Deirdre (Sullivan) Beeman, artist, designer and movie producer, lives in Los Angeles with her husband, director Greg Beeman (Smallville, JAG, Heroes). Deirdre received a B.F.A. from the University of California. Working behind the scenes in art departments and events, her designs have been featured in several magazines including InStyle Magazine and Los Angeles Times Magazine. Having studied with a number of internationally known artists, she is known for quirky, whimsical, surrealistic paintings using techniques of old masters. She is a cousin of Kelly Castleberry, below. Joseph Xavier Bruemmer owns Bruemmer Appraisal in Cincinnati. His father, Donald, who taught history at The Summit for several years, and his mother, Theresa, still an ardent Montessori education supporter, sent Joe and three of his siblings to Summit for several years. Joe says one of his longest-standing friends is a fellow Summit Montessorian. Kelly Castleberry BMS’74 is an investor and manager of income properties in Missoula, MT. He is the father of two girls and an outdoor enthusiast. He graduated from Canterbury School in Connecticut and received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Montana. He is still in touch with a number of his Montessori classmates and, true to his journalistic training, helped track down some of them for this report. His cousin, Deirdre Sullivan Beeman, was also in the first class. Mary Patricia “Marypat” Carletti ’78 is an singer, dancer and actor at community theater companies in Greater Cincinnati. Her mother says Marypat was so active in sports, cheerleading, choruses and stage productions at The Summit that she made a “childhood career” of it. She has appeared in both of Middle School Music Teacher Bruce Bowdon’s Thanksgiving alumni revues MaryPat Carletti ’78 and organized a reunion of the Class of 1978 held this summer. At Ohio University, she majored in acting with a voice performance minor and graduated cum laude. Returning to Cincinnati, she married, had five children and now works at a local childhood learning center.
Amy (Mitchell) Cherry is Director of the Battle Creek Outdoor Education Center, a division of Battle Creek Public Schools in Michigan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in outdoor teacher education from Northern Illinois University. She is a Wilderness First Responder. She enjoys reading, swimming, walking and watching movies with her family: husband, Jason and their two sons, Alex and Marshall. Nick E. Halmi SBS ’73 began running his family’s car dealership, Queen City Chevrolet, after leaving St. Leo University in Florida, and now is a car wholesaler for First America. He and his wife, Susanne (Shively) Halmi, were married in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel at The Summit in 1991. They have one daughter who is now in college. Monica (Donath) Kohnen ’78 and Jean (Donath) Franke ’79 are sisters who became lawyers. Monica is a partner with Graydon Monica (Donath) Kohnen ’78 Head in Cincinnati. She graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Economics from Duke University and received her law degree from the University of Cincinnati. Among many awards, Monica has been recognized as one of The Best Lawyers in America from 2007-2013, and has also served as a board member for many community organizations. Monica and her husband, Ralph, have two daughters. Jean received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Duke University and her law degree from the University of Cincinnati. She moved to Chicago where she specialized in construction litigation and insurance for several years and worked in lawyers’ professional liability insurance for many years before returning to school to get a teaching certificate. Jean and her husband, Ned, have two daughters and a son. Other Summit graduates in their family include mother Patricia (Luttmer) Donath ’53, brother Rob Donath ’91, and many aunts and cousins including the Freeman brothers. Summit Magazine 29