Westwind, Fall 2009

Westwind wallawalla.edu/westwind

The Journal of Walla Walla University Fall 2009

New Campus Sculpture Embodies Generosity in Service 2008–09 Annual Report

One Extraordinary

Year The Student Missions Experience

Gateway to Service Celebrating 50 Years of Student Missions

Alumni Homecoming Weekend April 22–25, 2010 Plan to join us for a memorable weekend where you can reconnect with classmates and friends.

Weekend Highlights Homecoming Banquet

Honor Class Reunions

A special tribute to our Alumni of the Year Friday, April 23, 5:30 p.m.

Sabbath afternoon, April 24

Sabbath Services Joining together in Sabbath worship FirstServe speaker—Jon Griebel ’00 Second Service speaker—Karl Haffner ’85

1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 2000

Student Missions Reunion Spend time sharing memories Sabbath, April 24, 7:30 p.m.

For schedule, ticket, and lodging information: alumni.wallawalla.edu or call (800) 377-2586

Contents

4 Campus Current 9 Bits and Pieces 10 One Extraordinary Year 16 Alumnotes

Photograph Courtesy of WWU Archives

19 In Memory

10

The Student Missions Experience

21 Annual Report 31 From My Point of View 32 College Avenue Crossings

Westwind Fall 2009, Volume 28, Number 2 Editor Rosa Jimenez Writers Lisa Krueger, Sarah Radelfinger, Chelsea Vymeister Production Manager Sarah Radelfinger Design Robert Car Graphics About the cover Photographer Chris Simon, a senior psychology student, spent one year as a student missionary, working as a teacher in Palau.

Walla Walla University is a community of faith and discovery committed to – Excellence in thought – Generosity in service – Beauty in expression – Faith in God Westwind is published three times a year for alumni and friends of Walla Walla University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution. It is produced by Marketing and Enrollment Services/University Relations. This issue was printed in November 2009.

Third-class postage is paid at College Place, Wash. © 2009 by Walla Walla University.

Westwind/University Relations 204 S. College Ave. College Place, WA 99324 Telephone: (509) 527-2513 Toll-free: (800) 377-2586 E-mail: westwind@wallawalla.edu Online: westwind.wallawalla.edu

Fall 2009 Westwind 3

Campus Current

Campus Master Plan Distinguished Faculty Lecture Bible Lands Tour

New Campus Sculpture Embodies Generosity in Service

4 Westwind Fall 2009

Chris Drake

A

biblical story of service and faith is at the heart of a new bronze sculpture planned for the Walla Walla University campus.

Inspired with words from the university mission statement, “Generosity in Service,” the bronze sculpture will feature a life-size scene of Jesus washing the feet of contemporary disciples. It will be installed this school year on the lawn in front of the University Church.

“Jesus’ use of water to wash the disciple’s feet preceding the Last Supper was to teach humility and service to those ambitious men by becoming their example, and an example to all Christians,” says sculptor Alan Collins.

The Class of 1950, led by class president Bruce Johnston (1925– 2009), initiated the project in 1999 as a gift to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the class. Jon Dybdahl, president of WWU at that time, supported the project, encouraging planners to expand their idea of an interior sculpture and commission a campus centerpiece sculpture.

Other donors have joined with the class to complete the project.

Collins received the commission from WWU in 2006. Sculptor Alan Collins is an Oregon-based artist. One of his most well-known sculptures in Adventist circles is “The Good Samaritan,” installed at Loma Linda University and Medical Center. n

Campus Current

An Eye to the Future Document to Guide Campus Planning

Courtesy of Integrus

A

pedestrian-friendly College Avenue corridor and a revitalized campus core are two of the initiatives outlined in Walla Walla University’s new campus master plan—the most comprehensive physical plan ever developed for the university. The plan will guide decisions about physical campus improvements, including building priorities, traffic flow, pedestrian safety, and the general use of campus space.

President John McVay worked with the administrative team and the University Master Planning Committee to launch the project in 2007.

“Walla Walla University was weighing significant decisions about potential new buildings and department relocations,” says McVay, “and we concluded that to make the best decisions, we needed to have a comprehensive, long-term plan for the campus.”

The university hired Integrus, an architectural firm based in Spokane, Wash., to assist in developing the physical master plan.

Integrus advised the university to begin the project by eliciting the opinions of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members.

Through surveys and meetings, participants offered their opinions about everything from enrollment size and class offerings to campus parking and pedestrian flow.

Jim Nestler, who served as chair of the University Master Planning Committee during the plan’s development, reviewed the results of the surveys and discussions with

When completed, the renovated space will be the home of the School of Nursing and the Wilma Hepker School of Social Work and Sociology. The funds for this project were raised as part of the Faith In the Vision capital campaign. The two schools will enjoy a renewed and inviting east-facing entry along with the Department of Health and Physical Education.

Portland Campus

The proposed version of College Avenue (top) will enhance both safety and eye-appeal.

Wide and attractive pathways (bottom) in the proposed physical master plan will encourage pedestrian traffic.

campus members and meetings with Integrus and city officials.

“Issues that kept cropping up were College Avenue, car and pedestrian traffic patterns through campus, and the need for a campus core that better served our students and our academic mission,” says Nestler. “The students, staff, faculty, and administrators on the committee did a superb job of working as a team to look at the long-term and campus-wide implications of every decision.”

The physical master plan ad-

dresses these issues and more.

With an eye toward growth, the plan also outlines major building priorities, including a new library and student center. In addition, the plan also outlines new or revised roads and pathways for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

“Our goal is to accent the beauty of our campus and create a new, robust infrastructure for student services at the heart of it,” says McVay. Although the plan is projecting some campus improvements as far as 20 years in the future, WWU is already making campus improvements through the following current projects.

Nursing and Social Work

The leading current project is the renovation of the second floor of Winter Educational Complex.

The School of Nursing on the Portland campus recently remodeled existing space in its classroom building. The project included library renovation, new classroom dividers, and an additional computer lab. Also, construction on a classroom addition will start this year, allowing the program to grow by 60 more students.

Business

The School of Business began the 2009–10 school year in a new location. Moving from the Winter Educational Complex, the school’s new home is in Bowers Hall. This relocation is one of the steps the school is taking to build visibility and enrollment for one of WWU’s largest programs.

Convenience Store

An expansion of The Express, WWU’s convenience store, is doubling the size of the store’s original 1,600 square feet. The new addition will provide restrooms, more customer seating, and larger food preparation areas. n Fall 2009 Westwind 5

Campus Current

Professor, Astronomer, Mathematics Historian

T

om Thompson was finishing up his senior year in 1968 as a chemistry major at Walla Walla University when he decided, just for fun, to add a few mathematics classes and a second degree program. Medical school came next. “But it didn’t grab me,” he said. So he headed to University of Washington for a master’s degree in mathematics, graduating in 1971. During a time when jobs were scarce, he received two offers, including one from WWU. The position at WWU had become available when someone who had accepted the job had, at the last minute, unexpectedly declined to come.

Almost four decades later— taking just a short leave to complete his doctoral studies at University of California Davis—Thompson is still in the classroom.

“I wasn’t planning to teach, but it was providential,” he says. “I knew this job was made for me.

I’m starting my 39th year and I feel that I’m the luckiest person in the world. I’m doing precisely what I enjoy. I love working with the students. When I’m teaching them, I see the furrowed brows and then as I explain the concept to them, I see their faces relax and break into a smile as they begin to understand.”

During his career with WWU, he published a book in 1984, From Error Correcting Codes Through Sphere Packings to Simple Groups, now in its fifth print-

6 Westwind Fall 2009

ing with The Mathematical Association of America. Based in part on what he did for his doctoral dissertation, his book incorporates mathematical history, a professional hobby for him.

Last year, Thompson was chosen by fellow faculty to be the 2009 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer.

This honor is awarded to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and scholarship, and involvement in governance, church, and community service.

His lecture, “Shape and Dimension,” drew from his interest in mathematical history, observing how familiar geometric shapes such as circles, spheres, and cubes have played important roles throughout written history. “Sometimes these shapes were used in scientific descriptions such as the shape of the moon and its path in the sky. At other times these shapes were connected to esthetic or even philosophical ideas,” says Thompson. “Examples here

“I’m doing precisely what I love doing,” says Tom Thompson, professor of mathematics.

include the most pleasing rectangular building or seeking the shape of perfection itself.” However, Thompson observes, during the early part of the nineteenth century, new ideas about shape and dimension were emerging and, by the latter part of the century, mathema-

ticians were exploring geometrical dimensions greater than three.

Thompson’s classes include calculus and advanced calculus, as well as abstract algebra. Since 1991, he has also contributed to the honors program, teaching Science and the Arts with Terrie Aamodt, professor of English and history. He has been a math club sponsor since its inception five years ago. He has made presentations around the globe, including in Brazil, Canada, and Poland.

In addition to being a mathematics teacher, Thompson is an amateur astronomer, sharing his interest with colleagues and students who go stargazing with him. About 15 years ago, he was instrumental in helping raise money and setting up the observatory at Kretschmar Hall.

He recently attended the Oregon Star Party in the remote Ochoco National Forest with more than 700 people. Another interest for Thompson is woodworking.

The desk in his office is designed from recycled table pieces he retrieved from the WWU library.

On the walls in the lobby of the Department of Mathematics, there are several mathematical symbols, including a summation symbol, resembling an “E,” that are Thompson’s handiwork.

Thompson holds a doctoral degree from University of California Davis. He and his wife, Clare, a junior high teacher at Rogers Adventist School, have three grown children, Trina, Heidi, and Tyler. n

Chris Drake

Thompson Named Distinguished Faculty Lecturer

Campus Current

New Professors Start 2009–10 School Year Kari Firestone graduated from Walla Walla University with a nursing degree in 1994 and received her masters of science in nursing education from Loma Linda University in 2006.

She began teaching as an assistant professor at Loma Linda University in 2005 and is joining the Portland, Ore., campus as an assistant professor of nursing.

Chris Drake

Debbie Lampson is a 1982

WWU nursing graduate and is returning to the university to serve as a clinical instructor for chronic illness, an academic adviser, and a clinical placement coordina-

tor. She is currently working on her masters of nursing education degree at Walden University.

Lampson has worked as an administrative supervisor for Kaiser Permanente Hospital. She also has two years of teaching experience as a clinical instructor.

Pamela Bing Perry joined the Billings, Mont., campus as the new assistant professor of social work and also as the Billings social work program director.

Bing Perry received bachelor of science degrees in business administration and behavioral science from Union College in 1984,

and earned her masters in business administration degree from the University of Kansas in 1988. She received a second master’s degree in marital and family therapy from Loma Linda University in 2003.

In 2009, also from LLU, she earned a doctoral degree in marital and family therapy.

Melodie Selby is a 1986 WWU civil engineering graduate.

In 1994 she received a masters of science in civil engineering with a concentration in environmen-

Clockwise from bottom left: Debbie Lampson, Pamela Bing Perry, Melodie Selby, and Kari Firestone.

tal engineering from Washington State University. Selby has worked for the Department of Ecology in Lacey, Wash., where she taught and developed training sessions.

She also managed the department’s storm water, waste water, and reclaimed water programs. n

Eric Ashley

University Church Welcomes New Pastor

A

lex Bryan, new senior pastor for Walla Walla University Church, and his wife, Nicole, had just bought a house in Tennessee and were preparing to settle down, but Bryan says, God had other plans.

