTE ’02 while presenting their poster at the comparative cognition conference in Melbourne, Florida.

A group of Ripon alumni came together to help support the Monona, Wisconsin, library. Alumni in the front row are SHANE EBEL ’07, left; JONNY GAUSEWITZ ’06, third from left; and MICHELE BERGMAN ’06, fourth from left. In the back row are EMMY GIOVANNI ’06, ROSE MCNULTY EBEL ’06 and ANDREW KITSLAAR ’06, second, third and fourth from left.

Professor of Mathematics Emeritus Norm Loomer, left, chats with DR. PETER EMANUEL ’81 during Emanuel’s campus talk, “Dissecting Cancer on a Molecular Level” on April 19, 2018.

NED LUFRANO ’54, left, and his wife, Joan, enjoyed Derby Day at the Arlington Park Race Track with Lori Churchill and VERNE CHURCHILL ’54.

The Women’s Soccer Alumnae game was held on April 22. Those in attendance included: DANIELLE SENGER ’17, left, EMILY STANCZAK ’18, KAITY LUECK SAXON ’15, KAVANYA GRAY ’15, STEPHANIE NEUMANN ’18, HANNAH MAHR ’18, MORGAN SMITH ’18, MORGAN JOHNSON ’16, BRANDI PELTIER ’15, KYLA ROBERTS WERNER ’15, KAYLEE HARING ’17, PAIGE BIRSCHBACH ’17, JAMIE WEGNER BUSCH ’16 and DONNA LOHSE ’15.

ART SCARLETT ’69, DON PARK ’69 and SCOTT NYQUIST ’69 were in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in June 2018.

Friends and Alpha Chi Omega sorority sisters, HEATHER BRAUND KOTLESKI ’03, left, AMANDA LUTTENBERGER RIESENBERG ’03, ALISHA GARD ’06 and MANDI GAUSEWITZ ’03 met up on Cellcom Green Bay Marathon weekend to participate in the half-marathon events. Alisha, Rich Arriaga (Mandi’s husband) and SEAN RIESENBERG ’01 supported the runners and Alisha’s boyfriend, Peter, while Heather’s husband, Eric Kotleski, ran the full marathon.

2

R Connections

MICHELE BERGMAN ’06, center, of Madison, Wisconsin, married Max Lamberg in November. Wedding guests included, from left: KRISTINA BRAUND ATTWOOD ’02 and ANDREW ATTWOOD ’02, CRAIG SAUER ’05, PHIL BUTCHER ’04, SHANE EBEL ’07 and ROSE MCNULTY EBEL ’06 with daughter Lucette (Class of 2038, hopefully!), ANDREW KITSLAAR ’06, TOMISSA PORATH ’10, ALISHA GARD ’06, JONNY GAUSEWITZ ’06, ELIZABETH MILLER BENNETT ’06, MICHELLE CALDER REPPERT ’06, DAVE BADE ’03, HAYLEY DOYLE ’06, MATTHEW NICOLAI ’06, Beth Byrnes, TYLER BYRNES ’04 and EMMY GIOVANNI ’06. ALAN RATTRAY ’68 visits his old hall, Scott Hall.

ANNE SHILLINGLAW ’69, left, NANCY GONIA BAJOREK ’69 and TIM TRIER ’69 were in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the spring of 2018.

Alpha Delta Pi sorority sisters from 1974-78 hosted a reunion, hiking in the Rockies and touring the hotel that inspired “The Shining.” Here, they explore downtown Estes Park. Top row, left to right: LAURIE LANDIS WOLFORD ’75, CHRISTINE OVERLY WALLACE ’74, MARY JAMIESON SAMELSON ’76, NANCY GROOSE TERMAAT ’76, DEBRA STODDARD JESSOP ’77, KAREN KUCKHAHN KEHL ’75, SUSAN CHAPMAN CARLTON ’75 and MADGE BUSHNELL BRAUN ’77. Front row, left to right: SELMA BAYDOUN CEMAN ’74, JUDITH REISINGER DAVIS ’76 and JOANIE MUCCI ESPOSITO ’78.

BRUCE CLAUTER ’73, STEVE ILLICH ’73, JACK MEYER ’73, JOANN SELLECK ’73, JOHN FREDERICK ’73, JERRY TROCHINSKI ’73, JEAN KIRKPATRICK LEDERER ’73, PAT WILKE EPTING ’73, KATHY GRAUNKE ’73, and seated, JANE SCHORE ’73 and CINDY HAYES DIEMER ’73 at the 45th Reunion during Alumni Weekend 2018.

DAVE LEE ’69 and SUE STEGER LEE ’69, center, gathered with their family, including their children ERIK LEE ’92, KRISTIN LEE ’93 and SONJA LEE MEEHAN ’97, in September 2017 at the Fox Cities Marathon in Neenah-Menasha, Wisconsin.

CHRISTINE OVERLY WALLACE ’74, DEBRA STODDARD JESSOP ’77, SELMA BAYDOUN CEMAN ’74, KAREN KUCKHAHN KEHL ’75, MARY JAMIESON SAMELSON ’76, NANCY GROOSE TERMAAT ’76, LAURIE LANDIS WOLFORD ’75, SUSAN CHAPMAN CARLTON ’75, JOANNE MUCCI ESPOSITO ’78 and JUDITH REISINGER DAVIS ’76 hiked in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Kathryn Carlton (daughter of SUSAN CHAPMAN CARLTON ’75), SELMA BAYDOUN CEMAN ’74, SUSAN CHAPMAN CARLTON ’75, KAREN KUCKHAHN KEHL ’75, DEBRA STODDARD JESSOP ’77, JUDITH REISINGER DAVIS ’76, JOANIE MUCCI ESPOSITO ’78, MARY JAMIESON SAMELSON ’76, MADGE BUSHNELL BRAUN ’77, LAURIE LANDIS WOLFORD ’75, CHRISTINE OVERLY WALLACE ’74, LAURA MCGOWEN STAHL ’77, PEGGY ZAREK ODDO ’76 and NANCY GROOSE TERMAAT ’76 stand in front of the Historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, where Stephen King got his inspiration for “The Shining.” CYNTHIA SANBORN NYQUIST ’69 and SCOTT NYQUIST ’69 visited Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in June 2018.

Fall 2018

3

ALUMNI SIGHTINGS

KATHY WADE ’88, left, and CHARLOTTE LEE WAHLE ’13 embrace at Alumni Weekend.

CHRIS SHAW ’65 and JOHN RODGERS ’69 take in Amsterdam.

JEN MILLEN EVEN ’06 of Dubuque, Iowa, is putting a lot of miles into her running shoes. She even completed a 50-mile race.

SCOTT NYQUIST ’69, left, ROB HANDEYSIDE ’69, and ART SCARLETT ’69 visit in Anna Maria Island, Florida, in October 2017.

NANCY QUICK SCHEUERMANN ’69 and DEBRA HAMELE KUKLA ’69 meet up in Indianapolis.

JOHN BURROWS ’65 and NANCY OSTERMEIER BURROWS ’66 celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss in Italy, enjoying Lake Como and Florence! JEAN KIRKPATRICK LEDERER ’73, left, SUE MIJANOVICH KEY ’72, LINDA BRASSINGTON DANIELS ’72 and KAREN TESCHNER DORN ’72 celebrate together at Alumni Weekend 2018.

Former Ripon roommates ALICE HALL HAYES ’69 and JANE CREWS CONWAY ’69 reconnect in Washington, D.C.

JASON WOOD ’96 and AMY TINCHER-DURIK ’96 capture a quick selfie in New York.

LORI BERGERON ’95, SHEA HARDY ’95, RYAN COX ’95 and JASON WOOD ’96 reconnect in New York. KYRSTEN KOEBACH ’96, left, JOAN GRZESINSKI ’96, JASON WOOD ’96 and KIM PHU LEE ’96.

FRED HUSSEY ’69 was in Tiverton, Rhode Island, in the spring of 2018.

4

R Connections

KENDRA TRIPP ’96 and JASON WOOD ’96.

KARENA SCHROEDER ’15 and boyfriend Andrew Brenny are happy to announce the birth of their baby boy, Aiden.

RUTH GALES FRECHMAN ’75 presides over her last executive board meeting at the Annual Conference for the California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Frenchman was president for two years. She also received the Outstanding Service Award from the California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

CHELSEA MOLDENHAUER ’15, CASEY VERCAUTEREN ’15 and WYLIE GAHART ’15 celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago.

KURT HARDY ’12, left, SARA HEITKAMP ’14, AMY BROWENDER ’13, ZAC NELL ’15, ERIKA RIEBE NELL ’16, NICOLE ZEMAN ’17 and MASON STANGL ’17 reconnect at the Twins Cities Rally Hour on July 31.

ZAC NELL ’15, left, DEREK SAXON ’15, JAMES ALLEN ’15 and BRIAN SCHUMACHER ’15 celebrate Zac’s marriage in St. Germain, Wisconsin.

NICOLE MALLI ’15 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., where she works as the international project coordinator for the Slave Wrecks Project.

BRAD CHOJNACKI ’15, JOHN SPADONI ’15 and BRIAN SCHUMACHER ’15 celebrate Brad’s marriage in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. These three Sigma Chi’s have been friends since the beginning of their first year at Ripon.

Fall 2018

5

T H E RI P ON F U N D R ELI E S ON YOU R S U PPO RT Ripon’s rich philanthropic culture does not exist without the Ripon Fund, formerly Annual Fund. The Ripon Fund helps to maintain our top-value, accessible and excellent liberal arts education by supporting areas of greatest need: scholarships, faculty and instruction, campus spaces and student life. Most importantly, it continues to depend on your contributions. This culture has been created and nurtured by so many who have given quietly, graciously and generously throughout the course of Ripon’s history. It continues to depend on your contributions. It requires an effort that ultimately is fueled by love, passion and a desire to pay it forward so future generations may enjoy an education that inspires and encourages. It requires the unwavering support of our annual donors. If you wish to make your gift online and want to learn more about the impact of your generosity, please visit www.ripon.edu/ripon-fund.

RIPON.EDU/RIPON-FUND 6

R Connections

CLASS LETTERS Obituaries for all class years received by Ripon College since May 1, 2018, are listed at the back of the publication. If you have news to share, contact your Class Agent or the Office of Constituent Engagement, 300 W. Seward St., Ripon, WI 54971; 920-748-8126; or alumni@ripon.edu. Alumni Weekend will be held June 27-30, 2019. Further details and registration information will be available in 2019 at ripon.edu/alumni-weekend.

1930s & 1940s The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu. JAMES MEGELLAS ’42 was interviewed by the Dallas Morning News and was featured in their story “Why a 101-year-old World War II hero says his is not the ‘greatest generation.’”

1950, 1951 & 1952 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu. RONALD G. ALBURY ’51 of Cherry Hill, New Jersey: “Moved recently from house in Medford to condominium in Cherry Hill. Still in New Jersey.”

1953 & 1954 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu. JOAN DUNHAM MCCOMBS ’54 of Prospect, Kentucky: “I have donated two scholarships to the University of Louisville since we have lived here for 59 years. Both to the School of Music — one in violin or piano, and I started the music therapy program and know all the students over the 25 years. We have attended lots of programs and conventions. It’s great to be with the young-at-heart.”

1955 Art Lundeberg 520-296-9281 / artlund@cox.net Dear Class of 1955, Hope each of you has had a great summer and will be looking forward to the beautiful trees, followed by the beautiful snow falling on the beautiful trees. Looking forward to the beautiful snow is optional. RIPON FUND Has everybody sent in their donation? We must continue to keep our alma mater strong. #ONEDAYRALLY After just 18 hours and 51 minutes and thousands of social media shares on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, Ripon College’s first-ever #OneDayRally giving day campaign came in 221 percent ahead of goal, raising a total of $656,626 from 940 donors. CAMPUS NOTES COLLEGE DAYS We all remember our student newspaper. It has won 11 awards from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association in the 2017 WCMA Better Newspaper Contest Awards.

The publication won an honorable mention in the category of General Excellence, the top award available, indicating that it is judged to be one of the best overall college papers in the state. FINANCIAL SUCCESS Ripon College has been named the No. 1 School in Wisconsin whose grads earn the most in mean wages 10 years after graduation. The study was published by Zippia, a new website dedicated to helping recent graduates with their career choices. Zippia says they used the most recent college scorecard data to determine the school in each state with the highest average earners 10 years after entry. This report has been shared by news media across the country. EXPANDED EDITION Hawthorne Books and Literary Arts released a second, expanded edition of Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead: the Frank Meeink Story, as told by Jody Roy, this fall. Roy is a professor of communication and the Victor and Carrie Palmer Endowed Chair for Leadership Values at Ripon College. The new edition includes a preface by the author, nine new chapters, an updated epilogue and resource guides for substance abuse recovery and countering racism. This is Meeink’s raw telling of his descent into America’s Nazi underground and his ultimate triumph over hatred and addiction. WILLMORE CENTER — GREAT SUCCESS Athletic Business has taken note of the immediate success of Willmore Center. In a feature published this month on the website, it cites several impressive statistics, including 28 percent more student athletes making deposits, 40 percent more student athletes taking tours of campus, and nearly double the number of football recruits to the College in one year’s time (25 recruits in 2017 and 48 in 2018). “When Ripon College began planning a major upgrade of its primary athletics, health and wellness center, the vision went much further than having a bigger, newer facility,” the article reads. “They wanted the building to be a new hub of activity on campus — not just on game days but every day. They wanted it to be a source of pride for the 800-student private liberal arts college and the community of Ripon, Wisconsin. More ambitious yet, they wanted it to be a recruiting magnet, attracting both athletes and non-athletes’. … It is already achieving its mission … and with a cost of $23.5 million, the project is an example of how such results can be achieved on a modest budget.” The article, “Ripon College’s Willmore Center is Proving its Power as a Recruiting Tool,” highlights the need for the upgrades and how Willmore Center now is serving many more than student athletes. It cites 305 alumni and community residents who have purchased memberships and nearly 50 outside organizations that have held events in the facility. “To attract athletic recruits, the Willmore Center offers size, facilities and amenities typically only found at much larger schools” the article states. “It also demonstrates to other prospective first-year students the value that Ripon College places on supporting the wellbeing of everyone on campus. … (The atrium) has, in fact, become a hub of social life at Ripon College. Located on the opposite end of campus from the student union, it serves as a second commons where students can hang out between classes or before or after a workout when it is not convenient to return to upper campus.”

Fall 2018

7

CLASS LETTERS SAFETY COMPETITION Ripon College students placed well at the International Business Ethics Case Competition held April 18-20 in Boston, Massachusetts. The team argued for better safety standards in all Toyota vehicles. In their research, they found women are 47 percent more likely to be seriously injured or die in a crash due to minimal regulation with female crash dummy research and development. The average “female” crash dummy stands at 4 feet 11 inches, and weighs about 105 pounds, based off the 1960s 5th percentile body type. Until 2011, it was not required for female crash test dummies to be included in vehicle safety testing, and now it is required only that they be tested in the passenger and back seats — not the driver’s seats. HISTORY OF RIPON COLLEGE Last newsletter, we spoke of the opposition to the President Flagg’s intended program. As the board’s opposition to his program of change became neutralized, Flagg began slowly altering Ripon’s educational structure. In 1982, When Flagg came into office, Ripon College was still a collection of different educational programs serving widely different groups of students, a characteristic that had dominated its life during the Merriman and Merrell administrations. In 1982, there were six such programs: the Classical Course with only 39 students, which was a four-year college program; a special program called “the Select Course” with six students, which provided a less intensive liberal education than the Classical Course; the Preparatory School with 80 students, which was responsible for preparing students for college; “the English Academy” with 50 students, which taught students at the high school level not preparing for college; the School of Music with 63 students; and the School of Drawing and Printing with 13, both of which offered their own technical degrees. Flagg realized that if the College was to become truly modern, it would have to focus its attention on the College alone, which meant increasing enrollment to a level that would allow it to stand alone while slowly divesting itself of the auxiliary academic enterprises. HISTORY OF ROTC Last newsletter, we spoke of the organizing of campus activities by the ROTC staff. In seeking to put this program into place, Captain Rice gave immediate attention to the development of the rifle team as the showpiece of the Unit. Although the unit rifle team was never large, with widespread campus backing and under Rice’s supervision, it began to enjoy almost immediate success. In March, Ripon won the 6th Corps Area Rifle Match, finishing ahead of 50 other schools, including the University of Wisconsin, the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois, all considered as being among the finest ROTC units in the country. The Ripon cadets attending the 6th Corps Area Summer Camp in 1921 achieved a glittering record. The unit’s rifle team captured the Chicago Tribune Cup, with the team captain, BURL W. MILLER ’24, qualifying as expert rifleman and finishing second among the nearly 1,000 cadets at the camp. Three other Ripon cadets — GEORGE HAUN ’23, JOHN KRALOVEC ’23 and COLEMAN GUNDERSON ’23 — qualified as sharpshooters. The Ripon camp contingent that summer also included JAMES H. BANVILLE ’23, who later became not only the first of the seven generals to come out of the Ripon program, but also the secretary of the Reserve Officers Association in the 1960s. IN MEMORIAM In case some of you missed the sad passing away of class members, I’ll state the names that I know:

8

R Connections

MARK DEWOLF ’55 died in April this year. He had just been ordained as an Episcopal priest. ROBERT BROTHERS ’55 died earlier this year. He and I were very good friends, and fraternity brothers in Lambda. I miss our frequent phone conversations which Bob seemed to enjoy in spite of his stroke, which happened several years ago. We would talk about our time at Ripon and the great education we received. I wish each of you a wonderful fall season, as well as a joyous Christmas holiday. ART LUNDEBERG

1956 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1957 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1958 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1959 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1960 Deborah Johnson Van Slyke 480-284-5564 / 619-889-5061 / advanslyke@cox.net BOB BORGER ’60: “We have been busy since returning from our winter home in Florida. The weather in Ohio has finally allowed for landscaping and flower planting to be finalized. We attended grandson Bobby’s graduation from Ohio Northern University and his acceptance of a position with Welltower in Toledo, Ohio. He also achieved academic All-American in track. Our granddaughter, Megan, was a freshman cheerleader at Bowling Green State University. Yvette and I will be going to Idaho in June to visit son Barry. Hope all is well with Ripon alums.” JANET GORN ’60 has no retirement plans on the horizon. She is a diplomat with the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. She has had temporary duty assignments in Buenos Aires, Bucharest, Paris and Vienna this year. In Paris, she served as the U.S. representative to the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency Steering Committee meetings and in Vienna was the U.S. representative and head of delegation to the Meeting of the Parties of the Joint Convention on Nuclear Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste. She was named a lifetime achiever by Marquis Who’s Who. Check out her extensive career in the 2017-18 Who’s Who in America. DEE GREY HOLDEN ’60: “Our winter season in Arizona has been the usual fun with local friends and visitors escaping snow. More of Abbey Springers come to Arizona, so there is much socializing going on here. Things became more complicated in spring when it became evident that Dan would need cervical surgery, diseconomy and fusion. This was done in May, and he

1955-64 is recovering well. We will return in a few weeks to the Midwest in time to get ready to take a trip to northern Italy. It will be the last grandchild trip, and we are looking to relax at Lake Garda and then the Italian Alps. A few wineries also will be visited. We are so proud of our two grandsons in the military. Cooper Holden was commissioned in December and now is training in Florida with the United States Air Force. Beckett has completed his nuclear engineering course and has been assigned to the United States Navy base in Seattle where he will be on the USS Kentucky, a ballistic missile sub. Our granddaughter just finished her freshman year at the University of Arizona and will be volunteering in Laos at an elephant rescue camp. Summer will have us socializing at the lakefront of Lake Geneva. I do not look forward to having to keep Dan from golfing before he gets the doctor’s OK to play. A river cruise in September will round out the summer.” I was unable to drive from Scottsdale to Idyllwild, California, for the inaugural performance of KEN LUBER ’60’s musical “Esperanza: The Musical of Hope.” He wrote the lyrics for a song “Revenge is Near.” The song won “Best Song” at the Italian Oniros Film Awards. I will escape the heat of summer in Arizona and visit Chicago in August where I will see my roommate and sorority sister BARBARA KOUBA HOFFMAN ’60 in Highland Park. Let’s keep in touch. Send me your news, gossip or your thoughts. DEB

1961 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1962 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu

1963 Wayne Wolfgram 313-882-1712 / waynewolfgram@gmail.com Greetings, Classmates. Well, it’s been 55 years since we received our diplomas, said goodbye to classmates and began our adult lives. It sure flew by. I hope this finds everyone in good health and enjoying their “golden years.” TERRY BOOTH ’63 of Kenilworth, Illinois (terryjbooth@ sbcglobal.net): “Only a few from our class made it to the 55th reunion, but it was still a fun time. Besides me and my wife, Carol, DAVE NEUBAUER ’63 and wife Linda helped celebrate our class coming in fourth place among reunion class donors. The class donation per attendee was surely in first place. We all had dinner with MARCIA MACLEISH HIGGINS ’63 and JUD HIGGINS ’62, who live nearby in Green Lake. “President Zach Messitte earlier led a State of the College discussion suggesting Ripon still values a liberal arts focus versus professional preparation, but it does mean graduate school for many (as it did for me). I almost didn’t go to the reunion, since the College lumps all classes after the 50th reunion into a big ‘Golden R’ punchbowl of grey hairs. So the 55th wasn’t as special or highlighted as the 50th, but we still had a delightful dinner. If the College ever decides to promote the over50th reunions, I still may try the 60th. Can you imagine, the State of the College discussion had people lamenting

that the Quads were still there despite being built ‘in the ’80s.’ Someone else spoke up and said. ‘Oh no, they were built in the ’70s.’ I held my tongue, but of course they were there when our class of ’63 arrived. It does date our generation, doesn’t it? “The younger classes were remembering famous alumni, headed by AL JARREAU ’62 and HARRISON ‘HARRY’ FORD ’64. But Al’s now gone — so sad — and perhaps an honorary degree might persuade Harry to show his head on campus again. I’d go back for that if it included alumni. JUDY ELLICSON KOVARIK ’63 of Aurora, Illinois (rjkvrk@att.net): “DICK KOVARIK ’64 and I both are doing fine. Dick has been retired for a full year. We had a cruise through the Panama Canal in April. Our oldest grandson, Charlie, graduated from Butler University in May and is gainfully employed. Our other five grandchildren are all doing well. We have not seen anybody from Ripon, except the neighbors, one who graduated in 1953 and PAT CARROLL CARSON ’60.” I am headed to Brisbane, Australia, for my niece’s wedding and a family reunion. All my six siblings, including my brother DAN WOLFGRAM ’69 and his wife JOAN KNUTSON WOLFGRAM ’69, will be there. It will no doubt be interesting listening to Aussie comments regarding U.S. politics. Have a great summer everyone! WAYNE

1964 Pat Ostrom Kohnen 925-201-7377 / pmko@aol.com Class of 1964: As I write his message to you, it is very hot here in California, but my suitcase is packed for the cooler weather of Alaska. I will enjoy a cruise for 14 days on Crystal with a woman from Stoneridge Creek who still works part time as a travel agent. She has been on 100 cruises. Life at Stoneridge Creek is great. The final phase is almost complete, and then we will have about 825 residents in independent living plus residents at Creekview who need more care. Water exercise, book club and excursions continue to be my favorite activities. I am still giving the book Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss, by Pat Schwiebert and Chuck DeKlyen, to people who need it. A friend shared it with me four years ago, and I have been sharing it ever since. I was pleased to see my oldest granddaughter graduate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her major was criminal justice, and she will be attending the police academy in Nevada. DICK KOVARIK ’64 and JUDY ELLICSON KOVARIK ’63 of Aurora, Illinois, “both are doing fine,” Judy shares. “Dick has been retired for a full year. We had a cruise through the Panama Canal in April. Our oldest grandson, Charlie, graduated from Butler University in May and is gainfully employed. Our other five grandchildren are all doing well. We have not seen anybody from Ripon, except the neighbors, one who graduated in 1953 and PAT CARROLL CARSON ’60.” RICHARD MOSCHEL ’64 of Sun City West, Arizona: “Enjoying retirement spending October-May in Arizona and May-October in Ely, Minnesota, at our log home. We have one son living in Los Angeles looking for job behind the scenes in film. Our second son is bartending in Scottsdale and our third son is in New Orleans.” DAVID SCHENCK ’64 of Tampa, Florida: “I am very happy to report on the publication of a new book titled Communication and Bioethics at The End of Life: Real Cases, Real Dilemmas, by Lori Roscoe and David Schenck. The

Fall 2018

9

CLASS LETTERS book is intended for advanced undergraduates interested in careers in health care, medical and nursing students, people in allied health care, as well as physicians and educators.” David is professor emeritus, University of South Florida. DANIEL SICULAN ’64 of Columbia, South Carolina: “We celebrated the birth of our latest grandchild, Rylan Mae, on March 8. My daughter’s other two children are ages 15 and 17!” Is anyone thinking of returning to Ripon next June (June 27-30, 2019) for our 55th reunion? If you will be in San Francisco, please contact me at 925-201-7377 or pmko@aol.com so we could meet for a visit. Join me in donating to Ripon. I’m grateful for the wonderful education and experience I had at Ripon. PAT KOHNEN

1965 John C. Hyde 414-530-4041 / jhyde65@gmail.com Class of 1965: Donna and I will be celebrating our second anniversary this August. We have enjoyed the fact that our Pensacola house is only three hours from New Orleans. We saw Maroon 5 recently and have tickets for Paul Simon in September and Keith Urban in November. We are leaving for our lake home in Conover, Wisconsin, shortly. We have Cousins Camp the second week in July. That is all five grandkids for a week. In October, we have a 10-day Holland America cruise in the Caribbean with two Cuban ports, Havana and Cienfuego. It is also the time to start thinking about our 55th Class Reunion. CAROLE COOP ATHERTON ’65: “I am writing from Appiano, Italy, where we are staying with two granddaughters (technically, my step-grands). What a delight! We are staying at Schloss Korb, a restored castle overlooking vineyards and apple orchards with the city of Bolzano in the mid-distance and the Alps as the backdrop. DICK BENNETT ’65 and ANNE DONALDSON BENNETT ’65 are celebrating 56 years of marriage. They met at Ripon freshman year. Their son, Tony, who attended one of our reunions with Dick twentysomething years ago, has built a successful coaching career at Virginia and there may be possible probasketball options. Dick very much misses MIKE REESE ’65 and remembers fondly the Ripon golf outings with Mike and CHARLIE LARSON ’65 during homecoming every year. He has enjoyed reading books about the lives of a number of early U.S. presidents. JOHN BURROWS ’65: “Nancy and I remain in good health. The attached photo of me wearing our 50th reunion tee-shirt is appropriate as I am about to start my morning walk. Having just turned 75 on June 1, I no longer believe 75 is so old, although the guy in the photo is getting up there. We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in April and had it not been for The Spot, we might not have connected while at Ripon. I will always remain thankful for this. We are about to embark on a two week trip to Italy, Lake Como and Florence, neither of which we have visited before. Upon our return we will be home for a week before having a family vacation with our kids and our grandchildren at Sunriver Resort in Oregon. Should be fun. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the 2018 hurricane season will not be a repeat of Irma that hit Jacksonville last year. I wish all the best to our classmates. The big doings back in the U.S. before we left were the high school graduations of two granddaughters and

10

R Connections

the college graduation of another as well as a too-brief visit to our home in Oregon from classmate MARY SHIRER KROENING ’65 and her husband, John. Mary entertained us with a wonderful selection of ukulele tunes, and I showed off the 12-volt spotlight I had just installed to illuminate our flagpole (dug about 170 feet of shallow trench and put the darned thing in myself. I love doing things like that with my own hands). It was so good to see them. This fall, Malarkey and I are going on a river boat on the Mississippi from Minneapolis to St. Louis. The trip is focused on the life and times of Mark Twain. After that, we will visit with family in Illinois and, we hope, see the Kroenings again. In January 2019, we have a trip planned to Bogota and Cartagena, Colombia; more details to follow. Hope all is well with you and yours, and, as always, thanks for your devotion to our class.” DONNA STAEBEN LONG ’65 is looking forward to a trip to Spain with her daughters. She and Bob didn’t have a winter skiing trip this year because Bob is recuperating from an injured rotator cuff. They are looking into the Villages for a winter option. DAVID MEISSNER ’65: “I am a happily retired (former) professor of psychology at Alfred University in western New York and still enjoy organic gardening, collecting antique toy cannons (!) and spending time at our family home on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, in the summer. Trivia: Pickled HB eggs in countertop jars at Greekers were always a treat to wash down with a mug of “Suds” after a winning Redmen football game.” JOHN NEWHARD ’65 also is recuperating from a torn rotator cuff. So the vigorous golfing plans were replaced by a trip to Cuba with a Rhodes Scholar travel program that has lectures each night by college professors. JUDI GONIA SCHAEFER ’65: “We’re fine and keeping busy. Last winter (December 2017) we went to New Zealand to spend the Christmas holidays with our youngest daughter, Beth, her husband Mark, and our 18-year-old grandson, Burgess. This was our second trip to New Zealand. The first time, we flew non-stop from Chicago to Auckland; this time we stopped in Hawaii on our way to and on our way back from New Zealand. It turned a 20-hour flight into two 9.5 hour flights — much easier for both of us. Our time spent with our family was wonderful. We stayed with our daughter just outside Nelson on the South Island, traveled to Wellington on the North Island, where by the way, our grandson is attending Victoria University, went to a cricket game, and generally had a great time. The country is beautiful, and the people are very friendly. If you haven’t been there, go if you ever have a chance. Now we’re back in the good ol’ U.S.A. where we spend our winters in Illinois and our summers in Winter, Wisconsin.” GREG THOMPSON ’65: “Greetings from Seattle. Thank you for continuing with being our class agent. The Thompsons are in our third full year of retirement and enjoying it here in Seattle and elsewhere. Most of our travel is to San Francisco where our three grandchildren live. They are ages 6, 4 and 1. We got a late start on children, and so did our daughter. We are almost frequent flyers just on that route and just got back last night from our latest visit there. Other travels take us in the winter to sunnier climes to combat grey skies and rain here. A road trip we like to take every year is to beautiful northeast Oregon. Among other things, you can see wagon tracks from the Oregon Trail migration. This summer, we are hoping to have a couple of weeks roaming Wisconsin. That is the home state of both my parents, and we have cousins there and in Chicago. I am lucky to have a Ripon classmate living here in Seattle.

1964-66 JIM THORSEN ’65: “Nancy and I will spend the summer here in Idaho, hosting kids and grandkids, friends from Tucson and delegates from our Japanese sister city. The grandkids both play in their high school band which has been selected to perform representing the State of Missouri in the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in 2019 in Normandy. We are planning to attend the event and are involved in planning the trip. Needless to say, most tours are booked a year in advance, and we were lucky to book one. I hope everyone has a pleasant summer and enjoys good health.”

traveling to Lake Como for a week and down to Florence, Italy, with friends for a two-week trip next week! We enjoy traveling and know we will truly enjoy all of the side trips. We are especially looking forward to the Bernina Express train through the Alps and a day in St. Moritz! Lake Como is known for beautiful scenery and excellent food. We will diet when we return. We also are planning a family reunion with children and grandchildren at Sunriver Resort in Oregon. Time is precious, and family time to celebrate 50 years of marriage and John turning 75 seemed to be in order.

LARRY TICE ’65: “ ... inspired by references to his (L. Warchus) local bowling team (which includes a 100-year-old centenarian bowling team member) and, further warned (directly or indirectly) not long ago not to go “bowling alone” (Putnam, 2000) which spoke of the potential collapse and loosening of social ties of the American community … I may yet seek to explore additional social solidarity on LSD (otherwise: Lake Shore Drive) by joining up for “bowling on the green” … an activity and site just located behind the Museum of Science and Industry. Still swimming and biking along south end of Lake Shore Drive; but, much less so at the moment. Mostly walking (thus, perhaps pursuits of alternative exercise). Elsewhere in the neighborhood (sum) resolution has finally been reached between “friends of the Park” and Obama Presidential Library Commission as precise location in Jackson Park and layout plans generally agreed upon. So finally, library — in Obama name — to be built (... not far away, either, it seems from the site of “bowling on the green”). And, perhaps that’s a bit more than might be said or predicted of current president library possibilities: as one book (for July release: “Donald Trump Tweeter Presidential Library” by T. Noah) may say it all. As observed by many, it’s possible Mr. Trump doesn’t read much anyway ... so he might not worry too much if a library is not built in his name. At the moment, enjoying semiretirement, enjoined in a government survey project part time, while MinJa — in full retirement now — enjoying the lakefront. “

PAM KURZ GOODE ’66: “Having endured a horrible winter and an even worse April (24 inches of snow mid-month and eight inches shortly before that!) we were glad to escape to Syracuse, New York, to visit our son and his family. And yes, the weather in Syracuse was much better than in Wisconsin! We took our New York grandson on a four-day trip to the Hyde Park area — lots of Roosevelt sites, spectacular Gilded Age mansions like the Vanderbilts’, Storm King Art Center, etc. We had a great time and also spent a while in Buffalo, New York, where we stayed in a renovated state mental institution which is now a hotel called The Henry. And, yes, they did let us out and no lobotomies were performed (that we know of)!! Now where was I? We are off next week to visit friends in northern Minnesota, but not much travel planned for a few months after that. We might take a trip south in the late fall to visit more Civil War sites, a shared interest of ours. Beware, if we are in your area we may turn up on your doorstep! We hope to see BOB FLECK ’65 and RUTH POTTS FLECK ’66 this summer in Green Lake and hopefully a few other old Ripon classmates along the way. In between trips, we keep busy in beautiful Door County and enjoy spending time with our daughter’s family. It’s nice having two grandsons just a few minutes away! Hope all of you are enjoying life.

