11 minute read
Class Notes
Lois Widmark ‘71 Sets Alumni Record
Lois Widmark is a member of the 1971 Charter Class. She is our oldest alumna and turned 100 on Jan. 1, 2022. Lois attended Southwest as a non-traditional student and was 49 when she graduated. She enjoyed a long elementary school teaching career.
1971
Lois (Paine) Widmark is our oldest alumna, at 100 years old. She lives in Ivanhoe, Minn. 1972
Bill Haines retired from the Ramsey County Sheriff Department after 28 years. He also worked court security for the U.S. Marshal’s Service for 5 years. 1975
Jerry Reker was inducted into the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame on April 23 in Austin, Minn. He received the Lifetime Service Award. 1978
David Horn retired from the US Army Proving Ground in Yuma, Ariz. He worked as a test engineer and engineering manager. 1986
Kay (Bruggeman) Nelson received the 2022 Outstanding Central Office Leader Award from the Minnesota Association of School Administrators during the group’s spring conference in March. A week after receiving the award, Nelson was named the assistant superintendent for secondary education in the St. Cloud School District (MN). Dr. David Perkins was promoted to Professor of Business at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz., where he teaches business analytics and operations management. 1987
Justin Ingalls was hired as the coordinator of football officials for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in April 2022. Joseph Korkowski is the new Executive Director of Explore Alexandria Tourism. He joins the organization after more than 19 years at KXRA radio and 3 decades in broadcasting. 1991
Jay Petersen taught and participated in a seminar on Intersex for Brown University School of Public Health-LGBT Health in April 2022. 1998
Kent Roers was the 2022 SMSU Commencement speaker. (Story on page 7.) 1995
Stacy (Bauer) Jones was named CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Sioux Falls Empire (S.D.) and started on April 11. 1996
Jefferson Lee (MBA ’11) received two distinct honors — the Cathy Cowan Award for 2022, and the MLK Humanitarian Award. He is the Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at SMSU. Spencer Aune was named the first-ever head coach of the Rock Ridge Public School (Virginia, Minn.) boys’ basketball program, in April. He was most recently the girls’ varsity basketball coach for the school. 1998
Rocki (Shaw) Fiebiger accepted a new position as factory cost accountant at American Crystal Sugar Company’s Moorhead. 1999
Travis Fossing is the sports director at KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, S.D. He joined the station in October, 2020. 2000
Court Anderson was named one of Minnesota Lawyer’s 2021 Attorneys of the Year. Anderson works at Henson Efron law firm in Minneapolis. 2001
Ryan Loken was promoted to Vice President, HR Partner at Tyson Foods, Springdale, Ark. 2002
Sarah Hoff was named Kansas Master Teacher for 2022. Since 1954, teachers from across the state have nominated, selected, and named Kansas Master Teachers. Josh Turek was a guest on Iowa Public Radio’s show “Talk of Iowa” in January and discussed his professional wheelchair basketball career and his path to becoming a two-time gold medalist as a paralympic athlete. 2003
Jason Maxwell was named Chief Financial Officer of Sioux Valley Energy in January, 2022. Sioux Valley Energy is headquartered in Colman, S.D. 2004
Satyajit Dattagupta was appointed Chief Enrollment Officer at Northeastern University, Boston, Mass., in January. Dattagupta will lead the university’s diverse global recruitment and enrollment efforts. Laura (Lundbohm) Hulsebus is the owner of Hulsebus Chiropractic in St. Peter, Minn. 2005
Pat Hamilton is the new superintendent of the Mason City School District in Mason City, Iowa. Hamilton began his duties on July 1. Scott Stokes (MS) is the new president of Iowa Lakes Community College. Stokes began his duties on July 1. 2007
Candie Baker (MS) owns Webster’s Marketplace in Ripon, Wis., and received the Wisconsin Grocers Association’s “Supermarket Hero Award” for going above and beyond during the COVID-19 pandemic. Daniel McGonigle began work as the new community education director in Detroit Lakes, Minn., on in October, 2021. 2006
Colby Pack will serve as the new head boys’ basketball coach, Dean of Students and transportation director at Red Rock Central Public School in Lamberton, Minn. Previously, he was a teacher and coach in Fulda. 2008