“Nicole and I had a very real sense of God’s call to Walla Walla. This is a church and community longing to be faithful both to scripture and to a

ministry in our present context.”

After earning degrees in history and religion from Southern Adventist University, he attended the divinity school at Andrews University. He completed a doctoral The Bryan family welcomed more than 1,300 dinner guests at the church’s first “The Longest Table” event.

degree in ministry from George Fox University. Bryan has served as a pastor for 13 years.

“I love pastoring because I understand it to be the business of helping others explore the limitless adventure of God. We cannot contain Him in one book or sermon or conversation,” says Bryan.

Along with Nicole, a 1997 WWU graduate, and 3-year-old daughter, Audrey, Alex brings his vision of the potential for local churches.

“All other parts of Adventism find their meaning when the local church is firing on all cylinders. We desperately need a generation of young

people graduating from our schools, pouring into our local churches, and revolutionizing them with prophetic vision and transforming love.”

Bryan believes that a church should be on fire for God. “The Walla Walla University community has a reputation for initiative, innovation, curiosity, beauty, creativity, excellence, and big thinking,” says Bryan. “The way I see it, these are the first qualities we recognize in the God of Genesis 1 and 2, and what He envisions for people who are created in His image. I love that WWU embraces this vision in such a profound way.” n Fall 2009 Westwind 7

Carl Cosaert

Campus Current

Summer Trip Brings Bible Alive Project Prompts Outpouring of Support

F

or seven Walla Walla University students, a study tour of Bible lands became an unforgettable setting for a public commitment to Christ.

Three chose to be baptized on the Isle of Patmos, where John the Revelator received his vision for the book of Revelation. Two others chose Philippi, in the river where Paul baptized Lydia, the first European convert. For the final two, the setting was a hotel swimming pool in the Greek town of Meteora.

“In a time of life when many young adults drift away from spiritual commitments, we were delighted to see these seven re-

affirming their decision to put Jesus first,” says Carl Cosaert, professor in WWU’s School of Theology. “The baptisms were a real spiritual blessing, but they were just a small example of the blessings we all experienced on this trip.”

The three-week tour of Turkey and Greece was the first of its kind sponsored by WWU. Participating students earned eight hours of general studies religion credit. From June 23 to July 14, 2009, 40 students, two faculty and one staff member saw the Bible come vividly alive as they visited sites mentioned in the book of Acts, Paul’s letters, and

the book of Revelation.

The trip took the group as far east as Antioch, just above the Syrian border, and the place where Paul began his missionary journeys, taking the gospel to the Gentiles. “Our students caught hold of the missionary zeal that prompted him to give his life

New Equipment Resource to Raise Level of Study Science study and research in the Walla Walla Valley has been significantly enhanced with a grant award from the National Science Foundation. The foundation awarded $800,000 to neighboring Whitman College for the

8 Westwind Fall 2009

purchase of sophisticated equipment that will also be used by Walla Walla University students.

Collaborative use of the equipment was a key component of the grant proposal.

The grant has secured two sophisticated instruments for shared use.

A 1,200-pound $388,000 nuclear magnetic resonance instrument, or NMR, will give chemistry students the opportunity to view real spectra as opposed to textbook examples, and also the molecular structure of chemical compounds. A $407,000 scanning electron microscope will give students

the opportunity to view surfaces magnified thousands of times.

Students will gain skills as they operate the sophisticated equipment—experience critical for graduate schools.

“Funding organizations have in recent years increasingly favored collaboration grants,” says Ginger Ketting-Weller, vice president of academic administration. “These grants strengthen the exchange and sharing of ideas and resources between partners. With two undergraduate programs benefiting from this grant, the funding accomplishes more.”

During a day that included visits to Philadelphia, Sardia, Thyatira, and Smyrna, students leave a gymnasium and head to a Jewish synagogue.

spreading the good news,” says Cosaert. Other stops included Istanbul, Tarsus, Laodicea, Patmos, and Ephesus. The tour concluded with the cities of Athens and Smyrna.

Cosaert followed this student tour by leading a two-week study tour for the North Pacific Union Conference of Seventhday Adventists. The tour, “The Footsteps of St. Paul and the Seven Churches of Revelation,” led 22 participants through sites in Turkey.

Cosaert hopes this will be the first of many similar trips, and is already planning on leading a second tour in 2011. “I’m convinced this is a unique opportunity not only for our students to visit a different culture, but to experience the Bible as never before,” he says.

“It’s better than any sermon, book or Bible class.” n

Bits & Pieces

Ring the Bells

Let’s Go With Lego

Coming to Walla Walla University April 10, 2010, budding engineers will showcase their skills during the annual North Pacific Regional Robotics Challenge. Student teams, primarily fifth- to eighth-graders, will present a robot, created from Lego components, and compete with other teams in a series of challenges. This year’s theme “Smart Move: Transforming Transportation,” will help kids learn how to access people, places, goods, and services safely and efficiently. One month later, WWU will host the National Robotics Challenge. On May 10, 2010, the highest performing teams will compete.

Calling All Computer Programmers Put your problem-solving and computing skills to the test—and you may win one of three tuition grant prizes. If you are an academy or high school student, visit cs.wallawalla.edu/contest to see how you can win a grant of $1000, $500, or $250. The contest is open Feb. 1 through March 21, 2010.

Winners will be announced during University Days held April 4-6, 2010.

Thanks to the Class of 2009, the Walla Walla University Church carillon and the Administration Building bell now ring in tandem at the top of every hour between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. Professors and students at the School of Engineering restored the carillon to working condition, and the bells have been pealing perfectly since commencement in June.

The carillon, originally installed in the late 1960s as a gift from Clyde and Marry Harris, stopped functioning properly in the 1990s. The carillon is now played from both an electro-mechanical controller and the organ keyboard in the University Church.

The Administration Building bell is one of the few artifacts remaining from the old administration building that was demolished in 2003-04. The bell is also played from an electro-mechanical controller.

Field of Dreams

The new women’s softball field, The Hebbel-Janke Softball Complex, hosted its first game in October.

Named after donor Richard Hebbel and long-time assistant coach Bernie Janke, the facility includes features such as new dugouts and field lighting. Walla Walla University President John McVay joined athletic director Tim Windemuth and softball coach Michael Jimenez at the dedication, which was followed by two games between the WWU Wolves and Boise State University. Hebbel and Janke threw the game’s first two pitches to commemorate the event.

Fall 2009 Westwind 9

Fifty years after Walla Walla University’s first student missionary embarked for Alaska, it’s clear SMs receive as much—or more—from their experience than they give.

One Extraordinary

Year The Student Missions Experience

By Amy Wilkinson

I

t’s mid-September, and Katie Davis’ suitcases lay untouched. As her peers begin folding away wool sweaters, zipping laptops into their cases and strategizing how to cram that last crate into their parents’ already over-stuffed minivan, Katie has yet to drop as much as a toothbrush into her two bags. Though the crisp evening temperatures in the Walla Walla Valley indicate the end of summer and the start of another school year, Katie won’t be walking the halls of Kretschmar or Bowers this year.

Instead, she will board a plane bound for balmy São Paulo, Brazil, where, come October, she’ll trade in her familiar role of pupil for teacher, Senhorita Davis to her new students.

Katie is one of 82 student missionaries who will leave the creature comforts of home this year to teach, preach and heal in far-flung places many of us would likely be unable to locate on a map.

Whether bound for Palau or Pueblo,

10 Westwind Fall 2009

Colo., each student has his or her own mission story.

Katie’s started years ago.

“Ever since I was a kid I’ve always wanted to be a missionary,” she says.

“This is the most opportune moment for me to do it, when I have nothing holding me back.”

Indeed, the 2009 Spanish graduate postponed the inevitable—matriculating as a graduate student or navigating the prickly post-crash job market—to pursue her lifelong goal of being an SM. In preparation for her trip, Katie has been teaching herself Portuguese, a language similar to Spanish, and while the prospect of mastering another tongue is largely the reason Katie chose Brazil, she’s hoping to get more from her eight months abroad than a language lesson. She’s hoping to grow closer to God. To be pushed beyond her normal comfort level. To become more outspoken about her faith. In short, she’s hoping for the kind of

Fall 2009 Westwind 11

Katie’s clearly not the first to pursue a new sense of purpose through missions. In fact, the 2009–10 school year marks the 50th anniversary of Walla Walla University’s Student Missions program. But the story of missions at WWU begins much earlier than that.

The foundation of the university was built upon service.

Flip through chapter 12 of professor Terri Aamodt’s WWU history Bold Venture and an image emerges of a university constructed for the purpose of preparing young people to answer God’s call

university’s prep-school status, WWU was deemed by the General Conference as a training center for Malay and Chinese languages during World War II. Yet this entire curriculum had only one purpose: to train students for service after graduation.

Per Bold Venture, alumni and missionaries Orley and Lillian Ford were even quoted in the 1925 Mountain Ash yearbook as saying, “We have seen practically every college graduate succeed, many of those of lesser training unsuccessful, and everyone without any training in one of our schools fail … Get your apprenticeship for foreign mission work at Walla Walla College and then come and help us.”

Of course students found time to volunteer, yet the fact remained that they were encouraged to pursue longterm mission work only after receiving their degrees. But in the summer of 1959, with little ceremony, WWU stepped into a

directing band, planning all of the kids’ activities, including morning and evening worships, and everything in between.

Though each stint lasted only seven to 10 days that was plenty of time to occasionally raise the locals’ ire.

“There were people who were really, really not happy we were there because they owned camps and we were kind of taking over things that they did,” Heath recalls. “If they really didn’t want us we packed up—one time in the middle of the night—and left.”

Yet the good almost always outweighed the bad. Heath remembers most vividly the generosity of the people. When one of his host families learned he missed having a glass of milk with his meal—the Alaska tundra is no place to raise cows, after all—Heath found a glass of the scarce commodity in front of his seat, and his seat alone, at the dinner table that evening.

throughout the world. School planners “expected that virtually all of the college’s graduates would serve in either ‘home missions’ or ‘foreign missions,’” reads the text. This was a calling students were excited about. They were so keen in fact, that a small group formed the Foreign Missions Band in 1898, dividing themselves into groups representing their intended destinations including Africa, the Far East, South America, Europe, and India. Students met to train and study the languages and cultures of those places.

Also at that time, WWU’s curriculum was quite vocationally oriented, emphasizing practical knowledge that would come in handy in the field (think: sponge bathing). Further solidifying the

new era of its service history, sending out its first student missionary: biology and physical education major Glenn Heath.

Now an artist in Mount Shasta, Calif., Heath recalls his summer “teaching Eskimos to swim” fondly. He felt no particular “call,” as many SMs do, saying he was merely asked by thenphysical education professor Eugene Winter if he’d like a job teaching children to swim in Alaska, the same year the 49th state was admitted to the Union, incidentally.

Heath spent the next three months shuttling, sometimes by car but mostly by bush plane, from his base in Anchorage to camps in remote wilderness locations, staying in accommodations as basic as a tent or as lavish as a local’s home. More than a swim instructor, Heath was practically a one-man camp-

“So I started drinking it,” Heath remembers.

“And it was nasty! It was soy milk. I knew these people were poor, and I was raised to be polite and appreciative, so I drank the milk, so it wouldn’t be so bad. A lot of people like soy milk. It just isn’t a preference of mine. Anyhow, I’m talking away and I look down and somebody had refilled my glass already!”