JOHN WHEELER ’65 and I get together for lunch on a fairly regular basis. We are in looser touch than we would like with MARK LEDGER ’65, CHARLES BARBER ’65, CRAIG FERRIS ’65 and WARREN WARCHUS ’65, who all live some distance from here.” DAVE WORDEN ’65: “So far this year has been one of travels between our condo in Oceanside, California, and our home in Scottsdale. Time with our twin 2-year-old granddaughters and 18-month-old grandson has tested these old bones! We also managed to take time for a cruise to Alaska which is probably the most beautiful place Terri and I have ever visited. If you haven’t done so, please add it to your bucket list. We’re looking forward to this summer and time at the beach, and then the birth of another grandson in September. The best to all my classmates!” All the very best, JOHN

1966 Nancy Burrows noburrows@bellsouth.net Summer greetings to all! Although I heard from only two members of our class this time around, I hope everyone is enjoying a great summer. I must admit I had to shorten the “mail-in” time because of personal plans. JOHN BURROWS ’65 and I are doing well and are grateful for family, friends and good health. We are

BARRY SIMON ’66: “I have seen film of me as a young child on my knees in front of a large radio counsel, rocking back and forth in time with the music playing. That was probably the start. It was in high school where I began to explore the performing arts through the school talent show and short plays. But it was at Ripon where it became manifest. I remember sitting at the lighting board at the old church that had been transformed into a theater after the Ripon College theater burned down. At that moment, I decided that instead of going to NYC to pursue theater, I would go to film school and learn the art of movie making that I had studied in the first such class taught at Ripon. “As a preteen, I had taken out books from the library about movies, perusing them with a sense of wonder since movies were my escape. However, it was this class that taught me that movies were actually an art and that I might be able to make them myself! After four years at what was then called USC Cinema (George Lucas, Randall Kleiser, John Milius and Caleb Deschanel — actress Zooey Deschanel’s father — were all in the class ahead of me, and John Carpenter was in my class), I enter my long road in film and television. For the last 10 years of that journey I created a company with a partner that turned electronic press kits into a necessary aspect of movie publicity as I traveled around the world for nearly every major studio, directing short documentaries about the making of movies. “Prior to this, I was a film and video editor, having been the latter for the first year or so on a new television show, Entertainment Tonight, which brought satellite dishes to all the stations that bought this syndicated half hour Hollywood news show and thus birthed the beginning of satellite delivery of real news, replacing the old ‘Get the film to the lab so it’s developed, edited

Fall 2018

11

CLASS LETTERS and ready for the 6 o’clock broadcast!’ It also started, I believe, the shift from news-as-news to news-asentertainment. Sorry. All the while I still practiced one of my Ripon College minors, education. For one year out of Ripon I taught high school English where I learned I wasn’t very good at classroom management, something they didn’t teach at Ripon at the time. “Then in my film career, I taught various classes about filmmaking, editing and electronic press kits, classes that didn’t require management since the students wanted to learn this stuff. While at USC as the editing T.A. (again teaching), I wrote a booklet on how to do negative cutting (a long, tedious process that, I believe, has gone the way of the buggy whip, thanks to technology) which found its way to the other film school in town at the time, UCLA. Word had it that it was the ‘art’ film school while USC was the ‘commercial’ one. But negative cutting was still negative cutting and very boring no matter the film’s intention. “Now that I’m retired, I am still teaching as a volunteer with Albuquerque Reads. I have two 5-year-old kindergartners whom I work with during the school year, teaching them from the alphabet to sight words. Watching them learn to read is a joy beyond words. Not having children and grandchildren, I think of them during my school year sojourn as my ‘children,’ planting seeds that go beyond learning to read, seeds about focus, dedication, attempting the unknown, being challenged, overcoming insecurity and fear, and believing in themselves. They are the future, and my hope is that in some small way I help them at the beginning of their life’s journey. I also returned to theater, becoming involved in local productions. I created and now coordinate the recording of a podcast for the Albuquerque Theatre Guild to promote local productions which educates listeners to the ins and outs of shows, thereby bringing together my publicity and production experience. Plus, I volunteer with the Music Guild of New Mexico, teaching youngsters what an orchestra is and leading to Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf,’ which once more involves education and entertainment. While doing this, my regular current entertainment activity is a monthly interactive game show I, as we used to say in the ’60s, ‘liberated’ from a similar idea in another state. It’s called The Liars’ Game and involves three storytellers, two are telling the truth and one is lying. The audience has to figure out who the liar is. And usually most get it wrong. It’s great fun working with the storytellers on developing their 10-minute tales and promoting the show in a city that has slightly more than 600,000 people. “So this brings together everything I have been doing since I graduated — entertainment, production coordination, story creation, education and publicity. The point of this long narrative is that Ripon and the education it gave me has served me well and still does 50-some years later, except, maybe, barely learning how to use a slide rule in order to pass the Concepts of Science class. I traveled the world, created programming, entertained millions, educated others and continue to do so probably until I can’t do it any longer. I am thankful for what Ripon gave me and has allowed me to pass on. Meanwhile, when you are in Albuquerque on the second Monday of the month, stop by Empire Board Game Library and play The Liars’ Game. Just maybe you can figure out who’s lying. But don’t bet on it. That’s one class they don’t teach at Ripon.” Hopefully the members of the class of 1966 are all doing well. Have a super summer! NANCY

12

R Connections

1967 Kathryn “Kathy” Santimays Dunn 704-633-8999 / mamadunn@hotmail.com “In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.” — Edith Wharton Dear Class of 1967, As I write, the class of 1968 is preparing for their initiation into the Golden R Club. What great memories they will make! Though they will be hard-pressed to surpass our fantastic weekend! Only four years to our 55th! Many of us are feeding our “insatiable intellectual curiosity” by traveling. NANCY WADLEY KEOUGH ’67 was visiting a friend in Beaufort, South Carolina, recently. I was in Hilton Head, so we were able to get together for lunch in Harbor Town. After a short time back home, she and her husband are making a return trip to Ireland and adding Scotland. KATHLEEN KRANBUEHL KRAHNKE ’67 of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina: “Loving retirement on Hilton Head Island while keeping involved with kids through Backpack Buddies and The Boys and Girls Club.” DAVE LEIFHEIT ’67 and wife, NANCY OLIVER LEIFHEIT ’69, of Elmhurst, Illinois: “Most of our traveling this year was in the U.S. We spent time in Seattle with our kids and grandson, in Nashville for a family wedding, in Charlotte, North Carolina, for another family wedding, and in Wisconsin at our cabin. To top it off, we went to Costa Rica in January and enjoyed 94-degree weather before coming back to more than eight inches of snow! The spring months were spent volunteering with AARP Tax Aide doing taxes for those who appreciate the help. At the family wedding in October, we were with all eight Oliver siblings in North Carolina, including my brother, SCOTT OLIVER ’69! Such a fun reunion!” JUDY WILKINSON NEIL ’68 and BILL NEIL ’67 visited SCOTT NYQUIST ’69 and his wife, CYNTHIA SANBORN NYQUIST ’69, in Naples, Florida, in January. A couple of months ago, Judy and Bill were in San Francisco and had lunch with NANCY WADLEY KEOUGH ’67 and Professor Phil Clarkson who taught at Ripon while we were there. Greg and I will have had an amazing two weeks in San Francisco and Hawaii with our youngest grandchild, Oliver, by the time you read this! We’ve taken his older brother, Zach, and sister, Hillary, in the past. I hope you are all feeling chipper and enjoying the gift of each day! A little aside about Ripon, the city: Smuckers is made there and the Farmer’s Almanac is printed there. That’s your Jeopardy trivia for today! KATHY

1968 Bob Martin porger@verizon.net Dear Classmates: Do you remember the opening words of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bookends theme, which came out one month before we graduated in 1968? Time it was, and what a time it was, A time of innocence, a time of confidences Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph Preserve your memories, they’re all that’s left you. We celebrated our memories for four days in June,

1966-69 reflected on our innocence, and took tons of pictures to commemorate the occasion, concluding with 41 classmates as well as guests and retired faculty singing the alma mater at our closing dinner June 24. We remembered then and celebrated now. HIGHLIGHTS: Distinguished Alumni: Ours would be GUY HENSHAW ’68 of Danville, California, recognized for his many contributions to the College and for his professional achievements. Congratulations, Guy, and also thanks for the shortest acceptance speech of the night. “A two-minute thank-you after an hour and 20 minutes seemed right,” said Guy. He is a founder and managing partner of Henshaw/Vierra Management Counsel LLC. Class Gift: We finished third among all the reunion classes in our gift of $253,532, of which $53,352 has been dedicated to a special Class of 1968 Scholarship fund. PAM PRICE SMITH ’68, JIM CLARK ’68 and Guy were responsible for leading the effort. Only the Classes of 1983 ($1.23 million) and 1973 ($496,870) raised more in their gifts this year. In the five years since our last reunion, our class has raised $1.37 million for the College. The Quiz: Just a wonderful potpourri of our four years, thanks to JUDY WILKINSON NEILL ’68 and BONNIE BINKOFF RILEY ’68. My favorites were to match faculty names with their subject; guessing the number of entering freshmen in 1964 (330) and graduating seniors in 1968 (191), and the annual cost of room, board and tuition in 1964 ($2,350). The Women’s Handbook: Read by VICKY PORTH TOBIAS ’68 in her walk down memory lane. A sample: “Thursday nights and Saturday are dress-up dinners in the dining hall. A tie and coat or a dress and hose add that extra special touch to a splendid meal. Plan to look just the way Mom wants you to look when you take her to church on Sunday. And don’t sit only with the guys or gals. Mix it up a little. Tag some guy or gal you may have your eye on and make it a little dinner party.” BOB

1969 Scott Nyquist 239-732-0523 / 630-632-1619 / scott.a.nyquist@gmail.com

Ripon College Class of 1969. Watch for posts about the reunion. Join the group and post info about yourself and your reunion plans. Alumni Weekend 2019 will start on Thursday evening, June 27. The College has a slew of activities for the Golden R class (that’s us!). Plan to be in Ripon all weekend from the Thursday night Welcome Party through the Service of Remembrance and Farewell Breakfast on Sunday morning. Make your hotel reservations NOW because there are only a few hotels in Ripon, and they fill up fast. There are also plenty of places to stay in Green Lake, Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, and the College offers dorm rooms to stay in over Alumni Weekend. There is no charge for Golden R Class members to stay in the dorms. (But also no A/C). Now I know some of you are a little hesitant to come to the reunion. Maybe you’ve lost some hair. Maybe you’ve put on a little weight. Maybe your career didn’t turn out the way you hoped it would. Well, I have news for you: people don’t care if you look like a billiard ball or have to get your clothes from Omar the Tentmaker. They don’t give a hoot that you didn’t become CEO of a Fortune 500 company. They just want to see you and talk about those days back in the ’60s when we all roamed the Ripon College campus together. They want to relive those times spent together at The Spot or cramming for that Econ final. They want to talk about the game against Lawrence our senior year or the crazy 8 a.m. classes we had — even on Saturday. They want to remember the jokes you played on your roommate (and the ones they played on you). This is your chance to relive your misspent youth and laugh together with the friends you made so many years ago. If you have pictures from our days at Ripon, please send them. An electronic version is best so please scan them (or take them to a place that will scan them for you) and email them to me. Also, we will set up a Memorabilia Room in Pickard Commons where mementoes of our time at Ripon will be on display. So, if you have beer mugs, fraternity/sorority pins, freshman beanies, letter sweaters — anything from our days at Ripon that you can share — please send them to AMY GABRIEL GERRETSEN ’04, director of constituent engagement at Ripon College. Items you send in will be returned — or if you don’t want them back, they will be donated to the College Archives.

Hello Class of ’69! As Ripon Chemistry Professor Jack Powers would say, the theme of this letter should be “intuitively obvious”: The Class of 1969 will celebrate its 50-year Reunion next year, June 29, 2019. Plans for the reunion are well under way. Here are the members of the Reunion Committee as of June 15, 2018: FRANK ANDERS ’69, BOBBI SUESS ANDERS ’69, NANCY GONIA BAJOREK ’69, SAM JOHNSON ’69, TOM MACE ’69, PHIL MCCULLOUGH ’69, SCOTT NYQUIST ’69, DON PARK ’69, CHIP RETSON ’69, STEVE RUOFF ’69, BOB “OTTO” WACHHOLTZ ’69, JOHN WOLFE ’69, DAN WOLFGRAM ’69 and JOAN KNUTSON WOLFGRAM’69.

Finally, it is traditional for the 50-Year Reunion Class to make a special financial contribution to Ripon College in celebration of their induction into the Golden R Club. So I’d like to ask you to make an exceptionally generous gift to Ripon this year. Remember, you can designate how your gift is used: scholarships, faculty, library, building fund, endowment, athletics, unrestricted, etc. You also can make your gift in memory of a classmate or professor.

It’s not too late to join the Reunion Committee. We need more people!!!! Just call or email me if you’re interested. Each committee member is calling a modest number of others in the class, encouraging them to attend the reunion. Our goal is to have all 213 members of the class (for whom we have contact information) receive a call urging them to come. Whether you join the committee or not, pick up the phone and call your old roommate, fraternity brother/sorority sister, guys you played with on the football/basketball team, etc. Tell them you are coming to the reunion and you want them to come, too. Need a phone number or address for them? Email me. There is a Facebook page for

To get you started thinking about 1969, here are a few things about that year:

So are we clear? 50-YEAR REUNION . . . JUNE 29, 2019 . . . BE THERE!

Richard M. Nixon inaugurated 37th president. Spiro Agnew is VP. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy pleads guilty to leaving scene of fatal accident at Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts, in which Mary Jo Kopechne was drowned – gets twomonth suspended sentence. In August, more than 500,000 people gather in the small, upstate New York town of Bethel (near Woodstock, New York) for four days of rain, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.

Fall 2018

13

The IRA Rollover is a simple and easy way to help Ripon College. Congress enacted a permanent extension of the IRA charitable rollover, and the new Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) rules for 2018 can and should play an influential role in how you withdraw funds from your retirement accounts. The IRA rollover is a great opportunity to provide annual support to Ripon College and receive a benefit. If you are 70½ or older, you may roll over up to $100,000 from your IRA to Ripon College. Your gift will qualify for your required minimum distribution (RMD), and you will not have to pay federal income tax on the amount given from your IRA to Ripon College. This is good news for IRA owners who would like to be generous with their funds, while at the same time lower their overall estate and avoid taxation on the distribution. To make an IRA rollover gift, clearly communicate your charitable gift intentions to your IRA custodian and request that a distribution be transferred directly to Ripon College. Gifts of all sizes are greatly appreciated. Interested in creating a Bequest to Ripon College? A bequest could permit you to leave a lasting legacy to Ripon College while also providing valuable tax savings to you. To learn more about how an IRA gift or a bequest can help you and support Ripon College, visit ripongiftplanning.org or please contact: Lisa Ellis, associate vice president for Advancement at 920-748-8349 or ellisl@ripon.edu.

14

R Connections

1969 Children’s Television Workshop introduces Sesame Street. U.S. population: 202.6 million. Median household income: $8,369. The FCC bans all cigarette advertising on television and radio. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the moon. ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) goes online in December, connecting four major U.S. universities. It is the foundation upon which the Internet eventually will be built. Films: Midnight Cowboy, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Easy Rider, True Grit. Billboard Hot 100 Single Most Played by DJ’s: “Sugar, Sugar,” by the Archies. Record of the Year Grammy Winner: “Mrs. Robinson,” by Simon and Garfunkel. Books: Mario Puzo, “The Godfather”; Philip Roth, “Portnoy’s Complaint;” Kurt Vonnegut, “Slaughterhouse-Five.” Born: Jennifer Aniston, Ellen Pompeo, Matthew McConaughey, Brett Favre, Cate Blanchett, Renee Zellweger, Chaz Bono, Matthew Perry, Jack Black, Sheryl Sandberg, Emmett Smith, Donnie Wahlberg, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Gwen Stefani, Ice Cube. Here is the recent news I got from you guys: NANCY GONIA BAJOREK ’69 of Elmhurst, Illinois: “ANNE SHILLINGLAW ’69, TIM TRIER ’69 and I took a recent trip to New Orleans celebrating the 50th anniversary of a European trip we took together with MARY PATTERSON STEVENSON ’69 in 1968. We still miss Mary and have fond memories of that trip — especially meeting up with some other Ripon students in Rome and climbing the Trevi Fountain together (with local polizia joining us). Great to continue to share and make memories with friends from Ripon.” MARK BAUER ’69 of Pewaukee, Wisconsin: “Still married to my first wife, Dr. Cindy Bauer, (who is still working in urgent care). I have been retired from orthopedic surgery for three years, enjoying free time to attend the Apple Store, take German classes, travel and raise carnivorous plants. We live in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, but also have a small condo 60 miles north of Milwaukee on Elkhart Lake. TIM TRIER ’69 has a condo next to mine. PHIL MCCULLOUGH ’69 visits him each summer. We have two adult children in New York, my daughter in Manhattan and a son in Brooklyn. Another son, a radiation oncologist, lives in a suburb of Phoenix. Two other sons live in the Milwaukee area, a pediatrician and a dentist. We all gather during the July Fourth holiday in Elkhart Lake.” MARGARET WALKER BLIGHTON ’69 of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin: “I finally retired on March 30! I spent 30 years managing the design and development of in-store displays for various companies like Brach Candy, Nabisco, Kraft, ConAgra and Miller Brewing. I just moved to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, my 14th move since I packed up boxes for Germany where FRED POETSCH ’68 was stationed for a year after a tour in Vietnam. Spending my summer playing golf, sailing and enjoying my grandchildren! I highly recommend retirement!” DAN DYKSTRA ’69 of El Macero, California: “A little over five years ago, I retired from work as an attorney with the Corps of Engineers. That lasted six months as my office asked me to come back part time. Now it feels right to retire on a permanent basis as of July

1. It was a good ride. While I was working part time, I received recognition as a distinguished employee. This means I now have my picture on the wall with pictures of a bunch of other old guys. However, I am the only attorney so recognized, which is an honor. The part-time work also helped to finance some wonderful trips to South Africa, the Dalmatian Coast, Tuscany and Amsterdam. And, hopefully, our 50th reunion. That pretty much sums up my past five years. See you all next June.” ALICE HALL HAYES ’69 of Washington, D.C.: “The past eight months have been busy ones for me and Ed Hayes, my husband of 45 years. We celebrated the occasion of our anniversary at a family brunch on April 22. The next month, my family enjoyed our son’s celebration of his milestone 40th birthday. Our daughter, Kia, flew in from New Orleans to surprise her brother. She came straight from her work at the Innocence Project of New Orleans (IPNO) and from a ceremony recognizing the successful release of an innocent man who had been imprisoned for 40 years. Prior to the ‘busyness’ of 2018, my Ripon College roommate, JANE CREWS CONWAY ’69, and her husband, Steve, visited D.C. and we arranged a rendezvous in October 2017. Jane had lived in our same D.C. neighborhood before we moved here. We enjoyed an evening of joyful catching up. Additionally, I am keeping very busy with community organizations which support boomers like us in staying in our homes, stimulating our brains with travel and events, and promoting public safety by speaking out against gun violence through the Yellow Tape Project.” ERIC “RICK” HENRY ’69 of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: “Hard to believe nearly FIFTY years have passed! Remain anchored in Pittsburgh after 40 years with Hearst Broadcasting and after retiring. Spend winter months on Longboat Key in Florida.” FRED HUSSEY ’69 of Tiverton, Rhode Island: “After graduation, I attended law school at the University of Illinois for two years, broken up by a stint in Stuttgart, Germany, in the Army Signal Corps. I quit law school when I found out that I didn’t like law, and would hate being a lawyer. I started working as a civilian in human resources at a Navy R&D lab in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1976. While working there, I earned an MBA from the University of Rhode Island. I retired as a government employee in 2007, having worked my way up to human resources director. The highlight of my HR career was the responsibility for implementing a pay-for-performance personnel system as a DoD S&T Demonstration Project. I had the opportunity to work with other DoD Demonstration Project managers in Washington and actually influence legislation to address hiring, performance, and retention issues at the DoD S&T labs. “A week after retiring, I went back as a consultant and worked for nine more years as a contractor. I met my wife, Jo Ann Faris, in Newport, and we have been happily married for 35 years. I am now on the administrative board of the Stone Bridge Fire District, which provides water for fire protection and customer use for our small town of Tiverton. For several years, I worked at the Essex Steam Railroad in Essex, Connecticut, as a student fireman on a steam locomotive, until the migraine headaches that were triggered by the noise, bright light and heat became too much. It was an incredible experience, almost worth the migraines. As a lifelong Cubs fan who was terribly disappointed in 1969, 2016 was a special year. I knew it was a good omen that my street address (108) matched the number of years without a World Series win. I was happy to play my part.”

Fall 2018

15

CLASS LETTERS DAVE LEE ’69 and SUE STEGER LEE ’69 of Appleton, Wisconsin: “Sue and I have led high-tech student vision screening through our Appleton Noon Lions Club. Working with area school districts, our club has screened 34,000 students since beginning the program in 2014, and more than 13,000 screenings this school year alone. I will become a district governor for the Lions Clubs for 2018-19. It will be a busy year for Sue and me as we visit 70 club meetings in east central Wisconsin, host a convention and attend the international convention in Las Vegas. We will be seeking to get two or more campus Lions clubs started within our district. Sue and I celebrated our 50th anniversary last fall by doing the sweltering Fox Cities Marathon. You know that life is a marathon.” NANCY OLIVER LEIFHEIT ’69 and DAVE LEIFHEIT ’67 of Elmhurst, Illinois: “Most of our traveling this year was in the U.S. We spent time in Seattle with our kids and grandson, in Nashville for a family wedding, in Charlotte, North Carolina, for another family wedding, and in Wisconsin at our cabin. To top it off, we went to Costa Rica in January and enjoyed 94-degree weather before coming back to more than eight inches of snow! The spring months were spent volunteering with AARP Tax Aide doing taxes for those who appreciate the help. At the family wedding in October, we were with all eight Oliver siblings in North Carolina, including my brother, SCOTT OLIVER ’69! Such a fun reunion!” STEVE LEITSCHUH ’69 of Fort Myers, Florida: “As I approach my 71st birthday (July 11), I find myself both musing back and looking forward. I play back all the great memories from wonderful years at Ripon College and time spent with the brothers of Beta Sigma Pi. And I am excited for the new adventures to come at next year’s 50th class reunion! Because I live in Fort Myers, Florida, and SCOTT NYQUIST ’69 and CYNTHIA SANBORN NYQUIST ’69 are Naples, Florida, residents, we get together regularly. Last year, the Band of Four (Beta Sigs), SCOTT NYQUIST ’69, ART SCARLETT ’69, ROB HANDEYSIDE ’69 and I, rented a home for a week on Anna Maria Island, Florida. It was wonderful fun: the beach, cooking, cards, memories. This year, BroKation 2 is at Cape Canaveral, with an awesome day’s adventure at the Kennedy Space Center. I am semi-retired, continuing to do medical administration consulting. I find my head in the game helps keep me mentally sharp. I want to travel more. Bucket list includes the state and national parks. My passion is riding my Harley. I participated in the 2013 Harley-Davidson 110th anniversary in Milwaukee and plan to be in Milwaukee this Aug. 29-Sept. 2 for the 2018, 115th anniversary. Great experience! And if you can make it, check out the H-D Museum. It is incredible! Many music and other events are on the lakeshore festival grounds. I enjoy time with my wife, sons and grandkids and my brother ROB LEITSCHUH ’73 in Vermont. We ride our Harleys together. Look forward to seeing you all at the Ripon College 50th next year!” PHIL MCCULLOUGH ’69, CHRIS OGLE ‘80 (dean of students at Ripon College) and KRISTEN MCCULLOUGH GRANCHALEK ’04 released a book, Mental Health and the Adaptation to College, in November. It is available on Amazon. SCOTT NYQUIST ’69 and CYNTHIA SANBORN NYQUIST ’69 of Naples, Florida: “Travelled to Miami March 29 for opening day at Marlins Park where we watched the Cubs beat the Marlins. Flew to Pittsburgh in June for the wedding of ART SCARLETT ’69’s and SHERYL SWENNES SCARLETT ’70’s son, Jamie. Enjoyed a visit with DON PARK ’69 and his wife, Dana, at the wedding. Met FRANK ANDERS ’69 and BOBBI SUESS ANDERS ’69 in Punta

16

R Connections

Gorda, Florida, for dinner on Memorial Day. Enjoyed visits with many Beta Sigma Pi fraternity brothers in Ripon over Alumni Weekend ’18, including all those mentioned above, plus BOB FLECK ’65, DON MCDOUGALL ’66, RICK BECKER ’66, BRUCE BUBACZ ’67, MASON SHERWOOD ’68, JAY TAYLOR ’69, KURT THORNBLADH ’70, WAYNE YAKUMA ’72, BRUCE TAMMI ’72, GREG DRYANSKI ’74, MIKE POULOS ’77, BLAINE GIBSON ’81 and KEVIN DYKSTRA ’83.” KEN PORTER ’69 and BARB KNIGHTS PORTER ’69 of Killington, Vermont: “We are enjoying our first summer in Vermont where it is ‘cooler in the mountains.’ We are here as Barb recuperates from recent hip replacement surgery and the welcomed physical therapy to get her feeling better after a rough few years of hip pain. This past winter ski season at Killington Mountain was good for Ken with 100 days on the mountain and trying hard to keep up with five grandchildren. As Barb gets stronger, we plan day hikes on the Appalachian Trail which passes nearby.” NICK “CHIP” RETSON ’69 of Aiken, South Carolina: “I have begun a long RV trip to Oregon in the international Airstream gathering. I am in Wyoming right now following part of the Oregon Trail. The airstream event is from June 23 to July 1, and then I will pick up the end of the Lewis and Clarke Trail that I missed last summer and head across country to Wisconsin for a visit. Hope everyone else is having a great summer.” JOHN RODGERS ’69 of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: “My wife, Carol, and I recently returned from a river cruise along the Danube, Main and Rhine rivers from Vienna to Amsterdam. We had an enjoyable time and unexpectedly ran into another alum from Ripon College. On our last day, we were walking through the Amsterdam Central Railway Station when CHRISTOPHER SHAW ’65, from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, approached us and asked about the Ripon College hat I was wearing. Ironically, we discovered we had been on the same river cruise and had even eaten dinner together, but had not discovered our Ripon College connection until he saw me with my timeworn Ripon College hat. We got together with Chris and his wife, Pat, for lunch, reminisced about our Ripon College days and discussed our travels, past and future. What a wonderful highlight to a marvelous vacation.” BOB “OTTO” WACHHOLTZ ’69 of Papillion, Nebraska: “Recent (Jan. 31) retirement isn’t going as I had hoped. Now that winter hibernation is over, I still haven’t found time to resume my golf game and join the senior circuit. However, softball and ice hockey take up four days of each week with new and aching muscles reminding me of my motto ‘never too old to be stupid.’” JOHN WOLFE ’69 of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania: “My main news is I am still working as I am fortunate enough to still have NIH funding.” That’s all for now. Remember to send Ripon College your new address if you move and to notify them of a new email address if you create one. Keep in touch. I love hearing from you guys. Always for Ripon, SCOTT NYQUIST P.S. 50-YEAR REUNION … JUNE 29, 2019 … BE THERE!

1970 Susan Hecht Gebhardt 815-464-5761 / 815-260-1656 / wmacrogeb@yahoo.com Hello again to the Class of 1970. I hope you are enjoying a great summer with your families and friends. BILL GEBHARDT ’69 and I had a wonderful time in Hawaii.

1969-72 We enjoyed beautiful weather, sightseeing, a little golf, and just missed the flooding in Kauai and eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island. We stopped in Napa, California, on the return trip for more sightseeing and wine tasting. We were home long enough to receive the wine we had purchased and repack before traveling to Florida to begin the remodeling of the condo we bought in Fort Pierce. Next winter, it should be ready for guests in case any of you are in the area. This summer has been busy with our little granddaughters, golfing and working on the family cottage in Wisconsin. In March, JOAN REINKE ZIEGLER ’70 emailed some of the AXOs of the class of ’70 with a great suggestion. She wrote, “This is the year we all turn 70, a good time to plan a one- or two-day outing at a resort to celebrate our friendships.” She suggested June and offered several good places. After much emailing over several months, 10 of us met at The Abbey on Geneva Lake, Wisconsin. Those attending were: CHRIS LYDON JONES ’70 (Arizona), COLLEEN BURR KAMIN ’70 (Illinois), CONNIE JAYE HARRIS ’70 (Illinois), MARY GEIGER VAN DYKE ’70 (Minnesota), CASSY BROOKS CURTRIGHT ’70 (Arizona), LINDA WOHLSCHLAEGER LARSON ’70 (South Carolina), BEV RICE TRIER ’71 (Arizona), SARAH RANDAHL HARMAN ’71 (Wisconsin), plus Joan (Wisconsin) and myself (Illinois). Cassy commented, “We had a fabulous time eating, drinking, catching up on children, grandchildren, spouses, retirement, etc.” Connie added, “It was the perfect three-day un-weekend — great lodging, delicious food and wine and wine and wine as well as an indoor track to our rooms! We have so many good Ripon memories, but finding out what everyone is up to now was just as much fun.” Mary Lynn remarked, “Isn’t it amazing how those few years (I left mid-junior year!) could form such long-lasting friendships.” All of us send many thanks to Joan for this wonderful idea and for organizing everything. DAVID BUHNER ’70 of Valparaiso, Indiana: “Like many of our classmates, I finally decided to retire and start traveling. Retiring at the end of February, we spent two weeks on the beaches of Punta Cana in April and will do 12 days on a Viking River Cruise in June. I also finished the wine cellar in our new house, so if you or our classmates ever plan to come to Valparaiso, Indiana, give a holler and we’ll share a bottle (or two) of wine.” LINDA TRACY FONDA ’70, of Freeport, Illinois: “DAVID FONDA ’70 died Feb. 21, 2018. He is survived by his wife, LINDA TRACY FONDA ’70, two children and two grandchildren.” She adds this quote from Russell Kirsch: “Nothing is withheld from us what we have conceived to do.” COLLEEN BURR KAMIN ’70 of Chicago, Illinois: “What an unbelievable stroke of luck that I showed up at the First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Chicago in August 2017. As I was reading down the church bulletin, a name stood out. GEORGE MANNING ’70 is the music director of the church. Yep, George Manning: class of 1970. I introduced myself, and George broke out into an AXO song (that I couldn’t possibly have remembered). George has become a treasured friend. Ripon comes back to us in the most miraculous and joyful ways.” SHERYL SWENNES SCARLETT ’70, of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania: “I didn’t weigh in before on the choice of a reunion venue, so I thought I would now. I actually think the College does a good job on the dinner, and it’s nice to be on campus to get together with people from other classes afterward.” Thank you all for sharing a bit of your news with us. As we approach our 50th Reunion, we have a lot for which to be thankful, and we are also aware how important it is

to make every minute count. Please continue to keep in touch with your Ripon friends and to send me your news and reunion suggestions. Also, please send Ripon any changes in addresses and emails. SUSAN

1971 Jim Beisner 770-570-7725 / jim.beisner@gmail.com Greetings, Class of 1971! Here’s to another great year! It is hard to believe we were starting our freshman year 50 long years ago, just as the Class of 2022 is doing now. Where did the time go? I remember very well my first few weeks of getting acclimated to classes and the campus as if it was just yesterday. Although there is a large time gap between our start and theirs, the quality of education has not changed in all those years. Through the support of our time, talents and treasures, Ripon College has maintained a superb educational experience. The update on current college activities along with honors of graduates and faculty, continue to show the excellent contribution Ripon makes to the nation and state of Wisconsin. TranSpirations: Guidance for the Head & Heart through Career and Beyond is the fourth book of THOMAS BACHHUBER ’71, Ed.D., of Wauconda, Illinois, and recently was published. JOHN “BEAUX” LEONARD ’70: “After graduation, I spent a year in Denver, Colorado. I returned to Boston in the spring of 1971. I rented an apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with JOHN “SHADOW” THOMPSON ’71, MICHAEL PETERSON ’72 (would be class of ’72 who left school following his junior year) and M. Greely “Mike” Summers, who attended Ripon for only the ’70-’71 year before transferring to Boston University. We took in Trustee JOHN “RALPH” WOLFE ’69 when he returned from the Army in Germany, and we have remained close friends since. 69 Magazine St. in Cambridge was a fun time for a couple of years; many stories. It was interesting answering the phone with three Johns and two Mikes in the house.” As we look back at our experiences at Ripon, we can all see the benefits we derived from that special time. In some way, the Ripon Fund assisted all of us. It underwrites all aspects of yearly operations, including but not limited to laboratory supplies, technological innovations, library resources, faculty support, financial aid and scholarships, athletics, opportunities to study abroad, the arts and facilities. I urge your consideration to increase this year’s gift in recognition of all we have accomplished as a result of Ripon College. If you gave below the Heritage Society level ($150-$499), consider giving at that level. If you give at one of the society levels, think about increasing your gift annually to eventually elevating to the next highest society. JIM BEISNER

1972 Susan Frederick-Clarkson susieclarkson@aol.com Stephanie Greene steviegreene@msn.com RUTH ANN DELESS SEAVER ’73: JACK ’72 and I are in Marblehead, Massachusetts, as I write, welcoming our newest grandson to our family. John Henry “Jack” Seaver was born 2/6 to our son and his wife and joins his two

Fall 2018

17

CLASS LETTERS sisters, Grace, 6, and Kathryn, 15 months. We will see our other two grandchildren, William, 3, and Molly, 5 months, when we visit our daughter, Laura, and her husband in Indianapolis next weekend. Unfortunately, we will not be attending our reunion in Ripon this year as our youngest daughter, Tracy, is getting married in June in Napa, California! We look forward to hearing reports on what I know will be a fun gathering. The more our family grows, the more Jack is realizing he needs to retire. His plastics business that he started almost 20 years ago just isn’t as fun as visiting children and grandchildren! Fingers crossed, he will sell the business this year and we can be footloose! “We are looking forward to visiting JACKIE FARMER ’73 and MARK ANDREWS ’73 in early March as well as meeting LYNN BENSON SCHENCK ’72 and BOB SCHENCK ’72 in Bayfield, Wisconsin, to visit Nancy and STEVE SANDSTROM ’72. Ripon might have been small, but we sure made some lasting friendships in those four years. If anyone is on 80-90, we are at exit 92 Elkhart (Indiana) and would love to see fellow Riponites — provided, of course, that we are not visiting family!”

