Alumni News & Notes

JILL (JENSEN) KANDEL, ’77, recently released her second book, “The Clean Daughter: A Cross-Continental Memoir.”

EMILY (BEMMAN) JOHNSON, ’99, is celebrating her 20th wedding anniversary with her husband, Ret. TSgt. James Johnson. Together they have a daughter, Morgan, who will be a senior in high school this year. The family lives in Arkansas.

Angela (Robinson) & Jeremy Dockter's Family

ANGELA (ROBINSON) DOCKTER, ’02, has been married to Jeremy since 2003. They moved back to Bismarck in 2008, where they now reside with their three children. Angela has worked at Basin Electric since 2013.

AUBREY (FIEBELKORN) ZUGER, ’04, was honored with a Friend Award for her role advising YWCA Cass Clay in Fargo, North Dakota, on legal protections for victims of domestic violence.

Megan Dardis-Kunz

MEGAN DARDIS-KUNZ, ’07, has been employed by Boise State University School of Social Work for four years. She was promoted in 2021 to the title of clinical assistant professor and was given the responsibility of coordinating the Master of Social Work program in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

SARALYNN (BOWLING) WIEHE, ’10, married her husband, Joseph, in June 2019. The couple has a daughter, Abigail Robin, and is expecting a son. The family lives in Ohio.

Sara (Wiese) & Lucas Brendel's Family

SARA (WIESE) BRENDEL, ’12, and her husband, Lucas, welcomed their fourth child, Andrew Bennett, in December 2021. The family resides in Bismarck, ND.

ERICA (BELVERSTONE), ’13, and DAVID STARKS, ’12, moved to Mandan, ND, in May 2021. They welcomed their second son, Shepherd Grey, on June 1, 2021. Big brother is Benjamin (2.5). Erica is currently a stay-at-home mom to Shepherd and big brother Benjamin and a private woodwind and voice instructor. David works at Basin Electric as a real time trader.

JULIE (READE) BEZENEK, ’13, is retired and recently moved to Underwood, MN, with her husband, Wayne, whom she married in 2018 after her husband, Cliff, passed away in 2015.

Sean & Amy Cleary's Family

SEAN CLEARY, ’13, and his wife, Amy, welcomed their daughter, Audrey, into the world on January 15, 2022. She was baptized on April 9 at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck.

Jessica (Albarado) & Collin Engelhardt's Family

JESSICA (ALVARADO), ’13, and COLLIN ENGELHARDT, ’13, have been married since August 2013 and currently reside in Bismarck with their four children. Jessica is a stay-at-home mom and Collin works in the business office at the University of Mary.

ADAM WORONIECKI, ’15, and his wife, Allison, moved back to Bismarck in July 2022 for Adam’s new role as a pediatric dentist at Prairie Rose Family Dentists in Mandan.

CLARE (STIENNON), ’16, and SCOTT HELD, ’16, reconnected four years after graduating in the same class from the University of Mary and were married in July 2021. The couple lives in Montana.

KELSEY THOMPSON, ’17, moved to Helena, MT, and works at St. Peter’s Health on the oncology unit as a registered nurse.

Victoria Brucker

VICTORIA BRUCKER, ’17, graduated from the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine in May 2022 and will begin an internal medicine residency at Gundersen Health in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Matthew & Rachel (Goettle) Wermerskirchen

MATTHEW, ’17, and RACHEL (GOETTLE) WERMERSKIRCHEN, ’18, welcomed their second child, Miriam Catherine, on March 17, 2022. In May of 2022, Matthew earned his Juris Doctor from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. They returned to Bismarck where Matthew is working at Zimmerman Law firm.

Olivia (Eckert) & Thomas Barry's Family

OLIVIA (ECKERT), ’17, ’20, and THOMAS BARRY, ’18, welcomed a daughter, Chloe, in August 2021. The family lives in Florida.

SERIANN (BIRCHEM), ’17, ’20, and EDWARD SWIONTEK, ’17, were married in November 2020 and welcomed their first child, Nicolette Kay, in March 2022. The family resides in Bismarck, where Seriann is a physical therapist and Eddie is a lawyer.

Erin (Hardy) & Joshua Dill's Family

ERIN (HARDY) DILL, ’17, and her husband, Joshua, were married in July 2018. They welcomed a son, James Michael, in November 2021. The family lives in Sioux Falls, SD.

MAGDALEN (MORRIS) GRAVES, ’17, is a physical therapist and lives in Richmond, VA, with her husband, Dylan. The couple was married in September 2020 and are expecting their first child.

Rebecca (Kelly) & John Paulin

REBECCA (KELLY) PAULIN, ’19, and her husband, John, were married in September 2021 and have since moved to Ohio.

Ethan & Mia (Willard) Andrews

ETHAN ANDREWS, ’20, ’22, married MIA (WILLARD), ’21, on August 7, 2021 in Hillsboro, Virginia. The couple lives in Bismarck, and Ethan works as an instructional services & interlibrary loan librarian at the University of Mary.

REBEKAH (BITTNER), ’21, and ZACK KRUEGER, ’22, got married in the summer of 2021. Rebekah teaches at St. Mary’s Grade School in Bismarck, and the couple is expecting their first child.

Breanna Blue's Daughter

BREANNA BLUE, ’21, welcomed her first child, Phoenix Penelope Irene, on December 22, 2021.

DR. TIM SEAWORTH RETIRES AFTER OVER TWO DECADES AT MARY

Dr. Tim Seaworth

Dr. Tim Seaworth, after more than 20 years of service to the University of Mary as Vice President for Student Development, retired this summer.

His two decades at Mary were spent growing and renewing the Catholic identity of programs that are key to the university’s mission: among them university ministry, student activities, residence life, and mission for life, the university’s student service and volunteercoordinating arm.

Seaworth’s favorite moments have been the chances he’s had to really invest in individual students’ lives. For Seaworth, that’s the legacy: using the whole of the life of a university — its academic and non-academic aspects — to form the whole of the person, so that students might become all that they were meant to be.