Fifty years later, SMs still appreciate the kindness of those they serve. What started with Heath, the first lone missionary sent to the Alaskan wilderness, has blossomed into a thriving campus program that sends 70 to 100 SMs each year.

‘Get Your Apprenticeship For Foreign Mission Work At Walla Walla College’

12 Westwind Fall 2009

Photographs Courtesy of WWU Archives and WWU Student Missions Office

life-changing experience afforded only through a year serving others.

‘The Better We Prepare Ourselves, The More Wisely We Serve’

Though it’s no longer the practice to reserve long-term mission work for graduates, that is not to say students leave ill-prepared for their year abroad.

In fact, the application process to be an SM is surprisingly rigorous—the first true test of a would-be missionary’s mettle.

Before she could even think about Brazil, Katie went through the same lengthy application process every SM completes before they leave for their post, starting with a visit to the small building on College Avenue that houses the Student Missions Office. Former SMs serve as the staff—a knowledgeable, reassuring voice for prospective missionaries.

From there, students fill out two detailed application packets, which include seven references, a person-

ality test, a health exam, a specially formatted resume detailing volunteer experience and hobbies and interests, and grade printouts. The candidate must also undergo interviews with five returned SMs, a three-credit orientation class, an orientation retreat, and much more. The application goes through no fewer than five committees, often a four-month processing period, before a student is given the green light.

“When we have it that involved we have a very high success rate for students who go out,” says Jeanne Vories, director of student missions.

Theology professor Paul Dybdahl, who teaches the orientation class

“Introduction to Cross-Cultural Ministry,” agrees.

“I think God can use all sorts of people, but the better we prepare ourselves, the more wisely we will serve,” he says.

“The more wisely we serve, the greater impact we will have.”

A former student missionary himself, Dybdahl took the same class from his father, former WWU President Jon Dybdahl, back in the late ‘80s. He often relies on his own experience in Thailand to illuminate his lectures and curriculum, which is a mix of world religions, communications and basic travel knowledge.

“Probably the best part of class is the fact that recently returned SMs visit and share stories, advice, and encouragement to the outgoing SMs,” Dybdahl says.

Something else Vories and Dybdahl try to prepare students for is culture shock, both in go-

ing and coming back. According to Vories, students often have a harder time adjusting after returning home from a post—a sort of reverse culture shock or “re-entry stress.”

“It’s difficult saying goodbye to the family and friends that they’ve met and made throughout the year. They don’t know if they’ll ever see them again,” Vories says. “Many times they say they cried all the way home.”

‘They Cannot Help But Be Changed’

It’s undeniable the nearly 3,000 student missionaries sent by WWU over the past 50 years have had an impact on the people they serve and the places they tread.

But, according to Vories, it’s often the SMs themselves who return the most

changed. Many will attest that their relationship with God has grown. That they feel more confident. That they’re ready to lead. In fact, more than half of the last 10 ASWWU presidents have been returned student missionaries.

“Their experience overseas grooms them to be leaders,” Vories says. Today’s Adventist pastors, teachers and businessmen and women aren’t just made in the classroom; they’re tried and tested in the marshes of the jungle and the heat of the tropics.

“No matter what their reasons were for going, they cannot help but changed,” Vories says. “Seeing how student misionaries are changed is the most rewarding part of my job.”

Once SMs return to campus, Vories schedules an exit interview of sorts with each, where she gets her first opportunity to see the changes in the student, many of whom become like her own children after months of close work and preparation for the journey and communication while in the field.

“I realize at that age they’re going to mature anyway, but they just seem head and shoulders above where they were when they left,” she says.

It’s not just Vories who notices shifts in returned SMs’ demeanors; many notice these changes in themselves, often in the midst of their year abroad.

Though less than six months returned from his teaching post in Palau, psychology major Christopher Simons can already sense changes in his perspective.

Most of all, he says material possessions don’t matter so much to him anymore after seeing how little his students had, yet how happy they were.

One experience that really highlighted this change was allowing his students to use his beloved camera, without reservation.

Fall 2009 Westwind 13

“I wouldn’t let my kids use it at all because, you know, it’s my camera,” Simons remembers. “I didn’t want anything to happen to it. By the end of the year the kids took my camera around and walked around taking pictures, and it just didn’t matter to me. I realized those little things like that, even if something were to happen to it, seeing the students light up and having fun and taking pictures of themselves with my nice camera made it all worth it.”

Newly returned SM Shantel Jamieson agrees that it matures one’s thinking.

The junior nursing major spent six months working in two different orphanages in Kenya, Africa, where her job description was simply to love the children. She played with them, coordinated their medical care and even organized a hygiene class for the young girls. But tragedy was never far from Jamieson’s view. One day, a young child died in her arms. “Once you’ve seen death right before you and life right before you, your perspective of your own world back here just changes completely,” she says.

Many students chose a mission field closer to home, embarking as taskforce workers to other states in the U.S. as

academy deans, tutors, and organizational volunteers.

For 2007 English graduate Samantha Silva, a year in Portland, Ore., helped her solidify her true calling as a teacher—without even stepping foot into an academy as she had intended.

In the summer of 2004, Silva packed up her recently purchased car (an answered prayer from God) and headed for Vancouver, Wash., where she lived 14 Westwind Fall 2009

with a friend’s family while working at International Children’s Care, which operates and funds homes for needy children across the globe. Silva’s main task was to write stories about these kids to help garner sponsorships and donations. Torn between a career in writing or teaching, Silva felt an opportunity like ICC would help clarify her decision.

While she enjoyed crafting these narratives, it was one of Silva’s seemingly banal tasks that would prove pivotal.

The then 22-year-old was asked to learn a new database program the organization was adopting and teach her coworkers how to use it.

“One of the best days I had was the day I got to go teach it to them,” Silva remembers. “One of my co-workers looked at me afterward and said, ‘Sam, I don’t know how you did that. You did that with so much patience. You ran through the same question about 15 times. No wonder you’re going to be a teacher.’ God showed me through my co-workers that while I could do writing, because I’m a good writer, my true gift, my true passion, was for teaching.”

Now an English teacher at Glendale Adventist Academy in Glendale, Calif.,

Silva is just one of many former service workers who say their missions experience led them to choose a particular career path.

When Jamieson returned from Kenya, one of the first things she did was switch her major from physical therapy to nurs-

ing, having worked closely with a nurse at one of the orphanages.

“I just realized how much of a difference you can make, even on a mission trip. You’re just able to be the first hand there that so many people need, especially in Third World countries.”

After finishing her studies, Jamieson intends to return to a Third World country to help in some capacity.

‘Missions Is My Passion’

Cynics would say that Jamieson’s pledge to lifelong service is just an idealized fantasy of a freshly returned SM. But what happens decades later when the sheen of a year abroad has tarnished?

How does the mission experience translate after a career, a spouse, and kids enter the picture? Do the truths learned about one’s self and the world they inhabit still ring true? For many SMs the answer is an emphatic yes.

Donna Collins, a 1985 office administration major, decided at the age of 7 or 8 that she wanted to be a student missionary after a girl from her church returned from Peru regaling the congregation with her stories.

So it was no surprise that

one of Collins’ first stops on the WWU campus during Summer Start was the chaplain’s office to see what she needed to do to make her childhood dream a reality.

Shortly after the end of her freshman year, Collins left for Harajuku, Japan, where she taught English and led Bible study groups and Sabbath School classes. While there, she also befriended

Clearing the Path

an elderly couple across the street, who became her “Japanese parents.” Though they’d lived across from the Adventist compound for 20 years, it was Collins who first introduced them to the church.

“The biggest thing I did was open a little bit of a door for them into what Christianity was—why that compound was there and what it was about,” Collins remembers.

But the chief effect that year in Japan had on Collins was to plant the seed of mission mindedness, one whose branches would become intertwined with her career aspirations.

“Because of my experience there and realizing what it felt like to be somewhere else where you don’t know the language, you don’t know the culture, the food is all different, it kind of became a personal mission of mine to really kind of watch out for those kids who came on campus from different countries,” Collins says.

When she graduated in 1985 Collins was offered a job as an admissions counselor at WWU, a job that lent itself well to aiding newbie foreign students. She began opening her home for weekend dinners, eventually focusing her efforts into creating a campus multi-cultural office.

As the director of the program, Collins became the den mother for newly arrived international students, picking them up from the airport, tak-

It’s July and for the next three months Jeanne Vories will not see the light of day.

Literally. By September, Vories and her staff—all recent student missionaries—will send more than 75 outbound students to stations of call around the world.

What does this work take? Energy, perseverance, knowledge, practicality, attention to detail, and most of all, passion. Former student missionaries say Vories has all these qualities and more.

Vories has served as director of student missions for 10 years, and had a similar role in the Chaplain’s Office for the previous nine years. She remembers clearly the very first student missionary she “processed” 20 years ago. “His name was Grant Geschke, and he went to teach at Stanborough

Secondary School in England. When he returned it was incredible to see the change in his life. I was hooked,” says Vories. Since then Vories estimates she has overseen the departures of more than 1,600 students.

After students are at their post, Vories remains vigilant, always ready to resolve the issues that inevitably arise. One day it could be a problem with a visa to Tanzania. Another day the concern could be a hurricane threat to the Micronesian islands.

“What inspires me to this day is knowing that our students are having an experience that will change their lives forever,” says Vories. “They return with extraordinary leadership skills, clearer goals and more committed lives. I’m happy to be a part of that.”

ing them grocery shopping, eating lunch with them in the cafeteria and walking them to class during their first few weeks on campus.

“When I look back I can see how that started in Japan and kind of permeated through my life,” Collins says.

For Ron Wilkinson, a 1978 theology graduate, it was a year in Bangladesh that solidified his lifelong leaning toward service.

In 1982, Wilkinson, along with 1976 graduate Keith Canwell, went to war-torn Bangladesh to help build more than 1,200 houses for victims of the genocide. While Canwell was responsible for acquiring building materials, Wilkinson decided whom the houses would be built for and laid the groundwork in South Central Bangladesh.

Now an entrepreneur, Wilkinson not only continues his mission work in Asia but has passed the service ethic onto his children, taking his family on many mission trips throughout the years, with his sons Ryan, a 2009 graduate, and Eric, senior business major, both going on long-term mission trips while students at WWU. The project closest to Wilkinson’s heart is Sweet Home, an orphanage in Eastern India, where he says the 70 kids who live there feel like his own.

He visits them twice a year, making

sure to attend their graduations, expecting many will immigrate to the U.S. after finishing nursing school. He also does work at the neighboring school, which happens to have been built by his grandfather.

“The way I explain it is I love business but missions is my passion and children, specifically, are my passion,” Wilkinson says. “I will do whatever I can, any opportunity I find that involves kids overseas. Without Bangladesh, I don’t believe that would have happened.”

‘I’m Willing To Experience Anything’

Katie will begin packing a week before she leaves for Brazil. She’s excited about the prospect of being in a place where she knows no one and doesn’t speak the language—though she admits she’ll likely become a little more nervous when the departure date draws closer.

She also says that she’s embarking with no expectations.

“I’m going down there with a completely open mind,” she declares. “I’m willing to experience anything, whatever comes at me, I’ll be satisfied.”