Benjamin Watkins was named the new parking manager of the Rochester International Airport in Rochester, Minn., in March 2022. Dana Yost was the guest writer at Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa for its Distinguished Writers Series in February. Jason Kjos (MS) is the assistant principal and Director of Indian Education for Red Wing High School in Red Wing. 2010
Whitney (Dierks) Fischer and Matthew Fischer ’09 welcomed a third daughter, Bellamy Rae, on Dec. 4, 2021. 2011
Ben Dolan joined the MidMinnesota Development Commission’s regional development team in January, 2022 as a community planner serving four counties: Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker and Renville. 2012
Toni (Harms) Lewis and husband Aaron welcomed a son, Noah Daniel, on Jan. 13, 2022. 2013
Kyle Box was hired as the new City Operations Director for Willmar, Minn. He started on May 16. Paige (Geving) Groeneweg and husband Jordan ’13 welcomed a daughter, Lily, in August, 2021. Corby McGlauflin is the head baseball coach at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa. 2014
Kassi (Hague) Tietz accepted an administrative staff position in January at Hoffman & Brobst, an accounting firm in Marshall. 2015
Amy (Clemensen) Schmiesing
(MS) is the new head athletic trainer at SMSU. She began her duties in August, 2021. Julia Stuckey (MBA ’19) began a new position as assistant manager of Tavern 507 in Marshall, Minn., in January. 2016
Wendy (Andersen) Mamer was recognized as part of the first group of graduates of Augustana University’s Diversity Advocate Program, which provides courses on diversity, equity, and inclusion which she hopes to use to help with suicide prevention and mental health advocacy 2017
Allison (Schwartz) Kirk is a purchasing agent at Mountain Power Hydraulics, Mountain Lake. Nicole Schwing started a new position as the SUCCESS program
coach at SMSU. The program helps new students find success in the early years of their college experience. 2018
Chance Steward was hired by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever to serve as regional representative in Southwest Minnesota and Northwest Iowa in October 2021. 2019
Doria Drost (MBA ’21) is the Director of Marketing for Denny Sanford Premier Center, a facility that hosts sporting events, concerts, conventions, meetings, and banquets in Sioux Falls, S.D. Jacob Nelson (MS) is the new head coach of the Austin (MN) Public Schools baseball team. Nelson has been a part of the Austin baseball program since 2016, and formerly coached the JV baseball team and assisted with the varsity team. Tejan Lala started a new position as an accounts payable analyst for Seres Therapeutics in Cambridge, Mass., in December, 2021. 2021
James Hardy began a new position with Mac’s Traders as an executive assistant and purchasing assistant in July, 2021. Mac’s Traders is located in Langley, B.C., Canada.
IN MEMORIAM
Tamera (Johnson) Berg ’90,
May 5, 2022. Hugh M. Curtler II, July 20, 2021. Retired professor of philosophy, 1968-2009. Head tennis coach, 1979-1992. Dr. Paul Enersen, May 22, 2022. Retired professor of mathematics and computer science, 19742011. Charles Grubb, Jan. 4, 2022. Retired professor of sociology and anthropology, 1970-1997. Jesse Goebel ’07, June 20, 2021. Connie (Adair) Linnett ’79, Aug. 2, 2020. 42-year employee of the USPS. Chad Meinert ’99, Nov. 19, 2021. Kenneth D. Mukomela, March 12, 2022. Retired professor of business education and office administration, 1968-1997.
Virginia (Pullen) Suprenant ’71,
May 9, 2022.
Denise (Christensen) TeKrony
’85, March 15, 2022 Jon Wefald, April 16, 2022. The third permanent President at Southwest, 1977-1982. Daniel Edward Woodle ’02, March 16, 2022.
SHARE YOUR NEWS!
Share your news with us: email alumni@SMSU.edu call 800-260-0970 click SMSUAlumni.com mail SMSU Alumni Office 1501 State St. Marshall, MN 56258
Mustang Network Supports Alumni-Student Mentoring
SMSU Career Services and the Elizabeth Lockwood Alumni and Visitor Center (Alumni Relations) are excited to announce an expansion of its current alumni-student mentoring programs. The ongoing partnership has led to the development of an online networking platform, Mustang Network. This will allow for the expansion of our current structured Mustang Mentorship Program, flash networking, guest speaking, and many more options. The platform is now open for alumni to create their accounts at mustangnetwork.SMSU.edu/ by syncing with LinkedIn, Google, Facebook or creating a new account. Current students will be invited to join the platform in August 2022. Send questions to alumni@SMSU.edu. Wayne Junker ’72, with his daughter Whitney Jansen, published a children’s book entitled, Oh, Paul Bunyan. A catchy poem about our favorite lumberjack with the bluest ox written by Junker and illustrated by Jansen. Available on Amazon.