1973 Jean Kirkpatrick Lederer 239-390-1349 / 630-987-9388 / jeanlederer@yahoo.com Dear 1973 classmates: Alumni Weekend is now a memory, and a wonderful memory at that! For those of you not able to attend, those of us who were there missed you. As STEVE ILLICH ’73 just wrote to me in an email: “It was a blast! We reminisced, caught up and enjoyed each other’s company. We laughed a lot, and even shed a few tears.” GARY LEDERER ’72’s and my weekend started Thursday evening with PAT WILKE EPTING ’73 and LEX EPTING ’72 joining our family for dinner in Green Lake. Friday, Gary and I took part in the annual Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble. Our partners were good friends JOHN CLARK ’71 and his wife, Patti. Actually, we were a five-some as my son, Stephen, joined us. He and his wife, Lindsey, and our daughter Beth had come to Ripon as a surprise to see me receive the Distinguished Alumni Award! More about that later. The golf outing is always great fun and raises funds for the Department of Athletics. The weather was decent and some people had really terrific scores. Sadly, that was not us. Friday evening was the Awards Banquet in Harwood Memorial Union. A tremendous event with great food and even greater desserts! I was very touched to receive my Distinguished Alumni Award. I shared the stage with a man who ran for president of Panama and someone doing world-renowned research on AIDS, a very illustrious group. My award is for service to community, and to Ripon and I am very proud of the things I have done for children in Swaziland, for the home my handicapped son, Andrew, resides in, for Girl Scouts of America, Baker Methodist Church, and guardian ad litem, among others. I especially enjoy being your Class Agent; trying to keep you connected to the College, and our classmates and encouraging your giving. Special thanks to KAREN TESCHNER DORN ’72, SUE MIJANOVICH KEY ’72 and LINDA BRASSINGTON DANIELS ’72 who drove up to see me receive the citation, and to the Class of ’73 friends who were there to cheer for me! I may have failed a bit as Class Agent this time around by not getting more of you back for our 45th, but you did not fail the College in your giving. We again received the award for the largest amount given over a five-year period, an amount well more than $2 million dollars. And this year’s class gift topped $496,000,

18

R Connections

beaten only by the Class of ’83 who presented a check more than $1 million. One thing all of us noted at the presentation of the checks was that no class gave an even dollar amount, all the donations included a number of cents which we all thought quite odd, especially the one that ended in $.01. I want to thank DOREEN CONFORTI CHEMEROW ’73 and BILL MACLEOD ’73 for leading the gift campaign and a special thanks to Bill for helping present the check and receiving the trophy! And thanks to each of you who gave to the Ripon Fund! Your generosity is truly appreciated! Speaking of gifts, I have decided that from now on when I ask for your donation, I will ask you to make your gift for whatever amount you plan on giving and then have you add 73 cents. Just something silly, but it would add up and give even a bit more notoriety to our class which is already known for its generosity! I hope you’ll join in! Over Alumni Weekend, there were many activities going on across campus. I know many of our classmates participated in the 5K, the Prairie Walk, the talks on various issues and the parade, the picnic, and our event Saturday evening at Willmore Center. Everyone who attended our cocktail party took a quick tour and was blown away by this impressive facility. If you have not seen it, truly you should get up to Ripon to see it for yourself. STEVE ILLICH ’73 again put together a slideshow of past reunions, our time at Ripon and acknowledgement of the classmates who are no longer with us. Jeanne Stiernberg had sent along a Memorial CD that a friend had put together about her husband, JOHN STIERNBERG ’73, who died late last year. It brought tears to many of our eyes. Our discussions many times centered on the fact that 45 years is a long time, but the five years between now and our 50th will speed by, and how do we encourage more of you to return? I am not saying we needed more people because those of us who were there had a tremendous time and were quite content with everything. We all just felt bad that the rest of you were missing out on such a good time! During the course of our cocktail party, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to JERRY TROCHINSKI ’73 talking about the history of Ripon, the town and the College. Most of us recall Ripon as the birthplace of the Republican Party, but the Socialists also got a start in the town. He told me that the College was funded by money that was really supposed to build a railway, something I did not know. I hope he will take my suggestion and write an article for Ripon Magazine, as it would make very interesting reading. It was so good to see JANE SCHORE ’73, JOANN SELLECK ’73 and KATHY GRAUNKE ’73, all of whom flew in from the West Coast. BRUCE CLAUTER ’73 was in from Ohio, and KATE PARISH MILLER ’73 from Michigan. DARCI JAEGER JAYNE ’73 and husband BRIAN JAYNE ’76 were there, as well as PAT WILKE EPTING ’73 with husband LEX EPTING ’72. JOHN FREDERICK ’73 with his wife, JANE RUNKEL FREDERICK ’74, JACK MEYER ’73, JERRY TROCHINSKI ’73, STEVE ILLICH ’73 and BILL MACLEOD ’73 also enjoyed the evening. When our reception ended, people went on to the after-party in the tent, as well as to the fire pit where they made s’mores. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. You can see pictures on the Ripon College website and on our Facebook page. Mark your calendars now for June 22-25, 2023, which will be our 50th! Let’s make it a record turnout! BRUCE CLAUTER ’73 and his spouse of 45 years, LaRue, retired early in 2017. He writes “FINALLY I’d say, and we should have done this sooner as we are both enjoying traveling. I don’t know how we ever got ANYTHING done before we retired, as there seems to be lots of things to keep us busy now! Not to mention that LaRue

1972-74 surprised me with an Australian shepherd puppy last November: hardly miss a day at the dog park or walks in the woods with her. Our eldest daughter, Jody, took a new position in her field of archaeology in Montrose, Colorado, early in 2017, and was married in July. LaRue helped her move from Laramie, Wyoming. We both spent a couple of weeks in Montrose for the wedding and already are planning a fall ‘color’ trip. Our younger daughter, Andrea, took a new position with Columbus Humane, which allows her to concentrate on her passion of rescuing neglected or mistreated pets and helping to find them families that will give them a ‘forever home.’ We still call Columbus our official home but spend time also at our lake house in Hamilton, Indiana. We’re making some long-overdue upgrades to both properties — some of which we are doing ourselves. When we aren’t at one of these, you might find us at Ripon reunions (it was an enjoyable 45th one just completed in June, and I missed seeing others), with LaRue’s family in the Chicago area, or somewhere roaming the western slopes of Colorado.” KRISTINA DAVIS ’73: “I retired from my family therapy career last year. My husband, Jim, also a retired family therapist, and I are spending time with our grandchildren — Ivy, 8, Isaac, 6, and Quin, 4. I recently became a certified group fitness instructor with the American Council on Exercise and am planning to teach fitness walking classes to various groups. I am also a WALK15 instructor through Leslie Sansone’s ‘Walkathome’ program. Fitness walking has been called the closest thing to a wonder drug because its benefits affect the mind, emotions, body and health of those who do it. We have found a wonderful app called ‘Walking’ which lets you pick your music from many genres and then adjusts the beats per minute to the walking program you pick. Also, Leslie Sansone’s DVDs are fun. Jim and I are working on a grant for funding for a video on Praise and Worship dance I want to do for our WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) churches and missions.” BILL BRUCATO ’73: “Ripon was the start of my national security career (ROTC Scholarship-United States Army Signal Corps). I am now vice president of research and development for Horizon Global Partners HGP, working security around the world and in the U.S.” DAVE BUNTEN ’73: “I came out of retirement to substitute teach three to four days a week. I save a day or two a week for volunteer work at my parish food bank and for my weekly skate at the hockey rink. I still play the guitar quite a bit.” DOREEN CONFORTI CHEMEROW ’73: “We are spending our second season in our new summer home in Martha’s Vineyard and enjoying all that this special place offers, including being near to lots of old friends from our early years in New England and New York City. David has recently retired, and we are now able to take longer trips to more distant places. Last year we hiked in the mountains and glaciers of Patagonia in Argentina, and this April we biked from Amsterdam to Bruges after a theatre week in London. We are heading to Antarctica in December. Anyone travelling this way or to the Boca Raton area, please get in touch.” JEAN KIRKPATRICK LEDERER ’73 of Bonita Springs, Florida, received the Distinguished Alumni Citation in June. She is retired from a career as a loan counselor and still serves in various service roles advocating for children. KATE PARISH MILLER ’73: “My son is getting married this July 22 to a wonderful match who has two little boys, 4 and 6. He will be an instant dad! They planned the wedding to be while my daughter and husband and family are visiting Michigan. In my activist life,

my 350.org is blending with other organizations to help Kalamazoo become fossil- free and 100 percent renewable. Good to have groups working together.” MIKE MIZEN ’73: “Our grandson, Kael, continues to be a joy in our lives. He is ‘mobile’ now, and Alison and Trip will have him in a toddler swim class in June. Daily trips to the park where construction is underway is another pleasant diversion. He loves the big trucks. I cannot imagine how he will react when we have the RV in the driveway. In May, we did a car trip through the Shenandoah Parkway and West Virginia, ending up in Maryville, Tennessee, to visit one of Peggi’s RC roommates, LINDA MOCHALSKI CARPENTER ’75. We are beginning to ponder an RV trip centered around the Mississippi River down to the Gulf Shores. Wheels up on or around Labor Day. Looking forward to seeing CAROL PARKHURST TULLIO ’73 and PETE TULLIO ’73 postFourth of July as they are in these parts visiting family and friends.” MARTY MORRIS ’73: “I have officially and finally moved to Portland, Oregon. I sold my house in Michigan and headed west over Memorial Day Weekend. The most significant thing is that in two years I downsized from a 2,900-square-foot, two-story colonial with a pool and 1/2 acre to a mere 1,500 square-foot-townhouse in northwestern Portland. I’m working on becoming a dazzling urbanite, too.” JANE SCHORE ’73: “We are having a west coast Ripon reunion July 7 at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. JOANN SELLECK ’73, RICH DIEMER ’72 and CINDY HAYES DIEMER ’73, Jean Stiernberg and myself are meeting for lunch and a little culture.” On a personal note: Thanks for all the emails and messages congratulating me on the Distinguished Alumni Award. It means a lot to me, and I am very proud to have received it. Cheers, JEAN KIRKPATRICK LEDERER ’73

1974 Jan Petrovski MacLeod 630-920-2450 / Bookmaven105@gmail.com Greetings, classmates! How was your summer? Did you make it to Alumni Weekend? I hope that no matter how you spent your time, it was filled with friends, family, and good times. Lots of big news in our family this summer: our second grandchild was born to our daughter, Kate, and her husband, JP. Baby Grace arrived in June and joined her 20-month-old sister, Lilly, and both have kept me plenty busy. I started Tai Chi classes this summer, and found it was a good balance for keeping up with Lilly. The other big news: our younger daughter, Mary, became engaged, and plans have begun for a summer 2019 wedding. At this point, they have the date chosen, the venue secured, and the bridal party in place, and it just keeps rolling along. So as you can see, there is a lot going on here and it’s all good! DOUG CASSELL ’74 and ANN DEVENISH CASSELL ’75 posted photos on Facebook from their travels to Scotland, visiting places like the ruins of the Culross Abbey, used in the “Outlander” series. JACK DELK ’74 and MARY JENKEL DELK ’75 have a new home in Texas. Mary writes: “So far, we really like Austin and really love being near the grandkids — and retirement is pretty nice also! Our new address is 7317 Coit Rd, Austin, TX 78744.” Connect with Mary at marybethdelk@gmail.com.

Fall 2018

19

CLASS LETTERS TIM VERNIER ’74 has written a new detective novel, Lightning’s Landing, second in the Dick Stranger series. CHRIS DOHERTY ’74 of Andover, Massachusetts. Chris sent me a note via Facebook saying he wouldn’t be able to attend Alumni Weekend this year because he was on vacation, and at that moment, was in Scotland. He had just visited the Isle of Skye, which happens to be the ancestral home of clan MacLeod, and a fair amount of good whiskey, which I hope he sampled. Well, Chris, we envy you the trip, and we hope you will do your best to be with us in Ripon next summer for our 45th reunion. Please be thinking about making the trek to Ripon next year, too! You will be hearing more about this as our reunion committee begins working on the plans, and if you would like putting your two cents in to the planning process, feel free to join us. Let me know (630-460-0320) or contact AMY GABRIEL GERRETSEN ’04, director of constituent engagement, at gerretsena@ ripon.edu to be added to the committee. We would love to have your input. Meanwhile, be happy and stay well. JAN

1975

RUTH GALES FRECHMAN ’75 of North Hollywood, California, completed her year as president of the California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “It was a great two years as president-elect and then president. Awesome experience. I have been spending the last week organizing, so I can catch up on my real work that got put on the back burner.” See her website at ruthfrechman. com and find out more about her book, The Food is My Friend Diet. BECKY HADLEY ’75 of San Antonio Texas: “I hope to be traveling like Dee before long! I’m mostly retired, working one day a week ‘prn’ as a registered nurse in a surgical setting. Loving being a grandma to almost 2-year-old grandson, Micah, who lives in Houston. Big event of the year is the wedding of our daughter, Laura, who lives in Washington, D.C. Her husbandto-be is a financial analyst for the CIA who has briefed the president several times. Another summer trip is to Martha’s Vineyard. In the process of planning lots more travel to bucket-list destinations.” Connect with Becky at rahadley@sbcglobal.net.

Jondi Gumz 831-461-1120 / jondigumz@yahoo.com

LEN KACHINSKY ’75 reports from Neenah, Wisconsin, that he’s feeling better, running six miles in 88 minutes or less.

Dear classmates, Let’s hear it for LAURIE LANDIS WOLFORD ’75 of Lone Tree, Colorado, who organized a reunion for the Alpha Delta Pi sisters at Estes Park, Colorado, and everyone got their photo taken in front of the historic Stanley Hotel. SUE CHAPMAN CARLTON ’75 and KAREN KUCKHAHN KEHL ’75 were there along with MARY JAMIESON SAMELSON ’76, CHRIS OVERLY WALLACE ’74, NANCY GROOSE TERMAAT ’76, DEB STODDARD JESSOP ’77, MADGE BUSHNELL ’77, SELMA BAYDOUN CEMAN ’74, JUDY REISINGER DAVIS ’76, JOAN MUCCI ESPOSITO ’78, PEGGY ZAREK ODDO ’76 and LAURA MCGOWAN STAHL ’77. Great job, Laurie!

LITA WEISLOW KATZ ’75 of Silver Spring, Maryland: “My daughter, Sarah, is now living about 10 miles away instead of several hundred miles away — so my husband, Bert, and I are now the designated cat sitters when she goes on vacation. She moved here for a job at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Lab working on space probe radiation shielding.” Since Lita retired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, aka NOAA, she accepted the job of treasurer for her synagogue. Recently, she spent an afternoon in the synagogue kitchen cooking an entry for the sisterhood’s kugel cook-off. Connect with her at litakatz@verizon.net.

DIANA AUSTRING ’75 posts on Facebook from New Zealand: “Luxuriating in the warmth of my wood-burning stove in Waiheke Island’s winter, but heading to Perth, Western Australia, for five weeks in July to be main caregiver for my 3-year-old and 1-year-old granddaughters (Natasha and Sienna Rose; daughters of son Kris and his wife, Tory); then will head up to Tombstone, Arizona, in October for three weeks to hang around with my siblings, with a likely road trip to Fort Collins, Colorado.”

JULIE OLSON KEILMAN ’75 is spending time with her grandchildren, and she visited Mackinac Island, Michigan, in June.

WARREN BLUHM ’75 in Luxemburg, Wisconsin: “When are you done? When is your life’s work complete?” Read more at https://www.facebook.com/ warrenbluhmwordsmith/ PHIL BOLDA ’75 of Tempe, Arizona, posted photos on Facebook about his trip to Pittsburgh for the Society for American Baseball Research conference. GEORGIANNE BRAVICK ’75 of Appleton, Wisconsin, had to dig out of a snowstorm on April 16. Follow her on Facebook. ANN DEVENISH-CASSELL ’75 posted photos on Facebook from her travels with her husband, DOUG CASSELL ’74, to Scotland, visiting places like the ruins of the Culross Abbey, used in the “Outlander” series. MARY JENKEL DELK ’75 and her husband, JACK DELK ’74, have a new home in Texas. She writes: “So far, we really like Austin and really love being near the grandkids — and retirement is pretty nice also! Our new address is 7317 Coit Rd, Austin, TX 78744.” Connect with Mary at marybethdelk@gmail.com

20

ROSIE GAY FATHEREE ’75 in Alpharetta, Georgia, posted photos on Facebook from the wedding of her daughter, Katherine, in May.

R Connections

NANCY LAWS KERN ’75 of Littleton, Colorado, enjoyed watching spring training with friends in Scottsdale, Arizona, and hiking on Pinnacle Peak. KATHY KURKE ’75 in Ormond Beach, Florida, finished a new painting, “Moonstruck,” for the Daytona Art Show. You can see it on Facebook. Connect with Kathy at kathy@kurke.net. GEORGE LONG ’75 writes from East Greenbush, New York: “I finally retired from New York State Department of Transportation. Two weeks and I still have a big grin on my face. Now I just have to get this house in shape to sell, and the house in Vermont ready to move into, and we’re set. Anyone who wants to visit New England for the fall foliage, give me a call! We have 115 acres of woods, surrounded by more of the same, on a pond in the Vermont mountains. We’ll even throw in a tour of local microbreweries.” Connect with George at 518-477-7366 or longgeo@gmail.com. SUZANNE MONROE POULOS ’75 of Evanston, Illinois, attended the Ripon Alumni Weekend the last weekend in June with husband MICHAEL POULOS ’77 participating in several Beta Sigma Pi events, including the oral history session. Thanks, Suzanne, for representing the class of ’75. Suzanne: “I well remember LOUISE RENIER BOOTHBY ’75’s comments in the fall R Connections mentioning last year’s alumni dinner night where several

1974-77 of us from the ’70s joined together and had an amazing conversation just like we were back in college. Michael and I have downsized into one condo and totally renovated our other condo next door, from a new roof down to the refinished wood and new tiled floors. Glad that’s behind us. Of course, we had to lose some book storage in the process and now have 17 boxes of books to donate. Our Chicago Bar Association chorus and orchestra recently performed Rossini’s Stabat Mater. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are performing it this weekend. All classmates and alumni are welcome to get in touch with us for a sail on Lake Michigan from Wilmette Harbor. Give us a call if you’re interested at 847-492-9800.” STEVE RUGO ’75 and his wife, Laura de Frise, report from Chicago: Their son Peter lives in Los Angeles and started his own music management business in February; for a list of upcoming shows, see keel.la. Their daughter, Aubrey, recently moved from Chicago to Washington, D.C., to work for Booz Allen Hamilton. Steve’s architecture practice is thriving. He designs residences and more recently noted restaurants. You can see his portfolio at rugoraff.com. Laura left Christie’s after 30-plus years and is managing director for Ronald Varney Fine Art Advisers. LINDA MOGICATO SASSER ’75 reports that she and her husband, Carey, “escaped the cold winters of Chicago for good last December” and moved to Peoria, Arizona, outside of Phoenix. They are enjoying living in a resort-style active adult community, swimming, biking and hanging out with similar-aged people who also moved here from other parts of the United States and Canada. Linda does public speaking (her website is www.brainandmemoryhealth.com) and markets her curriculum, BE! Brain Enrichment, to help people learn about brain health and develop their cognitive skills (like memory!) with the goal of postponing or preventing cognitive decline. Reach her at linda@ brainandmemoryhealth.com. SHARON SCHECK SINA ’75 of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is spending time with her grandchildren this summer. See her photos on Facebook. SUSAN SCHREYER STANDER ’75 of Paradise Valley, Arizona: “Airbnb just named my casita an Airbnb Plus property. To view our home and maybe schedule a visit, go to Resort Style Casita in Paradise Valley. While my husband continues to work taking care of veterans, my retirement is spent tending to the cat and the casa, and working as a precinct committee person in our legislative district. I visited MARY ELLEN WEIS DOLL ’75 and MARTHA ROBBINS ANDERSON ’75 in Milwaukee last fall, and we had an amazing visit. Some friends (especially Ripon friends) are forever.” Connect with Susan at susanstander@gmail.com. STEVE SWANSON ’75 of Manassas, Virginia: “Finally rejoined the family after nearly three years in Miami as a geo-bachelor. Don’t ask, long story. Barbara, Margaret and I are taking a road trip next week to Austin, Texas. Margie is attending the Keller Williams Young Entrepreneur seminar. And BA and I are checking out our two properties in the Fort Hood (Killeen/Harker Heights) area. The grandkids, Athena, Colin and Deanna, successfully graduated the school year!” SCOTT TREMBERTH ’75, of Henderson, Nevada: “It would have been great to visit. We are back in Green Lake, Wisconsin, for the summer. We go back to Vegas in the fall.” I was hoping to catch up with SCOTT TREMBERTH ’75 when I attended the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference in Las Vegas. I did not realize it would

be 107 degrees! Good thing the air conditioning was working. About that trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, my husband and I departed shortly before the Kilauea volcano blew up, covering roads with lava, and and forcing entire neighborhoods to evacuate. Sad to hear. In April, I had a weekend visit in Mission Viejo, California, with my sister JOY GUMZ ’78, also an economics major at Ripon. Then my sister SHERYL GUMZ ALBERS-ANDERS ’76 drove in on a cross country road trip in her VW Bug. Now I’m staying at home and baking blackberry pie, freshly picked from the back yard. GREGG PETERSEN ’78 and brother MICHAEL PETERSEN ’75 shared a neat slideshow posted on Facebook and made for his 40th class reunion made by HELEN HOLTER ’78 using photos from the Green List and yearbooks. Anyone with these technical skills, give me a holler. I’d like to see if we can do this for our next reunion, June 26-28, 2020. Until then, keep your news a-coming to jondigumz@yahoo.com! Your Class Agent, JONDI GUMZ ’75

1976 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1977 Alan Lawrence 920-730-9515 / alan_lawrence99@yahoo.com Although I failed to make it to Alumni Weekend this summer, at least six from our class were there: LARRY MALCHOW ’77, TOM KLOOSTERBOER ’77, NINA WULFF ’77, CONNIE JESS ZOLKOSKE ’77, MARYJO MACSWAIN ’77 and JEAN BLACK ’77. These are always fun events, and I look forward to my next opportunity to be on campus again. It will be nearly four more years until our class celebrates its 45th anniversary during Alumni Weekend, but we are invited every year to participate in the weekend. There is plenty to do and enjoy even without “our” class reunion. ELENA ZIBUTE KEZELIS ’77 of Springfield, Illinois: “After practicing law in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois, and serving for the last 14 years as executive director of a hospital foundation, I have retired. Our oldest son got married in 2017, and our youngest graduated from college and has been traveling all over the world. We are traveling much more, as well (Australia, New Zealand, Galapagos) and finally making good use of our house in southwest Florida. I might even learn how to golf!” PAULA STELLMACHER KUBINCHAK ’77 of Queen Creek, Arizona: “Life has recently changed dramatically for me! I remarried in 2015 to an amazing Canadian, and we decided to get back into horses after 50+ years of not riding or owning. We now live at the Lazy K Ranch in Queen Creek, Arizona, with our two riding horses and two mini-horses that pull a cart. Life is perfect! We have 12 grandchildren between the two of us. Every one of them is a special gift.” ED MORRELL ’77 of Northfield, Illinois: “Married to PATRICIA KRUG MORRELL ’78 for 41 years! She continues as interior designer but dedicates a lot of time to working with La Casa Norte supporting homeless youth. We are expecting our first and second grandchildren in April and July.” GREG ROMANELLO ’77 and BARBARA MENGEL ROMANELLO ’78 of North Prairie, Wisconsin, are keeping busy with family. Most recently their daughter had triplets! That brings their grandchildren total to seven – and all of them are boys!

Fall 2018

21

CLASS LETTERS I happen to still be working as an IT worker in Greenville, Wisconsin. Retirement looks inviting, but I think I’ll be working a while yet. And, for now, I’m working hard helping my wife in her campaign for State Assembly. She has a primary, so we are worried about the August election. Please send news about yourself either to the College or to me to be shared in our next class letter. Always remember that your financial help is very important to help keep Ripon a competitive and quality institution. Your donations are important every year. Please consider making a gift to Ripon College this year. Your participation is very important. Please write back to me or to the Office of Constituent Engagement. We’d love to hear from you. Always for Ripon, ALAN

1978 Gregg Petersen 410-884-0407 / Sig29@aol.com Dear Classmates: The reunion has come and gone in a flash! Two hours for the reunion was way, way too short. Thirty-nine classmates, 80+ attendees overall counting plus ones and the return of our wonderful faculty members and spouses! We thought we could meet in the Martin Luther King Lounge but in the days before the reunion, we exploded out of the downstairs of Harwood Union up to owning Great Hall for our event! The night prior to the reunion, in the very same location, Ripon College recognized JOSE ALEMAN ’78 and ERIKA DOSS ’78 as Distinguished Alumni with four of the tables filled with fellow ’78 classmates and faculty there in support! Erika talked fondly of her Ripon professors. Jose remarked of the irony that as we graduated in 1978 our nation was focused on tearing walls down, whereas today our nation was building a wall. Jose opined for a return to our past. It was an interesting journey leading up to our reunion. Our very own Emmy winner and distinguished alumna, HELEN HOLTER ’78 spent more than 100 hours putting together a video that is essentially a 1974 Green List/1978 Yearbook graduation gallery. The video is 30 minutes long with only 4 seconds per classmate picture. In the process of researching all of our classmates that started with us freshman year, there have been some sad discoveries that I noted below in addition to the recent passing of JIM MARTIN ’78. Helen “finished” the video on June 10, so the link now is posted on Facebook and we played it on a loop at the reunion. Thanks to Helen for all of her painstaking care and time on the video. If you want access to the link or a copy of the video, please contact me.

22

year Class Gift Ripon Fund drive: “Thank you for your letter (and gentle reminder). I shall be participating in ‘gifting’ but sadly will not attend the reunion this year. I am sure it will be a delightful occasion and send on my very best wishes to everyone (and you). If you are able to take my book along and share it with others, I would be most grateful. As you will see from reading it to the end, it is part of a bigger dream. And that bigger dream needs the help of others. Lastly, a ‘Ripon Alumni Invite’ (fundraiser). I now have lived most of my life here in England. And Peter and I would be happy to share our love of it. Our home has a double bedroom w/en suite. If Ripon alumni would like to visit and give a donation to Ripon for staying, we would enjoy the visit. We live in the southwest of England, about 150 miles (English miles) from London. If you would like to share that with the class at the reunion, please do. In the meantime, enjoy yourselves. Hope you ALL have a lovely time in Ripon. Best wishes, Tami (and Peter, of course).” I mentioned Tami’s book in our last class letter: No Way?!: How Pickles Became the Christmas Gherkin. Tami is using the book and proceeds to raise awareness of the needs for children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). JOSE ALEMAN ’78 of Panama City, Panama, received the Distinguished Alumni Citation from Ripon College in June. He is a founder and partner at Arias, Aleman & Mora Law Firm; founding director at Multibank Inc.; and chairman of Multibank Seguros, S.A. He has a strong history in Panamanian politics, having joined the movement to return democracy to Panama in 1981 and served the government in various capacities. DAN DALLMAN ’78 of Waukesha, Wisconsin, works for a marketing company after formerly working with AIG and Liberty Mutual Co. He’s married with five children: four girls and a boy. His son is attending the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He and Merriman brother DAN CHIONCHIO ’78 of Princeton, Wisconsin, go on an annual fishing outing every year, usually coming home with walleye and bass. Freshman classmate BOB GREYTAK ’79 is a podiatrist in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. ERIKA L. DOSS ’78 of South Bend, Indiana, received the Distinguished Alumni Citation from Ripon College in June. She is a professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Thanks also to reunion planners LIZ PECHA-POELKER ’78 and LAURIE WAGNER ’78 who pulled together our great number of classmates, friends and faculty for the reunion. Thanks to ROB “TEX” MEYER ’78 who was calling everybody that has a phone number (and will answer their phone). Thanks to LIZ PECHA-POELKER ’78, JOHN ZINDAR ’78, LOUISA GEBELEIN JONES ’78 and LISA WOLLAN ’78 as well for their fruitful efforts conducting our Ripon Fund class gift outreach. On the final morning of Alumni Weekend, I attended the Alumni Weekend Service of Remembrance where Professor Emeritus Doug Northrop spoke very eloquently. I noticed that the remembrance program listed some other year-group classmates that passed in the last year. I was shocked to find that JEANNIE UETZMANN PORDON ’77 and TOM CONNOLLY ’76 had passed away. Others of us may know two other classmates that passed from years ’76 and ’80: ADAIN BUMBY ’76 and MARK GREENE ’80.

HELEN HOLTER ’78 of Seattle, Washington: “As a board director of the Seattle-Tashkent Sister City Association in Central Asia’s Uzbekistan, (she) is excited about the country’s new reform-minded president in power. She’s been meeting with top-level officials – including the new ambassador and ministry officials – to help in opening up Uzbekistan to business, travel and educational student exchanges.” Helen’s production of our class video was appropriate given that Helen has made many videos before. “I am doing another volunteer project with a Seattle cancer organization. I’m producing a video on genetic cancers, specifically those caused by the MSH2 gene,” she says. According to a search I made, the MSH2 gene is associated with autosomal dominant Lynch syndrome (also called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer syndrome). Lynch syndrome is a genetic condition that has a high risk of colon cancer as well as other cancers including endometrial cancer (second most common), ovary, stomach, small intestine, hepatobiliary tract, upper urinary tract, brain and skin. The increased risk for these cancers is because of inherited mutations that impair DNA mismatch repair. It is a type of cancer syndrome.

TAMARA “TAMI” BODEN-ELLIS ’78 of Somerset, United Kingdom wrote the following concerning our reunion

NORMAN HURD ’78 of Portage, Wisconsin, was my first-semester roommate in old Scott Hall, and then he

R Connections

1977-78 left. Norm and fellow Old Scott Hall (also known as “the slums” for their lack of carpeting and other amenities) freshmen GREG HOPKINS ’78, BILL SCHUMACHER ’78 and LUD WURTZ ’78 were aspiring basketball players for the Ripon freshman team in fall of ’74. I checked in on Norm recently to see why he returned to his hometown after one semester at Ripon. Norm had to help out his mom who had health issues, so he left Ripon to be close to home. Thereafter, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Baraboo and then finished out his education at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Norm went on to teach high school health classes for 32 years in his hometown of Portage, Wisconsin, while coaching the basketball team for 27 years before retiring in 2011. Norm now works at JustaGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells in retirement and continues to work as a substitute teacher at Portage High School. Our nickname for Norm was “Normal” because he was so even-tempered among a bunch of us rambunctious young freshmen in the fall of 1974. There was a funny anecdote in his local paper about a basketball game where he was coaching, and he received a technical foul for using the (not very) extreme epithet of shouting, “Jeepers-creepers ref!” Norm clearly had basketball running through his blood; Norm proudly told me that both of his sons were selected to the All State Wisconsin basketball team. They are coaches now at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Gale Ettrick Trempealeau High School (nicknamed “GET High!” — how interesting!), respectively. Whenever Norm hears the song Band on the Run (#23 of the Top 100 songs of 1974), by Paul McCartney and Wings, he flashes back to his days at Ripon, because that was the first song that played when he hooked up his stereo in our room in Scott Hall. He occasionally tracks on his friend ADAM KRIVELOFF ’78. He also has fond memories of Resident Assistants BILLY SMITH ’76 and MAURICE RUSSELL ’76. JOE KEEGAN ’78 of St. Petersburg, Florida: “Heading to St. Germain for the summer after the reunion! Summers in Wisconsin for the last 30 years! Getting together with fellow Merrimen for a golf weekend in Green Lake, the week before Labor Day. JIM KOHL ’77, KERRY GILLE ’77, TIM SULLIVAN ’77, MARK RECHNER ’77, MARK BOHMAN ’76, AL SCHEELS ’76, PAUL WISNEFSKI ’77, DANNY CHIONCHIO ’78, CRAIG WINTER ’76 ... and BOBBY WEYHMILLER ’76! And the Duke of Earle, PAT EARLE ’76! Also see GEORGE MORT ’80 up north and an occasional ART PETERS ’80 and RUTH HOLLINGER PETERS ’79!” KEVIN LEAVITT ’78 of New London, New Hampshire, has worked for a tree service in nearby Sunapee for the last seven years. Prior to that, Kevin was in Connecticut for 15 years. Kevin left Ripon in 1976 and hasn’t been back. He warmly recalls going fishing with Merriman brothers DAN DALLMAN ’78 and DANNY CHIONCHIO ’78 (see Dan’s note above). Kevin still enjoys fishing these days and mostly catches bass, pickerel and trout on his outings. In the off-season, Kevin usually heads to Florida for a month’s vacation in the warmer climate. PATRICIA KRUG MORRELL ’78 of Northfield, Illinois: “Married to ED MORRELL ’77 for 41 years! I continue as an interior designer but dedicate a lot of time to working with La Casa Norte supporting homeless youth. We are expecting our first and second grandchildren in April and July.” I talked to BARBARA MENGEL ROMANELLO ’78 of North Prairie, Wisconsin. She just retired in the last year, but she and husband, GREG ROMANELLO ’77, are keeping quite busy with family. Most recently their daughter had triplets! That brings their grandchildren total to seven – and all of them are boys!