Yet, with 50 years of history on her side, it’s clear Katie can expect one thing from her year in São Paulo—an incomparable, life-changing experience. n Fall 2009 Westwind 15

Alumnotes

1950s

quilts for foster children. The couple have three children, Diane, Michael and John.

Hal Harden ’59 and his wife, Warrine (McDuffie) ’58, live in Wenatchee, Wash.

Hal works as a semi-retired, self-employed family physician. In his spare time, he enjoys photography, skiing, and aviation. Hal and Warrine have three children, Stephen ’83, Sharon, and Bryan att.

Mildred (Pomeroy) Deen ’69 lives in Richland, Wash. She has three children, Thomas, David, and Carolyn.

Shirley (Van Derschelden) Davis ’65 and her husband, Kirby ’59, live in

Malo, Wash. Shirley has had the opportunity to travel around the world. While at WWU, her memories include birdwatching, making cards, and studying wild flowers.

retirement, Myrna and Al served the Seventh-day Adventist church at the Upper Columbia Conference, Oregon Conference, Gulf States Conference, and the Georgia-Cumberland Conference.

They enjoy spending their retirement years actively involved in their local church. From her college years, Myrna remembers the Friday night vespers and worship programs in the dorm.

Myrna and Al have two children, Valerie ’91 and Kevin.

Arsenio Hernandez ’69 and his wife, Iona (Thompson) att., live in Elmira, Ore. Arsenio retired after 40 years of service to the church as a teacher and principal.

However, he enjoys working as a medical interpreter for PeaceHealth in Oregon.

He has also continued to teach Spanish part-time at Emerald Christian Academy.

Arsenio and Iona have two children, Rick ’94 and Melissa ’96.

Roland Mays ’69 and his wife, Rose, live in Goodlettsville, Tenn. Roland works as a owner and operator for Pyles Transport.

In his spare time, Roland enjoys gardening, Civil War history, and working on antique cars. From his time at WWU, he remembers working in the plumbing department for Leon Tsckritter. Roland and Rose have two children, Aaron and Amanda.

Sid Kettner ’65 and his wife, Carol, live in Gray Creek, British Columbia, Canada.

Loren Nelson ’69 and his wife, Linda (Sichley) att., live in Eagle, Mich. Loren works as the ministerial director for the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. His favorite college memory was meeting and dating Linda. Loren and Linda have two children, Loren III and Leslie.

R. Gary Moon ’59 and his wife, Joan, live in Lodi, Calif. While at WWU, Gary remembers living in the dormitory and making friends in the Biology Department. Gary and Joan have four children, Robert Jr., Randall, Mark, and Danielle.

Nancy (Jacobson) Schippmann ’59 and her husband, Douglas, live in Boring, Ore. Nancy has had the opportunity to travel seven times to mission fields in Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and Mexico. Nancy and Douglas has five children, Steven, Stuart, Marie, Stanley, and Michael. She enjoys spending time with her 19 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

1960s Sylvia (Kinzer) Blanchfield ’69 and her husband, Roger att., live in Churdan, Iowa. In her spare time, Sylvia enjoys art, writing, and gardening. She also is active in her community as a speaker for women’s ministries, a board member for various organizations, and a grant writer for community and social agencies. Sylvia and Roger have two children, Brett and Loralee.

Deana (Lewellen) Buksas ’64 and her husband, William, live in Mesa, Ariz.

Deana has taught for 32 years, 20 of which were for Mesa public schools. She volunteers at Adobe Adventist Christian School where she teaches science and social studies. Deana also enjoys making 16 Westwind Fall 2009

Myrna (Shultz) Long ’64 and her husband, Al, live in Prineville, Ore. Before

Sid works as a medical doctor. In his spare time, Sid enjoys jogging, radiocontrolled airplanes, and overseas health evangelism. Sid and Carol have four children, Todd ’93, Greg ’97, Shawna att., and Jane.

Marilyn (Banek) Nelson ’64 and her husband, LaVerne att., live in College Place. In her spare time, Marilyn enjoys canning, pencil puzzles, and writing letters. She is also actively involved in her church. Marilyn’s fondest memories of college are her friends.

Merlene Olmsted ’69 lives in Portales, N.M. Merlene works as a professor in the family and consumer sciences department at Eastern New Mexico University.

She is planning on retiring and moving back to the Northwest. While at WWU, Merlene especially remembers hiking in the mountains.

Dale Ortmann ’69 and his wife, Diane, live in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Dale works as the principal for the Haaland Group, Inc. Dale and Diane have two children, Kelli and Missy.

Janice (Jensen) Ross ’69 lives in Woodland, Wash. She enjoys needlework, working with charities, and volunteering at her local church. Janice has three children, Michael ’98, Matthew ’97, and Reuben.

Willard Santee ’69 and his wife, Joan, live in Post Falls, Idaho. Willard is a pastor of two churches. He has written three articles for Ministry magazine and an awardwinning sermon in a 1994 talent search in narrative/expository preaching. His sermons have also been featured on three radio stations. Willard and Joan have three sons, Kevin, Kelly, and Kenny.

Dale Taylor ’69 and his wife, Sara, live in Renton, Wash. Dale works as a purchasing agent for the city of Redmond, Wash.

Dale’s favorite WWU memories includes Friday night vespers.

Jonathan Watt ’69 and his wife, Abbie (Lam Yuen) ’69, live in Vancouver, Wash.

Jonathan works as a medical doctor. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, golfing, woodworking, and mission work.

Alumnotes Jonathan and Abbie have four children, Michelle, Shawn ’96, Jonathan ’02, and Brandon ’04.

Jerald Whitehouse ’65 and his wife, Judith (Dietrich) att., live in Loma Linda, Calif. Jerald works as a special consultant for Muslim relations for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. They have lived and worked internationally for 16 years in Libya, Lebanon, Sudan, and Bangladesh. Jerald and Judith have five children, Jeralyn, Lavelle ’94, Yvette ’94, Rebecca and Rakilly.

Muriel (Wilbur) Zaugg ’64 and her husband, Keith ’62, live in McMinnville, Ore. Muriel and Keith have two children, Raylene and Deanna. They enjoy spending time with their seven grandchildren.

1970s Margorie (Hodgson) Adelman ’79 and her husband, Robert, live in Edmonds, Wash.

They have two children, Jennifer and Travis.

Lyle Albrecht ’70 and his wife, Peggy, live in Eagle, Idaho. Lyle works as an evangelist for the North Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. In his spare time, he enjoys restoring antique Cadillacs. Lyle and Peggy have two children, Tami att., and Troy att.

att., live in Spokane, Wash. Yvonne works as the corporation treasurer for the Upper Columbia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Teresa (Bromgard) Jones ’79 and her husband, Bruce, live in Everett, Wash.

Glenn Balkins ’79 and his wife, Jennie (Osborne) att., live in Corvallis, Ore. Glenn works as a dentist. Jennie and Glenn have two children, Emily curr. att., and Amy. John Christensen ’79 and his wife, Kris (Hieb) att., live in College Place. They have four children, BJ att., Jason att., David att. and Angela att.

Jim Eiseman Jr. ’70 and his wife, Lana (Pfaff ) att., live in Milton-Freewater, Ore. Jim retired after 33 years of employment, the last 13 years spent working as the academic vice principal at Walla Walla Valley Academy. He writes that he survived a serious motorcycle accident in 2007, a life-changing experience for him. Jim and Lana have one son, James att.

Yvonne (Ames) House ’70 and her husband, Dwayne

Kathy (Coffin) Marshall ’70 and her husband, James, live in Salem, Ore. Kathy works as a landscape designer. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, birdwatching, and ballroom dancing. The couple met on eHarmony .com. Kathy and James have two children, Victor ’99 and Sidney att.

Marsha Owens-Mott ’70 and her husband, James, live in Aurora, Colo. In her spare time, Marsha enjoys traveling and spending time with friends and family.

From her WWU years, she remembers all the great times with wonderful friends.

While at college, Teresa especially remembers studying in the book stacks on the top floor of the library and looking out a little window at the tennis courts below. Teresa and Bruce have two children, Matthew and Conner.

Lora (McFarlane) Jorgenson ’74 and her husband, Gary att., live in Laclede, Idaho. After graduating from WWU, Lora worked at Rogers Elementary School in College Place. Gary and Lora were married in 1975. Since then, they have worked in the timber industry. Lora and Gary have two children, Brian ’04 and Kevin.

Clay Patchett ’73 lives in Pasadena, Calif.

Among his lifelong highlights is a trip to Antarctica to see the emperor penguin.

Keith Riese ’70 and his wife, Jacqueline, live in Lincoln, Neb. Keith works as a professor at Union College. In his spare time, he enjoys backpacking, collecting stamps and playing the organ. From his years at WWU, Keith remembers the old house north of Sittner Hall burning down, and dropping glass bottles down onto Sittner Hall Courtyard. Keith and Jacqueline have two children, Kevin, who is deceased, and Kent.

Show Your True Colors Green, orange, and yes, a range of other colors too

Visit the “U-Shop” for a great selection of apparel and other university items. Give your friends a Christmas gift that shows them you are thinking of them. u

Sweatshirts u T-shirts u Children’s clothing u Items with WWU logo

Walla Walla University Shop Visit our website wallawalla.edu/store Save 20% by keying in “Westwind” in the Customer Notes box

Fall 2009 Westwind 17

Alumnotes Gwen (Groboll) Reeves ’74 and her husband, Ron ’76, live in Kettle Falls, Wash. Gwen works as a registered nurse at Eagle Health Care Systems. Gwen and Ron have five children, Rhonda, Ben, Joseph, Christian, and Deborah.

ada’s only Seventh-day Adventist-owned hospital. From her time at WWU, Gladys fondly remembers getting an “A” from Dick Kegley on her economics project and report during her senior year.

Kathleen (Tucker) Salzman ’74 lives in College Place. When her husband Mark ’71, passed away in 2008, she came to College Place to live with her son, Alex curr. att., who is a senior at WWU. Kathleen enjoys reading, hiking, gardening, and healthy cooking.

1980s

Suzanne (Oliver) Wallace ’79 and her husband, Clifford, live in Battle Ground, Wash. Suzanne has worked as a registered nurse for Adventist Health West for 25 years in intensive care. From her college years, Suzanne remembers attending WWU during summer school for two years and working for the custodial department where she made many lifelong friends.

Suzanne and Clifford have three children, Kendra att., Jerry ’09, and Crysti curr. att.

Linda (Andregg) Wagner ’75 and her husband, Ed ’79, live in Rogue River, Ore. Linda works as the head of the nursing department at Rogue Community College. In her spare time, Linda enjoys dirt bike riding, birdwatching, and hiking in the hills surrounding her home. Linda and Ed have two children, Eric curr. att. and Chris.

Phyllis (Carlson) Wagner ’75 lives in Walla Walla. Phyllis volunteers as the community service director at the Walla Walla City Church. In her spare time, she enjoys sewing quilts, gardening, and traveling. Phyllis has two children, Thomas and Kathleen att.

Gladys (Steinke) Wentland ’79 and her husband, Lorin att., live in MiltonFreewater, Ore. After graduating from WWU, Gladys traveled to Japan as a student missionary and taught English for two years. Most of her working years was spent as the materials manager for Can18 Westwind Fall 2009

Janet Blackwood ’89 lives in Bloomington, Ind. Janet is a doctoral student at Indiana University. While at WWU, she remembers the Delta Sigma secret society activities, working in the financial aid office, and being in Verlie Ward’s classes.

