Connections

Bradley Banfield ’98 is President of Buesing & Associates Inc. Banfield continued the work of past-president and UW-Platteville alumnus John Gantenbein when he was named President in January 2020. Buesing & Associates Inc. has offices in Dubuque, Iowa and Belleville, Wisconsin.

Lynn (Jetzer) Weinfurter ’98 is a Teacher at the Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Area School District. Mark Kienbaum ’03 is the owner of Primrose School of Middleton.

Carrie (Neff) Pratt ’05 is an English Teacher at the Riverdale School District in Muscoda, Wisconsin.

Amanda (Lederer) Zopp ’05 is the Director of Annual Fund and Alumni Engagement at Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Paul Huettl ’05 is a Senior Mechanical Engineer at the ShiveHattery Madison Design office.

In the last issue of the Alumni Today, we asked you to share your story if you are part of a Pioneer legacy family. Here are some of your stories. View more on the UW-Platteville Alumni Facebook page.

Dave Nies ’68 writes, “I have five generations of graduates from UW-Platteville since 1908. My grandmother Catherine McDermott went to Platteville Normal School in, I believe, the summer of 1908 for a six-week teacher training certificate, and then taught for several years at the Patterson Country School in rural Bloomington. She was paid $240 for eight months of teaching and had eight students, only six of them full time.

The rest of my family graduates are as follows:

Catherine McDermott Nies (grandmother), 1908; Florentine Knautz Nies (mother), 1939; Delia Fischer Cooley (mother-in-law), 1942; David M. Nies (me), 1968; Marilyn Cooley Nies (wife), attended for three years before graduating from UW-Whitewater in 1970; Kenny Nies (son), 1991; Michele Schmitz Nies (daughter-in-law), 1995; Jeannie Nies (Porter) (daughter), 1993; Robert Porter (son-in-law), 1992; Paula Nies (daughter), 1995; Ellie Nies (Olson) (daughter), 1999; Aaron Olson (son-in-law), 1999; Kellie Check (granddaughter), 2020; and a grandson currently at UW-Platteville, Brady Olson. I also have five aunts and uncles who are also graduates: Lucille Knautz Pederson, 1948; James Knautz, 1947; Mae Nies Knautz, 1943; Phyllis Nies Bernhardt, 1943; and Bernadine Nies Stroede, 1952.”

Steve Haldiman ’10 writes, “My Grandmother attended the Normal School in Platteville to become a teacher and retired in 1983. My sister got her master’s in education from UW-Platteville in 2003. I received my bachelor’s in business in 2010 and master’s in project management in 2016.”

Do you know a fellow alum who deserves thanks?

Give thanks for an alum who is a frontline worker— professionals in health care, schools, food service, and more. Tell us who you are thankful for, for working hard to keep the country running. Your note may appear in the next Alumni Today issue, the alumni e-newsletter, or the UW-Platteville Alumni Facebook page.

uwplatt.edu/shareyourstory

Here is an example from Crystal Taylor ’07, who writes in about her husband, Josh Taylor ’08.

“Josh is an Emergency Room Nurse at Upland Hills Health, Intermediate Tech for the Mineral Point Rescue Squad, and Deputy Coroner for Iowa County.

During this crazy COVID time, Josh remains positive and has a deep passion for wanting to help others no matter their situation. When he is not in the emergency room caring for our community, he is taking calls as an Intermediate EMT for the Mineral Point Rescue Squad.

Josh’s sons, Nash and Brody, get just as excited when the tones go off on the pager. Both typically run to the front door and watch him leave. You can see the pride and joy on their face when their dad drives away with the lights on his truck rushing to the EMS garage.

He is currently studying Family Nurse Practitioner at Walden University. Despite a few COVID related setbacks, he plans to graduate in the spring of 2022.

Being a frontline employee has had its challenges during COVID, however his family and friends couldn’t be more proud of him as Josh continues to pursue his dream of providing care to others in his community while being a topnotch father, caring husband, supportive son, and dedicated nurse, while giving back to his community.”