DONNA HANSEN SCYMANSKI ’78 of Hamden, Connecticut, wrote the following on our Facebook page just before the reunion: “… I would be interested, and others may also in our classmate’s junior year abroad studies (such a huge part of my life, though it meant missing experiences at Ripon, even graduating the following year). So, pics of me would be in the 1979 yearbook. I was thinking ‘little-known facts’ sheet could be fun. Such as STEVE RASHID ’79’s band played at my wedding. KATHY BAKSHY PEELE ’80’s daughter and my son are a couple. In 1982, heard my name called out in a nasal tone in Paris. Was MARY PALMQUIST ’78 —that sort of thing.” MICHAEL POULOS ’77 responded, “STEVE RASHID ’79 conducted the orchestra at our wedding and played piano at the reception. And then he moved to Evanston and opened a studio a block from our office and studied music at Northwestern with my high school band director, Doc Owens. Such a small world.” EDDIE SMITH ’78 of Atlanta, Georgia: “Hello, Gregg (and classmates)! This is Eddie Smith. Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the reunion. I am working with a number of other attorneys to provide legal assistance on a pro bono basis to families caught in the morass at the southern border. I hope that you and your families are well. I hope that you have a great reunion. I wish for health and happiness for you; that such health and happiness enable us in gather together for our 45th. (snip) Peace! Go YANKEES!” JERRY WAUKAU ’78 of Keshena, Wisconsin: “I am sorry I can’t make it to the reunion this year. We are burying a friend this weekend, and I need to help with the arrangements with our local church. My family has increased by two this past year with the addition of two more foster children along with my two grandsons I am raising. I am still serving as the health administrator for our Tribal Clinic, which I have done for the past 33 years. We have grown over the years with a total of 140 employees and a budget of $25 million. Not sure if this is important to anyone, but I feel blessed by the foundation Ripon gave me, and I will always treasure my time there. Our Elder Teachings tell us to give back to our communities and to give back to those less fortunate, which is why I have taken in the two foster children. I continue to do hoops basketball coaching and now I am doing little league baseball. My younger brother tells me this is good therapy, but I wonder some days. My circle of mentors at Ripon has gotten smaller with the loss of Jerry Thompson, but we do stay in touch with Doc Young and Doug Northrop. Give my best to our classmates, and I will be thinking of you all this weekend. Keep the faith, Jerry “Gatie” Waukau.” LISA WOLLAN ’78 of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, continues to keep Wisconsin in her life through visits to her cabin in Three Lakes and ongoing connections to the Ripon campus. She is planning a fall trip to the Canadian Rockies, hiking through Lake Louise, Banff and Jasper as a great excuse to eat delicious food and drink fine wine. She serves as president of the Valley Forge Mountain Racquet Club and is a member of the Deltaville Yacht Club on the Chesapeake Bay. Class of ’78 Dominates Participation for Ripon #OneDayRally April 25th: In a sign of things to come on reunion weekend, we topped all other class year groups in participation by nearly 10 percent during the April 25th #OneDayRally with 48 donations! Ripon’s director of annual giving, Kelly Nielsen, had this to say about the Class of ’78: “What can I say but WELL DONE! It (was) so impressive to see the Class of 1978 take the lead over all those millennials on the #OneDayRally class leaderboard!” The Class of ’78 was the only pre2000 class to place in the top 10 for participation! This effort by you wonderful classmates gave a turbo boost

Fall 2018

23

CLASS LETTERS to our ongoing class gift collection and set the stage for a successful final drive in the final three months culminating with our reunion. Class of ’78 Wins Class Gift Participation Trophy: 70 percent participation!!! The class of ’78 defended its possession of the Alumni Weekend gift participation trophy going away with the next-closest alumni class more than 15 percent behind. I want to thank all of you who opened your hearts and wallets to our class gift to the Ripon Fund! We doubled our participation rate of 35 percent from last year to 70 percent this year! As you recall, five years ago, with record support, our Class of 1978 accomplished something that no other 35th reunion class for Ripon College has ever done: we won the annual gift Participation Trophy with 63 percent of us supporting the Ripon Fund. We have set the standard for the school for charitably engaged class alumni. I want to especially thank classmates LIZ PECHA-POELKER ’78 co-chair of the campaign, LOUISA GEBELEIN JONES ’78 and LISA WOLLAN ’78 for their leadership in outreach encouraging us to donate consistent with our circumstances for Ripon and its students! Reunion Comments: From Professor of History Emeritus Bill Woolley: “Your class obviously dominated the whole weekend from Awards Night to final breakfast. The class gift was also stunning. Jean and I also want to thank (the class of ’78) for including us in the ’78 dinner on Saturday night. I thought afterwards that so many of my best memories of Ripon are tied to your class. There was that miracle class that Doug and I team-taught that has created its own mini-reunion. And, a significant number of my favorite students are ’78ers.” From BILL NEILL ’67: “70 percent!!!!! FANTASTIC!! Now to get the rest of our alumni to ‘understand’ and join ya’ll! Well done ‘78.” Reunion Attendees: Classmates: BARB SCHINTZ ’78, BETH BENEZRA ’78, MIKE POULOS ’77, DENISE BAIRD ’78, MELANIE CIVIN KENION ’78, ERIKA DOSS ’78, LISA WOLLAN ’78, SHARON RAUPP LANGLEY ’78, SUE FEITH SHANNON ’78, ANITA WALLACE ’78, HELEN HOLTER ’78, LIZ PECHA-POELKER ’78, MARY SWEENEY ’78, GINNY MCGEHEE CONDON ’78, LAURIE MEYER WAGNER ’78, SUE HEDMAN ’78, GREGG PETERSEN ’78, BRYAN HABECK ’78, LARRY LAUX ’78, JEFF OREAR ’78, DAN DAVIS ’78, TOM RITSCH ’78, JOE KEEGAN ’78, JOE PRATT ’78, TOM HARRISON ’78, MIKE CHAMBERLAIN ’78, GRETA GLUEK PORTER ’78, GEOFF THRUMSTON ’78, CHIN WEI FONG ’78, BARB EDUCATE DOLAN ’78, JEFF JOHNSON ’78, JUSTIN NIEBANK ’78, JAVIER CARRIZO ’78, WILL HIGGINS ’78, ERIC RIEDERS ’79, JOHN ZINDAR ’78, ROBBIE CORDO ’78 and JOSE ALEMAN ’78. Faculty: Bill and Jean Woolley, CHRIS OGLE ’80, Larry and Betsy Miller, Marty Farrell, Elaine and Gary Coll, Bob Wallace, Skip and MICHELE WITTLER ’76, Paul Schoofs, Bob and Carol Young, Diane Mockridge and Norm and SUE BOOTHROYD LOOMER ’67. Honorable mention: Spud Hannaford planned to attend as well but cracked four ribs in the days prior to Alumni Weekend. Guests: KEVIN WARMACK ’79, LARRY MALCHOW ’77, NANCY BUCK HINTZ ’82 and JANE RUNKEL FREDERICK ’74. Class Letter Updates: I continue to need your updates to make this a worthwhile letter for your fellow classmates. Please keep sending them in! Hey! What are you guys doing five years from now? I hope most of you reading this said, “Attending the 45th year class reunion!” Don’t forget — make plans to be there! You will not regret it, unless you hate having fun and visiting with good friends and faculty! Best wishes and warmest regards, GREGG

24

R Connections

1979 Kevin Warmack 773-220-5360 kwarmack@gmail.com / kwarmack@sbcglobal.net Greetings, all. I last wrote on Feb. 27, 2018 (four months ago). I just left Ripon College this past weekend after Alumni Weekend and began the “Countdown to 40” for next June 27-30, 2019, when the Class of 1979 celebrates our 40th (can you believe it!!) year since walking out of Ripon. But before that, I’ll give you the rundown on this past weekend, notes from our classmates, and then I’ll start getting ideas for next year. Alumni Weekend: Alumni Weekend was good. Some differences in that the registration was in the Commons as opposed to the Pub (now called The Spot. Yes, I know, there is only one The Spot!! But these are the times …) The Alumni Awards Dinner was its usual self with everyone giving great speeches. One of the highlights of the evening was when JOSE ALEMAN ’78 (Yes, those wild Panamanians were back) received a Distinguished Alumni Citation and spoke. “When I was a student here, the walls in the world were beginning to be torn down. Now here in America, we see that they are building walls. Let’s tear down those walls!!” he said. I attended “That was Then” in Todd Wehr, Room 104. While the stories were good, it still didn’t have the pizazz of SUE ANGELL SCHMIDT ’80 (Come back, Sue!!). Now the highlight, during the All-Campus March from the top of the hill to Harwood Memorial Union, I carried the Class of 1979 sign and, of course, held up the “4 beers” sign!! So come and join me and hold up the 4 beers!! BILL AINSLIE ’79, ADELE BINNING ’79 and BILL CLAPP ’79 attended the retirement celebration for Skip Wittler. Skip retired after 40 years of teaching. I still recall his class of Biology 111 at 8 a.m. MIKE ZAHN ’79: “We have 12 sheep, 2 goats, 9 chickens, 15 turkeys, a dog and a cat on our little 10-acre hobby farm. And 12 grandchildren. I’m still an account manager for a local company. I’ve been honored to have had a few opportunities to preach in the last six months, as well.” 40TH REUNION PLANNING: Remember when we used to type, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country”? Well, I’m adapting this to state that now is the time for us to begin planning what our 40th (can you believe it, we’re as old as our parents were at this time!!) Reunion Party is going to be. I’m expecting quite a few of us to show up and celebrate. So, I’m looking for volunteers. You can let me know by email, carrier pigeon, snail mail, smoke signals, text, sms, etc. As always, it is a pleasure to write to y’all. Special thanks to BETH PALMBACH NEMECEK ’79 for those Facebook posts from the College. Let’s plan to get together soon. By the way, I may be in your neighborhoods (work travel). So watch out for a reach-out for a beer or 3!! Also, when you got news, don’t hold on. Drop me a note so I can make your Class Letter the best!!! Love always, KEVIN L. WARMACK ’79

1980 Margaret “Peggy”Gero DaValt 608-658-3779 / gorsetr@gorsetr.com Jeffrey Penney 574-247-1182 / jeffpenneyno22@yahoo.com Another year and another Alumni Weekend have passed. I realize that I am a walking commercial for Alumni Weekend, so I apologize. This year was different. It wasn’t our year, but several of us old-timers travel up

1978-82 for various reasons, involved as a Class Agent or board member, just like the feel of campus and the nostalgia that that brings, or the most important item, the alumni lacrosse game. I enjoyed seeing lots of old friends like JIM MENDYKE ’83, JOHN MATHEWS ’89, TOBY STORZER ’82, BRET JAEGER ’84, TODD JAEGER ’83, TOM HARRISON ’78 and ANDY DICKSON ’79, and more my brain can’t recall. Of course, missing were several game regulars, ART PETERS ’80 and TED SCHALLER ’79. Although they were missed, you soon forgot about their absences because the “Presence” was on the field. Just like the shark in Jaws, he subtly comes out onto the field and then, BAM, you hear PEEB! BILL SCHNESE ’79 has arrived, and the energy level of old guys playing a kid’s game intensifies.

CHRIS OGLE ’80, dean of students at Ripon College, PHIL MCCULLOUGH ’69 and KRISTEN MCCULLOUGH GRANCHALEK ’04 released a book, Mental Health and the Adaptation to College, in November. It is available on Amazon.

We needed intensity as the organizer of the game, JIM MENDYKE ’83, brought his son’s U14 team to play us. We got game in hand, we thought, we had experience, moxie and we towered over these guys! What did they have — youth, speed, boundless energy, actual lacrosse skill! HA! I explained to the opponents, these young 13- and 14-year-old boys, the extra old-man rules. There was a penalty for hustle and running full speed. We could get away with any penalty, but they couldn’t. We had unlimited timeouts and could call them anytime, even if we were technically not allowed to call them. Don’t question authority! We also had a few ringers, several of the boy’s coaches joined us, as did my son Seamus Penney (class of ’25?) and his high school teammate. Both boys are 15 and possessing the same or more attributes as the above team and they became our legs. “Hey kid, run over there and get the ground ball. Run up the field, we are too tired. Go chase that opposing player and play defense.” It was glorious and, best of all, our ringers understood that it was our game, get the ball to the old guys, so they can shoot! Well, it was an exciting game, the lead changing back and forth, until with time running out and the game tied, the Presence called time out! It was do or die, he said, and he set up a sure-fire scoring play. Filled with confidence and spirit, we took the field, 20 seconds left, the crowd was hushed with nervous anticipation! We set in our positions and you could feel your heartbeat, just like old times. We never lost and we are poised to be the champions again! Well, the player drove towards the goal like RUSTY RYAN’S ’80 Olds Cutlass, powered by a Rocket 350. The moment was upon us, but age happened, some of us needed inhalers at that moment, one was talking to the fans about the time a jeep drove up Sadoff hill, one was getting Metamucil from the sidelines. The youngsters converged on the ball, since we were gone, and it dropped harmlessly to the ground. Kissing your sister, tie ballgame! Sometimes your life plans don’t work out. However, several things were great about this game:

Catherine Lothrop Hager 925-984-6713 / cathager@comcast.net

It was fun for both teams; even the refs said they want to do it again next year! It is fun to compete, whether on a field, at work or beating the pants off the family in a board game! I was able to play lacrosse in my 60s. I have played in five decades. I even scored, but so did the Presence and he is 61! The best was able to be on the field with my son playing the game I love! Of course, he critiqued my game afterwards like I used to do after his games. It was brutal! Thanks for indulging my boring life! Take care and don’t hate! JEFF PENNEY JOE LUKANICH ’80 is still kicking and as grumpy as ever. He hosted my son, his friend and I for Alumni Weekend at his Green Lake home. He both enthralled and frightened the boys.

RUSTY RYAN ’80 has retired from IBM and has started his own construction firm in Downers Grove, Illinois.

1981 Larry Nikolaus lnikolaus@mitre.org

1982 Peter Hintz 920-229-4399 / hintzp@gmail.com Kristen Rasmussen Olson 507-279-1091 / kolsonc21@yahoo.com Dear Classmates from 1982: Greetings from your Class Agents! I (Peter Hintz) write this letter after attending Alumni Weekend 2018 in June. This year was our 36th reunion, so it wasn’t as big of a draw for our class as last year. However, those who attended had a great time, including KRISTEN RASMUSSEN OLSON ’82, LAUREL STEWART ’82, PETRA JONES-TRUJILLO ’82, NANCY BUCK HINTZ ’82 and me. Thanks to all of you who donated to our class gift. The College truly appreciates and is humbled by the generosity of alumni. While our class gift was a little smaller this year, our 35th reunion class gift was an impressive $62,692, with 52 donors, 40 percent participation and more than 22 Class of 1982 attendees! Our reunion attendance last year was impressive for a 35th reunion! Just like last year, on Friday of Alumni Weekend, the Alumni Awards Dinner was held; as well as the All-Alumni Reception, which was moved this year from Hughes House to The Spot (formerly the Pub). For those of you who have not been back in a while, The Pub has been refurbished, expanded and updated to an open student-friendly gathering place. Many people gather at the fire pit outside the Commons across from the old Memorial Gym (now a green space called “Memorial Tent Space”) during Alumni Weekend. Because the adjacent streets have been closed, this area makes for a nice large gathering space where all classes come together, get reconnected and share stories. I met up Friday night with JEFF PENNEY ’80, whose son was visiting for the alumni lacrosse game (held on upper Sadoff field on Saturday). He was trying to explain to his son his experience here at Ripon and the interesting sense of community we all shared through events like Springfest, all-campus parties, a student-run radio station, Greek activities and epic pranks. “Knowing everyone” is a unique experience of college days at Ripon, and attending a reunion is a fun way to celebrate that experience. Alumni Weekend is also an opportunity to visit with your old professors. This year, I had the pleasure of seeing Norm Loomer and Paul Schoofs. Professor Schoofs told me this coming school year will be his last before he retires. Another end of an era. I will particularly miss him. I took his classes when I was there. He advised me as an economics major, and I now have the opportunity to teach economics myself at Green Lake High School in neighboring Green Lake, west of Ripon, where I live. When you attend Alumni Weekend, you also get the chance to talk with other alumni from different years (or eras!). The “That was then…” program at the library on

Fall 2018

25

CLASS LETTERS Saturday morning is attended informally by alumni of all ages and never disappoints. This year, we talked about “Convocation points” you could earn for attendance at cultural events in the 1960s, and alumni gave their memories of seeing performers who came to campus, such as Duke Ellington and John Denver, as well as great Commencement speakers. We brainstormed but could not recall our speaker — it was too hot that afternoon! We also shared memories of Dr. Martz, who passed away recently, as well. His challenging classes were certainly thought-provoking. Some of you English majors like me (my second major) appreciated how he limited you to two pages to discuss a Shakespeare play, which required disciplined succinctness. Some of you science students who took Professor Brooks were deducted a half-point for each spelling error. Now that’s just not “write,” if you ask me. We also shared memories of AL JARREAU ’62, who passed away last year, but came to Alumni Weekend six years ago in 2012 to celebrate his 50th reunion. You may not know that he would often give a shoutout to Ripon College and any alumni attendees at his concerts. FRED HERSOM ’82 and I attended that reunion, and the two of us had a chance to talk to him for a while. Nice guy. On Saturday afternoon, KRIS RASMUSSEN OLSON ’82, LAUREL STEWART ’82, PETRA JONES-TRUJILLO ’82, CINDY TRAYNOR ’81 and I wandered through the campus visiting the new Willmore Center, Demmer Recital Hall, East and West halls, Todd Wehr, Farr Hall, Harwood Memorial Union, Tri-Dorms and Johnson Hall. It is quite a trip down memory lane to see what’s changed and what is still the same, and to remember what classes you had and where. I recall my first class in the fall of 1978 was Introduction to Psychology with Professor Young in Todd Wehr 104 (the big room) at 9 a.m. Kris recalled falling down the steps of Todd Wehr! Do you recall your first class at Ripon College? Kris said that she particularly enjoyed looking through Tri Dorms and Johnson Hall and recalling move-in day. She actually got to see her old room, Evans 204, and realized that it wasn’t nearly as small as she recalled! With her youngest entering college in the fall, she has a flood of memories coming back and talked about that first exciting day sitting in Evans Hall’s lounge meeting her classmates and her advisor (Dr. Mary Williams Norton) for the first time. After the alumni class reunions on Saturday night (do your own thing if it is not your reunion year, like we did — hard to beat a drink on the patio at the Heidel House and some great Italian food at Christianos in Green Lake!), Saturday concludes with an all-alumni party in the tent with music and dancing for all from 8 to midnight. It was fun to talk to classmates and to those from so many different classes. Even if you do not feel particularly outgoing, you will find something you like at Alumni Weekend. There are many more activities I didn’t mention, such as the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble, the Rally Run, the Greek socials, the All-Alumni March and lunch, campus tours, the prairie walk, and wine tastings at Vines & Rushes, to name a few. Check out the College’s Facebook page for pictures! As I mentioned in my class letter, we welcome any news from all of you, and wish you all health and happiness. Our next big reunion is our 40th, only four years away. If any of you would like to assist in the planning or offer ideas, please let us know. Cheers, Your Class Agents, PETER HINTZ ’82 KRISTEN RASMUSSEN OLSON ’82 CATHY LOTHROP HAGER ’82

26

R Connections

1983 Barb Williams Clay 612-749-5010 / jbemtclay@msn.com Hello Ripon Class of 1983! Alumni Weekend was spectacular with the Class of 1983 presenting the largest giving check of $1,232,908.86. Over the last five years, we have contributed $2,235,700.78. What would be very meaningful is to increase our percentage of donors to exceed our 30 percent level and have an awesome showing of attendees for our 40th Reunion in 2023. Please think about this now to make plans to attend. This year we had 20 attendees, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together: DAVE STEWARD ’83, TODD JAEGER ’83, LEXIE SHEPARD KERMANI ’83, MASOUD KERMANI ’83, JOEY WATKINS ’83, JIM MENDYKE ’83, DAWN RUDNIK ’83, KATI WANEK FORSYTHE ’83, LYN ROSENBERG MCCARTHY ’83, SCOTT FLEMING ’83, BRYAN GHALIOUNGUI ’83, KEVIN DYKSTRA ’83, MARK FRANZEN ’83, JANICE HEINZ FRANZEN ’83, JOHN CLAY ’83, BARB WILLIAMS CLAY ’83, ROBERT BRANDFASS ’83, BILL JAHN ’83, ELI PETERSON GUZNICZAK ’83 and MIKE GUZNICZAK ’83. There were so many fun activities. JIM MENDYKE ’83 planned the alumni lacrosse event for the “oldies” while bringing young athletes to participate in a competition and get a taste of Ripon College. The Clays and Guzniczaks played in annual Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble, LEXIE SHEPARD KERMANI ’83 and KEVIN DYKSTRA ’83 continue to represent us on the Alumni Board, and I will join them in the fall. MARK FRANZEN ’83 is a trustee, and Janice and Mark were gracious hosts for us at their home on Green Lake during our 35th celebration. What gracious hosts and a fun time together on Green Lake. We reunited with professors and friends and felt the amazing impact that we shared at Ripon. I look forward to reconnecting with you and invite you to do the same. Peace, love, and friendship to all. I look forward to hearing from you. BARB WILLIAMS CLAY

1984 Virginia Vicha Erickson 847-546-2775 / vericks@gmail.com Connie Herbon Moser 847-372-5410/ clmoser24@gmail.com Happy summer. I hope all is well with all of you. This letter will be light on class news due to me totally dropping the ball. Like many of you, the last six months have been hectic in the Erickson household. I’ve learned that multitasking is the root of all evil and to live with gratitude because positive energy is way more fun than negative. We moved my 90+ year old mother to Florida from Illinois, coordinated care as my mother-in-law prepared and recovered from a successful adrenalectomy and rejoiced as our daughter graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with her BME. Topping it off with my younger brother’s “mild” heart attack in June. An angioplasty and two stents later, he is doing well. A lesson here for all of us – triple cheeseburgers are never part of a healthy diet after 40. We are living our 50s with passion and grace. I see the amazing things we are doing through my friends on Facebook. We are active, traveling Europe, enjoying grandbabies, moving into new homes, planning weddings and watching our kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews graduate from high school and college. Some are starting new careers or following interesting hobbies and pastimes.

1982-87 Next year is a milestone reunion year. It would be great to see everyone back at Ripon in person to share stories, pictures and experiences. I challenge all of you to start planning now for a trip to Ripon, Wisconsin, during June 2019. Please mark your calendars for June 27-30, 2019, now. More details about our 35th Reunion during Alumni Weekend 2019 coming soon! I look forward to seeing you there. VICKI “FRITZ” VICHA ERICKSON ’84

1986 Dan McNaughton 612-209-2996 / dan@egpinc.net CHRISTINE ELLIOTT ’86 shared on social media that she read a book, You are a Badass, that inspired great things for her – new job, new condo in the city of Chicago and a new optimistic outlook on life.

1985

KATHRINE ZECH KIOSHI ’86 of Milwaukie, Oregon, is an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse at the VA Medical Center in Portland.

Heather McFadden Barrie 262-628-1377 / heather.barrie@acllab.com

1987

Greetings from the Class of 1985!!! Welcome to Ripon College – Class of 2022! May your freshman year be an amazing journey filled with classes that inspire you to be the best you and awesome adventures that shape your life as you continue to explore who you are and what you will become. Remember, it’s your journey – so take advantage of everything Ripon College has to offer. Take it from us alums – the old farts who graduated 33 years ago!!!! Yes, before you were even born!!! We knew the sky was the limit back then and now … the sky’s the limit for you!

Dorrie Smith Scranton 860-455-6108 / dsscranton@gmail.com

Congratulations Ripon College Class of 2018! Welcome to the ranks of Ripon College alumni. Your last four years at Ripon College will be forever ingrained in your memories. As you join our ranks by becoming one of the many Ripon College alumni, you now have bragging rights to say you’re a Ripon College graduate!!! Share your Ripon pride with everybody. It will bring a smile to your face every time – guaranteed – you’ll always have a memory to share with anyone who will listen to your college adventures. Don’t forget about your alma mater. Visit often and partake in any events happening in your hometown. For both Ripon College freshman (Class of 2022) and recent Ripon College graduates (Class of 2018), my fellow classmates have shared some words of wisdom, advice to live by and secrets to success/ happiness that we’ve all embraced for the past 33 years. Here’s what they have to say: “Enjoy and cherish your college years; it may seem difficult at the time, but you’ll always remember time spent with friends and the experiences you shared.” – LISA BEHRENS KENNEDY ’85 “The life you live is the lesson you teach.” Unknown – JEANNE TOMLIN LAWSON ’85 “Be happy! Only you can make yourself happy! Happiness breeds energy and enthusiasm which are the secrets to success. Low and behold — happiness and success go hand-in-hand!” – HEATHER MCFADDEN BARRIE ’85 JAY DOLAN ’85 and MAUREEN FARRY DOLAN ’87 of St. Paul, Minnesota, are cheeseheads again! They’ve recently sold their house of 20+ years in St. Paul and relocated about 30 miles away in Wisconsin. JEANNE TOMLIN LAWSON ’85: “I’m a school psychologist living and working in Noblesville, Indiana. My oldest daughter attends Bradley University in Peoria, and my youngest is starting her senior year of high school. I’m enjoying a summer break filled with paddle boarding, reading and cooking.” Enjoy your journey! HEATHER MCFADDEN BARRIE ’85

Chris Templeton 312-402-6207 / ChristineTempleton17@gmail.com Hello, classmates! Hope everything is wonderful in your world. We hope you are enjoying everything that summer has to offer. So much to stay up-to-date on what’s going with everyone – so, please keep the news, posts and photos coming! CHRISTINE ELLIOTT ’86 is inspiring all of us. We learned on social media that she read a book, You are a Badass, that inspired great things for her – new job, new condo in the city of Chicago and a new optimistic outlook on life. We’re checking it out on Amazon, right now! MAUREEN FARRY DOLAN ’87 of St. Paul, Minnesota, and her husband, JAY DOLAN ’85 are cheeseheads again! They’ve recently sold their house of 20+ years (which looked an awful lot like a spruced-up Bartlett Hall, if you ask us) in St. Paul and relocated about 30 miles away in Wisconsin. We hear that Maureen’s got plans to open a vegan bakery in the fall. BARRY GOTHARD ’87, inspired by a documentary he saw on the benefits of football players taking ballet and honing their balance and agility skills, has developed a specialized yoga and mediation program for his local Canadian youth hockey league. Though the program is relatively new, he is convinced that this more limber and focused team will lead them to victory in the coming years. RENEE PFEIFER-LUCKETT ’87 recently was awarded the UW System Administration (UWSA) Eugene Craven Award for Academic Staff. The award is named in memory of a former UWSA assistant vice president in the Office of Analysis Services and Information Systems. President Robert O’Neil established a memorial fund to recognize academic staff members who best exemplify the commitment, vitality, excellence and initiative that characterized Gene Craver’s career. The selection criteria include personal interaction, initiative, creativity and outstanding achievement. DAN ORLIKOFF ’87 recently took a canoe trip to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with fellow Ripon alums JIM STATON ’88, RANDY ROEPER ’88 and CHRIS CAROW ’88 – along with their sons. Sure bet, there were some good stories and laughs shared over s’mores around the campfire. CRAIG SCHAEFER ’87: “For the past 2½ years, I’ve been the program manager for the Department of Defense’s effort to modernize their electronic health record.” Sounds like a big job with a lot of attention. Craig recently was named one of Federal Computing Weekly’s top 100 Government IT Leaders. Very impressive, Craig!

Fall 2018

27

CLASS LETTERS 1988 David Jonas 202-251- 9640 / djevents@aol.com Kathy Wade 248-470-4336 / wadekas@sbcglobal.net Greetings classmates from David! What a fabulous weekend!!! Our 30th Reunion was a picture-perfect time on campus. Not too hot, not too cold and lots of memories. There was a gathering on Thursday night at the old/newly refurbished Roadhouse Pizza for all alumni. On Friday, the golf tournament, lunch and cake-cutting were followed by the Outstanding Young Alumni and Athletic Hall of Fame inductees. The Class of 1988 hosted the Friday evening all-campus reception at The Spot (Student Union). On Saturday, most of the classmates on campus for our reunion joined us for the All-Alumni March and the BBQ lunch where we presented our class gift of more than $13,000. This was a record year for us. We have donated as a class more than $60K over the last five years. We hosted our dinner at The Spot in Harwood Memorial Union. Classmates who joined us for dinner included CAROL SHAY HORNUNG ’88, PHILLIP TROBAUGH ’88, JIM CONWAY ’88, RICK BOWHOUSEN ’88, DANA FRANCOIS SCOTT ’88, SCOTT GUSTAFSON ’88, JIM HART ’88, ZEV BARNETT ’88, JIM DONNELLY ’88, MICHELLE EBERT WITT ’88, JEFF EASTMAN ’88, RUDY FRANK ’88 and GEOFFREY SEYMOUR ’88. This was one of our larger turnouts for a reunion year. RENEE DUESCHER KRAUSE ’88 stopped by at reunion to join us on the march and lunch. I hope that we do not have to wait another five years to see everyone (2023/35 years). As the fiscal year ended right after the reunion, we begin a new year and a clean slate for the Ripon Fund. I would like to see if we can start increasing our class participation. As always, Kathy and I appreciate everyone who contributed to the Ripon Fund and attended the reunion weekend. ZEV BARNETT ’88: “I’m working with some caregivers in town here to try to save a kid with liver cancer.”

NIKKI LINDBERG and MITCH ROSIN “Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart — are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.” Anthony Bourdain ***** TODD BAKER ’89: “Would someone please tell Doc Emrick to stop adding an extra “a” to Vrana ...” DAVE BARZYK ’89: “An open game. Anyone, anyone? Chris?” TRICIA POTTER BAUER ’89: “I still live in the heart of Amish Country, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Not much to report that’s new. Well just one thing. I shaved my head as a participant in a fund-raising event for St Baldrick’s Foundation and surpassed our goal (with husband and 11-year-old son) of raising money for childhood cancer research. www.stbaldricks.org/ participants/mypage/975064/2018” MICHELLE BROWN-DROESE ’89: “I started teaching in the graduate program at Simmons College School of Business.”

PHIL TROBAUGH ’88 and ELIZABETH LAKE ’91 just celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary. Their children are 8 and 10.

AMY WALDER CARRINGTON ’89: “I was kind of hoping for James, William or David, but Louis works. Now I will be singing Louis Prima’s “I Wan’Na Be Like You” the rest of the morning.”

KATHY WADE ’88: “I had a fantastic time over Alumni Weekend reconnecting with classmates and other Ripon alumni. Being on campus is always like going home. It was so awesome to see everyone there!”

KRISTA CALHOUN CASPER ’89: “Instapot friends!! Try this and let me know the results! (thewoksoflife. com/2018/06/instant-pot-soy-sauce-chicken/)”

1989 Nikki Zens Lindberg nicolelindberg67@gmail.com Mitch Rosin mitch.rosin2@gmail.com Dear Class of 1989 (and Riff Raff): By the time you get this, Erik and I will have sent our first kid off to college. I know many of you have already gone through this experience, and, wow, how things have changed since our Ripon days. Her path is leading her to a big university (Michigan State), whereas both Erik and I, like you, sought something a wee bit smaller. Despite all the differences, we hope she will emerge with great friends, a love for learning, and a lifetime of memories. As a “last hurrah,” we are doing a family trip to France (as you may have seen on Facebook). As for Mitch, he continues to travel almost 100 percent of the time and surprises us all with random mini-Ripon

28

reunions around the globe. Congrats to all of you who have also experienced milestones, such as graduations, babies and grandbabies, weddings (your kids or your own) and more. I also know we all face challenges: death of friends or family, loss of a job, health concerns, etc. The support and encouragement, pride and love that we give to each other reminds us of the importance of nurturing those friendships and connections. We are all in this together, and together we can get through anything. Mark your calendars for our 30th (not a typo) reunion, June 27-30, 2019. We will be hitting you up for ideas and such on Facebook for what you’d like to see happen. Not on FB? Drop Mitch or I an email, text, call or even postcard. Hope to see you all in Ripon ... or maybe a beach in Mexico (as Mitch is pushing hard for a “destination reunion”).

R Connections

TOBI CAWTHRA ’89 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin: “We welcomed two kitties into the house this week. In less than 24 hours, they were claiming us as their people and getting in some serious snuggling.” Tobi works with Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW), combining strong research and education with community and academic partnerships. SCOTT CHAMBERS ’89: “I still work for the University of Connecticut with the main duty of training new Department of Social Services staff in programs and the eligibility system. I enjoy spending 2+ months getting to know the new staff. Most of my time is spent with the kids. I coach Libby’s softball team. She’s also competing in AAU gymnastics, and we are going to Tampa at end of June for Nationals! My son, Wyatt, recently got his black belt! Our family enjoys amusement parks, and we spend as much time as possible at Six Flags New England and Lake Compounce. The only issue is that I’ve gotten older and can’t ride rides that spin but have no problem with any roller coaster. Go figure.”

1988-90 ERIKA DAVISON-AVILES ’89: “I was waiting for my flight home and I fly through O’Hare all the time — just noticed everyone carrying a small mint green bag with ‘Garrett’ on the bag. I’m always in a rush when at this airport and suddenly I see practically everyone with a Garrett bag. What is so amazing about the popcorn? Well I tried my very first Garrett mix and have to say I’m in love!! Wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about but have to say that when eating the popcorn mix, the ratio of one carmel to two cheese is pure HEAVEN! #popcornvirginnomore. And I’m a newlywed.” GIGI HICKS DECKER ’89: “Adventures on the way home from Colorado. This place is one of those hidden gems. And I don’t care what’s in it, I think SPAM is tasty!! #spammuseum.” PAUL DONALDSON ’89: “I’m watching the view from the tractor tonight. Some moments you simply have to stop what you’re doing and take in the beauty.” JODI GIBSON ’89 is the Zoological Society President and Chief Executive Officer. The Zoological Society of Milwaukee went public Thursday with a $25 million capital campaign to fund the new Adventure Africa complex at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The campaign has raised more than $16.7 million to date toward that goal, thanks to lead gifts from the Dohmen Family Foundation, Holz Family Foundation, Ladish Family Foundation and MillerCoors during the quiet phase of the campaign.” SCOTTIE NICHOLS GIROUARD ’89: “Casey graduated cum laude from Ripon College. Her aunt, SUSAN FRIKKEN ’90, says, ‘I am so proud and honored to have been there. To share my beloved alma mater and her life journey! Love you, Casey!’” LISA STEIN GOLDMAN ’89: “I chose to write nothing, because that’s what I do.” JULIE TAYLOR GONDAR ’89: “In 2017, I was a founding member and president of the Democratic Women of Kendall County. Our group was instrumental in bringing state candidates to our county to speak for the first time in decades. Kendall has long been a Republican stronghold, but our presence helped turn Kendall blue. During the March primaries, Democrats outvoted Republicans for the first time ever. On April 18, I was elected Democratic County Chair in Kendall County, Illinois. It was another historic first, as this was the first time that a woman has chaired the county party. In fact, all officers elected to the county party in April were women. #BGSD” KRIS PEHLE GRASSE ’89: “I still love teaching secondgraders. Both daughters are out of college and each of them is taking on the world in her own way.” BEN GUZMAN ’89: “Have I told you how much I hate spiders?” RAMON GUZMAN ’89: “I was very impressed last night that I could use ABBA’s song “Fernando” in a joke and the open mic DJ could find it and play it by the end of my set — he’s good! @secondcityhollywood #secondcityhollywood #standupcomedy #canyouhearthedrumsfernando.” CHRIS HANNES ’89: “I went on an awesome trip to see Carson Camilla Hannés and my family in Scotland. I also stopped by to see the Geddes family homesite. Overall great trip, will be back for sure.” PHILLIP HARTY ’89: “Congratulations to the Texas Men’s Swimming and Diving team for your fourth consecutive win! Hook ’em! And, Go Bruins!” KATHY HAYEVSKY ’89: “I started singing in a band, Audrey and the Cool Cats. I’m obviously not Audrey, but I AM one of the ‘cool’ cats.”