Greg Brothers ’80 and his wife, Narelle, live in Lincoln City, Ore. Greg works as a pastor for a Seventh-day Adventist church.

They have two children, Cecilia curr. att., and Rebecca curr. att.

works as a senior development lead at Microsoft. He has previously worked for companies such as Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Corning Optical Fibers, and GE Nuclear. Brian says, “As I review my career and the places I have been, it is the opportunities to witness about Jesus to co-workers that stand out as the only thing worth remembering, and the missed opportunities to witness as the only moments worth regretting.” Brian and Melissa have three children, Tyler, Derrick and Anna.

Kim Nelson ’90 lives in Salem, Ore. Kim works as a graffiti abatement program manager for the Salem Police Department.

Joan (Thornton) Evoy ’89 and her husband, Bob, live in Simi Valley, Calif. Joan and Bob have two children, Zachary and Tara.

Stephen Winslett ’81 lives in Salem, Ore. In his spare time, Stephen enjoys painting chess sets and attending film and theater events. While at WWU, Stephen remembers friends, the College Bowl, and theatrical presentations under the guidance of Donnie Rigby.

1990s Cynthia Dinwiddie ’95 lives in San Antonio, Texas, where she works as a senior research engineer in the geosciences and engineering division at Southwest Research Institute. She received the 2007 Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award from the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers.

She has also been selected to receive the 2007 Alfred Noble Prize from the America Society of Civil Engineers. Cynthia is the author or co-author of 12 peer-reviewed publications.

R. Brian dos Santos ’90 and his wife, Melissa, live in Ravensdale, Wash. Brian

with their two children, Evan and Max. Tammy is a labor and delivery nurse and recently became a clinical instructor at Concordia University. Tammy writes that she “has a wonderful husband, two beautiful boys and a great dog that makes us laugh everyday.” She is appreciative of the education she received and believes her training prepared her well.

Natalie (Davis) Hager ’00 and her husband, Eric, live in Princeton, W. Va. Natalie

is an attorney at Harvey and Janutolo Law Offices. In 2007, Natalie and Eric adopted a 15-month-old boy, Alexander, from Russia. They are currently in the process of adopting a little girl from Russia. In her spare time, Natalie enjoys Zumba, dancing, traveling, and bootcamp exercises.

Machelle Hartman ’00 and her husband, Jerrold ’99, live in College Place.

Heidi (Jackson) Schmalenberger ’99 and her husband, Peter, live in Battle Ground, Wash. Heidi works in the operating room as a registered nurse. She enjoys biking, camping and spending time at the beach. Heidi and Peter have two children, Noah and Emma.

Julie (Rodman) Smithson ’99 and her husband, Eric ’98, live in Auburn, Wash.

Julie works as a data entry specialist at Iron Mountain, Inc. They have two children, Kyle and McKenzie.

Annette (Beaudry) Treat ’99 and her husband, Kirby, live in Worland, Wyo. Annette is a housewife. The couple have two children, Theron and Jayce.

2000s Tammy (Carriveau) Conant ’00 and her husband, Court, live in Sherwood, Ore.,

Machelle works as a chemistry and environmental instructor for Whitman College and the University of Phoenix. Since graduation, Machelle has served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines, earned a master’s degree, and produced documentaries with her husband Jerry ’99 in Suriname. The documentaries are posted at: eclecticreel.com.

Machelle and Jerry have two children, Aidan and Mica.

In Memory

Arnold—Floyd ’77 was born May 1, 1936, in Elko County, Ill., and died March 15, 2009, in Portland, Ore. Surviving: wife Vicki Arnold att., of Milton-Freewater, Ore.; son Aaron att., of Otis Orchards, Wash.; daughter Renee Tomczek ’91 of Chehalis, Wash.; and sisters Debra Edwards of Pendleton, Ore., and Theresa Frederickson of Boise, Idaho.

Becker—Robert ’53 was born May 10, 1916, in Beisiker, Alberta, Canada, and died June 26, 2008, in Elk Grove, Calif. Surviving: son Gerald of Loma Linda, Calif., and daughter Sandra of Napa, Calif.

Bolton—Marjorie (Gerking) att., was born May 21, 1917, in Pocatello, Idaho, and died April 10, 2009, in Wenatchee, Wash. Surviving: husband Robert ’36 of Wenatchee; son Robert att., of Vancouver, Wash; daughters Ruth ’67 of Banning, Calif., and Alice ’74 of Redlands, Calif.; brother Duane of Prosser, Wash.; and sister Darlene of College Place, Wash.

Alumna Proud of Pioneer Roots

L

ong before Donna “Dee” Marie (Westover) Gottschall att., stepped on the Walla Walla University campus, her pioneer family had historical ties to the Walla Walla Valley. Arriving by wagon train from Illinois in 1865, Dee’s predecessors homesteaded near the current town of Waitsburg, Wash.

Dee met her husband-to-be, Marvin Gottschall ’49, in college, where they both worked in the cafeteria, then located in the basement of Conard Hall. Dee’s children often heard stories about WWU, where Dee’s grandmother attended on the school’s opening day in 1892 and her mother grad-

Border—Geraldine (Poole) ’65 was born Jan. 19, 1918, in Marsland, Neb., and died Jan. 23, 2009, in Bozeman, Mont.

Surviving: daughter Sylvia Grindley of Bozeman; brother Arthur Poole of MiltonFreewater, Ore.; and sister Gloria Garver of Candler, N.C. Bungard—Marjorie (Wilcox) att., was born Feb. 25, 1924, in Keene, Texas, and died March 27, 2009, in College Place, Wash. Surviving: husband Stanley ’53 of College Place; daughters Karen att., of San Diego, Calif., Marcia Anspach att., of College Place, Janet Wallenkampf att., of Bayside, Calif., and Susan ’81 of College Place.; brother Kenneth of Grants Pass, Ore.; and sister Marianette Johnston att., of Medford, Ore. Carleton—David att., was born Dec. 8, 1933, in Sterling, Colo., and died June 19, 2008, in Portland, Ore. Surviving: wife Marlene Carleton of Tillamook, Ore.; sons

Jon ’75 of Colo, Iowa, Tim of Anchorage, Alaska, Russell of Nevada, Iowa, and Steven of Salem, Ore.; and brother Richard of Westcliffe, Colo.

Collings—Elvin att., was born July 12, 1930, in Elma, Wash., and died Nov. 12, 2008, in Monroe, Wash. Surviving: wife Velma (Lacy) ’50 of Gold Bar, Wash.; son David of Bath, Maine; daughters Elaine

uated from WWU in 1919 with a two-year degree in bookkeeping.

Dee was a nurturing mother and grandmother, enjoying a unique, loving relationship with each grandchild and greatgrandchild. An avid reader and book collector, she developed a personal book collection that numbered in the thousands. Her reading interests ranged from mysteries to history to philosophy to religion and art. Her passion for travel was infectious, and she passed on that love to her children and grandchildren. She also had a life-long love affair with classic movies; she had a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of movies, actors, and related lore.

Dee was born on Feb. 16, 1927, in Bellingham, Wash., and died Jan. 26, 2009, in Spokane.

She is survived by her husband, Marvin Gottschall ’49, of Spokane; sons Terry ’73 of Walla Walla; and Marvin Gottschall Jr., ’74, of Chewelah, Wash.; daughter Vicki Colburn att., of Portland, Ore.; sister Virginia Penfold att., of Wenatchee, Wash.; and brother Vic Westover ’49, of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. att., of Gold Bar, Janine of Napa, Calif., and Ann of Steamboat Springs, Colo.; and sister Marie of Vancouver, Wash.

Corwin—Joanne (Wheeler) att., was born Nov. 2, 1930, in Los Angeles, Calif., and died Dec. 15, 2008, in Roseburg, Ore. Surviving: husband Duane att., of Roseburg; son Daryl att., of Roseburg; daughters Duanna of Auburn, Wash., and Lonna of Bend, Ore.; brothers Richard of Enterprise, Ore., and Philip Sieck att., of Roseburg.

Criswell—Beverly (Erntson) att., was born Jan. 1, 1942, in Portland, Ore., and died Oct. 26, 2008, in Salem, Ore. Surviving: daughter Linda Fisher of Kalkaska, Mich.; and brother Verland Erntson Jr. ’66 of Laurel, Md. Fleck—Kenneth ’44 was born March 13, 1916, in Battle Ground, Wash., and died April 24, 2008, in Battle Ground.

Surviving: wife Alcyon (Logan) att., of Battle Ground; sons Ronald ’65 of Walla Walla, and Richard ’77 of Battle Ground; daughters Carolyn att., of Portland, Ore., and Alicia ’71 of Greenacres, Wash.; and sister Jean Fleck-Duncan ’44 of Battle Ground.

Force—Clifford ’51 was born Aug. 12, 1922, in Saltese, Mont., and died March 29, 2009, in Hillsboro, Ore. Surviving: wife Doris (Cartwright) att. of Hillsboro; sons Michael att., of Sacramento, Calif., Gary ’73 of Mead, Colo., and Thomas of Tigard, Ore.; and daughter Kathleen Saunders att., of Lincoln City, Ore. Forss—Carl ’58 was born July 19, 1931, in Bellingham, Wash., and died Jan. 11, 2009, in Walla Walla. Surviving: wife Betty (Bardon) att., of Walla Walla; son Rodney of College Place; daughter Diana Rasmussen att. of Binghamton, N.Y.; and brother Herb of Ferndale, Wash.

Fullerton—Victor ’47 was born Aug. 11, 1924, in Vancouver, Wash., and died April 18, 2009, in Walla Walla. Surviving: wife Harriet (Danner) ’46 of College Place; son Kevin Fullerton ’86 of Walla Walla; and daughter Linda Leseur att., of Roy, Wash.

Hallsted-Hoffman—Grace (Colberg) att., was born June 17, 1922, in Linton, N.D., and died Sept. 7, 2008, in College Place, Wash. Surviving: husband Walter Hoffman of College Place; sons Chuck Hallsted ’70 of College Place, David Hallsted of Woodland, Wash., and Jake HallFall 2009 Westwind 19

In Memory sted of Katy, Texas; daughters Jan Hallsted of College Place, and Judy Hall att., of Milton-Freewater, Ore. Holm—Melvin ’52 was born June 10, 1926, in Stanwood, Wash., and died June 26, 2008, in Portland, Ore. Surviving: wife Dorothy (Kuhn) ’55 of Battle Ground, Wash.; sons Brent of Oregon City, Ore., Wayne ’79 of Vancouver, Wash., and Bruce ’82 of Sherwood, Ore.; and sisters Olive White of Everett, Wash., Twila Lyman of Seattle, Wash., and Arlene Coordt of Fullerton, Calif.

Holmes—Marjorie (Brath) att., was born June 27, 1929, in Chicago, Ill., and died July 18, 2008, in Kettle Falls, Wash.

Surviving: husband Lee Roy ’50 of Kettle Falls, sons Douglas att. of Long Beach, Calif., Dennis att. of Redding, Calif., and Darrel att. of Bozeman, Mont.; and sister Ellen Enneberg ’48 of Gresham, Ore.

Family Lived Life to the Fullest

M

ichael and Vanessa (Feldkamp) Pullen, both graduates of the Class of 1993, were passengers in an airplane that crashed near Butte, Mont., in early 2009. Their children, Christopher and Sydney, and Vanessa’s sister, Amy Jacobsen, were among the nine other passengers who also died in the crash.