Lucy O’Laughlin Tokheim ’75
published her first comic book, The Princess and the Boat Boy, Heroes of the Primstav. It is her retelling of the legend of St. Sunniva, the first patron saint of Norway. The Norwegian Primstav calendar is part of this entirely hand-drawn story. The book is available at: www.tokheim-stoneware.com
We want you to teach in GOLD College!
GOLD College provides opportunities to adults interested in lifelong learning. We are looking to add more instructors for our fall and spring sessions for both in-person and virtual course delivery on a variety of topics. If you are interested in teaching through GOLD College, contact us at alumni@SMSU.edu
A farewell to JIM TATE
Twice a year for the past 23 years, Jim Tate has toiled away on this magazine. Soon after this edition reaches your mailbox, Jim Tate will be retiring from SMSU. All of us involved with FOCUS thank him for his dedication to this labor of love.
Twenty-three years of writing feature articles, class notes, and news briefs to keep you informed of the exciting progress and energy at Southwest. His photography was another key part of the publication that would always bring the words to life. We hope you have enjoyed the stories and images he’s provided for you since 1999. Coming from a newspaper background, FOCUS provided an excellent outlet for his inner journalist—Jim thrived on a good deadline. We are a small team behind FOCUS and his retirement leaves a hole that will be difficult to fill. We all want to thank him for his humor, his one-of-a-kind organizational methods, his flexibility, his candor, and his commitment to making our publication the best it could be. So, thanks, Jim! We may disagree on the proper formatting of the em dash, the correct use of a hyphen, and the absolute necessity of the Oxford comma. But we do agree on one thing: SMSU is a special place where we make a difference for students every day. We are grateful for everything you have done for SMSU, our students, our community, and our alumni. We wish him well in his retirement and the next chapter in his life. Twenty-three years at SMSU is a wonderful milestone and we thank him for his part in our story. If you want to send a greeting to Jim, feel free to email communications@SMSU.edu or message us SMSU Today on Facebook. We’ll be sure to pass those along. We hope you have a wonderful retirement, Jim! Marcy Olson, FOCUS Editor, SMSU Communications and Marketing
Change Service Requested
NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit No. 22 Slayton, MN
If FOCUS is addressed to a family member who has graduated or no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please email alumni@SMSU.edu to provide the current address or call toll-free 1-800-260-0970 to notify us of the change.
UPCOMING ALUMNI EVENTS
JULY
21 Centro, 5-7pm, Des Moines, IA
AUGUST
4 Twins Game, 5:30pm, SMSU Suite, Minneapolis 11 Round Lake Vineyards and Winery, 6-8pm,
Round Lake, MN 16 On the Rocks at Grand View Lodge, 5-7pm,
Nisswa, MN
SEPTEMBER
15 Crow River Winery, 6-8pm, Hutchinson, MN 22 Jams Old Market, 5-7pm, Omaha, NE 30-Oct. 1 SMSU Homecoming, Alumni Events
Friday-Saturday, Marshall, MN
2022
Register for events online at: WWW.SMSUALUMNI.COM
Follow @SMSUAlumniandFoundation on grow Facebook for photos from alumni events!
*Appetizers and a beverage included in events requiring registration.
#WOMENLEAD Save the Date: March 16, 2023 Southwest Minnesota State University
Friday, October 7 & Saturday, October 8 • Marshall, Minn. Join us: Sept. 30–Oct. 1, 2022
Each year the SMSU Alumni Association recognizes alumni and friends who have made significant contributions of time, talent, and financial resources to help advance and bring positive recognition to Southwest Minnesota State University. This year’s award recipients will be honored during Homecoming weekend Friday, Sept. 30–Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. This year’s honorees include: Alumni Achievement Awards Mary Fuhrman ’95, Eagan, Minn. Dr. Carl Harris ’76, Chapel Hill, N.C. Dr. Kyle McGowan ’82, Crete, Neb. Clark Meyer ’94, Sioux Falls, S. Dak. Honorary Lifetime Award Dr. Jim Zarzana and Marianne Zarzana, South Bend, Ind. GOLD (Graduate of the Last Decade) Award Emily (Kremer) Jouwstra ’15, Hamel, Minn. Paxton Alumni Service Award Ken & Gwen Mukomela & Family
More information on the recipients will be released later this summer. To read about past award recipients or reserve tickets, visit www.SMSUAlumni.com/AlumniAwards. HOMECOMING REUNIONS: 1999 MUSTANG FOOTBALL TEAM CLASS OF 1972