MARC HEALY ’89: “I’ve been getting solicitations for ‘senior living’ options.” DAVID LUONGO ’89: “I was not aware of how amazingly screwed up the California primary process is ... this makes the Electoral College seem reasonable by comparison. I just watched the first episode of Killing Eve. Very interesting. Hope they explain how Sandra Oh’s American-accented character ended up at MI5, but overall I was impressed.” JOHN MATHEWS ’89 and MEAGHAN MAHONY MATHEWS ’91 live in Riverside, just outside Chicago. Their oldest is off to high school in the fall, and the next two will be in junior high. This summer, they are off to Ireland for vacation. ANNE BURCHMORE MIES ’89: “I am spending time at my tiny cottage in northern Wisconsin, visiting family in Taos, and enjoying my new apartment in downtown Minneapolis. C’est la vie.” BARB THOMPSON PAMPERIN ’89: “I am taking a summer class with Brian Smith and Martyn Smith of Lawrence College on Billy Graham and the evangelical movement. Otherwise, same job, same address.” ANDREW PETERSON ’89: “Breck and Brian found 35 sharks teeth on an island in the St. John’s River this morning.” PAT SCHMIDT ’89: “I am recently remarried. I am also sending my son off to play hockey with the Gophers and got to spend time in Europe with my daughter. Live like Wally!” KATHRYN SCHULTZ ’89: “U.S. News and World Report survey reported that I live in the sixth healthiest community in the nation. The city where I go to church is number 1. I’m hoping I can get some of it to rub off on me …” TRACY UNGER ’89: “Oh, Chicago, how I love you. But, I’m happy to be back in Nashville after a combo fun and work trip. I got a bonus night because of thunderstorms. Really, though, Chicago sucks. Sorry Cubs fans, but you suck, too.” GARY VANDERMOLEN JR. ’89: “The more he grew, the more like a bear he looked.” SCOTT WARMKA ’88: “I’m still a little in shock. Twins win! And no 9th inning closer drama.” BARB WHITSTONE ’89: “I have no more crutches and the ortho cleared me to ride :) I won’t jump for a while, so hopefully I can sweet-talk Emma to keep working with Brix. I’m so happy to have this behind me and grateful for Emma and Sara for keeping Brix going!” BILL YOUNGS ’89 and SUE KUTSCHENREUTER YOUNGS ’91 are moving to Wisconsin after 20 years in Minnesota. They are moving into Sue’s childhood home in Pewaukee.

1990 Robert Corkery Jr. bcorkery@aol.com Christina Maggio-Kellerstrass christinacl27@aol.com Hello, classmates! As always, we hope this greeting finds you healthy, happy and doing well! 2018 should mark a milestone for the class of 1990, as most of us will have turned the big 50 this year! Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were playing Frisbee golf, ultimate Frisbee, listening to Clyde Stokes, and partaking in other “pure” activities on campus and in town that captivated us at the moment. Oh and let’s not forget going to class!

Fall 2018

29

CLASS LETTERS When we were in college, 50 seemed to be old … now it seems quite young. We hope that you all celebrated with flare. Cheers to 50 years! Happy birthday to all! ABE DYMOND ’90 of Woodbridge, Virginia, continues to work at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. KAREN MILEWSKI DYMOND ’91 just completed her second year of teaching fourth-grade math/science and next year will teach fourth- and fifth-grade math and science. Their son just graduated from Christopher Newport University and got married two weeks later. And their daughter graduated from high school and will be attending the University of Lynchburg in the fall. LESLIE PAULSEN ’90 of Newman, Georgia, married Christopher Purvis on Dec. 30, 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia. SONEEL RAJ ’90: “To all teachers!! For everything you do every day – thank you!” If you have news that you want included in the class letter, please send it our way so we can make sure it’s shared with all of you. Enjoy the remainder of 2018! Fondly, BOB and CHRISTINA

1991 Tracy Maher 401-225-9189 / tramtime@att.net Samantha Bailey 612-978-4124 / Samantha@baileysorts.com Greetings, Class of 1991! Hope you had a great summer and are enjoying the abundance of pumpkin-flavored foodstuff that seems to begin earlier each year. Don’t forget about the Ripon Fund — if you get your donation out of the way now, you can ignore my exhortation in the spring letter! So many juicy updates — but if you missed getting yours in, send it right now and I’ll tuck it away for next time. Now on to the good stuff: SAMANTHA BAILEY ’91: “I spent the last two years building a team of 12 and redesigning a flagship software product, only to lose my job just after the product launch last fall. So that was … miserable. I got to spend lots of time volunteering at my son’s school while job hunting, but all in all I don’t have anything positive to say about unemployment. Happily, I’ve accepted a role as user experience director at Optum, which is part of UnitedHealth Group, and I’m delighted to be back at work.” LORI KOMETER BASALDU ’91: “I work as a capital mitigation specialist in Phoenix. Basically, I am a biographer for individuals charged with capital murder so I can try to convince juries to spare their lives of the death penalty and give them a life sentence instead. (Because Arizona still has the death penalty even though it’s barbaric). I have twin first-graders and an amazing co-parent who shares 1/2 custody with me, so I get to rejuvenate my patience and clean my house every-otherday. Look me up if ever in the Phoenix area. I love a dinner out with old friends!” KAREN MILEWSKI DYMOND ’91 of Woodbridge, Virginia: “I just completed my second year of teaching fourthgrade math/science. Next year, I will teach fourth- and fifth-grade math and science. I love what I’m doing! Teaching is an amazing and rewarding profession. My son just graduated from Christopher Newport University and got married two weeks later. And my daughter graduated from high school. She will be attending the University of Lynchburg in the fall. Lynchburg reminds me so much of Ripon. I’m very excited for her. ABE DYMOND ’90 continues to work at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.”

30

R Connections

RACHEL FERRER ’91: “I moved to Colorado last fall. I work with veterans to provide medicine.” TIM FINNEGAN ’91: “Just looking forward to Timmy’s kindergarten graduation this week. I’m still living in Hope, Rhode Island, working as a school counselor at La Salle Academy in Providence.” KRISTEN GRAY ’91: “I divide my time between San Francisco and Denver. I continue to love working in Assistive Technology and Augmentative Communication. I have a great mix of one-on-one therapy, supporting school teams, and developing materials. I’m very excited to be going on a small vacation with Ripon friends at the end of the month. Hopefully, we will manage to get a picture of everyone to share in the next newsletter.” BECKY HUSTAD ’91 and BRIAN FREY ’91 write: “It’s been 25 years since the wedding in the woods and the reception in my dad’s hay barn. We may have unwittingly revived that whole ‘barn dance’ theme. It was not a fancy barn, but it held the 300+ family and friends who were able to attend, and no one fell through the floor! I am grateful every day for my patient and thoughtful husband. We are so fortunate to still be on this journey together. Check the photo pages for a photo from the wedding in 1993 and a few others from our marriage.” THOMAS GREVE ’91, freelance news writer and occasional sports producer, lives in Chicago. His oldest daughter just finished freshman year at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. His 12-year-old son is headed to junior high and already claiming that he wants to “blow through Ripon” next time he heads north. Here’s hoping. AMY ANDERSON KESSLER ’91: “I’ve joined the development staff of the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco.” ELIZABETH LAKE ’91 and PHIL TROBAUGH ’88 just celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary. Their children are 8 and 10. MEAGHAN MAHONY MATHEWS ’91: “Our oldest is off to high school in the fall, next two will be in junior high. JOHN MATHEWS ’89 and I still live in Riverside, just outside Chicago. We are off to Ireland this summer for vacation.” MAURA MURPHY ’91: “My oldest is heading to high school, and my youngest will be a 7th-grader. During the short Minnesota summer, my husband Steve and I are enjoying spending time with the kids at our new family spot on Lake Vermilion. Looking forward to catching up with dear friends at the end of June in the mountains of West Virginia, courtesy of Karen and Abe Dymond.” HEATHER THIEME ’91: “I’m looking forward to seeing my fellow Smith Hall babes in just a couple of weeks in Virginia at KAREN MILEWSKI DYMOND ’91’s posh cabin!! I am a surgical oncologist, moved my practice to the Geisinger Cancer Center/general surgery this year, and I’m the site director for the Geisinger Surgery Residency in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. My boys turn 6 and 9 this year, and my husband still has his restaurant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.” ELIZABETH LAKE ’91: “I just finished my first year ‘back to work’ after 10 years as a full-time mom, working as a library teaching assistant at my kids’ school. I really love spending the time with the kids inspiring a love of reading. PHIL TROBAUGH ’88 and I just celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary, which is crazy because that doesn’t seem possible. Our kids are 8 and 10 and keeping us young.” RICHARD WHIPPLE ’91: “About a year and a half ago, I quit my Riverside Community Care job to become a fulltime stay-at-home dad. Nancy went back to work. I am

1990-93 trying to write the memoir of Alexander’s short life and being a grieving father. If any classmate would like to help with this project, please Facebook message me.” HEATHER KLITZKE WISEMAN ’91: “My twins just graduated from high school, and I look forward to visiting them at Wofford and Berry College. I decided I was not ready to be an empty-nester and have two foster children, ages 5 and 6. They are making me feel old and young at the same time!” SUE KUTSCHENREUTER YOUNGS ’91: “After 20 years in the frozen tundra of Minnesota, BILL YOUNGS ’89 and I are moving down to Wisconsin. I am moving back into my childhood home in Pewaukee, so life has pretty much come full circle for me. Looking forward to this new adventure as we both settle into new jobs and a new life as homeowners! If all goes well, rescuing and fostering cats and kittens will be a part of that new adventure.” Don’t Forget About Our Facebook Group If you’re on Facebook, please ask to join our Class of ’91 group for updates and Ripon news. Alternatively, send your email address to samantha@baileysorts.com and I can add you to the group that way. Warmly, SAMANTHA BAILEY and TRACY MAHER

1992 JuDee Stojsavljevic Fischer 262-681-8509 / fofastoj@gmail.com Bonni Dembroski Fredrick 262-796-1531 / jfredrick1@wi.rr.com Erin Marie McCormack erinmack2002@yahoo.com Greetings, Class of 1992. As I am writing this letter, Alumni Weekend has just wrapped up at Ripon College. As I saw the posts on Facebook of all the happy alumni, as well as my own Facebook memories popping up, I was filled with gratitude at the opportunity we are all provided every five years to reconnect and remember our days at Ripon College. I thank all of you for being a part of those memories and continuing to foster new ones each year. I’ll look forward to seeing everyone again at the 30th Reunion in June 2022. With that in mind, I’m going to get right to the fun part of the letter. What the heck is going on with the Class of 1992? I wish I had a ton of information I could share with you, but we haven’t heard from too many people. Please get us your updates to be included in the spring communication. But what I do have to share is very exciting. I invite everyone to join me in giving a huge CONGRATULATIONS to our very own BRAD ALBERTS ’92. Brad has been named president of the Dallas Stars. Brad will be overseeing all aspects of the Stars business operations going forward. As a Blackhawks fan, I wish Brad the best of luck in achieving success his new role (just not too much success). As always, there are great things happening on campus and you don’t have to wait until 2022 to come back and visit again. Be sure to read through this edition of R Connections to see all the College news. Perhaps some of you, like me, even have a prospective student visit coming up for your son or daughter as you are entering that new phase of life as a parent of a soon-to-be college student. I do know some of our classmates already have had their children join the Ripon family. Which brings me to the ask: Please consider continuing to support the Ripon legacy with a contribution to the Ripon Fund.

Any donation large or small helps continue to provide the opportunity for the stellar Ripon education we all benefited from and the next generation is now enjoying. And if you work for an employer who matches donations, don’t forget to submit that paperwork and double your impact in supporting Ripon’s present and future. With fond regards, BONNI DEMBROSKI FREDRICK ’92

1993 Melinda Trainor Hutchinson 651-259-3459 / triangularfield@yahoo.com Hi, all. I hope you all are doing well. There was a small group of us on campus for our Silver Anniversary reunion this past June, but we all had a blast! The weather was beautiful, there was lots of food, plenty of activities and things to do — but also some downtime, which I really appreciated. DEB JENSEN LAHTEINE ’93 of Plymouth, Massachusetts, was a guest speaker at University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business. She spoke to a group of undergraduates participating in the Sears Holdings Corporation Retail Leadership Seminar. Her speech was titled, “Approaches to Finding Solutions.” LEE ANN HUDZIAK-LELLA ’93 of Wausau, Wisconsin, is the associate manager at RCL Benziger, a company that produces Catholic curriculum and other resources. KYRA HYSER LONGFELLOW ’93 of Oakdale, Minnesota, recently started a new position at a different company. She now works for the Advisor Group, a privately owned financial services firm that has a corporate office right where she lives, proving to be her best commute to work ever. Kyra’s title is user acceptance tester for the Advisor Portals. She performs user testing on new code, new field-facing systems, as well as doing a quality review of any new or modified written content to the Advisor Portal websites. Financial advisors rely on the Advisor Portals to be their one-stop shop in accessing key information and systems to run their independent financial practices. The position is diverse, and she is enjoying new day-to-day responsibilities. CATHERINE WILSON ’93 of Cotuit, Massachusetts, received the Community Volunteer Award for her support of several local charities. In good company, Cat will receive her award along with State Rep. Randy Hunt with the Elected Official Award for his focus on the opioid epidemic. And me … MELINDA TRAINOR HUTCHINSON ’93 of Eagan, Minnesota, will be checking another item off my bucket list by going back to college part time this fall! I’m planning to work toward a certificate in American sign language. Well, that’s all for this fall! Please keep in touch and let us know what you’re up to. Do you need to update your contact information? Contact me by Facebook (are you part of the Ripon College Class of 1993 group?) or my email address. I also can forward your contact information to the College if you’d like. Otherwise, you can contact the Office of Constituent Engagement directly with changes at alumni@ripon.edu or via U.S. mail to the Office of Constituent Engagement, Ripon College, 300 W. Seward St., Ripon, WI 54971. Thank you! MELINDA

Fall 2018

31

CLASS LETTERS 1994 Kimberly Woolley berly@fastmail.com / facebook.com/kimbo.woolley linkedin.com/in/kimberly-woolley-a903959 Please mark your calendars now for our 25th Reunion next summer, June 27-30, 2019. More details about Alumni Weekend 2019 and our reunion celebration coming soon! If you’re interested in volunteering to help make the weekend a success, please let us know or contact the Office of Constituent Engagement, alumni@ ripon.edu. ERIC ATKISSON ’94 of Alexandria, Virginia, changed jobs in August 2017, from speechwriter to communications supervisor at the Patent and Trademark Office. Eric also had another piece of fiction published last November, his “Crazy Snake” series for Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. And by the time this letter comes out, he will be finished with his second year of the creative nonfiction writing program at George Mason University. KATHERINE BRADY ’94 of Tustin, California, is a senior environmental scientist at APTIM, an engineering and construction firm. SARA HOLBACH KLECKNER ’94 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, chaired the fundraising gala for her high school’s Art Council for the last three years, increasing funds raised every year. Sara is passionate about the importance of arts education in public schools and believes kids have a better experience when the arts are part of their curriculum. Sara and her husband, Jason, continue to work on restoration projects around the house, and they sent their eldest daughter, Madeleine, off to Cornell College last fall. KATY HERBOLSHEIMER LINDBERG ’94 of Hastings, Minnesota, is celebrating 20 years of owning her Farmers Insurance Agency. She has been named six times in the top 10 percent in the country and once in the top 3 percent. JODY SCHMELZER-ALBERS ’94: “I just celebrated 20 years as an assistant attorney general at the Wisconsin Department of Justice. During that time, I handled over 600 civil rights cases and appeals. I am a member of DOJ’s Special Litigation and Appeals Unit.”

1995 Angela Keith 928-380-1880 / azee11@gmail.com Vince Padilla vincepad@gmail.com Amy DeKeyser Padilla amypadilla@gmail.com Hello, Class of ’95! I hope you are enjoying this issue of R Connections. I find this new format pretty awesome — now we are able to check in on the classes that surrounded us during our time at Ripon. Like me, I’m sure you all had friends in every class, and it is nice to see what they are up to. Our letter this time around is going to be fairly brief. We have not received any updates from our classmates in the last few months, and all the information about the goings on at Ripon are now part of the magazine. As usual, please consider donating to the Ripon Fund to ensure Ripon can continue to be a part of the lives of our future generations. Ripon was a steppingstone for us that helped create the path we are on now. We truly enjoy hearing updates from our classmates! If there is something new and exciting in your life — let us

32

R Connections

know via email, Facebook or one of those information cards that Ripon sends out! It would be nice to be able to report in the next issue. Until next time … Regards, ANGELA L. KEITH AMY DEKEYSER PADILLA VINCE PADILLA

1996 Jason Wood jlwood3773@gmail.com Happy fall, Class of 1996! Can you believe that 2019 is right around the corner? Summer seems to be gone in a blink of a second nowadays, as it does every year. I hope that everyone had a great past couple months, being able to spend some time outdoors enjoying the sun and warmth. The year isn’t even over and I can tell you that 2018 has been a year of highs and lows for me. But some of the highs I know for me are being able to see and spend quality time with old friends, particularly ones from Ripon College. And I have had that privilege a few times these past couple months. A few months ago, four of us from Ripon spent a weekend in New York City (LORI BERGERON ’95, SHEA HARDY ’95 and RYAN COX ’95). We attempted to live like we were still were in college, which at our age CLEARLY doesn’t work. Around that time, I had the opportunity to have a wonderful night of dinner and drinks in NYC with AMY TINCHER-DURIK ’96 (not the best selfie out there, so I apologize in advance). And when I was in Wisconsin at the beginning of summer for a bit, I had the fortune to spend time with these lovely characters from our class: KYRSTEN KOEBACH ’96, JOAN GRZESINSKI ’96, KIM PHU ’96. True friends are hard to come by, but I can say they are there when you really need them. In June I ran in the Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon, raising money for the SYTA Youth Foundation which benefits children who cannot afford to travel, a cause that is super close to my heart. After the race, I got to unwind and recuperate (in wine country) with KENDRA TRIPP ’96. CRAIG L. SMITH ’96 of Mequon, Wisconsin was inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame in June. In private practice for 15 years, Craig is the owner of North Shore Dental in Mequon. Now all of you, please keep us all posted on things that are happening, whether a brief update to the College or posting updates/pictures on Facebook, Instagram or any of the social media outlets there. It is wonderful to keep track of each other and our lives even though we might not see each other on a regular basis. Regards, JASON WOOD ’96

1997 Kristin Bazzoli Piotrowski 414-961-1059 / kbazzoli@yahoo.com

1998 Sarah Eng 312-404-6732 / saraheng@gmail.com Leilani Kupo 419-308-8574 / deli_by_the_pond@yahoo.com Dear Class of 1998, TWENTY YEARS, friends. Hard to

1994-2000 believe it. For many of us, this reunion was our first time on campus in quite a while, and, as usual, there were plenty of familiar sights and plenty of changes. Most remarkable were the renovations to Storzer, now known as Willmore Center. It’s a fantastic new space and a great investment by the College.

BEAU TIBBITTS ’98 of Seneca, South Carolina, is still in the Army and back at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Beau is a lieutenant colonel and in command of an Air Traffic Control Battalion call 1st Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment (Airfield Operation Battalion). Beau has been married for 13 years and has two children.

While the physical changes to the campus are always startling, the main takeaways from Alumni Weekend are all about the people. These moments of connection (not only with our classmates, but fellow alumni, faculty and staff) remind us that while we might “see” each other often on social media, there is no substitute for connecting in person. On that note, big thanks again to our reunion coordinators, DJ CURRAN ’98 and JULIANNA TAMRAZ CIMAGLIO ’98. And thanks also to everyone who attended: CHRISTOPHER ABICHANDANI ’98, MELANIE ROMME BEAHM ’98, JOSHUA BOHNEN ’98, AARON BENNETT ’98, JENNIFER ANSTEE CHAVEZ ’98, JULIANNA TAMRAZ CIMAGLIO ’98, DJ CURRAN ’98, BRIAN DESPLAINES ’98 (and Michelle), KRISTIN DODDS ’98, TREVOR DURHAM ’98, SARAH ENG ’98, BETSY GARDNER ’98 (and Jamie Dobbs), RYAN GRUBBS ’97, AMY FREITAG GRZYB ’98, NICKI HALPERIN HANSON ’98, SIRRY INSY ’98, STEPHEN KENNELLY ’98 (and EMILY MEYER ’09), AARON KOEHN ’99, KHAM KONGRATSASY ’98 (and AMY DAVENPORT KONGRATSASY ’96), LISA KRAUS ’98, MICHELLE TOUTLOFF MARTIN ’98 (and STEVE MARTIN ’96), LYNNE PHILLIPS ’98, JOSH SATZER ’98, IAN STEPLETON ’98 (and MIRA RABACAL STEPLETON ’00), SARA TINER ’98 and STEVE WIECHMANN ’98. Steve enjoyed himself so much that he’s considering a door-to-door campaign to personally invite each of you to the next reunion. (That last part may or may not be true.)

STEVE WIECHMANN ’98 has been in Bozeman, Montana, for six years and is mostly still a stay-at-home-dad to his twin 8-year old girls. During the winter, he works part time at Bridger Bowl Ski Resort. Steve had a great time at the 20-year Ripon reunion!

CHRIS ABICHANDANI ’98 of Plano, Texas, tore his Achilles tendon while playing tennis the morning of our class reunion. The surgery went well, he’ll be in a cast for a month and walking again after that! RHONDA NICHOLSON CONNER ’98 reports that her husband, Jason, retired from the Marine Corps after 20 years and moved back to his hometown of Aitkin, Minnesota, to be closer to family. Her stepdaughter, Courtney, is finishing up her senior year and her stepdaughter, Caitlyn, is finishing up her freshman year. Rhonda is the office manager for the local REMAX office in Aitkin. She loves being a part of the real estate world. A whole new endeavor!

SARAH ENG

1999 Mike Berens 617-512-5753 / mikeberens2@hotmail.com Trista Moffat-Larco 920-257-4800 / tlmoffat@yahoo.com Class of 1999: This is your fall letter from Trista and me, but it is being written in June! Ripon College just celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2018 on a lovely spring day at campus. The keynote speaker was Judy Woodruff. The photos from Commencement bring back many fond memories. If any of you haven’t checked out www.ripon.edu lately, we encourage you to do so. The campus flyover footage is pretty cool. The website looks better than ever and judging by some of the statistics regarding student satisfaction, financial aid, medical school placement and job/graduate school placement, is it clear that Ripon continues to be an alma mater we can all be proud to have attended. It won’t be too long and some of us might even have some kids in those dorms we used to call home. The fundraising campaign will kick off again this fall, but giving is easy all year long from the website. Please contribute if you can. Please mark your calendars now for our 20th Reunion next summer, June 27-30, 2019. More details about Alumni Weekend 2019 and our reunion celebration coming soon! If you’re interested in volunteering to help make the weekend a success, please let us know or contact the Office of Constituent Engagement, alumni@ripon.edu.

SARAH ENG ’98 of Chicago, Illinois, is a compliance officer at Harris Associates L.P. in Chicago.

MIKE and TRISTA

SOURICHANH “SIRRY INSY” INSYXIENGMAY ’98 of Muskego, Wisconsin, is vice president/branch manager at JPMorgan Chase.

2000

KATE PAWLIK JOHNSON ’98 of Nokomis, Illinois, was named bureau chief for Tobacco Enforcement for the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. BRAD KOZACZUK ’98 of Kiel, Wisconsin, got married last summer, now has two stepchildren (Trenton and Lauren) and bought a house. Brad is the Social Studies Department head at New Holstein High School. LEILANI KUPO ’98 of Merced, California, was appointed the associate dean of students for Educational Equity and Access, Learning Support and Transition Programs at the University of California Merced. JONATHON LEATHERBURY ’98 of Richfield, Wisconsin, serves as COO at AON. LYNNE PHILLIPS ’98 of Appleton, Wisconsin, left her job as curator of the National Museum of the American Sailor and is now the archivist at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Andre Miksha andre.miksha@gmail.com A little bit of news this season for the 2000’ers! Major GEORGE JOHNSON ’00 of Fort Riley, Kansas, has been selected for promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. George, his fellow Ripon grad wife, PATTI BECK ’98, and daughters Virginia and Violet will be moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado, soon as George’s duty station changes to Fort Carson. MELISSA STITTSWORTH MICHURSKI ’00 of Blaine, Minnesota, accepted a new position with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for which she’s worked for 16 years. On May 13th, Mel put behind eight years as a compliance officer and started as director of compliance branch in the Office of Medical Devices and Radiological Health Operations, Division 2. Red Hawks forever, ANDRE

Fall 2018

33

CLASS LETTERS 2001 Nicole Baumann-Blackmore 608-513-9078 / Baumannn10@hotmail.com Dante A. C. Houston 414-378-4937 / houstondante@hotmail.com Greetings, Class of 2001. We hope this letter finds you well. It’s hard to believe that we graduated from Ripon 17 years ago. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday; sometimes like forever ago. We are all in a very busy time of our lives with careers and/or families. Our hope for you is that you are taking the time to stay connected to those people, places and things that make you happy. Chances are, some of them are Ripon-related! We love hearing about all the amazing things happening in your lives, so please continue to share them with us. Here are the most recent updates shared from our classmates: JOSH HEISLER ’01 of Appleton, Wisconsin, teaches and coaches football at Kimberly (Wisconsin) High School. ZLATAN KRKIC ’01 is still sleep deprived following the birth of his twins in January. MIKE MISSAK ’01 wants all his fellow Jeep lovers to join the Jeeps on the Run group. They have become the largest donating group for Marine Toys for Tots in the Chicagoland area each December. RUTHANNE YOUNG SKINNER ’01 finally finished her doctorate. JACOB SUMNER ’01 is the director of European Operations for Chipotle Mexican Grill. He oversees entire operations teams in France, Germany and the United Kingdom in order to facilitate future growth for the business throughout Europe. MICHELLE MIRR THOMAS ’01 and CHRIS THOMAS ’01 had their fourth child, Roman, in November. They are preparing to move to Viroqua, Wisconsin, this summer. KATIE BUFFUM VISSERS ’01 shares that her son, Trent, turned 16 and wants to go to Ripon in two years. She is still a happy RN working toward becoming a legal nurse consultant. Take care, DANTE and NICOLE

2002 Leigh Mlodzik MlodzikL@Ripon.edu Corryn Siegel Greenwood Corryn.Siegel@gmail.com LAURA CLARK CULLINANE ’02 is still in Ireland with her husband, Sean, her 2½-year-old son, and a grumpy dog! Laura just took a role as head of AntiMoney Laundering for State Street. In more fun news, they are headed to France and then Portugal to celebrate her parents’ 40th wedding anniversary! It will be fun hearing from everyone! CORRYN SIEGEL GREENWOOD ’02 and husband NICK GREENWOOD ’03 joined NATE ENSRUD ’03 and Carrie Ensrud on a tour of Hawaii in March where the highlight (well at least for Corryn) was seeing a whale placenta and a newborn humpback whale off of the coast of Maui! Corryn also added running and piano to her hobbies to keep her healthy while being a neonatologist. KATIE HUFF ’02 is getting married in September! RITA REIFFERS HUFFMAN ’02 and ALAN HUFFMAN ’02, and their four children just took a family trip to Canada, with no electricity for a week and lots of fish.

34

R Connections

Their daughter, Brooke, took sixth at Wrestling Nationals in April. The Huffmans again competed in the BBQ competition at Polish Palace in Phillips, Wisconsin. They took first place for chicken wings for the sixth year in a row and were Reserve Grand Champion for the ribs. KEVIN KITSLAAR ’02 of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, is the principal at East Troy (Wisconsin) High School. TARIK LEBBADI ’02 received his MBA in 2010 and was married in 2014. The couple backpacked for a year in Latin America for their honeymoon. Tarik wrote and published a novel in 2015. The couple welcomed a daughter in 2017 and have moved to Vancouver. JOSH MASON-BARKIN ’02 just moved from the San Francisco Bay area to Phoenix, Arizona. He is a professional photographer. MARTHA DOBKE NETZLOFF ’02 finished her law degree at Marquette but continues teaching special education elementary school in Madison. Martha was married last year and now has an 8-year-old stepdaughter. They also have an ungodly number of fish. LEO TREYSMAN ’02 has three children: Simone, 6, Hattie, 3, and Theodore, 2. Leo is a ER physician working all over Wisconsin and Illinois for Envision Healthcare. REBECCA DARNICK ZOLPER ’02 was married in October, and she and her husband, Nick, are expecting their first child in July! Have news to share? Let us know! Email 2002reunion@ gmail.com or drop us a note on Facebook. LEIGH MLODZIK and CORRYN SIEGEL GREENWOOD

2003 Liz Matelski lizmatelski@gmail.com Elayne Monnens Norweb enorweb@gmail.com It was fantastic that so many from our graduating class were able to come home to campus over Alumni Weekend to celebrate our 15th (!) class reunion. If you were unable to attend or have photos from the weekend you’d like to share, check out #riponaw2018 on Instagram. EMILY HANSON BROOKS ’03 and her husband, Josh, welcomed a second child, daughter Hadley Rose Brooks, Jan. 4, 2018. TERRI MASCORRO BURR ’03: “In October I started a new position with Whole Foods in their promotion analytics group in Austin, Texas. We love Austin so far, so much so we bought a house in Georgetown, Texas.” VICTORIA DEARBORN DUNN ’03 of Bothell, Washington, and her husband, Michael, welcomed daughter Allison Valerie in April 2017. She joins older brothers Grady and Nathan. NICK GREENWOOD ’03 and CORRYN SIEGEL GREENWOOD ’02 joined NATE ENSRUD ’03 and Carrie Ensrud on a tour of Hawaii in March. VANESSA LAMB ’03 is a lecturer in geography at University of Melbourne-School of Geography in Melbourne, Australia. ROB LENNOX ’03 of Chicago, Illinois: “I got married in October 2017 in Chicago at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to Amy Fruehwald. DAVE HELMKE ’03, MIKE MAXWELL ’03 and MAX KELLN ’04 stood up in the wedding. The wedding itself was filled with fellow

2001-2005 alumni. Also, by the time this goes to print, we’ll have closed on buying our condo in Roscoe Village in Chicago.” ELIZABETH MATELSKI ’03 of Melrose, Massachusetts, and her wife, Courtney, still are enjoying their adventures in New England. Liz is assistant professor of history at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. She’s recently been doing interviews about her book, Reducing Bodies: Mass Culture and the Female Figure, including the podcast Sexing History, and a story on the boutique fitness industry in Harper’s Bazaar. CURTIS S. MAURER ’03 of Neenah, Wisconsin was inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame in June. He is a chain sales manager with Liggett Vector Brands. ELAYNE MONNENS NORWEB ’03 of Coral Gables, Florida, is still home with her girls Penelope, 4, and Ophelia, 3. On the side, she has been baking and enjoys making specialized cakes, cupcakes and cake pops! ANNE NEGRI ’03 of Chicago, Illinois, is the public school drama specialist at a K-8 school in Evanston, Illinois, and is a professional playwright for young audiences. PATTI REIMANN ’03 of Waupaca, Wisconsin: “I was married a little over a year ago to my husband, Joel. I am currently teaching third grade for the School District of Waupaca. I will be receiving my master’s in educational technology from Marian University this coming May! Life is good!” TODD REINKE ’03 and SUSIE PEERENBOOM REINKE ’03 made a big move by moving to Waterford, Wisconsin, from Howards Grove to be closer to family. Todd works at Racine Unified School District as a technology integration specialist and goes to five different schools every week helping teachers and schools with using technology in the classroom. Susie began working at Anderson Chiropractic in Burlington, Wisconsin, as an associate chiropractor and has been working on building up her practice (again). Their three girls — Peyton, 8, Sadie, 4½, and Mallory, 21 months — did great with the transition and are happy to be closer to grandparents, cousins, etc. NICHOLAS T. THOEN ’03 of Prescott, Wisconsin was inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame in June. He is a unit manager for Traveler’s Insurance. JENNIFER WHITE ’03 of Severna Park, Maryland: “Last November, I took a position as a flight dynamics engineer with a.i. solutions. I am working on a weather satellite called Landsat 8 (and eventually Landsat 9 after it launches) which is operated by the USGS out of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. My boyfriend and I recently adopted an adorable pit bull puppy named Anna, and I’ll be running the D.C. Rock and Roll Marathon in March which will be my 10th marathon/ultra-marathon.” DARLENE WULF ’03: “For the last 11+ years, I’ve been working at Brakebush Brothers in Westfield, in the quality assurance department. This past March, I was promoted to QA supervisor. The job itself is going well, but adjusting to first-shift hours has been a struggle. Having been on second shift for the last 11 years, (and very much a night person) being to work at 5 a.m. has been interesting. Also, I am a proud auntie of five siblings, ages 2 to 11.”