The couple married six months after graduating from Walla Walla University, where Michael earned an engineering degree and Vanessa majored in German and went on to graduate from Loma Linda University.

Vanessa was a pediatrician and while devoted to her professional practice, she was even more

Henriques—Cleve (Bisset) ’48 was born Dec. 2, 1914, in Trinidad, and died Feb. 23, 2009, in Pasco, Wash. Surviving: son John Henriques ’65 of Pasco, and daughter Maria att., of Woodinville, Wash.

Hoe—Sean att., was born Feb. 4, 1970, in Braddock Heights, Md., and died Dec. 1, 2007, in Lihue, Hawaii. Surviving: father Raymond ’68 of Lawai, Hawaii; mother Sherryl of Lawai; and sister Chara att., of Lawai.

Jorgensen—Roger att., was born Nov. 21, 1921, in Ogden, Utah, and died Dec. 4, 2008, in Walla Walla. Surviving: wife Vivian of Milton-Freewater, Ore.; son Michael Jorgensen of Pensacola, Fla.; and daughters Colleen Stocking of Connell, Wash., Cassandra Nelson of Milton-Freewater, Debora Montgomery of Boise, Idaho, Loretta Smith of Forest Grove, Ore., and Heidi Keller of Las Vegas, Nev. Klopfstein—Warren ’51 was born June 11, 1921, in Loma Linda, Calif., and died April 9, 2009, in Morton, Wash. Surviving: wife Virginia (Denney) ’51 of Randle, Wash.; daughters Janet att., of Salem, Ore., Shirley James att., of Pe Ell, Wash., and Myrna Neff ’74 of Packwood, Wash.; and brother Clarence ’50 of Gentry, Ark. 20 Westwind Fall 2009

Matar—Alfredo ’47 was born Jan. 13, 1922, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and died Nov. 24, 2008, in Loma Linda, Calif. Surviving: wife Dorothy (Tininenko) ’47 of Loma Linda; daughters Dorothy Wareham of Yucaipa, Calif., and Sally Curnow of Loma Linda; brothers Joe of Monterey Park, Calif., Angel att. of Santa Maria, Calif.; and sister Grace Savre of Victorville, Calif.

McDowell—Julia (Bryan) att., was born Aug. 5, 1916, in Portland, Ore., and died Oct. 19, 2008, in Portland. Surviving: husband Alvin McDowell att., of Portland; and daughter Judy Shaner ’68 of Caldwell, Idaho.

devoted to her family creating a tranquil home and active and happy family life. Vanessa was a world traveler and also actively involved in politics.

Michael was a dentist who was known as having a gentle and kind spirit. He also had a reputation for professional excellence. Michael had many interests, including construction, photography, gardening, and gourmet cooking.

The Pullen family was traveling with two other families: Amy, her husband, Erin Jacobsen, and their three children; and Brent and Kristen Ching, and their two children. The pilot, Ellison “Buddy” Summerfield, also died in the crash.

Michael was born Dec. 24, 1968, in Deer Park, Calif., and died March 22, 2009, in Butte, Mont. He is survived by his parents, Louis and Noellene, of Galt, Calif; and sister Jodi Nevis of Galt.

Vanessa was born May 25, 1971, in Loma Linda, Calif., and died March 22, 2009, in Butte, Mont. She is survived by her parents, Irving M. “Bud” and Pam Feldkamp of San Bernardino, Calif.; brother Irving IV; and sister Maggie Cotton.

Myhre—Gail (Strauss) att. was born April 24, 1935 in Aberdeen, S. D., and died Dec. 29, 2008, in Kailua, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. Surviving: son Joel Myhre of Marina del Rey, Calif.; brother Gary Strauss ’53 of Paradise, Calif., and sister Linda (Strauss) Hansen att. of Salem, Ore. Nelson—Lowell ’60 was born May 18, 1933, in Frazer, Mont., and died Oct. 13, 2008, in Cool, Calif. Surviving: wife Arladell (Bond) ’60 of Cool; sons Jefferey of Spokane, Wash., Jerry of Arroyo Grande, Calif., and Jimmy of Auburn, Calif.; and sister Marlene Ferguson of Wolf Point, Mont.

Poole—Joan (Selfe) ’52 was born Sept. 7, 1923, in Wales, England, and died March 19, 2008, in Salem, Ore. Surviving: husband Vernon ’51 of Salem, Ore.; son David of Orlando, Fla.; daughter Elizabeth of Salem, Ore.; and brother William of Prineville, Ore. Salzman—Mark att., was born July 7, 1951, in Lincoln, Neb., and died June 25, 2008, in Michigan Bluff, Calif. Surviving: wife Kathleen (Tucker) ’74 of College Place; son Alex curr. att. of College Place; father Alex of Scottsdale, Ariz.; brother Ted att., of Salem, Ore.; and sister Darla McAleer of Vancouver, Wash.

Smith—Marguerite (Gardner) att., was born May 12, 1922, in Los Angeles, Calif., and died April 20, 2009, in Loma Linda, Calif. Surviving: husband Louis ’48 of Redlands, Calif.; and daughter Patti Catalano ’76 of Redlands.

White—Brenda (Lane) ’73 was born Feb. 14, 1949, in St. Paul, Minn., and died Sept. 24, 2008, in Walla Walla. Surviving: husband Nicholas White att., of Milton-Freewater, Ore.; son Andrew of Milton-Freewater; daughter Kandis ’01 of Milton-Freewater; mother Ruth Foss of College Place; and brothers Randy ’73 of Hermiston, Ore., Marlin Foss of College Place, and Terry Foss att., of Cotopaxi, Colo.

White—Gladys ’40 was born Dec. 25, 1911, in Crosby, N.D., and died June 27, 2008, in Berrien Springs, Mich. Surviving: sons Merlin att., of Hurdsfield, N.D., Leroy of Portland, Ore., Cleon ’63 of Berrien Springs; and daughter ClaoMay att., of Berrien Springs.

Witzleben—William ’82 was born April 4, 1935, in Sheridan, Wyo., and died Dec. 5, 2008, in Walla Walla.

Annual Report 2008-09 Our Vision Walla Walla University is a community of faith and discovery committed to – Excellence in thought – Generosity in service – Beauty in expression – Faith in God

Fall 2009 Westwind 21

2008-09 Revenues and Expenditures Gifts and Grants $3.4 million Tuition and Fees $37.3 million

Sales ($1.5) million Church Subsidies $3.9 million Auxiliary Enterprises $7.4 million

Revenues

$50.5 million

For the year ending June 30, 2009, WWU suffered its first negative change in net assets in recent memory. However, of the $3 million total loss incurred, $3.5 million (over 100%) is attributable to realized and unrealized losses in endowment net assets and annuity & life contracts resulting from unfavorable market fluctuations stemming from the financial crisis that began in September of 2008.

Student Services $3.9 million Academic Support $2.9 million Public Service $1.4 million Instructional $15.5 million

Expenses

Institutional Support $7.6 million Operating and Maintenance $7.2 million

$53.4 million

The largest annual expenditure is for the instruction of students (faculty salaries, equipment, and books).

Scholarships $8.8 million

Auxiliary Enterprises $6.1 million

Gifts $4.9 million 3rd Party Lender $2.4 million Government $18.4 million

Sources of Student Aid

$35.8 million

The university operating budget provided $10.1 million in aid to students in 2008-2009. Government aid programs, gifts from alumni and friends, and the endowment make up the remainder of student aid funds.

Walla Walla University $10.1 million

Foundations $232,312 Alumni $1.1 million

Gifts From All Sources

$6.6 million Other Individuals $591,318 Fund Raising Consortia $60,546 Other Organizations $120,006 Business/Corporations $348,313

22 Westwind Fall 2009

Religious Organizations $4.1 million

Graduates Giving

Percent Class Agent Year Graduates Donors Participation

Total

(No Class Agent)

1923-1940

162

18

11%

$5,725.50

AJ Patzer

1941-1945

140

40

29%

$11,322.00

(No Class Agent)