CLASS NOTES

Holly (Kaiser) Clendenen ’06 is the Chief Student Services Officer at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College. Clendenen has worked at Southwest Tech since 2015, serving as executive director of Foundation and Real Estate Foundation and most recently as executive director of College Advancement.

Mathew Landon ’07 graduated in May from Lake Shore Technical College with a pharmacy technician degree. He’s a member of the National Honor Society Phi Theta Kappa.

Justin Gehm ’07 is a Peace Officer in Grafton, Wisconsin.

Serena (Conway) Rudzinski ’08

is a Math Teacher at Whitewater (Wisconsin) Unified Schools. She married alumnus Ryan Rudzinski ’07, who is a Civil Engineer.

Charley Hopp ’08 is the Program Manager at Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Jim Spehn ’09 is the head of Customer Acquisition at Everlance Inc. Spehn joined GoodRx Inc. in April 2013 as the sixth employee at the company and the first to focus on marketing. He spent seven years in an executive position at GoodRx, leading the marketing team. In 2020, GoodRx went public with a market capitalization of $20 billion and now has nearly 500 employees across America.

Sarah (Fahs) Ericson’s ’09 design project of the CTH HH (Vanderperren Way) Reconstruction in Brown County received a 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers Wisconsin Project Award - Engineering Achievement Award in the category of construction cost less than $2 million. Ericson is a Project Manager at AECOM. Cathy Huttenhoff ’09 is a Program Manager at AVISTA a Belcan Company. Huttenhoff and Anthony Milliren ’05 welcomed their first child, Athena. She joins her half-brother Oakley Milliren.

Hanah Diebold ’10 is the Director of Student Experience at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida.

Ryan Munz ’06 and ’08 was recently named the Pioneers’ new Head Football Coach. A well-known name to Pioneer football, the Highland, Wisconsin native and former UW-Platteville football quarterback has served as the Pioneers’ interim head coach since November following the retirement of Mike Emendorfer. A 2012 WIAC Assistant Coach of the Year, Munz completed his 15th season as the Pioneers offensive coordinator and fifth season as associate head coach in 2021.

Emily (O’Brien) Castle ’10 is the Enrollment Specialist at Waterford (Wisconsin) Union High School.

Bridget Klinkner Spraggon ’10

and her husband, John Spraggon ’11, started their own business, St. Joe’s Tree Service, LLC, in 2020. They also welcomed their sixth child.

Michelle (Flatoff) Laucke ’10

is the Continuous Improvement Analyst at Ortho Molecular Products Inc. in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Laucke is also the published author of the children’s book Arabian Horse and owner of two small businesses.

Ryan Fields ’10 is an Assistant Team Lead at Wahl Clipper in Sterling, Illinois.

Meredith (Dentice) Johnson ’12

is a Senior Industrial Engineer at SPX Transformer Solutions in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Brian Fure ’13 is a Foreman at TelCom Construction.

Kyle Nethery ’14 is the Factory Manager and Distribution Manager at HNI Corporation in Muscatine, Iowa.

Michelle (Clough) Cahill ’14 is a Mortgage Underwriter at PNC Bank.

Michelle (Mauerman) Peterson

’14 is an educator at McDuffie County School System in Thomson, Georgia.

Nichole Kriz ’15 is an Engineer in Training at Davenport (Iowa) Public Works. She also passed her PE exam.

Caitlin (Kast) DesJarlais ’16

is the Payroll and Accounting Manager at MTILP in Madison, Wisconsin.

Jacob Leum ’16 is the Jersey Product Development Lead at Semex Alliance in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Steve Haldiman ’16 is the Risk and Opportunities Manager at Fincantieri Marinette Marine.

Alyssa (Szydel) Grimsled ’17 is a Therapist at CWM Counseling, LLC in Platteville. Her husband Cody ’17 is a fifth-grade science and social studies teacher.

Jonah Eickert ’17 is a Construction Engineer at Payne and Dolan in Greenville, Wisconsin.

Zachary Thomas ’17 is an Operations Coordinator at Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. Thomas completed the 2021 Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October.

Dakota Stout ’19 is a Legal Advocate at Family Resources.