2004 Nick Spaeth 262-227-6097 / nick.spaeth@gmail.com Greetings, Class of ’04. Back in June, at the last minute, I had the opportunity to swing by campus for the annual Alumni Weekend. I made it for just the Saturday evening festivities, and I’m glad I did! It had been a few years since I’d been on campus and it was great to reconnect with old friends from the ’03 class as they were celebrating their 15-year reunion. Especially interesting was the number of alumni there not just celebrating a milestone year. Made for some fun conversations! Miller’s was packed, as usual, but there’s a lot more to the town and campus than you might remember. You’ll see below that there aren’t many updates this time around. A special nod of congrats to Kristen on her accomplishment, and not just because it’s the only update! ;) In light of the limited updates, consider this Class Letter your Save-The-Date for our 15-year Reunion next summer, June 27-30, 2019. Please consider attending; it is a special milestone. Do yourself the favor of getting a classmate or two to commit to coming as well, and you’ll be sure to have a great time. I look forward to catching up then, if not sooner. As always, thanks for taking the time to read. Be sure to pass along any of your updates to 2004classletter@ gmail.com. And don’t forget to mark your calendar for our 15-year Class Reunion in June 2019. LINDSAY GORSKE MICHELS ’04 is a sergeant with the Ripon Police Department. She was a Fond du Lac County Officer of the Year in 2014 and received a Fond du Lac County Law Enforcement Executive’s Association Youth of the Year Award. KRISTEN MCCULLOUGH GRANCHALEK ’04 of Chicago, Illinois: “In November, my dad, PHIL MCCULLOUGH ’69, CHRIS OGLE ’80 (dean of students at Ripon College), and I released a little book: Mental Health and the Adaptation to College. It’s available on Amazon.” JASON NUTTALL ’04 of Mauston, Wisconsin, is a licensed athletic trainer at Mile Bluff Medical Center in Mauston. MISSY SKURZEWSKI-SERVANT ’04 of Plover, Wisconsin, is dean of the School of Business and Technology at MidState Technical College in Wisconsin. KATIE VAN GOMPEL ’04 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has been named vice president-marketing at Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin. NICK

2005 Daphne Meyers Leigh 414-841-7210 / Daphne05@hotmail.com Amanda Zahn Przybyl 920-299-1081 / PrzybylA@ripon.edu Hello, Class of 2005! I write this as I am enjoying my 13th summer break. 13 years as a teacher means 13 years since we left the Ripon classrooms behind. This summer I am splitting my time between enjoying all that summer has to offer with my son and daughter (8 and 5) and preparing to start a new school year in a new district. I am excited to be moving to a teaching position at South Milwaukee High School.

We would love to hear from many more of you for the spring class letter. We welcome updates any time of the year.

This time around we are very light on updates, so please send us whatever updates you’d like to share either by email or in our Facebook group.

Keep in touch! LIZ and ELAYNE

TERI SOLARZ HATFIELD ’05 and MICHAEL HATFIELD ’05 still are living in Lombard, Illinois, with their two

Fall 2018

35

CLASS LETTERS littles, ages 7 and 3. Teri is working on becoming a birth doula in her area and expects to be fully certified by the end of the year. It has been a wonderful experience! They are hoping that our classmates are enjoying the summer! JACKI WEISS MAGNUS ’05 and VICTOR MAGNUS ’06 of Wautoma, Wisconsin, moved into a new home in early December. Their son, Urijah, 9, made it to youth state for wrestling last year and came up short this year. Their daughter, Kinzley, turned 5 in July 2018, and they celebrated their 14th anniversary on her birthday. I hope to hear from even more of you in the next round of update requests. Have a great summer! Your Ripon Class Agent, DAPHNE MEYERS LEIGH

​2006 Nicole Klaas Hands nicolemariehands@gmail.com

VICTOR MAGNUS ’06 of Wautoma, Wisconsin: “2017 was a crazy year of change. It included selling our first home and being homeless for eight months (lived with the in-laws)! We eventually found a new home and moved in early December. Our son Urijah, 9, made it to youth state for wrestling last year and came up short this year. Our beautiful daughter will be 5 in July 2018, and we will subsequently celebrate our 14th anniversary on Kinzley’s birthday. I made a job change and started my own insurance agency for Rural Mutual Insurance one week after buying our new home. I was promoted in the National Guard to first sergeant and now I am responsible for over 100 soldiers.”

Ed Hansen hellowilbur@gmail.com

ANDREW PHAM ’06 of Spokane, Washington, continues to work for Shell and reached 10 years with the company in July.

Andrew Kitslaar andrew.p.kitslaar@gmail.com

2007

Greetings, Class of 2006! In our last note — which you should have received by email in early April (if not, let us know so we can confirm your email address) — we shared information about the College’s then-upcoming #OneDayRally that was to take place April 25. For 18 hours and 51 minutes (a nod to the year Ripon was founded), the College, alumni and supporters rallied together to encourage gifts of any amount from a goal of 425 donors. We’re happy to share that the goal was SMASHED, with the campaign reaching 940 donors and raising $656,626! Our own class was well-represented. A huge thank you to those of you who helped put our class into fourth place in terms of number of donors. We collectively contributed more than $2,100. It’s fantastic to see our class so engaged in supporting the mission of the College. And, with that, let’s move on to some news and updates from our class: MICHELE BERGMAN ’06 of Madison, Wisconsin, married Max Lamberg in November. Wedding guests included KRISTI BRAUND ATTWOOD ’02 and ANDY ATTWOOD ’02, CRAIG SAUER ’05, PHIL BUTCHER ’04, SHANE EBEL ’07 and ROSE MCNULTY EBEL ’06 with daughter Lucette (Class of 2038, hopefully!), ANDREW KITSLAAR ’06, TOMISSA PORATH ’10, ALISHA GARD ’06, JONNY GAUSEWITZ ’06, ELIZABETH MILLER BENNETT ’06, MICHELLE CALDER REPPERT ’06, DAVE BADE ’03, HAYLEY DOYLE ’06, MATTHEW NICOLAI ’06, Beth Byrnes and TYLER BYRNES ’04, and EMMY GIOVANNI ’06. Shane Ebel was the officiant, Rose was Michele’s attendant, Emmy was a bridesmaid and Lucette was the ring bearer. STEPHANIE CHACHARON ’06 of Seattle, Washington, and husband, Adam, welcomed their second son, Luke Murphy, on April 4. His big brother, Levi, 4, is very excited to show his brother the world of cranes, tractors and bikes. Stephanie soaked up several months of maternity leave before returning to her role as marketing director for Fitcode, a fashion data startup. JEN MILLEN EVEN ’06 of Dubuque, Iowa, is putting a lot of miles into her running shoes. She even completed a 50-mile race. RACHEL FISCHER ’06 of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, has been named dean of students at Silver Lake College. She previously served as the college’s director of residence life and student activities, registrar and assistant dean of student development.

36

ED HANSEN ’06 of Tallahassee, Florida, taught a fourweek course in London during the summer through Florida State University’s International Programs department. The course focused on applied social psychology and explored various aspects of identity (social, gender, cultural, etc.).

R Connections

Lindsey Kreye Heil lkreye9509@gmail.com Stacy Krusa Teachout krusast@gmail.com Liz Leach Morrell lizmorrell@outlook.com Adam Krueger krueger.adam@gmail.com Hello, Class of 2007. We hope all is well with you and yours as another summer draws to a close. With fall quickly approaching, it still feels like school should be starting – even 11 years after graduation! Over the summer, some of us had the opportunity to visit Ripon for Alumni Weekend. It is astonishing just how much has happened in the year since our reunion. This spring, Ripon completed #OneDayRally, A Day of Giving for Ripon. The response – including from many of you – was OVERWHELMING. The College raised more than $600,000 for the Ripon Fund in only 18 hours and 51 minutes. There’s no question Ripon inspires continued passion in its alumni and friends. It can be easy to let Ripon slide from your thoughts after all of the excitement we had during our 10-year reunion. Don’t wait four more years to revisit with your Ripon experience. Connect with a Ripon friend or classmate you haven’t chatted with in a while. Take part in a Rally Hour or other Alumni event. Make a donation to the Ripon Fund. Visit campus for Alumni Weekend 2019 (June 27-30). Drop an email to a faculty member who was influential. Read the latest Ripon news. We spent more than a thousand days as Ripon students but we’ll spend many more as Ripon alumni. Let’s continue to build the bonds we started there as we move through all our next adventures. Read on for some exciting updates from classmates. Are you realizing you have news you’d like to share with your Ripon network? Be sure to share with the Office of Constituent Engagement (alumni@ripon.edu) or any of our Class Agents. KATY GRIFFITHS ANDERSON ’07 of West Lafayette, Indiana, is a registered nurse at Indiana University Health Urgent Care in Lafayette, Indiana. Her husband, Tim, completed his Ph.D. in entomology in August 2017 from Purdue University. They welcomed a son, Jorin Timothy, on Dec. 2, 2017.

2005-08 BRYANT BEDNAREK ’07, of Berlin, Wisconsin, is assistant principal of Wautoma (Wisconsin) High School. REBECCA PERK BRUSCH ’07, Charlotte, North Carolina, is a stay-at-home mom but recently joined Mamma Can Do It, a company that designs and sells PDF sewing patterns, as their head of marketing. She has been able to combine her passion for sewing while still staying home with her daughter. MARA EVANS ’07 of Madison, Wisconsin, is a certified nurse midwife and practices full scope midwifery at Dean Health and St. Mary’s Hospital where she is helping to establish the hospital’s first midwifery service. DEANNA FRANKOWSKI ’07 graduated May 11, 2018, from Colorado State University College of Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences. She is an emergency medicine veterinarian in Sarasota, Florida. LINDSEY KREYE HEIL ’07 of Savage, Minnesota: “I will be finishing my master’s in special education from Concordia University Saint Paul in June 2018.” She is a high school special education teacher, working with students who have mild-to-moderate learning disabilities. She also teaches 10th-grade English and a small-group structured English class. PETER JENSEN ’07 of Columbia, Missouri, was awarded the W. Charles Redding Dissertation Award from the Organizational Communication Division at the International Communication Association. The title of his dissertation is “Organizing Possibilities Examining Normative and Alternative Nonprofit Organizing Practices.” TYLOR LOEST ’07 of Ripon, Wisconsin: “After eight years, I will be leaving Ripon College and heading to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. There I will become the next corporate relations coordinator.” TYLER OTTO ’07 and ALISON KRINGS OTTO ’08, of Winneconne, Wisconsin, have a baby boy, Gordon Marshall Otto, born Nov. 30, 2017, weighing 2 pounds, 13 ounces, and measuring 15 inches long. Everybody is healthy and happy. JOLENE RUEDEN SCHATZINGER ’07 of Ripon, Wisconsin, has returned to Ripon College as the leadership gift officer for annual giving in the Department of Advancement. Don’t forget – our class Facebook page (Ripon College Class of 2007) is a great way to reconnect with Ripon peers! Sincerely, ADAM KRUEGER LINDSEY KREYE HEIL LIZ LEACH MORRELL STACY KRUSA TEACHOUT

2008 Stephanie Sommer Faulds 608-630-3369 / Stephanie.Sommer@gmail.com Leah Hover-Preiss 608-432-2399 / leahhover@yahoo.com Zac Schwandt 920-291-5685 / SchwandtZ@gmail.com Greetings, Class of 2008! As you read this letter, another class of freshmen are getting ready to embark on their Ripon College journey. Packing up their belongings along with their new, extra-long bed sheets and new computers. Trying to enjoy what’s left of summer before they settle into their dorm rooms, partake in “Welcome Week” and attend their first golden hour.

While we just celebrated our 10-year reunion this summer, it seems like just yesterday we were right there moving into Tri-Dorms, Johnson or Scott Hall, organizing our entire lives in those cramped dorm rooms, and beginning what would turn into lasting friendships far beyond the boundaries of Ripon College. Even though much has changed at the College since then, many of the hangouts, beautiful campus locations and traditions have stayed the same. If you have not gone back to visit, this fall would be a great time. Since the last class letter, many members of the Class of 2008 have experienced major life changes such as new babies, continuing education or new jobs. Check out the class notes section to see what your classmates have been up to. Thank you to everyone who have donated to Ripon College. Your gifts help to make sure that the excellent education we received will be available to future Red Hawks! Finally, if you would like to include any updates in future Ripon Class Notes (births, new businesses, promotions, continuing education, marriages, etc.), please contact any of the Class Agents using the contact information listed above or the Office of Constituent Engagement (alumni@ripon.edu) directly. Additionally, if you are not a member of the Class of 2008 Facebook page and would like to be, send a message to a Class Agent. Go Red Hawks! LEAH, STEPHANIE and ZAC JORDAN ANDERSON ’08 and DAVE CZARNECKI ’08 still are living in Waukesha, Wisconsin, with their 4-year-old Eadalie and 1-year-old Enoch. Dave has been a financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company since 2017, and Jordan continues to work for a private practice doing clinical trial research. Jordan also recently accepted a Wisconsin state leader position with The Well-Armed Woman shooting groups and also as vice president of Badger IDPA, a local competitive shooting group. JESSICA CHATMON BEDNAREK ’08 of Berlin, Wisconsin, shares that her husband, BRYANT BEDNAREK ’07, is assistant principal of Wautoma (Wisconsin) High School. MATTHEW BIRSCHBACH ’08 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin: “I got married to Kourtney in 2016 in Ripon. I work at Holiday Automotive as a product specialist. I started the band Driftwood seven years ago and now play every other week (including Country USA this year and last). See www.facebook.com/driftwoodwi for pictures.” STEFANIE BOSTEDT ’08 of Pahoa, Hawaii: “I have my eyes set on attending the International Conference for Community Psychology happening in October in Santiago, Chile, to bring back knowledge for my new consulting involvement with a youth-owned worker cooperative in Pahoa, Hawaii. To find out more about the cooperative, visit: www.yopac.org.” AMY DORMAN ’08 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was promoted to director of development at Milwaukee Repertory Theater on Jan. 1. REBECCA DULEY ’08 of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, received her master’s degree in psychology with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis. She moved back to Wisconsin and got married in 2015 and had a daughter in 2016. CHELSEA DWYER ’08 of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is chief stewardess on a private mega yacht, sailing primarily through the Caribbean, New England and Mediterranean.” JOE HENTZ ’08 and his wife, Megan, welcomed a new baby girl, Emmylou Ruth Hentz, Nov. 16, 2017. Joe recently became a partner at Swendson Hentz Law Ltd., a

Fall 2018

37

CLASS LETTERS general practice law firm in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. LEAH HOVER-PREISS ’08 of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, is in the final stages of writing her dissertation for her doctorate in educational leadership from St. Mary’s University. She is expecting to graduate this summer. She is in her ninth year of teaching high school mathematics. Leah and her husband, Zach, have two children, Aiden, 6, and Harper, almost 1. MEGAN ANDERSON KAUTZER ’08 is now the associate principal at Nekoosa (Wisconsin) High School. ERIN OAKLEY KOLTES ’08 of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, married Mike Koltes, Sept. 30, 2017. RUTH LAWRENCE ’08 of Germantown, Wisconsin: “I graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a master’s in communication sciences and disorders in August 2017. I am working as a speech-language pathologist for Aegis Therapies in the Milwaukee area. And I had a baby in December. Her name is Alice.” LESLIE REINKE LUEDTKE ’08 of Fitchburg, Wisconsin, welcomed her second baby, Rory Thomas Allen Luedtke, in October 2017. ERIN RUTH MAGUIRE ’08 is a lead social worker for three separate dialysis clinics for Davita Dialysis. She recently bought a home in Hot Springs Village, a gated community near Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is the proud mama of two rescue fur babies, Coco and Carlee. RYAN MANIS ’08 of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, transitioned from director of brand operations with United One Credit Union to chief operating officer for Roydan Enterprises Inc. in Manitowoc. JENNIFER N. MARCELL ’08 of Kronenwetter, Wisconsin, was inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame in June. She is an optometrist for the Norton Sound Health Corp. in Nome, Alaska. PAMELA SCHUMACHER MUMM ’08 of Ripon, Wisconsin, transitioned from teaching high school for the past seven years to being the K-8 media specialist at the Rosendale Primary and Intermediate Schools this past fall. COLLETTE UNGER NAKIELSKI ’08: “Big news in the Nakielski household: our son, Finnegan, is a year old, Chris graduated from the University of Iowa with his doctorate in choral conducting, and our family will be moving to Washington state in July.” ALISON KRINGS OTTO ’08 and TYLER OTTO ’07 of Winneconne, Wisconsin, have a baby boy, Gordon Marshall Otto, born Nov. 30, 2017. Gordon weighed 2 pounds, 13 ounces, and measured 15 inches long. Everyone is healthy and happy! BRANDON PARROTT-SHEFFER ’08 of Palatine, Illinois, is vice president at Edelman in Chicago. He is also engaged to be married in October of this year. SARA KUSSMANN SCHMITT ’08 of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin: “I left the lab at the end of 2017 and am now working from home as a medical writer for Avant Healthcare Marketing. CURTIS SCHMITT ’09 also works from home as a solutions consultant for Tyler Technologies. We’re so lucky to have such accommodating jobs because it allows us to stay home with our newest addition, our baby boy, Finley John, whom we welcomed on Oct. 18, 2017.” TRISHA SHAFER ’08 and her fiancé, Bill, welcomed a daughter, Olivia Rae Moore, on June 11, 2018. SARAH TIMM HARTER ’08 of Cloquet, Minnesota, wants to share the news of the birth of her son Emmett Michael, on June 16, 2018.

38

R Connections

RACHEL S. RESOP ’08 of Washington, D.C., received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Ripon College in June. She is a postdoctoral researcher at George Washington University and has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her research in developmental hematology, the study of blood, and the effect of HIV on the immune system. ARLENE TORRES ’08 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, became chair of the Southeastern Wisconsin Educational Consortium on Jan. 1. KYLE UNGER ’08 recently finished 10 years of service in the U.S. Army. He is continuing his service in the U.S. Coast Guard as a HC-144 pilot stationed in Miami. AMANDA BEERS WOJTANOWSKI ’08 of Oregon, Wisconsin, welcomed a baby boy, Jacob Daniel, on June 27, 2017. She also began working at the Vet Center in Madison as a readjustment counselor. JUSTIN YONKIE ’08 of Portage, Wisconsin, is a medical coding specialist in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at University of Wisconsin Health in Madison, Wisconsin.

​​2009 Emily A. Meyer emilyannmeyer@gmail.com Hello, Class of 2009! It is that time of year when you get a lovely letter from me with updates! Stephen and I are coming up on our one-year anniversary of moving to Moorhead, and we continue to love it here. We just got back from our annual trip to Ripon for Alumni Weekend, where we celebrated Stephen’s class reunion. It is hard to believe that next year will be our 10th reunion! I find it hard to believe we’ve been out of undergrad for that long; it feels like we just graduated a few years ago. That being said, the planning for our 10th reunion will commence soon! I’ve volunteered to help plan it (along with a few other classmates). If you have suggestions on where our reunion should be, please let me know! I may also post a poll in our Facebook group (if you don’t have Facebook, please feel free to email me and I’ll get in touch with you that way!). While we were in Ripon, I had the opportunity to stop and visit ELIZA CHERRY STEPHENSON ’09 and her new baby daughter, Vivian! JOSHUA FREY ’09 is a nuclear and counterproliferation officer with the U.S. Army Nuclear Disablement Team at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. He received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Ripon College in June. From the other side of the pond, JUSTIN HOKE ’09 is working for the Gene and Cell Therapy Group after working as a senior research technician of gene and cell therapies at University College of London in the Institute of Ophthalmology. Justin conducts experiments, collects tissues, processes samples, trains new staff members, and conducts gene therapy treatments as part of this position. Justin also participates in weekly meetings where new research is shared and critiqued and new ideas are generated to help projects continue to advance. Justin, it sounds like you are doing great things! JENAN JAMAL KHARBUSH ’09 is a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. TIFFANY WALKER KINAS ’09 and her husband, Ben, also welcomed a baby this past year; daughter Callie Kinas was born Aug. 26, 2017. Their son, Cameron, is very excited to be a big brother!

2008-12 AMANDA KNUTSON ’09 is working on her master’s in education through St. Mary’s University in Minnesota and teaching 4K-5th grade at an alternate school at the same time. BRITTANY KAUFMAN PRATT ’09 was the recipient of the Missouri Psychological Association Early Career Psychologist of the Year award. Congratulations Brittany! JOSH KRAEMER ’09 and KATIE KRUEGER KRAEMER ’09 of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, both work for Anytime Fitness. Josh is the regional personal training manager for locations in Cedarburg, West Bend and Hartford, and Katie manages the location in Harford. They also have a nutrition company, Isagenix, providing allnatural nutrition products for weight loss, energy and performance, and healthy aging. JOSH LEGREVE ’09 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, is a world language teacher with the Green Lake (Wisconsin) School District. BRYAN NELL ’09 and his wife, Kara, also welcomed a daughter, Annabeth, in July 2017. Bryan is an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Minnesota, Morris. CURTIS SCHMITT ’09 of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, works from home as a solutions consultant for Tyler Technologies, and SARA KUSSMANN SCHMITT ’08 works from home a medical writer for Avant Healthcare Marketing. “We’re so lucky to have such accommodating jobs because it allows us to stay home with our newest addition, our baby boy, Finley John, whom we welcomed on Oct. 18, 2017,” Sara writes. Well, I think that is everything for now! Be on the lookout for more information regarding our 10-year reunion; hope to see you there! EMILY

2010 Ross Heintzkill ross.heintzkill@gmail.com Meagan Kochel meagankochel@gmail.com Leeanna Shultz shultz.annabanana@gmail.com Paul Williams pgwilliams5433@gmail.com LUCY BURGCHARDT ’10 is a tenure-track assistant professor of communication studies at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. CHRISTOPHER SCHAEFER ’10 of Kimberly, Wisconsin: “I currently serve as policy director to the assistant majority leader of the Wisconsin State Assembly. What is more, I recently published a two-volume book, Project Mastodon: Building a 21st-Century Republican Party.

​2011 Leslie Sullivan lesliesullivan15@yahoo.com KELLY BIALLAS ’11 of Aurora, Illinois, is a registered nurse at Presence Health Mercy Medical Center . LAWRENCE HONAKER ’11 of Luxembourg just published his first paper. It was accepted by Langmuir. Microfluidic Tensiometry Technique for the Characterization of the Interfacial Tension between Immiscible Liquids. Lawrence Honaker, Jan P. F. Lagerwall, and Venkata Subba Rao Jampani Langmuir, Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b03494 • Publication Date (Web):

24 Jan 2018. He also gave an oral presentation at the 45th German Liquid Crystal Conference in Luxembourg March 21-23, 2018, and was awarded the German Liquid Crystal Society’s Young Researcher Award for the best oral presentation given by a Ph.D. student. CHRISTOPHER E. KOCHANSKI ’11 of Easton, Maryland, recently transferred duty stations from Fort Meade, Maryland, to become the information warfare officer aboard the USS Ralph Johnson (DDG114). Kochanski was the part of the ship’s original commissioning crew and participated in its commissioning ceremony in Charleston, South Carolina, March 24. The ship now is making the transit to its new homeport in Everett, Washington. NICK OSENBERG ’11 is the design and technical theatre teacher at Warren Consolidated School of the Performing Arts in Sterling Heights, Michigan. SARAH MARIE OLSON VERSTEGEN ’11 is the dean of students and a seventh-grade science teacher for the Princeton (Wisconsin) School District.

​2012 Katlyn Lee Schumacher 608-558-9073 / kate020812@gmail.com Erin Schaick 603-513-9965 / Erin.Schaick@gmail.com Brandon Taylor 406-274-4708 / Brandon.J.Taylor.2012@gmail.com Greetings, friends! Even though we graduated six years ago, it is such a joy reading everyone’s life updates! We are physically located all over the country, we have been traveling all over the world, and how cool is it to be able to call each other classmates. Like Erin, I get asked quite frequently where I went to college, and I always start with, “Ripon, Ripon College. It’s a small, private, D3, liberal arts school in the Midwest” and then go on explaining where it is and how it is smaller than most people’s high schools! And although Rippin’ Good Cookies may be closed and our Alumni Weekend is all wrapped up, I think it’s safe to say Ripon will always be in my thoughts. I know you have all been waiting to find out what we have been up to, so here we go! ARIEL DICKINSON ’12 of Madison, Wisconsin, married Casey Schenkel last summer and bought a house. She works at Epic, a software company in Verona, Wisconsin. SHARON KLAPPERICH DOLL ’12 of Oconto, Wisconsin, graduated from Concordia University, Wisconsin, with her teaching certification and a master’s degree in education-teaching and learning. She is finishing up her year as a long-term substitute teacher at Preble High School in Green Bay. KATHARINE SHADLE GAILS ’12 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and RYAN GAILS ’13 bought a house. KURT HARDY ’12 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a digital project manager at Ackmann & Dickenson. He also serves on the board for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America-Minnesota Chapter. He also enjoys writing music with fellow alumnus CARLOS SOTO ’11. EMILY SHEEKS INGEMANN ’12 of Sussex, Wisconsin, married JOHN INGEMANN ’12 May 26 at Ripon, in beautiful 95-degree May weather. AURORA POLLEI LAMEKA ’12 and SPENCER LAMEKA ’12 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just bought their first house. Aurora finished her first year of teaching at Notre Dame School in Milwaukee, and Spencer is working for My Choice Family Care.

Fall 2018

39

CLASS LETTERS MEGAN MCGEE NORRIS ’12 of Kenosha, Wisconsin, and her husband, Adam, are expecting their first child – a baby boy due Oct. 12. They are super-excited, and she really enjoys being her own boss as an attorney. They have four rescue dogs, and Megan loves volunteering on the board of directors for Wish Upon a Rescue – an amazing animal rescue started by our classmate, STEPHANIE JENISCH RHEINGRUBER ’12 of Lockport, Illinois.

ELIZABETH “LIZZIE” BROWN ’13 of Ellensburg, Washington, is an associate professor and reference librarian/instruction coordinator at Brooks Library at Central Washington University.

ERIN SCHAICK ’12 of Concord, New Hampshire, graduated from the Leadership Greater Concord program, affiliated with the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce.

KATE AMELL FEHRENBACH ’13 and ANDY FEHRENBACH ’13 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, welcomed their third child (first girl!), Emma Louise Fehrenbach on Nov. 20. The family is also in the process of purchasing their first house!

BRANDON TAYLOR ’12 of Arlee, Montana, celebrated his five-year anniversary with Accenture as a technology consultant. He recently traveled to Bali, Indonesia, and various cities in Australia and will be moving into San Francisco in the coming weeks.

BREANA BUTT FELLINGER ’13 of Omro, Wisconsin, has graduated medical school and begun residency in Family Medicine in Appleton, Wisconsin. She and her husband have purchased a house and are expecting their first child!

KATRINA SCHAULAND WATKINS ’12 of Hertford, North Carolina, moved to Kodiak, Alaska, for the next three to four years. LAURA SCHEMM WIGGINS ’12 is a first-grade teacher at Columbus Elementary School, Appleton, Wisconsin. ANDREA ZAK ’12 of Ripon, Wisconsin, got engaged last summer and will get married to Brian Kamin on Oct. 27. They got a new puppy, and Andrea also is starting a new role as athletic director (while also teaching) in Princeton, Wisconsin. Thank you to everyone who shared these updates! Feel free to send those to us via email or our Facebook group anytime. Here’s to another great year! ERIN, KATLYN and BRANDON

2013 Alexandra Peltier alipeltier13@gmail.com Travis Bitters bitters.travis@gmail.com Charlotte Lee Wahle charlotteeslee@gmail.com Lauren Ott lauren.a.ott.42@gmail.com Class of 2013: We had our five-year reunion this past summer. Our classmates are doing amazing things! They are attending graduate schools, becoming doctors, having families, buying homes, getting married, adopting pets, and overall pretty much running the world. I think it is safe to say that although we feel a little old, we totally own this adulting thing. Meanwhile, the class of 2022 has moved into their firstyear housing and begun their adventure. There are many changes, including Highway 23 between Fond du Lac and Rosendale being closed (will they never understand the need to set their cruise control to 24 mph?), fire pits outside the union, The Pub they now call The Spot, and an amazing Willmore Center. Things just keep improving at Ripon, and I hope to see you on campus sometime soon! ALI PELTIER LISA AGUILAR ’13 of Bismarck, North Dakota: “I’m completing my dissertation research in North Dakota, and in June I’ll start my terminal doctoral internship in Alaska for the 2018-2019 school year.” TOM ALBRECHT ’13 of Holmen, Wisconsin, went to the dentist for the first time in 10 years. Had 11 fillings done.

40

R Connections

JOHANNA BURTON ’13 and MICHAEL LANPHIER ’15 moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. He has a new job as a Technical Applications Specialist, and she works at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo.

ELLIE HEDBERG ’13 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, recently started a new position as a nursing station technician at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital and has applied to a few nursing programs. MAX HERRMANN ’13 and MADELINE SOCKNESS HERRMANN ’14 both graduated with their master’s degrees in quality instruction this past May. WALESKA HERNANDEZ RUSS ’13 of Shawano, Wisconsin, is a high school Spanish teacher in Shawano and just had a baby boy. TREVOR WARREN LYNN ’13 of Warrensburg, Missouri, left active duty Air Force in December, then joined the Air National Guard. He also is student teaching at Knob Noster High School in Missouri and will be graduating with his MAT from the University of Central Missouri in May. SARAH MOEHRKE ’13 of Lake Forest Park, Washington, traveled to 12 states in 2017, including a road trip across the Southwest and the Midwest, but her favorite place to go is Los Angeles, where she visited eight times in 2017. CHRISTINA MOONEY ’13 of Chicago, Illinois: “I adopted a corgi puppy and named him after Italian WWII spy Pino Lella.” Christina is just waiting for the day that she wakes up and is magically Chrissy Teigen (Lauren thinks it will happen soon). LAUREN OTT ’13 of Minneapolis, Minnesota: “We (KYLE GREENE ’15) bought a condo in downtown Minneapolis. It has three bedrooms and LOTS of space for visitors. (CHARLOTTE LEE WAHLE ’13 can attest!) We also spent a week visiting Seattle with SARAH MOEHRKE ’13 and ROBERTA MARTIN ’12 in March. Highly recommend hanging out with both of them as often as possible. AND made it to the reunion and had a great time hanging out with our class.” Lauren also has an adorable dog with his own instagram account, @theofoxdog and Ali likes every. Single. Photo. ALI PELTIER ’13 of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin has accepted a new position as the channel marketing manager for Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin (Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board) promoting Wisconsin cheese in national retail outlets. She and her boyfriend, Jonathan, moved into a new house in May. KEELIN MEESE PETROUSKI ’13 of Columbus, Wisconsin, just had a baby girl in January! SAM POULLETTE ’13 and MARA JENSEN POULLETTE ’14 both continue to work at Lakeland University in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in the student life and admission departments, respectively. Mara continues to work towards her master’s degree in counseling with her emphasis in higher education counseling. They rescued their first dog, Arnie, in June, and he is keeping them very busy.

2012-14 MEGHAN RAEBEL ’13 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, graduated, got a real job, and recently was blessed with the arrival of two beautiful kittens. MATTHEW ROHRBECK ’13 of Portage, Wisconsin, was re-elected to the Columbia County Board of Supervisors as the District 8 Supervisor and accepted a new position as research assistant for Rep. Joel Kitchens in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Matthew was assigned to be the committee clerk for the Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding. In May 2018, he graduated with a master’s in public affairs (MPA) degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs. ORNELLA UMUBYEYI ’13 has started a Christian nonprofit organization in Burundi, aiming to help teenagers attend school. She travels the world as a motivational speaker and preacher, and is a guest lecturer at universities. AMANDA VIRTUE ’13 of Lake Mills, Wisconsin, bought a house! CHARLOTTE LEE WAHLE ’13 and her husband, Marty, are expecting an addition to their family, due in January 2019! ​ LIVIA WETZEL ’13 of Watertown, Wisconsin: “Olivia O has her MSE in professional school counseling. She is the K-5 school counselor at Rossman Elementary School in Hartford, Wisconsin.” ZACHARY WIELAND ’13 of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and his wife, Rebecca, have a son born Jan. 2, 2018. Zachary saved up enough vacation time to take four weeks off from work when his wife returns to work from maternity leave. STEPHANIE WILL ’13 of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, adopted an 8-year-old Jack Russell terrier named Sophie last July. She is also still the school psychologist in Wild Rose. KATIE WILLIAMS ’13 of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, is working toward a master’s degree in education with the University of Saint Mary’s in Minnesota while teaching 5th grade in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.

2014

SAMANTHA ANGELL ’14 married Josh Eastberg June 2 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. JEREMY BROUWER ’14 got a job as a lighting artist at MPC – a major VFX studio in Montreal. He is working on a film for Disney that comes out in November. EMILY DOZIER ’14 started a new position in March of this year. She is the adult education transition coordinator at John Wood Community College in Quincy, Illinois. She and her husband do not have kids yet, so they have made travel a priority. They went to India last year and South Africa this year. BENJAMIN FIRGENS ’14 of State College, Pennsylvania, wrote a paper titled “Medicating Nature: Aldo Leopold’s Ethics of Astonishment” that received a Top Student Paper honor from the Visual Communication Division of the National Communication Association. He is teaching multiple classes while pursuing a Ph.D. in Communication Arts and Sciences, with a specialty within the communication discipline, at Penn State University. AMANDA FINN HAGGERTY ’14 and her husband, Kyle, purchased a condo in Chicago and moved down in April. She is the Illinois editor and venue relations coordinator for Footlights Magazine; writes content for Footlights. com and physical playbills; coordinate Chicago-based freelancers; and organizes Footlights’ social media accounts. She also is the social media coordinator/theater contributor for Scapi Magazine and works as a freelance writer. MADELINE SOCKNESS HERRMANN ’14 and MAX HERRMANN ’13 both graduated with their master’s degrees in quality instruction this past May. LUKE MORGAN ’14 and JESSICA SKIBA MORGAN ’15 of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, are enjoying married life. They spend Friday nights at Summer Sounds, a live concert series in Cedarburg where they enjoy wine and trying out the food trucks. ARIANA MYERS ’14 is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.

Tim Holme 608-333-9526 / holmet77@gmail.com

CAM PLANTZ ’14 writes that he “went to the moon and back. NBD.”

Mara Jensen Poullette 952-412-1420 / marajensen1992@gmail.com

MARA JENSEN POULLETTE ’14 and SAM POULLETTE ’13 both continue to work at Lakeland University in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in the student life and admission departments, respectively. Mara continues to work towards her master’s degree in counseling with her emphasis in higher education counseling. They rescued their first dog, Arnie, in June, and he is keeping them very busy.