1946

52

12

23%

$9,767.50

Muriel Chapman*

1947

61

20

33%

$1,732.00

Verona Schnibbe

1948

67

45

67%

$9,280.50

Bill Loveless

1949

118

53

45%

$11,917.00

Bruce Johnston*

1950

146

59

40%

$5,312.00

Ken Spady

1951

145

54

37%

$8,910.00

Olen Nations

1952

105

47

45%

$15,615.00

Ed Norton

1953

106

32

30%

$6,528.45

Stewart Shankel

1954

93

38

41%

$5,075.00

Joe Riederer

1955

93

43

46%

$2,630.00

Tom and Brooke Stafford

1956

103

42

41%

$7,443.00

Victor Fitch

1957

108

56

52%

$13,831.50

Pat Johnston

1958

137

68

50%

$5,775.50

Ralph and Bobbie Jo Davis

1959

131

64

49%

$17,394.50

Shirley Thomas

1960

154

63

41%

$7,573.98

Don Dawes

1961

169

58

34%

$29,690.50

Dale Beaulieu

1962

136

66

49%

$8,335.00

Ed Scheresky

1963

162

54

33%

$3,377.00

Bob Brody

1964

160

62

39%

$4,985.50

Gerry Miller

1965

147

73

50%

$23,835.32

Carlton Cross

1966

204

81

40%

$9,385.09

Gary Fresk

1967

166

43

26%

$4,789.09

Don Hall

1968

203

47

23%

$16,856.50

Jim Robertson

1969

222

55

25%

$3,024.84

Larry Evans

1970

226

44

19%

$3,958.00

Bruce and Mary Lou Ham

1971

234

49

21%

$8,665.00

Fred Biesenthal

1972

261

69

26%

$11,885.00

Sheila Palmer

1973

285

57

20%

$21,786.39

Rick and Karen Mace

1974

277

68

25%

$8,699.00

Ted and Linda Carpenter

1975

288

58

20%

$11,751.00

Diana Pierce

1976

283

63

22%

$12,734.50

Ralph Perrin

1977

277

57

21%

$8,459.00

Beverly Foster

1978

277

79

29%

$18,867.00

Warren Kay

1979

269

65

24%

$8,091.00

Jeff Kinne

1980

260

67

26%

$12,061.00

Lisa Bissell Paulson

1981

293

62

21%

$6,228.50

Helen Teske

1982

291

50

17%

$7,356.25

*Deceased Fall 2009 Westwind 23

Graduates Giving

Percent Class Agent Year Graduates Donors Participation

Total

Gabe Acosta

1983

296

63

21%

$6,949.00

Bob McGhee

1984

259

56

22%

$5,532.00

Dean Tupper

1985

238

41

17%

$16,110.24

Jerry Bauman

1986

273

63

23%

$5,932.90

Kevin Krueger

1987

264

40

15%

$3,490.75

Keith Perrin

1988

223

34

15%

$10,209.50

Linda Abdul-Malek

1989

230

21

9%

$4,451.50

Mike Devitt

1990

200

27

14%

$1,840.00

Cecily Geschke

1991

237

41

17%

$5,031.75

Stacy Peterson

1992

299

33

11%

$1,648.50

Julie Sanders Keymer

1993

249

35

14%

$4,246.00

Peter Fackenthall

1994

343

16

5%

$37,225.00

Jim Kneller

1995

318

30

9%

$2,452.50

Tom Hamel

1996

326

28

9%

$24,077.48

Ken Aso

1997

359

37

10%

$8,229.04

Jorge Barcelo

1998

328

21

6%

$5,600.49

Les Zollbrecht

1999

374

21

6%

$1,860.00

Greg McCulloch

2000

354

22

6%

$2,076.61

Chris Drake

2001

347

24

7%

$4,243.61

Mike Vercio

2002

363

20

6%

$12,043.50

Chris Santana

2003

337

17

5%

$1,447.50

Jessica Stone

2004

430

25

6%

$2,870.36

Steve Sanders

2005

435

19

4%

$4,456.64

Michelle Santana

2006

454

15

3%

$3,458.55

Melinda Hebbel

2007

460

10

2%

$751.69

Aaron Linfoot

2008

423

14

3%

$1,237.20

Totals

15,430

2,854

24%

$568,126.22

Giving Through the Years $11,119,841.00

$10,267,448.48 $8,317,890.71 $6,621,336.94

$6,468,531.63

2004-05

24 Westwind Fall 2009

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

Loan Funds

Loan Balance African Engineering and Computer Science---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------96,623.64 Wade L. Barnes Memorial---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12,800.78 George W. Bowers-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10,699.02 Ruth E. Burgeson Memorial-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1,561.49 Roy F. Carpenter Memorial-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------27,558.99 Harold J. Chastain Memorial----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10,592.42 Class of 1924---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15,008.49 Class of 1958-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8,828.64 Class of 1961-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5,782.02 Class of 1976-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7,322.92 Engineering-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1,586.21 Andrew and Evelyn Fisher--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2,258,999.63 Ford Foundation Faculty Loan----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------146,722.59 Clifford A. Graves Memorial-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2,945.05 Elvin C. Gaines------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------30,334.09 Bertha S. Gray----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6,677.54 William Gettner------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2,276.77 Idaho Conference Laymen Worthy Student--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------165,542.48 International Students---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12,683.87 Jacob G. Mehling-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------69,075.46 Perkins Nursing Student-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3,793,373.91 Nursing Student---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1,289,463.97 Nursing--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14,119.26 Orpha Osborne Worthy Student-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------26,646.44 John Potts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------17,729.86 Dr. Eng C. Saw Chinese/Asian-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------19,033.87 Bertha Schneider---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3,439.28 Sloop Family----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------50,863.62 Hyretha Smith Memorial------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3,801.19 Starr-Larrabee Memorial-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3,998.75 John E. Weaver Memorial Elementary--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15,989.05 Carrie Welch Memorial--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------93,912.21 Eugene Winter Family----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------57,541.69 Robert G. Wirth---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------855,743.62 Women In Ministry---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25,365.15 Women’s Student------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------35,119.99 Worthy Student--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------221,901.71 WWU------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1,288,612.46 Total-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10,710,278.13 Fall 2009 Westwind 25

Endowments

ENDOWMENT

Balance New Gifts

ENDOWMENT

Balance New Gifts

Administration Building Maintenance ASWWU Student Aid James and Ruth Bebee Computer Science Scholarship James and Ruth Bebee Nursing Scholarship Beverly Math Faculty Improvement Shannon Marie Bigger Memorial Christian Service Volunteer Scholarship Shari Booth Memorial Scholarship Lester and Geraldine Border Christian Service Scholarship Alice I. Bowden Memorial Theology Scholarship George W. Bowers Excellence in Chemistry Scholarship Boyson Family Communication Scholarship John F. Bregar Memorial Scholarship Junior Senior Business Scholarship School of Business Clair and Myrtle Calkins Library Book D. Ordell and Margaret A. Calkins Business/Education and Faculty Development Merle Clairon Calkins Computer Science Faculty Development Lewis Canaday Memorial Technology Scholarship Dr. James R. Chambers Memorial Scholarship Janice P. Chance Memorial Nursing Scholarship Dr. Muriel Chapman Nursing Scholarship Advancement of Chemical Research at Walla Walla University Percy W. Christian Excellence in History Scholarship A.J. and Gladys E. Christiansen Memorial Scholarship Class of 1954 Scholarship Class of 1955 Scholarship Class of 1957 Scholarship Class of 1959 Student Missions Scholarship Class of 1965 Scholarship Class of 1971 Scholarship Class of 1978 Scholarship Class of 1983 Scholarship Class of 1984 Scholarship Class of 1989 Edwin Zaugg Memorial Scholarship Class of 1996 Scholarship Class of 1997 Scholarship Class of 2003 Scholarship Class of 2009 Student Missionary Scholarship Verlin L. and Thelma Kumalae Cochran Memorial Scholarship Communication Development Course Computer Science Magazine L.P. “Jim” Corbett English Scholarship L.P. “Jim” Corbett History Scholarship L.P. “Jim” and Jane B. Corbett Student Aid Scholarship Lee Crain Memorial Music Scholarship Edward F. Cross Engineering Scholarship

1,093,019 37,929 41,218 110,373 60,775 31,165 449 137,712 61,698 5,859 13,330 23,331 9,850 21,654 121,412 115,058 26,674 29,049 8,603 11,787 40,799 1,667 17,301 38,295 30,351 6,242 14,217 4,553 41,433 12,521 8,641 14,489 15,839 13,767 112,370 5,569 5,326 9,717 16,168 29,010 828 61,709 37,536 70,445 1,150 118,354

Vera Davis-Michel Memorial English Scholarship Edward F. and Clara M. Degering Memorial Educational Scholarship Claude and Annie Deming Memorial Scholarship Loren Dickinson Communications Scholarship Dietrich/Wilkinson Aviation Scholarship Frances Dixon Special Education Dr. Ralph A. Drake Memorial Scholarship Lars and Anna Dybdahl Scholarship Josephine Cunnington Edwards Memorial Scholarship H. Russell and Genevieve Emmerson Memorial Scholarship Engineering Chair Mary Garner Esary Memorial Scholarship Faculty/Staff Scholarship Dena W. and R.B. Farnsworth Nursing Scholarship Ray and Alice Fowler Scholarship Norma S. Gardner Memorial English Scholarship Wilford and Emma Goffar Scholarship Graduate Dean’s Award Albert E. and Reta J. Graham Memorial Scholarship John J. Hafner Music Scholarship Lovyl and Mary Hagle Memorial Worthy Student Scholarship Richard and Dena Hammill Memorial Scholarship Thomas Hampson Humanities Merit Scholarship Clyde and Mary Harris Challenge Grant Pauline Hart Memorial Social Work Scholarship Richard and Georgianna Hayden Christian Service Scholarship Wilma E. Hepker Scholarship Paul and Frances Heubach Memorial Theology Scholarship Jess Holm Memorial Scholarship Juanita Wagner Holm Memorial Nursing Scholarship Helen and Archie Howatson Nursing Scholarship Oland F. Hubbs Memorial Theology Scholarship Vera Johnson Hubbs Memorial Business Scholarship Dr. and Mrs. Harold Huber Scholarship Wynelle J. Huff Nursing Scholarship Jess M. Hutson, M.D., Memorial Scholarship IBCC Jensen Memorial Math Scholarship Murray L. and Ilene Johnstone Scholarship Carl and Lucile Jones Nursing Scholarship Peggy Henderson Kaye Nursing Scholarship Helen Wineberg Kendall Women in Business Scholarship KGTS A.H. and Mary Koorenny Memorial Scholarship Robert H. and Thorna Koorenny Scholarship Kretschmar Hall Maintenance

8,485 99,759 23,552 43,576 253 7,311 154,526 21,790 14,149 9,228 268,942 19,561 78,930 75,715 4,517 56,579 20,498 3,010 160,960 11,975 149,969 16,233 73,874 30,651 33,029 83,608 1,576 31,217 10,975 13,144 97,478 20,237 16,568 76,520 78,774 26,308 23,546 22,949 118,600 16,073 8,945 48,658 14,178 98,932 35,324 1,366,381

26 Westwind Fall 2009

16,000 10,000 500 730 270 250 1,000 4,000 2,500 35 1,000 2,070 550 4,546 1,940 940 520 120 27,020 2,250 50 9,717 600 -

500 1,100 644 122 20 2,951 10 210 1,000 63,790 -

Endowments ENDOWMENT Laura G. Larson Memorial Nursing Scholarship H. Lloyd Leno Memorial Music Scholarship Lewiston/Clarkston Scholarship Harold Lickey Music Scholarship Jennie M. Livingston Memorial Library Dr. C. Stanley Lloyd Jr. Scholarship Kelly Logan Social Work Scholarship Romulo and Mercedes Lozano Scholarship Mary E. Marker Memorial Theology Scholarship Roy and Lois (Dorland) Martin English Scholarship Mathematics Scholarship Sukhdev Mathaudhu Engineering Scholarship Warren Matheson Memorial Christian Service Scholarship Matiko Theology Award Harden M. McConnell and Alvin L. Kwiram Award Eldena McDow Scholarship Messenger/Loewen Scholarship Jack Evan Miles Memorial Scholarship Joseph and Beth Murray Memorial for Resident Assistants Music Scholarship Llewellyn and Vivian Nixon Scholarship Nursing Scholarship Daniel A. Ochs Memorial Theology Scholarship Dr. and Mrs. Howard Osborne Scholarship Blythe Owen Music Scholarship Doreen Paulson-Evans Memorial Scholarship Yvonne Pickett Memorial Scholarship Piper-Johanson Scholarship Helen L. Popoway Library Robert L. Reynolds Excellence in History Scholarship Robert M. Reynolds Memorial Scholarship Donald W. Rigby Biology Faculty Research Donald W. Rigby Biology Donnie Rigby Drama Award Rigby Hall Maintenance Lilah Schlotthauer Risinger Mathematics Scholarship

Balance New Gifts 293,129 13,206 48,371 1,849 81,493 90,222 5,682 10,149 60,569 21,499 28,797 11,515 14,459 8,284 16,934 6,056 8,843 14,781 43,745 15,398 41,421 39,531 7,401 18,445 26,575 16,758 26,995 46,750 79,505 15,810 15,168 54,526 95,112 7,102 97,235 9,915

50 5,500 1,132 8,400 500 25 55 150 25 1,000 -

ENDOWMENT John D. Rogers, M.D., Memorial Scholarship Rosario Marine Station Maintenance Thomas C. Rowsell Memorial Scholarship Gayle L. Saxby Memorial Scholarship Schlotthauer Mathematics Scholarship Eleanor B. Schofield Memorial Teachers Scholarship Cecil W. Shankel Memorial Chemistry Scholarship Shattuck/Zitterbart Memorial Nursing Scholarship Donald and Virginia Sherwood Memorial Scholarship Carolyn Stevens Shultz Scholarship Dan Shultz Music Scholarship Solomon Scholarship Gene and Betty Soper Music Scholarship Robert L. Spies Memorial Scholarship Glenn Spring Music Scholarship Joseph L. Stubblefield Memorial Scholarship Janis Suelzle Memorial T5 Foundation Business Excellence Theology Library Book George and Lola Thompson Memorial Scholarship E.E. and Jane Breese-Trefz Christian Service Scholarship Clarence O. Trubey Memorial Music Scholarship Undergraduate Advanced Study Verde Fund for Graduate Marine Research Eva Stratton Vliet and Jess Vliet Scholarship Stanley E. Walker Music Scholarship Francys C. Welch Scholarship Melvin K. West Music Scholarship Lois Whitchurch Nursing Scholarship Monte Wilkins Memorial Scholarship John and Inez Willey Family Memorial Scholarship WWU Student Aid Randy Yaw Pi Contest Scholarship Young Memorial Lecture in Biology Norma R. Youngberg Scholarship Totals:

Balance New Gifts 52,050 327,828 34,182 14,940 10,016 713,824 18,422 139,181 92,817 11,135 10,417 98,354 40,006 8,304 9,416 214,973 83,720 114,278 13,480 37,262 122,962 9,385 4,692 2,721 22,111 11,227 293,905 5,107 7,502 39,237 11,516 1,352,604 3,020 45,497 16,521 11,672,137

1,000 2,175 200 10,000 200 100 6,603 194,070

New Scholarships Mission and volunteerism were the hallmark of the lives of Lester and Geraldine Border. Lester, who attended WWU, and Geraldine (Poole), a 1965 graduate, were frequent volunteers with Maranatha International. Their dedication to service led to their desire to support student missionaries.This scholarship is awarded to returning student missionaries who have served at least one school year in the field.

ing with the college president led to a campus job for Stanley. A few months later, he had the funds necessary to begin classes. After graduating from WWU in 1935, Stanley attended Loma Linda University Medical School. Following in his footsteps, all five of his children and five grandchildren attended WWU. This scholarship was established by Stanley and his wife, Pearl, and is awarded to students who demonstrate financial need and academic merit.