Naomi Jahn Skulan 920-342-7288 / naomiskulan@gmail.com Hey, y’all! As always, it’s been so fun getting to hear all of the amazing things that all of our classmates have been up to since the last updated. New jobs, new marriages, new children (and fur children!) – When did we become such full-blown adults? And can you believe that next year is our five-year reunion already? I swear it was just yesterday that we were all chatting between classes in The Pub (which is now The Spot — still not used to that), or hanging out together on our senior pub crawl for senior week. I had the chance to get back to campus for Alumni Weekend this year, and I was amazed at how quickly all of the memories of time spent there came flooding back. I can only imagine all the fun we’ll have swapping stories at our reunion next year (get ready to be super annoyed with how much we push you all to come to Alumni Weekend 2019 (June 27-30))! Keep killin’ it, Class of 2014! Sincerely, MARA JENSEN POULLETTE TIM HOLME NAOMI JAHN SKULAN

LINDSEY RIDLEY ’14 got married and had a baby boy. MAX ROY ’14 is now the director of operations for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Washington County. His wife, Cetonia, now works for Susan G. Komen as a program coordinator. Their son, Xavier, starts junior kindergarten in the fall. They are excited to spend their first summer in their new home in Wauwatosa. AMANDA SPATCHEK ’14 started a new position in May as a travel and expense specialist with the same company. Her husband and she adopted a kitten in the beginning of June. SUNNY STROEDE ’14 got engaged to Chaz Rufo in October 2017 and moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma, this past March. She is the boutique team leader for the Lake View Pointe Francesca’s and is working to get her associate degree in accounting. She is still riding and showing APHA/AQHA horses, as well.

Fall 2018

41

CLASS LETTERS AUSTIN VAN TREECK ’14 and SYDNEY CHURCH ’15 of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, will marry in October. Sydney is starting her final year of study for her MBA through Marquette University while still working for Johnsonville. ELIZABETH WALSH ’14 is a Ph.D. candidate in entomology. She is still at Texas A&M University and is still into honey bees. KARLYE WEHNER ’14 married Marcus Krien on May 19. RACHEL ZEMAN ’14 is a labor and delivery nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and a certified breastfeeding counselor.

Sam Kay kaysamantha9@gmail.com

So, how do you want to be productive? What’s your vision? If you want to own your own business and write at coffee shops to pay off student loans, then sign me up, friend. Whatever your goals are, don’t let social media, naysayers, or your physical or mental hurdles stop you. Just start. Use this letter to set your direction!

Kaylie Longley kaylielongley@gmail.com

Best, KAYLIE and SAM

I’ve been thinking about the differences between being busy and being productive a lot lately, and so I thought I’d share some things I’ve learned. During college, as many of you know, I carried a 35-pound backpack, camera equipment and multiple grab-and-go meals with me. I hustled between multiple jobs, internships, clubs and classes. I was productive because I had to be: if I didn’t get my homework done between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., I wouldn’t have time again until 5-5:30 p.m. or even later at 9 p.m. (Later, this was my time to host club meetings, so my papers and projects were pushed back even further until 11 p.m.)

JAMES ALLEN ’15 of Rochester, Minnesota, is working on HIV research at Mayo Clinic.

2015

I didn’t let myself forget meals, even if it meant another sandwich or pastry from We Proudly Brew Starbucks. I sacrificed sleep, and clubs were my social life. But since then, I have seemingly infinite time. And it’s up to me how I use it. My typical schedule is simply work, sleep, work out, eat, volunteer or read, sleep. I might nap before working out, and I’ve been known to have dinner after I’ve exercised. This is an adjusted schedule. I used to be simply busy: after work, I’d bus to the gym. Then, I might run rampant with obligations and errands, ultimately eating dinner at 10 p.m. It was a lot of eggs or pasta because that’s all I felt like preparing. With this physical change comes a mental one, so I’ve shifted my mindset. I have decided what’s essential, my priorities. Here are some things I’ve learned by honing in on what I value: You have to give yourself the time to work on what you truly want. In other words, if it is important to you, you have to create the space for it. Sometimes, it’s a physical space. My volunteer work is often digital. That means I need a computer, internet connection, and a quieter environment. Sometimes, that space is emotional or mental: you love that thing? You want to love it? Jump over the hurdle and work on it. Only you can make it happen. Use that as your motivation. Being productive means doing a lot of things behind the scenes. A lot of people just go full force into an idea, but they may have forgotten about the whys, the greater context, or the bigger picture. Some forget the little details. Remember, there’s a lot of sweat involved. Maybe coding or another Youtube how-to (if cat videos follow, I understand). Maybe you have to write endless to-do lists. Whatever it is, you have to set a structure that you (and maybe an accountabilibuddy) know, so you can get the work done for it. You might have to go it alone for a while. Which leads to my hardest point on being productive ... You might have to say NO. Being productive in reaching your goals means disregarding irrelevant data points and

42

assignments. Sometimes even the to-do list has to go. What do I mean? Saying “no” results in a better use of life’s greatest resource, time. Most of us work for someone or something, and these responsibilities guide how we spend our days. If you really want to achieve your goal, or make productive steps to it, you have to start. That means saying “bye” to time-suckers. With my new phone, I’ve deleted social media apps. My social life, too, has been reduced to the weekend (this might be a feedback loop). By spending less time socializing, online and off, I have the freedom to choose ME more.

R Connections

MICHAEL ANDERSON ’15 of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He is in the process of commissioning with the US Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps. ETHAN BEMOWSKI ’15 of Green Bay, Wisconsin, started working as a sales executive with Schneider National in June. KATIE BIEDLER ’15 of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, has transitioned to working full time on her master’s in strategic media communications at Saint Cloud State University. CAT CARBAJAL ’15 graduated from DePaul University College of Law in May with a tax law certificate. She’ll be taking the Massachusetts bar exam in July. Before moving to Boston in September, she’ll be celebrating the end of summer in Chicago. ANDREW CARBALLO ’15 of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, graduated from St. Thomas Law School in May. He is working as a judicial clerk with the Hennepin County District Court. KYLE CRESS ’15 of Bloomington, Minnesota will be graduating in November 2018 as a doctor of chiropractic. ZACH CONNERS ’15 of Rockford, Illinois, continues to work on home remodeling projects with his boyfriend, Weston Dixon, in their new home. ELLE DAVIS ’15 moved to the Madison area with her boyfriend. She now works in HR as the talent acquisition specialist for Caravel Autism Health, which provides individuals with autism with quality services like 1:1 therapy. EMELIA ERICKSON ’15 is celebrating one year as assistant supervisor at a retirement community in Cincinnati. She just adopted a beautiful black labradane named Stella. PETER HAYES ’15 of Chicago, Illinois, was promoted at Envestnet to the Portfolio Management Consultant team as an investment product management specialist. Peter is enjoying life in Chicago where he still eats Domino’s Pizza because Ripon habits are hard to stop. JULIA HASHEIDER ’15 is moving to Miami with her husband. She’ll be starting a new career adventure. HANNAH HERZOG ’15 of Appleton, Wisconsin, moved to Nashville at the end of July and will be attending Belmont University to get her master’s in sports administration. She will also be a graduate teaching

2014-2015 assistant there. JORDAN HIBBARD ’15 of Sugar Camp, Wisconsin, is doing accounting work in the insurance department of the Forest County Potawatomi. SAM KAY ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is project manager for the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. She manages educational programming in the form of three full day workshops and the society newsletter. She has decided to take the next logical step as a liberal feminist and shave her head. Sam continues to hold her elected officials accountable by calling Sen. Johnson frequently, while also supporting the re-election of Sen. Baldwin. JADEE KELLOGG ’15 and AKASH SEN ’16 are engaged and both have moved to Oklahoma City with jobs at Boeing. Their dog, Apollo, turned 2 this year! CHRISTIAN KRUEGER ’15 finished the first year of her Ph.D. in early American history at Marquette University. She’s interning at the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear. She’ll be travelling to Kentucky in July on a Casper Research Grant. HOLLY KORTEMEIER ’15 of Whitewater, Wisconsin moved to Edgerton, Wisconsin. She completed her master’s in school counseling at the University of WisconsinWhitewater in May. Holly will be starting a new job as a school counselor at an elementary school in Edgerton, Wisconsin, this fall! MICHAEL LANPHIER ’15 and JOHANNA BURTON ’13 moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. He has a new job as a Technical Applications Specialist, and she works at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo. ARIEL LEE ’15 is loving her recent promotion to marketing manager of Heidel House. EMILY FISCHER LENSMIRE ’15 of Reedsville, Wisconsin, is loving life with her baby girl, Charlotte, who is growing up very quickly! Emily is excited for her upcoming girls’ weekend in Door County with EMMA BRONSON ’17, JENNIFER NIGGEMEIER ’16, and SAM KAY ’15. MARK LISOWSKI ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is going into his second year of graduate school at Marquette. He has a summer internship doing editorial work for a publisher that publishes seven different magazines for the agriculture industry. For his second year of school, he’s interning for a journalist. They are reporting on Mississippi River water quality and state legislation intended to improve environmental health around the river. Mark is enjoying his busy but fun summer spent hanging out with a bunch of other Ripon alumni! KAYLIE LONGLEY ’15 is still slaying marketing dragons in a dungeon, tackling one of her latest monsters called Google Ads. Though she’s finally in the process of buying her first car, she thinks Uber drivers provide the cheapest therapy at about $1.50/minute. She’s considering adding a segment on the shared humanity of fellow bus folks, bikers and Uber users to her upcoming website. RAQUEL MACSWAIN ’15 of Stillwater, Minnesota, is moving from California to Portland, Oregon, to attend Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling this fall. She is hoping to tie in a ecopsychology certificate into the school counseling field, too. KATIE JO MCGEE ’15 of Ripon, Wisconsin, will travel to Nanjing, China with an after-school program, First Leap, to teach English to children. NICOLE MALLI ’15 of Washington, D.C., is still working for the Slave Wrecks Project. Her current fieldwork takes her to Biscayne, Florida, and next she will be traveling to St. Croix for scuba shipwreck surveying training.

Additionally, she has been working with an organization called Kaleidoscopio in Mozambique. This group helps find local artisans to create pieces that depict the story of the slave trade and the diaspora that it caused. Nicole’s cats are living their best lives, largely due to the new addition to their kitty condo. EMILY MENGERT ’15 of Phoenix, Arizona is building a house in Maricopa, Arizona. She expects to complete this project by early next year. CODY MESSERSCHMIDT ’15 of Madison, Wisconsin has been working as a Project Manager at Epic since summer of 2015. A few months ago Cody separated from his long time friend and roommate ZACH SPACIEL ’15. Zach and Cody continue to speak, although the distance has been difficult for their relationship. Recently, the pair was contacted by the Disney Channel to star in a remake of one of their old shows. Cody is weighing his options. CONNOR MESSERSCHMIDT ’15 married Megan Messerschmidt on June 2, 2018. KATRINA O’NEILL ’15 of Minocqua, Wisconsin, is working as a manager for the Minocqua Sherwin Williams Store. BRIANNE MILROY ’15 of Shorewood, Wisconsin is in her second year at Marquette University for her master’s degree in school counseling. She will graduate in May 2019. JESSICA SKIBA MORGAN ’15 of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, is enjoying married life with LUKE MORGAN ’14. They spend Friday nights at Summer Sounds, a live concert series in Cedarburg where they enjoy wine and trying out the food trucks. ZAC NELL ’15 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, married ERIKA RIEBE ’16 on June 9. They are loving the dog parent life and exploring the dog-friendly Twin Cities. JONATHAN NEWBERY ’15 of Oak Park, Illinois, is living in Pensacola, Florida. He recently was promoted to lieutenant junior grade. ALYSSA NYCZ ’15 is a year away from hopefully finishing med school, which means one year away from the “real world.” Her goal? Learning to cook something besides scrambled eggs for dinner. KORRINE PETERSON ’15 of Burlington, Wisconsin, is a customer service representative at Wisconsin Vision Associates. She will marry STEPHEN COVALT ’17 on Sept. 28, 2019. JAY PETTENGILL ’15 of Medicine Lake, Minnesota, proposed to his girlfriend, Taylor Rush, on May 26. CHLOE PIEPHO ’15 of Rochester, Minnesota, is living in Los Angeles, California, and attending graduate school at USC. She will be completing a master’s degree in strategic public relations in December. She works for the LA Galaxy as a digital media associate. MEG RAY ’15 of Delafield, Wisconsin, is a studio assistant at Kara Reese Photography and a bookseller at Books & Company Independent Bookstore. BRISTOLE RYFF ’15 recently moved back to Orland Park, Illinois. She spends her free time with her adorable rescue dog, Dante. She loves her walks to see his quirky personality in action. Professionally, she enjoys subbing in special education classrooms. CLARENCE SANON ’15 is an account executive at a startup called Indigo Fair. LAURA SAVALL ’15 graduated from Vermont Law School in May 2018 and was awarded the Alumni Association’s Contribution to the School Award for her pro bono work

Fall 2018

43

CLASS LETTERS around the community and state. She has worked with with SPEAK Inc., promoting powerful voices of those incarcerated or on parole. She currently volunteers with Aldea: the People’s Justice Center, assisting asylum seekers during their Credible Fear Interviews. She has accepted a new position with Have Justice — Will Travel, an organization in Bennington, Vermont, that is dedicated to ending the generational cycle of abuse in rural families. KARENA SCHROEDER ’15 of Lakeville, Minnesota, is happy to announce that her baby boy, Aiden Sawyer Brenny, joined her loving little family June 15 at 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and 21½ inches in length. He is the greatest gift she could have ever imagined and the center of her entire existence. She is on maternity leave through the end of September so this incredible summer has been, and will continue to be, spent driving to Wisconsin to visit family and friends, enjoying sunny trips up north relaxing by the lake, and fitting as many snuggles in as humanly possible. Recently, Karena had the opportunity to catch up with one of Ripon College’s former track and field assistant coaches, Jenna Rengo, when she took Aiden’s newborn pictures! Karena highly recommends Jenna’s studio, Joysong Photography. BRIAN SCHUMACHER ’15 moved back to the Milwaukee area and is an R&D associate scientist in the materials science group at Millipore Sigma. He is studying emerging technologies and 2-D materials. KARLYN SCHUMACHER ’15 received her master’s in library and information studies in December 2017. She is an academic librarian at South Dakota State University. LAURA SHIVELY ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, still is working at Premier Real Estate LLC. She is in charge of notices to vacate. She works closely with the in-house attorney and the expansion of the online leasing and payment system. She also is helping to design and pick out art and furniture for the corporate office, as well as new properties they acquire and rehab. In her free time, Laura enjoys yoga and spin class, and she has been trying a new restaurant every month. She has set a goal to have a zero waste kitchen by composting and cutting out/being mindful of her plastic usage. LIZ SIGWORTH ’15 finished up her master’s in marriage and family therapy program this August and moved back to the Minnesota/Wisconsin area after that. She is planning a wedding for next spring. ELIZABETH SILVA ’15 of Catalina Island, California, now is living in San Francisco, California. She is working for Yelp as an account executive. JENELLE SIMON ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just completed her second term of service with the College Possible Program at Milwaukee High School of the Arts. She is looking for a job in college admissions. NATE SIUDAK ’15 of Shorewood, Wisconsin, started a new job as an outside sales representative at Paycom in downtown Milwaukee. JOHN SPADONI ’15 and KRISTY OGLESBY ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will be married in November. Kristy works at a law firm in Menomonee Falls. John works at SurfaceWorks as an account administrator, helping company clients design custom office and work spaces. They are enjoying life on the east side of Milwaukee with their two dogs, Izzy and Bruce. ANTHONY TAUSIG ’15 of Chicago, Illinois is working at Broadspire, a Crawford company mostly doing project management. His career allows him to travel the country. Anthony and his girlfriend, ALLISON MACKNICK ’17, recently got their condo renovated and adopted a puppy named Tula.

44

R Connections

ALEX THILLMAN ’15 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, graduated in May from law school at St. Thomas University. AMEL TOPIC ’15 moved back to the Denver area. He is executive director of a skilled nursing/rehab center. Amel is always happy to help other Ripon alumni connect with a career in health care. CASEY VERCAUTEREN ’15 of Chicago, Illinois, is a management consulting analyst at Accelerated Growth Advisors. Casey is strongly considering a career change to game show hosting but is patiently waiting for Steve Harvey to retire. KAMELLE VAN DER LEEST WATERS ’15 and ROB WATERS ’15 are living in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. Their Weimaraner, Jake, is keeping them busy, and Rob is training for the Madison Ironman in September. Their weekends are filled with Rob’s bike rides, trail runs and the Wisconsin Tri Series. They will be spending a long weekend in Benton Harbor, Michigan, in mid-August for a half Ironman. They look forward to meeting up with other Ripon alumni this summer! KAITLYN WELZEN ’15 moved to Seattle and just finished her first year at the Woodland Park Zoo. She loves playing with her dog! MAGGIE WOLF ’15 was featured in the Portage (Wisconsin) Daily Register newspaper concerning her position as a quality assurance tester for Raven Software in Middleton, Wisconsin, in the video game industry. DANIELLE ZAYIA ’15 and AJ ZAYIA ’15 of Bloomington, Illinois, recently married and adopted a chocolate lab puppy named Walle. COLIN UTHE ’15 is beginning his second year of medical school at Des Moines University. SYDNEY CHURCH ’15 of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, will marry AUSTIN VAN TREECK ’14 in October. She will start her final year of study for her MBA through Marquette University while still working for Johnsonville.

2016 Sara Driebel Driebelsara@gmail.com Elizabeth Konieczny ekonieczny12@gmail.com Zachary Peterson zacharyjpeterson@icloud.com Dear Classmates, As I pen this letter to you all in June, a trip that has taught me many things is coming to a close. TYLER SHIMEK ’16 and I, over a week ago, embarked on a road trip cross country, seeing sights in the upper northeast including Niagara Falls, New York; Portland, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. We have seen how diverse different parts of our county truly can be and yet how we all still share common bonds that make us who we are as a nation. There have been moments that have made us laugh and ones that have made us use are our “liberal arts” knowledge discussing how they affect who we are as Americans and individuals. While stopping to see Tyler’s great aunt on the way out of Boston in rural Massachusetts, she imparted a few pieces of wisdom to us. “What I think you two are doing is great,” she stated, going on to say that this is the time in our lives when we make some crucial decisions that affect the rest of our lives. Through the many differentiating life adventures that we are all currently experiencing and have been since we left our “little nest” that is Ripon

2015-16 College, we have to do everything we can to continue to break the boundaries of comfort zones, to be the best version of ourselves. An unexpected stop put this all into perspective. Yesterday, we were on our way to Fremont, Ohio, the final resting place of our 19th President, Rutherford B. Hayes, and his home Spiegel Grove. After a long tiring drive through the unforgiving mountains of southwest Pennsylvania, a travel plaza with a Starbucks was Godsent. It just happened to be right out of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Longing for that extra-strength cold brew, something caught my attention immediately as I went for the plaza door: a plaque saying “Flight 93 National Memorial — 15 miles.” I knew about it well as all of us from our generation do, being the plane that was headed for Washington, D.C., on 9/11 that went down in a rural Pennsylvania farm field, but it never crossed my mind that we would be close to it. I guess the rawness of the event still contributes to us not seeking out sites like these. Grabbing our caffeine, we exited the interstate and made the 30-minute detour to visit the memorial in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Upon arriving, you wind along a more-than-three-mile prairie-like road, as if you’re entering the most peaceful place you could ever imagine. It downpoured as we entered the grounds, clearing only when we reached the site on a bisque, sunny just-like-any-other day that 9/11 started out as. From the visitors’ center, a trail snakes down into the common farm field which become the site of unboundable courage, marked now by a marble memorial wall honoring the 40 victims. The diverse group of flight crew and passengers did what they had to do that day to protect the values of country, so that each and every one of us are able to take advantage of every opportunity. We need to do our best to be the best person we can be, valuing the gifts that those who have come before us have given us. All my best, ZACHARY PETERSON ’16 GARRISON ANDERSON ’16 graduated from Colorado State University with a master’s in communication studies. HOPE BELL ’16 is a certified English as a second language teacher in South Korea. COURTNEY BLOOMER ’16 is moving to Toledo, Ohio, to get her master’s in nursing at the University of Toledo. KARI BROWN ’16 has adopted her second dog: a shepherd/husky mix named Bailey! She is going into her third year as an area coordinator at St. Norbert College. CONNOR CUMMISKEY ’16 married CARLY LUNDT ’16. JANEMARIE ERICKSON ’16 is touring with the Hampstead Stage Company, performing “Treasure Island” and “American Folk Tales and Songs.” Next, she will be performing with the National Theatre for Children. SIDNEY BLODGETT DEMASTER ’16 has gotten married since college. She lives in Ripon and is teaching second grade in Waupun, Wisconsin. During the summers, she and her husband have been traveling the United States in their van camper. SAMANTHA DEY ’16 has a new turtle named Ollie and is looking to get a pet hedgehog as well. SARA DRIEBEL ’16 is settling in to her new job with the city of New Berlin and has been searching for a job for the weekends to save up for her own place where she can have chickens and other creatures. Her dog, Archy, just celebrated his 10th birthday with some pina colada puppy treats and a long game of fetch.

MINH DO ’16 is a sale executive for a Japanese company in Vietnam. ALI FINKEN ERBES ’16 got married July 7, 2017 — coming up on one year! She is half-way done with her master’s in social work from University of WisconsinMadison. (As she writes this, she is at an International Social Work Conference in Linz, Austria). She also has a sassy 8-month-old kitty named Winnie. LAUREN GOTTSHALL ’16 is in medical school at Penn State College of Medicine and recently presented an abstract at Digestive Disease Week in Washington, D.C. She will travel to Amsterdam in August to present at the Federation of Neurogastroenterology and Motility Conference. JEN KELLER ’16 has had a bit of a berserk past six months, but life will stay crazy from here on out because things are not slowing down! This past May, Jen graduated from the public administration master’s program at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has continued working full time as an administrative staff member for the Village of Richfield. She has moved to her new home in Mequon, Wisconsin. So far, there have been several life lessons regarding home maintenance, and there are likely many more to come. Luckily, a little Youtube and 40+ trips to Menards can fix most things. For now, she is staying dog-free, but y’all have been inspirational this last year with dogs of insta, so who knows, maybe she’ll have an update about that next time! ALYSSA KENNEDY ’16 has moved to BloomingtonNormal, Illinois, for her third-year medical rotations at Advocate BroMenn Hospital. TY KETZ ’16 of Baldwin, Wisconsin, has been named head girls’ basketball coach at St. Croix Central High School and still is teaching at an elementary school in Baldwin. KAY LULING ’16 celebrated her two-year anniversary at the end of May working for ABD Direct, a direct mail marketing agency geared toward fundraising for national nonprofits and progressive advocacy groups. Earlier this year, just months before the two-year mark, she was promoted from assistant to account coordinator as she have been taking on larger clients and responsibilities within the company. In January 2017, Kay started Irish dancing again, joining the Milwaukee Irish Dance Company at the invitation of an old friend. Performing for various venues across the Midwest, it has been so great to be dancing again, and with such wonderful and talented women. And, saving the best for last, in September, Kay became engaged to her long-term boyfriend Kyle Senglaub — not a Ripon grad, but they met thanks to a friend during her time at Ripon. Their wedding will be held with close friends and family in January 2019. Kay’s summer will be spent hiking around state and county parks in the southeastern Wisconsin region and traveling to visit family, including a trip to Boston in late July! JOSHUA LUNA ’16 is in graduate school for occupational therapy and is traveling to Ecuador in July to volunteer at a clinic for a couple of weeks. NICK LUEDTKE ’16 has successfully completed the oral Ph.D. candidacy exam as part of the University of Iowa’s chemistry doctoral program. He has been granted an outstanding teaching award for his efforts as a graduate teaching assistant for organic laboratory. Additionally, he was fortunate to receive a fellowship from the University of Iowa’s Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing. This is important to help fund his studies in answering the scientific question: what protein features are found in the human version of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase,

Fall 2018

45

CLASS LETTERS but are absent or changed in the phylogenetically ancestral E. coli version of the enzyme? In his free time, he has been running competitively and qualified and competed at the University of Iowa Musco Twilight Track and Field meet in the 800m run with fellow Ripon College track and field alum and training partner, MIKEY ALLEN ’17. MEGAN MAREMA ’16 started her orthotic residency for prosthetics and orthotics in Milwaukee. She will spend the next two years there learning from clinicians and preparing to take her certification exams. ALEX MORIARTY ’16 moved into her own apartment in January and has begun her third year at her job in the insurance field. She had a Ripon roommate live with her for a few months and is doing well! ZACH MUENCH ’16 is still in PA school at Marquette University. JENNIFER NIGGEMEIER ’16 still is looking for a job that utilizes all the skills she gained at Ripon. She has a winning personality that would benefit any company. Help a fella alumna achieve her dream! ELIZABETH PETERS ’16 is a substitute teacher in six school districts during the school year, teaching swim lessons and lifeguarding. She is considering going back to school for American sign language and possibly becoming an ASL interpreter —she’s looking for some classes in her area! This summer, Lizzie is co-teaching elementary woodshop at Horizons Elementary in Appleton, Wisconsin. It’s been an amazing experience with a great co-teacher and kids that love the class. She also manages, lifeguards and teaches swim lessons at Plamann Lake, manages swim lessons at East High School through Appleton Parks and Recreation, and teaches swim lessons at the local Y on Saturday mornings. She donated 13 inches of her hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths for cancer patients as well! ZACHARY PETERSON ’16 is finishing his last academic year in the master’s in English Writing Program: Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a thesis focus on rhetoric of institutional mental health. He is applying for Ph.D. programs in rhetoric and composition and will present with colleagues at the International Writing Center Association Conference this fall in Atlanta, Georgia. JORDAN POLK ’16 is an event manager for Contemporary Services Corp. at Lucus Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. He helps run and organize major events such as Colts games, the NFL Combine, Big 10 Championship and Monster Jam! PERRY POULOS ’16 is studying for a master of biomedical sciences at Midwestern University. ERIKA RIEBE ’16 married ZAC NELL ’15 June 9. They are loving the dog parent life and exploring the dog-friendly Twin Cities. STEPHANIE ROSENOW ’16 has been busy at work but is enjoying the summer by going to the zoo and hitting up High Cliff — working on that exercise! JACOB SAHR ’16 is a first lieutenant, company executive office, in the United States Army, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. MATTHEW SCHULTZ ’16 just returned from 2½ weeks in Ecuador and Peru and is very excited about finally having seen Kuzcotopia, or Machu Picchu as it’s more commonly known. He still is living in Madison as a certified nursing assistant and is trying to resist getting a dog. Matthew is stoked for a summer of concerts including Kesha, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Queen Lizzo, and Florence and the

46

R Connections

Machine. He also is looking forward to planning a trip to Europe to see a friend in Germany. AKASH SEN ’16 and JADEE KELLOGG ’15 are engaged and both have moved to Oklahoma City with jobs at Boeing. Their dog, Apollo, turned 2 this year! TYLER SHIMEK ’16 went on a cross-country road trip with ZACHARY PETERSON ’16 in June to the upper east coast including stops in Niagara Falls, New York (Ontario, Canada); Portland, Maine; Massachusetts’ North Shore; Boston, Massachusetts; and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. KELLI WALSH ’16 still is living the dream.

2017 Konner Feldhus 303-280-5835 / konnerfeldhus@gmail.com Winona Holmes Robbins 650-274-9231 / winonamay94@gmail.com Erin Canon 414-469-5945 / erinc2456@gmail.com Being more than a year removed from Ripon, we may not think about Ripon every day anymore, but the College is always thinking about the class of 2017! Back in April, on #OneDayRally, President Zach Messitte matched all of the donations from our class. He even keeps in contact with some alumni from our class. This is not something to take lightly; at a lot of big schools, it’s a rarity for any member of administration to give much thought to the most recent class of alumni after graduation day. It was fun seeing all of the social media posts on #OneDayRally. I hope everyone had a great time reminiscing on some fun days in college, and maybe you even reached out to someone you hadn’t spoken with for a while. When people ask what school I went to and I have to explain that there were only 800 students, their reactions are always PRICELESS. The look of shock on their faces that a college is so small makes me laugh, every time. I’m sure many of you have had the same reaction. We’re very happy that there is going to be such a large incoming class. Apparently, it’s going to be the largest since 2010 with more than 270 new students! I’m sure they won’t be as fun as our class ... but they can try to live up to us. We hope that you are all doing well and living your best life. As always, keep in touch! MIKEY ALLEN ’17 and training partner NICK LUEDTKE ’16 qualified and competed at the University of Iowa Musco Twilight Track and Field meet in the 800m run. JAKE BAUS ’17 is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program. STEPHEN COVALT ’17 and KORRINE PETERSON ’15 of Burlington, Wisconsin, will marry on Sept. 28, 2019. HANNAH DAVIDSON ’17 of Mundelein, Illinois, has been taking culinary and hospitality classes for the last year to receive her pastry chef assistant certification through the culinary and hospitality program at the College of Lake County. She is a froster at the Nothing Bundt Cakes franchise in Kildeer, Illinois. She claims that she has been mostly fueled by wine and Bundt cake for the past year. MARIAH EVERTS ’17 of Watertown, Wisconsin, is finishing a half-year of teaching English in Taiwan and will be heading back to the States to start her journey towards her naturopathic doctorate this fall. The Ripon College senior seminar paper of AMY FELS ’17, “Beyond the Pines: The Socioeconomic Development of Oconto: 1850-1950,” was published in the Winter/

2016-2018 Spring 2018 issue of Voyageur Magazine. Her article, “Oshkosh on the Home Front: Activities and Attitudes During WWI,” was published in the Spring 2018 issue of The Muse, the quarterly magazine of the Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Public Museum. KONNER FELDHUS ’17 of Des Moines, Iowa, began studying medicine at Des Moines University in late July and is enjoying exploring a new city. WINONA HOLMES ROBBINS ’17 is the assistant swimming and diving coach at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. ALLISON MACKNICK ’17 and ANTHONY TAUSIG ’15 of Chicago, Illinois, recently got their condo renovated and adopted a puppy named Tula. Anthony is working at Broadspire, a Crawford company mostly doing project management. His career allows him to travel the country. RANDAL SCROGGINS ’17 is studying for a master’s of nursing at Rush University. ZACH SCHMIDT ’17 is pursuing a master’s degree in counseling with specialization in sport and health at Adler University in Chicago. He has a social justice practicum in the behavioral health division of a county health department. In the fall of 2018, he will start a clinical internship and sports externship. TARA SCHULTZ ’17 is in graduate school in arts management at American University, Washington, D.C. MASON STANGL ’17 and NICKIE ZEMAN ’17 of St. Paul, Minnesota, got engaged on Christmas Eve and have a new black lab/Chihuahua puppy named Lucy. Mason works at Equality as a job coach for individuals with mental barriers. Nickie just finished her first year of law school and is working at Waldeck Law Firm P.A as a law clerk for the summer.

HANNAH BRODNER ’18 is studying for a master’s in genetic counseling at Northwestern University. CEANNA CAELWAERTS ’18 is studying for a master’s in social work at UW-Madison. MOLLIE CARLSON ’18 is an implementation consultant at CDK Global in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. ELIZABETH CURRIER ’18 is a cashier in Target in Fitchburg, Wisconsin. JESSICA DAVIS ’18 is a human resource assistant manager at Etrailer Inc. in Sister Bay, Wisconsin. JOHANNES DEEGEN ’18 is a night property manager at the Heidel House in Green Lake. JESSICA DRAUS ’18 is on the support living staff at Community Living Connections in Madison, Wisconsin. KEELEY EAMES ’18 is working in park attractions at Walt Disney Co. in Orlando, Florida. JONALEE ELLIOTT ’18 is engaged to Anthony Abel with a wedding date set for Aug. 13, 2018. SARA ERTEL ’18 is a student teacher at Sheboygan Falls Elementary School. RANDAL FINGER ’18 is studying for a degree in water/ sports law at Marquette Law School. BRYANA FREDRICKSON ’18 is a regional financial analyst at Modine Manufacturing in Racine, Wisconsin. CHRISTOPHER GEE ’18 is an IT assistant at Foote School in New Haven, Connecticut. EMILY GRUBER ’18 is student teaching. She is engaged to Travis Loberger with a marriage date set for Dec. 22, 2018.

LINCOLN WURTZ ’17 is pursuing a dual M.D.-Ph.D. degree at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

HUNTER GRUENWALD ’18 is working at Torborgs Lumber in Waupaca, Wisconsin, while studying health and wellness management at UW-Colleges Online.

2018

JORDYN HARTWIG ’18 is a marketing assistant at Lifequest in Wautoma, Wisconsin.

Holly Erickson Hollyerickson96@gmail.com Lauren Hince laurenehince@gmail.com Eleanore Mueller Elmueller50@gmail.com EMMA ALLEN ’18 is studying for a master’s degree in public health at Yale School of Public Health. JAMES AMEDEO ’18 of Orland Park, Illinois, is studying for a master’s degree in national security at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. He had an article published in East Asia Forum June 17, 2018. YANNI BAMBARAKOS ’18 is a leadership development associate at Tri City National Bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. BRANDON BARNES ’18 is studying for a degree in leadership and innovation in education at Wisconsin Lutheran College. ZACHARY BART ’18 is an outside sales representative for Burndy LLC in Chicago, Illinois. ALEXA BECK ’18 is working in inside sales for US Health Advisors in Elgin, Illinois. LEAH BLAZKOVEC ’18 is a rehab assistant at Door County Medical Center in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. TAYLOR BOE ’18 is studying for a master’s in education at the College of St. Josephs.

DREW HETZ ’18 is an EMT at County Rescue Services in Green Bay while studying at Marquette University for a master’s degree in physician assistant studies. He married Amanda Handle June 30, 2018. ABBY HILKER ’18 is student teaching in chemistry at Appleton North High School. LAUREN HINCE ’18 is an account manager at Groupon in Chicago, Illinois. PATCH HOFFMAN ’18 is an IT student assistant at Ripon College. ROSE HOGMIRE ’18 of De Pere, Wisconsin, is a market analyst for Stage Three, a start-up partnered with Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wisconsin. ERIKA ISAACSON ’18 was a health care supervisor at Wisconsin Badger Camp in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, for the summer. She now is an anesthesia technician at Marshfield Clinic in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. REBECCAH JONES ’18 is student teaching K-5 physical education in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She is engaged to marry Michael Conley on July 18, 2020. NICK KITA ’18 is a farmhand/manager at Kita Farms in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. JESSICA KOBELT ’18 is student teaching in physical education at Bolingbrook High School in Bolingbrook, Illinois. RACHEL KOLODZIEJ ’18 works for Sodexo at Ripon College.

Fall 2018

47

ERIC LEFAVE ’18 is studying for a master’s degree in athletic training at Franklin College, Franklin, Indiana. CLAIRE LOCICERO ’18 sells merchandise at Walt Disney Co. in Orlando, Florida. HAILEY MATTHEISEN ’18 is a research intern at Purdue University. MOLLY NELLEN ’18 is a research intern at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. MATTHEW PAINE ’18 works at North Naples Community Hospital in Naples, Florida. MEGAN PIEPER ’18 is a credit analyst trainee at Associated Bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. KATELYN VAN SWOL ’18 is a customer service representative at Uline in Kenosha, Wisconsin. SAMANTHA RAYGO ’18 is studying for a degree in criminal law at Marquette University Law School, Milwaukee. OWEN REYNOLDS ‘18 works for Sentinus LLC financial advising in Oak Brook, Illinois. MEGAN RINGO ’18 is studying for a master’s degree in leadership education at the University of NebraskaLincoln. TENE ROBINSON ’18 is studying for a master’s degree in social work at the University of Saint Francis in Joliet, Illinois.

KELLY ULLMAN ’18 is a loan documentation specialist at US Bank in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She is engaged to Lukas Klauer and plans to get married in the summer of 2019. CHEYENNE VARGO ’18 is continuing her service as a specialist in the Wisconsin Army National Guard. CARYSSA WAITE ’18 is a front desk manager at Green Lake Renewal in Green Lake, Wisconsin. CORDELL WALKER ’18 is a graphic designer for the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. KRISTINE WATRAL ’18 is studying for a master’s degree in neurobiology at Northwestern University. BRIAN WILSON ’18 is an assembler at Alliance Laundry in Ripon, Wisconsin. ANDREA WINTERS ’18 is a CNA at Good Samaritan Society in Lodi, Wisconsin. INGRID WOOD ’18 is studying at Trine University, Angola, Indiana, to be a physician assistant. BROCK WOODMAN ’18 works in lawn maintenance at Corporate Contractors Inc., Beloit, Wisconsin. JOSE ZAVALA ’18 works in sales at Lowe’s, Chicago, Illinois. DANIEL ZIPPERER ’18 is a manager trainee at Midwest Manufacturing in Iron Ridge, Wisconsin.

MERRANDA SCHMID ’18 is studying for a Ph.D. at Colorado State University. GARY SEXSON ’18 is a manager trainee at Enterprise in Madison, Wisconsin. EMILY STANCZAK ’18 is studying for a Ph.D. in biology at Indiana University. HANNAH TETZLAFF ’18 is an education, regional and legal reporter for the Ripon Commonwealth Press newspaper.

S! EDAYRALLY A SUCCES N O # ST R FI ’S N O IP GR THANKS FOR MAKIN

48

221% OF GOAL

940 $656,626 TOTAL RAISED GIFTS RECEIVED

R Connections

We need YOU to host a Rally Hour! Each year, the Office of Constituent Engagement works with volunteers like you to host Rally Hours all across the nation. Rally Hours events offer an excellent opportunity for alumni, parents and friends to have fun while catching up, networking and learning more about what’s currently happening at Ripon. Rally Hours are regularly held in Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Madison, the Twin Cities, and Washington, D.C. But, you are welcome to host anywhere you live, work or travel. If you would like to host an event in a different location, no problem! We’ve hosted events in Denver, the Fox Valley of Wisconsin, Naples, Philadelphia and Portland, to name a few. Send us the time, location and name of the venue at least eight weeks ahead and we will send you everything you need to host Rally Hours and spread the word to alumni in your area. Rally Hours Event Checklist

• You choose a location that is semi-private or has a designated area with space for guests.

• We will provide:

Formal invitations and reminders to those in your geographic region.

Social media posts/reminders.

Ripon College post on the website calendar.

Complimentary appetizers.

Swag and name tags.

Share pictures of all the fun your group had at the Rally Hour.

Interested? Contact us at alumni@ripon.edu or visit ripon.edu/host-an-event and we will help your event be a rallying success! Fall 2018

49

S TAY I N G C O N N E C T E D W I T H R I P O N

William Ainslie ’79/P’11 discovered a passion for the environment at Ripon College When William Ainslie ’79 / P’11 first came to Ripon College, he was an aspiring pre-med student majoring in biology. But two summers attending the Wilderness Field Station near Ely, Minnesota, “were transformative,” he says. “My experience at the field station changed my interest and my focus and influenced my eventual career. “I discovered … that the wilderness is a setting which is both beautiful and ominous, and one in which man is but a part of a greater whole. But as impressive as the natural resources in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Quetico Provincial Park were, even back in the ’70s, there was evidence of man-made disturbance to the ecosystem. This evidence of man’s influence in such a wild and beautiful setting was alarming.” He changed his focus to protecting the environment and earned a master’s degree in wildlife management from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. From 1985 to 1986, he was a science instructor at Ripon College. Then, in 1986, he began his career with the United States Environmental Protection Agency. He lives in Decatur, Georgia, and is the wetlands mitigation and assessment coordinator for the southeastern United States.

discussions with faculty, support from college staff and experiences on the residence hall staff. They “gave me a sense of belonging, purpose, ethics and a chance to grow,” Ainslie says. “Not to mention the opportunity to make lasting friends. Instruction was top-notch, but the faculty’s interest in and desire to help each student succeed was exceptional. Without

“I have always maintained that the

the exceptional faculty and staff, the

liberal arts education I received

College would be but a group of

at Ripon does an excellent job of

buildings, another place, just another

providing a basis for critical thought,

school. But the people at Ripon

and just as importantly, critical

College make Ripon College.”

communication,” he says. “The rigor of thought and mastery of the subject matter required to express cogent thoughts for my Ripon classes set me up well to eventually go on to critically assess proposals to impact important aquatic resources, consider additional information and its relevance, and thoughtfully represent the position of EPA in writing.”

50

with his classmates, classes and

Ainslie’s Class of ’79 will celebrate its 40th reunion during Alumni Weekend, June 27-30, 2019. Through the years, Ainslie has attended regional events in Atlanta and visited the Ripon College campus. Most recently, he was on campus Friday, April 27, with his daughter, Kylie ’11, to speak at a Department of Biology seminar in

He says he most appreciates the

honor of the retirement of Professor

interactions and experiences shared

of Biology George “Skip” Wittler.

R Connections

Without the exceptional faculty and staff, the College would be but a group of buildings, another place, just another school. But the people at Ripon College make Ripon College.” WILLIAM AINSLIE ’79/P’11

Liberal arts background leads Ariana Myers ’14 to Princeton University The close friendships made with classmates and professors are the most rewarding aspect of her liberal arts education for Ariana Myers ’14. “With such a small residential campus, you really get to know your classmates well,” she says. “Many of the friends I made during my time at Ripon are destined to be lifelong.” At Ripon College, she majored in history, Spanish and a selfdesigned major in classical languages. “Without the training of Ripon’s top-notch language faculty, none of my career would have been possible,” Myers says. She now is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Princeton University. “I spent my first two years in the program taking classes and learning relevant languages to my research, like Arabic and Hebrew, and now I am in Spain reading 800-year-old parchments, mostly in Latin but some in Catalan, and fragments in Hebrew and Arabic.

lecturer for the Introduction to ARMS (Ancient, Renaissance and Medieval Studies) course and for the Ripon

Her academic advisor at Princeton

QSA to speak about “how queerness

is William Chester Jordan ’69, who

is represented in the discipline of

also received his Ph.D. in history

history and my experiences as a queer

from Princeton and now serves as the

woman in academia.”

because I believe

“I give back to Ripon because I

in its liberal arts

Dayton-Stockton Professor of History.

I give back to Ripon

“He has been an incomparable

believe in its liberal arts educational

mentor and has helped me to

model,” Myers says. “I originally

develop my research interests and

picked Ripon over many contenders

understanding of the medieval world

for my undergraduate education

far beyond what I had imagined to

because it emphasized small class

be possible,” Myers says. “Under his

sizes, a wide variety of academic

mentoring that Ripon’s model

guidance, I will continue to refine

disciplines, and incredible

offered to guide me toward

my research findings from this past

opportunities for enrichment.

those opportunities and

year in Spain in order to write my dissertation, which is about how religious conversion between Islam and Christianity in the Crown of Aragon changed during the 13th and 14th centuries.”

“In giving back to the College that helped me to pursue my lifelong

educational model.” ARIANA MYERS ’14

supporting me in my quest for scholarships and funding.”

dream of becoming a historian, I see myself as encouraging the continuation of the system that allowed me to learn five languages

Myers’ Class of 2014 will celebrate

and experience such incredible

its five-year reunion during the

summer opportunities as an

next Alumni Weekend June 27-30,

archaeological dig in Greece, a tour

2019. She has been a loyal donor to

of the castles of southern France,

Ripon College, giving each year since

and more. None of that would have

graduation, and she has been a guest

been possible without the kind of

Fall 2018

51

S TAY I N G C O N N E C T E D W I T H R I P O N

Brad Alberts ’92 carries love of sports, Ripon education into professional career The opportunity to continue playing basketball and the personal interest of coaches were deciding factors for Brad Alberts ’92 to attend school at Ripon College. “I was looking for a school to play basketball, and Ripon was very comfortable to me,” Alberts says. “Coach Bob Gillespie or a member of his staff was at every one of my high school games, and the players that I met made me feel very comfortable. In addition, the staff I met were incredible. Some are still there. Great people!” Alberts majored in history at Ripon College and received a master’s degree in sports management from the University of Northern Colorado. He now is the president of the Dallas Stars Hockey Club. He oversees all aspects of the Stars’ business operations, including finance and administration, box office, human resources

traits for successful business in

and information technology. He

my opinion.”

manages about 100 full-time staff. He also will continue to serve as president of the Texas Stars, the organization’s minor league affiliate located in Cedar Park, Texas.

of his Ripon College education was “being around some amazing people. I got everything I could out and teammates are lifelong. The

includes nearly two decades of

staff and professors at Ripon are

professional sports experience with

world-class people. I thoroughly

the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers;

enjoyed my Ripon experience!”

Hicks Sports Marketing Group, the in-house sponsorship sales group for the Stars, Texas Rangers and Liverpool Football Club; and as vice president of sponsorship and sales at Legends/CSL, overseeing events at numerous venues around the country. “The education I received at Ripon taught me how to think. How to write. How to communicate,” Alberts says. “I think those things are the most beneficial to my career. They are actually very underrated

R Connections

The education I received at Ripon

of basketball, and the memories

His previous work experience

as executive vice president of the

52

He says the most rewarding part

Alberts is a loyal supporter of Ripon College and a member of the 1851 Club.

taught me how to think. How to write. How to communicate. I think those things are the most beneficial to my career. They are actually very underrated traits for successful business in my opinion.” BRAD ALBERTS ’92

Ripon STEM classes prepared Jenan Jamal Kharbush ’09 for research at Harvard The small size of Ripon College and the ability to access hands-on laboratory training attracted Jenan Jamal Kharbush ’09 to Ripon College. “After attending an overcrowded high school, I loved the idea of attending a small college, with small class sizes,” she says. “I knew I wanted to major in a STEM field, and at larger schools it is more difficult to get hands-on laboratory training. Almost all of the biology and chemistry classes at Ripon had a laboratory component, giving me the first research skills that would launch the rest of my education and future career. I also have to thank the Pickard Family and Pickard Scholarship Fund, which made it financially possible for me to come to Ripon!”

a background in both. In addition, the experience I gained in laboratory sections while at Ripon was very

Kharbush majored in biology and

helpful in obtaining additional

chemistry, with a minor in Spanish,

summer research experiences at

from Ripon College. She went

other institutions. These experiences

on to receive a Ph.D. in chemical

ultimately led me to choose a

oceanography from Scripps

career in scientific research, and

Institution of Oceanography at

environmental science in particular.”

University of California San Diego in 2015. She now is a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

At Ripon, she says, “I felt supported and like I belonged even during the most challenging times, which is not something to take for granted. Perhaps the most rewarding

“Overall, I’d describe myself as

aspect of being at Ripon was the

an environmental scientist,

opportunity to really get to know

although I specialize in chemical

my professors. … They were hugely

oceanography and microbiology,”

inspirational and are still my role

she says. “I am interested in how

models. Having such talented and

tiny organisms called microbes make

motivated professors spurred my

and recycle organic matter in oceans

own interest in teaching. I hope to

and in lakes.”

find a job at a university that values

She also teaches and mentors undergraduate students. Next spring, she will teach her first class as a lecturer at Harvard. She says her training at Ripon College prepared her well for her career. “I use both biology and

both teaching and research.”

I felt supported and like I belonged even during the most challenging times, which is not something to take for granted. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of being at Ripon was the opportunity to really get to know my professors. … They were hugely inspirational and are still my role models.” JENAN JAMAL KHARBUSH ’09

chemistry techniques on a daily basis,” she says. “Oceanography and limnology are very interdisciplinary fields, so it was an advantage to have

Fall 2018

53

CAMPUS SNAPSHOTS

RENATE BARKER ’19 studies with a friend in The Spot.

Tommy Thompson, former Wisconsin governor and the U.S. secretary of health and human services under President George W. Bush, speaks in Great Hall last November.

Quarterback JULIAN PATTON ’21 of Madison, Wisconsin, runs with the ball during a game against Finlandia University Sept. 8, 2018. Ripon scored more points in that game than any in the last 102 years, defeating Finlandia 70-0.

Members of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, including ALLY MOLINSKI ’20 and MELISSA MICALE ’19 on saxophones, perform in Demmer Recital Hall.

MELANY CASTILLO ’19 and TREY ASHBY ’20 share a laugh in The Spot, formerly The Pub, in the lower level of Harwood Memorial Union.

54

R Connections

On behalf of the Student-Athlete Leadership Team (SALT), MORGAN MAKAR ’19 presents a Rally Award to Pearl Terbilcox of Sodexo Food Service for her ongoing support of Red Hawks student-athletes. The recognition was given during the second annual Rallys, an ESPYs-type award event for Red Hawks athletics.

Hosts of Pantsuit Politics, a popular podcast, address a large crowd in Great Hall March 23. The Kentucky-based friends — Sarah Stewart Holland, a city commissioner, and Beth Silvers, a lawyer and business leader — represent opposite sides of the political spectrum but discuss the big issues of the day through civil discourse.

KATIE KING ’19 watches as a rat navigates a maze in the psychology department’s animal behavior lab.

CAMRIE SCHMITZ ’21 of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, goes for the ball during a women’s soccer game Sept. 2, 2018, against Marian University.

Exercise science and physical education students CODY CHASE ’18, JESSICA KOBELT ’18 and EMILY KOLLMANN ’19 work with elementary students from Journey Charter School in Ripon. The youngsters made regular visits to Willmore Center during the 2017-18 school year to participate in activities and learn about healthy lifestyles from Ripon College students. Students write thank-you notes to donors during Ripon’s first #OneDayRally giving day, April 25.

THOMAS MACE ’69, who has held leadership positions with the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA, spoke about climate change and the environment from a conservative viewpoint during a visit to campus Feb. 14.

DIANA MEREDITH ’19 participates in a candlelight vigil as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month last October.

Fall 2018

55

CAMPUS SNAPSHOTS

Director of Multicultural Affairs Kyonna Henry and ALI HAMZA ’22 hold apples. Members of the student life staff, including Henry, handed out apples to students between classes Monday, Sept. 17, to celebrate the beginning of Fall Fest.

Members of the College’s Love Your Melon crew spent an evening making fleece tie blankets which then were donated to area shelters this past winter.

ALEXIS WENZEL ’22 slides through a slip-n-slide filled with colorful paint as part of Kappa Delta sorority’s annual KD Colors event last September. Vice President and Dean of Faculty Ed Wingenbach serves biscuits to students during the annual Late Night Breakfast in Pickard Commons last December.

The front entry to Lane Library received a major renovation during the summer. The new entrance was debuted in September 2018. One of the most popular buildings on campus is now ADA-compliant.

56

R Connections

1851 Club Associate Professor of Biology and Chair of the Health Professions Advising Committee Barbara Sisson works in the lab with Vanessa Villarreal ’20.

Your leadership shapes tomorrow’s leaders. The 1851 Club, the leadership-level giving society of Ripon College, honors all donors who annually give $1,000 and above. College leaders are alumni, friends and parents — and, like you, they believe in the power of a Ripon College education. Your loyalty and generosity will be honored throughout the year at presidential receptions and other events where you will proudly wear your 1851 Club ribbon. To join, please visit ripon.edu/leadership-societies or contact: Kelly Nielsen Director of Annual Giving 920.748.8852 Nielsenk@ripon.edu Fall 2018

57

IN MEMORIAM ROBERT F. BIERMAN ’42 of West Allis, Wisconsin, died April 5, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in physics and participated in Lambda Delta Alpha. Survivors include two sons; and grandchildren, including JESSICA BIERMAN GOUGE ’08. His first wife, LOTTIE KUCHER BIERMAN ’44, died in 2006. LUCIA LAY MAXSON ’48 of Louisville, Kentucky, died April 27, 2018. At Ripon College, she majored in French and mathematics, and participated in athletics, Ver Adest and Alpha Chi Omega. She also graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago. She had a long career as a commercial artist and continued freelancing after she retired. She painted throughout her lifetime. Survivors include her husband, Ralph Maxson; two sons and two daughters. JOAN FLAHERTY STEWART ’48 of Ballwin, Missouri, died July 20, 2018. At Ripon College, she was a member of Kappa Sigma Chi. She moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1949. After raising her seven children, she pursued a successful career in real estate and earned a place in the “Million Dollar Club.” She was active in her parish, Holy Rosary Catholic Church, since its founding in 1954, and served as a Eucharistic minister and lector. Survivors include four sons and two daughters. Her husband, ROBERT JAMES “RED” STEWART ’37, died in 1989. JAMES J. PICKARD ’49 of Bloomington, Minnesota, died Aug. 31 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in economics and participated in athletics and Alpha Omega Alpha. He was a member of Partners in the Legacy. He served as a radio technician in the U.S. Navy for 2½ years during World War II. He had a 37-year career in banking, most of it with the Northwestern Bank in Bloomington as a commercial banker. He was active in many community activities and Oak Grove Presbyterian Church. He and his wife, Mitzi, spent their winters in Green Valley, Arizona, after he retired in 1986. He played senior softball and golf. Survivors include his wife, Mitzi; three sons; one daughter MARGARET “MEG” PICKARD HARMON ’81; and a brother, SAMUEL PICKARD ’55, Honorary Life Trustee of Ripon College. RICHARD L. “DICK” SCHARNO ’49 of Venice, Florida, died May 19, 2018. At Ripon College, he studied physical education, participated in athletics and was a member of Phi Delta Theta/Alpha Phi Omega. He received a degree in physical education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Because of the Korean War, he spent five years in the Air Force followed by 25 years in the food packaging business in Dallas, Pittsburgh and St. Louis before retiring to Florida in 1994. Survivors include his wife, CHARLOTTE KRAUS SCHARNO ’49; one son and two daughters. EVAN E. OLSON ’50 of Omaha, Nebraska, died July 3, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in economics and participated in Ver Adest, student government and Theta Sigma Tau. He served as an adjunct math instructor and president of his fraternity. He earned a master’s degree in finance from American College and a master’s in financial planning from Bryn Mawr College. He was a financial planner, owner and principal of Olson Financial Services and owner of Wealth Management Partners. He also worked as an adjunct faculty member at Creighton University in Omaha and gave presentations for the Omaha Public Schools. Survivors include his wife, Sybil G. Thailing Olson; two sons and one daughter. HENRY T. SCHINTZ ’50 of Riverview, Florida, formerly of Matteson, Illinois, died Jan. 31, 2017. At Ripon College, he participated in ROTC and Delta Sigma Pi. A native of Chicago, he had wintered in Florida for 22 years. He was a U.S. Army Korean War veteran and a member of St. John’s Faith Church, Matteson, Illinois, and the American

58

R Connections

Legion. Survivors include two daughters, including BARBARA SCHINTZ SHEDORE ’78. TENHO R. HUKKALA ’52, formerly of Rixeyville and Clifton, Virginia, died April 28, 2011. At Ripon College, he majored in mathematics and physics and participated in ROTC, Ver Adest and Phi Kappa Pi. He was a retired Army colonel who had served in Korea and Vietnam, and he earned the Silver Star, Legion of Merit and Bronze Star. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. HELEN HOAG PFAFFLIN ’52 of Watertown, Wisconsin, died Aug. 13, 2018. At Ripon College, she studied Spanish and English and participated in Ver Adest and Kappa Sigma Chi. Survivors include one daughter. Her husband, JERRY PFAFFLIN ’52, died in 2015. MARTHA SHOEMAKER BERTON ’53 of Olathe and Ottawa, Kansas, died June 21, 2018. At Ripon College, she majored in music. She attended graduate school at the University of Illinois. She taught music at the Marengo Illinois Public Elementary School and was a private piano instructor for many years in Ada, Ohio. She was also the organist for several churches. She worked in the registrar’s office at Ohio Northern University in Ada, retiring in 1995. She was a member of Order of the Eastern Star, was Mother Advisor to the Order of Rainbow Girls in Ada and as a Cub Scout Den Mother in Terre Haute and Ada. She worked extensively with her husband, John, in support of the Boy Scouts of America. Survivors include three sons and two daughters. Her husband, JOHN BERTON ’53, died in 2010. RONALD W. EVERSON ’53 of Bloomington, Indiana, formerly of Richland Center, Wisconsin, died Aug. 3, 2018. At Ripon College, he participated in Ver Adest and was a member of Phi Kappa Pi. He obtained his doctorate in optometry from Northwestern University. He served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1957, then taught for three years in the School of Optometry, Pacific University, Forrest Grove and Oregon. For the next 36 years, he taught in the School of Optometry, Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana. He also wrote textbooks. He enjoyed visiting family in Wisconsin and was an avid family genealogist. RICHARD L. KAY JR. ’53 of Lawrence, Kansas, died July 13, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in history and French, participated in theatre and earned Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He specialized in medieval history and taught at Knox College, the University of Kentucky and the University of Colorado before teaching for 31 years at the University of Kansas. He wrote more than 125 academic works, including “The Council Of Bourges,” published in 2002; a book-length bibliography, “Pontificalia,” of 1,249 manuscripts used by bishops in church services; and several books about Italian poet Dante Alighieri. He enjoyed mushrooming, winning awards for photographs and fungi and co-writing a guide to Kansas mushrooms. Survivors include his wife, Sherry; one son and one daughter. JOAN HURLEY VAN ZOEREN ’53 of Kalamazoo, Michigan, died Sept. 6, 2018. At Ripon College, she studied psychology and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She earned master’s degrees in political science and library science from Western Michigan University. While living in Washington, D.C., for a year, she volunteered full time for the Smithsonian Institute and The Library of Congress. She was committed to numerous public service efforts in Kalamazoo and in Boca Grande, Florida, where she spent several winters. She and her husband travelled extensively, volunteered for projects in India and Haiti, and for victims of Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi. She enjoyed

reading, book clubs, gardening, biking, swimming and water exercise. Survivors include her husband, CHARLES “CHUCK” VAN ZOEREN ’53, an honorary life trustee of Ripon College; two sons and one daughter. DUANE EUGENE PEPKE ’54 of Hutchinson Island, Florida, died June 3, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in chemistry and participated in athletics, ROTC and Delta Sigma Pi. ROBERT L. “BOB” BROTHERS ’55 of St. Charles, Illinois, died May 22, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in economics and was a member of ROTC and Lambda Delta Alpha. He worked for Sears Roebuck and Co. for 37 years. Survivors include his wife, Janice; two sons and two daughters. DAVID B. CLINTON ’58 of Wayzata, Minnesota, died Aug. 15, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in mathematics and was a member of Lambda Delta Alpha/Delta Upsilon. He earned degrees in electrical engineering from MIT and joined the Aerospace Division of G.E. in Philadelphia. Ten years later, he returned to Minneapolis to start his own computer electronics company. He was a charter member in the construction of the Ridgedale YMCA, served two, four-year terms on its board of directors and three years on the General Board of the Greater Minneapolis YMCA. Survivors include his wife, Mary; one son, two daughters and one stepson. DONALD L. CRAIG ’58 of Manawa, Wisconsin, died June 13, 2018. During high school, he was a Badger Boys State Delegate to Ripon College, and he lettered in basketball, football, track and band. After two years at Ripon College, he joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Louisiana. He had an entrepreneurial spirit and loved all things mechanical. He established several businesses, including Craig Manufacturing, Trade Winds Campers and Fliteway Campers. He served on the Manawa City Council from 1978-1983, was a volunteer fireman and emergency medical technician; and a member of the Manawa Masonic Lodge and Manawa Lion’s Club. He enjoyed nature, the outdoors, hunting and fishing, and the Green Bay Packers. He and his wife were the force in establishing the Little Wolf River Walking Trails. Surviving are his wife, Mary; and two sons. JAMES V. SMITH ’58 of Englewood, Florida, died June 11, 2018. At Ripon College, he studied mathematics and participated in ROTC and Sigma Nu. He served in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant. He enjoyed a rewarding career in IT, culminating with his retirement from the World Bank in 1996. He split his time between Englewood, Florida, and their lake home in Mineral, Virginia. He loved celebrations of all sorts and performing in the Park Forest Chorus and Faith Lutheran Church choir. He enjoyed travel, home improvement projects, watching the Redskins, golf and puzzles. Survivors include his wife, NANCY STOVER SMITH ’60; one son; and two daughters. HENRY “HAL” SCHWENN ’60 of Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, formerly of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, died Oct. 13, 2017. At Ripon College, he majored in economics and was a member of Delta Upsilon. He worked at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in fish management his entire career. He and his wife spent winters in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. He enjoyed University of Wisconsin Badgers sports, fishing, golfing and watching his grandchildren’s sports and youth activities. Survivors include two daughters. DALE A. LAVALLEE ’62 of Sun City, Arizona, died March 5, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in chemistry and biology and participated in athletics, Sigma Chi and Phi

Beta Kappa. In 1965, he earned a medical degree from Northwestern Medical School in Evanston, Illinois, and did an internship and residency in anesthesiology at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He then fulfilled his Navy obligation at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia. He worked at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper for 13 years and as administrator of the Casper Surgical Center for seven years; then in Moran until his retirement. He enjoyed backpacking, hiking, skiing, cycling, golfing, boating, hunting and fly-fishing. Survivors include his wife, Nancy; two sons including KEITH LAVALLEE ’88; and one daughter. THOMAS F. DOUGHERTY ’66 of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, died Aug. 5, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in economics and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He earned an MBA from Emory University. He served in the United States Air Force and was awarded a Bronze Star for his service during the Vietnam War. He returned to Cleveland and spent 16 years in various positions at National City Bank, then founded his own private equity firm. He was active in many businesses, served on numerous boards, and mentored, counseled and advised many in the Cleveland business community. He enjoyed golfing, flying, history and the Cleveland Indians. Survivors include his wife, VICTORIA HAASE DOUGHERTY ’70; and two daughters. CHARLES E. READ ‘66 died in March 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in economics and was a member of Sigma Chi. He also played football and was a member of the 1963 undefeated team. He received his MBA from York University in Toronto, Ontario. He spent many years working in the financial industry in both Toronto and New York City, before retiring and moving to Chicago to be closer to his daughter. Survivors include his wife, Maija Read; one son and one daughter; and a brother DAVE READ ’70. SCOTT F. SULLEY ’69 died in July 2017. At Ripon College, he majored in politics and government, and he participated in ROTC and Phi Delta Theta. He studied international management at American Graduate School of International Management in Phoenix Arizona, and law at Northern Illinois University. He had served as a judge in Arizona. HOMER H. DARY III ’70 of Racine, Wisconsin, died June 13, 2018. He was a graduate of St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy. At Ripon College, he majored in economics. He loved gardening, watching sports, and greeting customers at the local gas station. DAVID L. FONDA ’70 of Freeport, Illinois, died Feb. 21, 2018. At Ripon College, he studied philosophy and participated in ROTC and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Survivors include his wife, LINDA TRACY FONDA ’70; and two daughters. PATRICK K. WYER ’72 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, died July 24, 2018. He served in the U.S. as a medic during the Vietnam War. He lived and worked in Ripon, Wisconsin, until the mid-1990s when he moved to Fond du Lac. He was a member of Holy Family Sacred Heart Parish in Fond du Lac and was a lay Franciscan. He was deeply spiritual and prayed continually for fellow sojourners and those he had known who had died. Survivors include one son; and siblings, including sisters VALERIE WYER ’74 and JACQUELINE WYER ’77. WILLIAM E. SCHMUGGEROW III ‘74 of Staunton, Virginia, died April 19, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in biology, was a member of Delta Upsilon and the Beta Beta Beta Honor Society. He earned a medical degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was a dedicated

Fall 2018

59

IN MEMORIAM physician and scholar of the Civil War. Survivors include his wife, Barbara. MARGARET E. “MARGE” ZELLMER ’74 of Shaker Heights, Ohio, died Aug. 8, 2018. At Ripon College, she majored in speech communications and drama and participated in student theatre. She was a member of Partners in the Legacy. She also did graduate studies in theatre arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She worked in fundraising and event planning for nonprofit organizations in Cleveland, and also directed and did lighting for Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, CVLT Youth Theatre, Brush High School and other theatre groups. She served on the Shaker Arts Council for many years and has been the president of her Condominium Association for the past 12 years. She was involved with Laurel School which she had once attended. JOSEPH BRUCKER ’78 of Indiana Township, Pennsylvania, died Sept. 5, 2007. He had been a fine dining waiter for the Duquesne Club and Common Plea Restaurant in Pittsburgh. He was an avid sportsman. Survivors include his wife, Marlene A. Brucker; and one son. JAMES P. MARTIN ’78 of Racine, Wisconsin, died June 3, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in economics and was a member of Phi Kappa Pi. He was employed by the Garvey Group for 37 years, retiring in January 2018. He was an active member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church where he was head of the acolytes and served on the vestry. He also served on the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters and was a member of Harbor Lite Yacht Club. He was an avid golfer and fisherman. Survivors include his wife, KATHLEEN GIBSON MARTIN ’78; two sons; a brother JEFFREY R. MARTIN ’74; and a sister, JANE MARTIN FOX ’81. GRETCHEN VANNEST GORDON ’78 of Rockford, Illinois, died Aug. 4, 2013. Survivors include one daughter. DAVID H. MILLER ’80 of Spring Valley, Wisconsin, died Aug. 12, 2018. He joined the military during the Vietnam War and proudly served for 23½ years. He retired as a staff sergeant (E6). He loved his family, riding horses and being outdoors. Survivors include his wife, Lucinda Miller; one son and three daughters. JOHN H. BERTOLDI ’81 of Niagara, Wisconsin, died July 13, 2015. At Ripon College, he studied economics and music and participated in WRPN, student government, football and Phi Delta Theta. He received a degree in economics from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and a master’s degree from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. He worked at Marshall Field’s in Chicago for 12 years, then returned to the Niagara area to work as the office manager of Bertoldi Oil. He enjoyed barbequing, was a certified KCBS (Kansas City Barbeque Society) judge and table captain. DREW T. FORSLEY ’85 of Lexington, Massachusetts, a former longtime resident of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, died June 26, 2018. At Ripon College, he was a member of Beta Sigma Pi. Before graduation, he sustained a serious brain injury in a car accident and was in a coma for months. He went through several periods of rehabilitation as well as independent living. He enjoyed riding his three-wheeled tricycle, visiting friends and tending to his vegetable garden. Survivors include one daughter. FRANK THOMAS CLARK III ’91 of Chicago, Illinois, died Sept. 9, 2018. At Ripon College, he majored in English and participated in music, Parallax and WRPN radio.

60

R Connections

FACULTY AND STAFF JAMES R. BOWDITCH of New London, New Hampshire, died Feb. 19, 2013. He had a degree from Stanford and a Ph.D. from Harvard, specializing in American literature and Japanese culture. He taught in the department of English at Ripon College from 1963 through 1971. He also served as headmaster of the overseas school of Rome and the International School of Torino for seven years; headmaster at the International Community School in Ethiopia for three years; and full professor at John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, for 17 years. He also had been a Fulbright scholar in Japan. LOIS H. PAGE, a former staff member in the Office of Admission, died Aug. 15, 2018. For 20 years, she was a secretary in the Office of Admission, retiring in June 1991. She previously had worked as a secretary at Speed Queen in Ripon. She was a member of Immanuel United Methodist Church and volunteered for many church activities, including serving as part-time church secretary for several years. Survivors include one son, PERRY PAGE ’79, and one daughter, JOAN PAGE WIGGS ’76. MICHAEL H. SIEGEL, who taught psychology at Ripon College from 1967-1969, died July 6, 2018. He also taught at Albion College in Michigan before going to the State University of New York at Oneonta in 1974. He retired in 2002 after 28 years as chair of the psychology department. A research psychologist rather than a clinician, his original area of expertise was color vision, but expanded to include perception generally and memory. He edited the book Research: The Inside Story in 1976, in which different researchers explain how they came to the field. He enjoyed photography, reading, and writing short stories and poems. Survivors include two sons, and one daughter.

We promise this weekend will be graded on a curve. SAVE THE DATE ALUMNI WEEKEND AND CLASS REUNIONS

JUNE 27-30, 2019 RIPON.EDU/ALUMNI-WEEKEND

Fall 2018

61

62

Printed sustainably, with respect for the environment.

WEB: ripon.edu/update-contact-info

EMAIL: alumni@ripon.edu

PHONE: 920-748-8126

Contact your Class Agent or the Office of Constituent Engagement

SEND IN YOUR NEWS AND PHOTOS FOR YOUR SPRING 2019 ELECTRONIC CLASS LETTER!

R Connections

300 West Seward Street Ripon, WI 54971

Office of Constituent Engagement