Class of 1957 Endowment

Dena W. and R.B. Farnsworth Endowment

Members of the Class of 1957 contribute to this fund to assist students with their education. This scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate financial need and academic merit.

As a team, Dena W. and R.B. Farnsworth helped countless people through their service in the medical field. As a general practitioner, R.B. delivered more than 1,000 babies in home births. He later specialized in ear, nose, and throat medicine. Dena was a nurse. This scholarship is awarded to students who have two-year nursing degrees but are returning to school to obtain a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Also eligible are female students who are starting nursing education later in life.

Lester and Geraldine Border Christian Service Endowment

Dr. C. Stanley Lloyd Jr. Endowment

C. Stanley Lloyd Jr. believed his life was one of many miracles. Stanley arrived on campus with only $4 of the $36 required to attend school. A chance meet-

Fall 2009 Westwind 27

Benefactors Society and Independent Colleges of Washington

Benefactors Society

Giving Through Independent Colleges of Washington (ICW)

Howard and Elizabeth Hanafin

Marcella Schwisow

Edward Harding

Jaclin Smith

Members of the Benefactors

Lewis and Ruth Hart

Lloyd and Edith Smith

Society have included Walla

Eugenia Hixson

Louis and Marguerite* Smith

Walla University in their

Stanley and Mary Hixson

Sam and Carol Smith

estate plans.

Lloyd and Lorena Hoffman

Ralph and Franice Stirling

Ferguson Construction

Helen Holiak

Everett and Shirley Tetz

The O.D. Fisher Charitable

Alice Ames

Archie Howatson

May Tetz

The following companies and

Kirk and Melody Ayers

Wynelle Huff

Roger Thiesen

individuals support higher

Tom Fitzsimmons

Don and Alyce Bais

Eunice Johnson

Griffith and Shirley Thomas

education by contributing to

Foss Maritime Company

Beverly Beem

Ed and Marilyn Karlow

Ella Thornton

ICW (a consortium of private

The Fosseen Foundation

Darold and Barbara Bigger

Mary Kincaid

Margaret Trautwein-Cook

colleges), which directs its gifts

William M. Garvin

Tim and Lois Blackwelder

Charles and Irene Kirkpatrick

Gordon Travis

to the state’s private colleges

Kenneth J and Beryl N Goodchild

Maxine E. Blome

Clarence and Helen Klopfenstein

Phil and Reid Wasser

and universities.

Green Diamond Resource

Robert and Georgene Bond

Melvin and Joyce Lang

Ray and Pat Watson

Lester* and Geraldine* Border

Louise Lawson

Ray and Rosemary Watts

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air 1

Nicholas Goman

Burton Briggs

William and Winona Lee

Dorothy Weisz

The Anderson Foundation

Groninger and Co. Inc.

Merrilyn Brown

Nancy Ann Linder

Melvin and Betty West

Loren J. and MaryAnn W.

Grace Cafferky

Walter and Luella Litchfield

Sylvia Wilson

D. Ordell and Margaret Calkins

C. Stanley Lloyd, Jr.*

Virginia H. Wilson

Merle Calkins

Sandra Love

Tim and Cheri Windemuth

Lois Carscallen

Dan and Betsy Matthews

Gerald and Vicki Winkle

Babieri Charitable Foundation

Sue Cason

Lyman and Victoria Miller

Wade and Rosalee Wolfe

Bank of America Foundation

Muriel Chapman*

Eldon and Opal Mills

Yew-Chong and Lilly Wong

Banner Bank

Douglas and Carmen Clark

William and Marjorie Moreno

Naomi Cochran*

James and Alice Nash

Carlton and Nancy Cross

Olen and Mary Nations

Richard E. and Dawn Bangert II

Walden and Ellen Davis

Dan and Mary Necker

George D. Bartell 5

Donald and Orletta Dealy

Ted and Nancy Nedderman

C. Michael and DeLona Lang Bell

Donald* and Elaine DeVries

Jim and Nancy Nestler

Ben Bridge Jeweler

James* and Joyce Dutro

Joan Ogden

The Boeing Company

Jon and Kathryn Dybdahl

Calvin and Alyse Olson

Violet A. Boyer 5

Paul and Kristyn Dybdahl

Howard and Monta Osborne

George Bridges

Wilder Eby

Effie Pampaian

Brooks Manufacturing Company

James and Vicky Edwards

Jim and Della Park

Nancy Bruner 7

Leigh Ann Lucero 7

James Eiseman

Beulah Payne

Burlington Northern Santa Fe

John K. and Pamela S. McVay

D. Joyce Engel

Tom and Barbara Pelett

Dorsett Feyen

Fyrnn Pendry

Paul Cantor

Howard Finke*

Lloyd and Fern Piper

Anne Cassidy and Bob Fuller

Allan and Donna Fisher

Hoe T. and Mary Poh

Analisa Castaneda

James and Christine Forsyth

Betty Pritel

CH2M Hill 6

Brant and Marion* Foster

Robert and Barbara Richards

Ben B. Cheney Foundation

Marcene Garriott

Lois Norton Ritchie-Ritter

Columbia Bank

Henry and Mayme Gerber

Geneva Smith Roberts

Costco Wholesale

Oscar Gerst

Alberta Roth

Crane Fund for Widows and

Earl* and Vera Dean Gregg

Glenna Ryder

Don Hall

James Sadoyama and Thais

James and Ruth Hall

Thrasher

Proctor 7

Philip W. and Sharon K. Eaton

Puget Sound Energy 4

7

Expeditors International of

The Rabel Family Advised Fund/ The Seattle Foundation 5 Red Lion Hotels Corporation 5

5

Laura and Jim Rehrmann 6

Foundation 5

William P. Robinson 7 Kathleen Ross, snjm 7

6

Todd and Melaine Ruberg 6

5

Safeco Insurance Foundation 3

5

Doloros Saletic 6

7 4

1

Steven T. Seward 7 Sheraton Seattle Hotel 4

7

Robert Spitzer, S. J. 7

7

Richard W. and Pamela B. Gross

Anderson 7

Gull Industries, Inc.

Ash Grove Charitable

HSBC North America Roy F. Heynderickx

6

7

6

Titus Will Families Foundation 6

7

The UPS Foundation 3

Washington 4

6

US Bank 3

Don and Ann Jenkins

Bangert 5

Ellen J. Wallach 7

7

Glenn Johnson and Michael

Joseph H. Ward 6

Melancon 6

6

Washington State Auto Dealers Association 5

JP Morgan Chase and Co. 4 7

William W. Kilworth Foundation

4

Isabel Joyce Piliavin Charitable

5

Ronald R. and Mary D. Thomas 7 Cleven J. and Connie B. Ticeson 7

3

Independent Colleges of

7

Sterling Savings Bank 4 Stephen V. Sundborg, S. J. 7

5

Chris T. and Jennifer M. Heman

Foundation 6

Cynthia and Greg Scheiderer 6 Douglas W. and Amy L. Schutt 6

Company 5

Richard E. and Betty Jane *Deceased

Rodney G. and Constance

Mark Doumit 7

Washington, Inc. 2

Wells Fargo Foundation 5 The Wollenberg Foundation 2

Trust/The Seattle Foundation 7

1

Isabelle S. Lamb 7 7

Foundation 4

6

Lawton Printing, Inc. 7

1=$ 100,000+

James T. Linardos 6

2=$50,000-$99,999

McVey Marketing Inc.

7 7

3=$25,000-$49,999 7

5=$2,500-$9,999

Microsoft Corporation

6=$1,000-$2,499

Miller Nash LLP

7

7=Below $1,000

5 7

Greg Montgomery 6 4

Jim and Eve Moran 7 The Norcliffe Foundation 3

5

Nordstrom 3

2

Children 5

Norman Archibald Charitable Foundation 4

Craves Family Charitable

PACCAR Inc 3

Foundation 6

PEMCO Foundation, Inc 2

MayBelle Sargeant

Alice J. Cunningham

Bruce and Mary Lou Ham

Doyle and Lorelei Saxby

Michael and Patty Daniels

Proctor and Gamble Fund 7

6 7

4=$10,000-$24,999

7

R. Steven Mitchell

7

Beatrice Ham

28 Westwind Fall 2009

Joseph and Sandra DePaepe 7

Volunteers and Activities

Alumni Association Officers

Alumni Event Hosts

David Hutton, Chair

Desert Hot Springs, Calif.

Robert Wood, President

WWU Volunteers

Durwood and Irma Lee

Jim and Kara Wagner

Janet Anderson

Viola Lenz

Mabel Wagner

Alice Archer

Curtis and Audrey Lindsay

Victoria Wahlen

Jean Bakland

Don Loomer

Cheri Wallace

Jerry Hiner, Vice President

Jerry and Beverly Bass

Don and Lois Barrett

Katrina Lyons

Verlie Ward

Sherrice Croft, Secretary

Pat and Dorothy Larson

Valerie Bass

Timber McCandless

Rosemary Watts

Richard Hellie, Treasurer

JaneAnn Bennett

Camille McNeilus

Tim and Cheri Windemuth

Loma Linda, Calif.

Deirdre Benwell

Walt Meske

Anne Wiseman

Board Members

Clark and Melissa Bassham

Jack and Evelyn Bergman

Deana Miller

Kittee Wohlers

Ed Ammon

John and Ione Brunt

Robert Bergman

Dolores Morgan

Helen Thompson Zolber

Toni Busby

Bert and Eveyln Connell

Garnet Bigger

Bill and Virginia Napier

Dennis N. Carlson

Alan and Heather Krause

Rella Brandenburg

Susie Olson

Don Dawes

Marjorie Bregar

Lois Pegel

Lorraine Jacobs

Portland, Ore.

Carl Brenneise

Milford and Carol Perrin

Mike Kearbey

Tom and Brooke Stafford

Cheryl Cain

Don and Shirley Peterson

Beulah Stevens

Jim and Judy Zarchrison

Jim Cain

Carol Pflugrad

Randy Unterseher

Sandi Campbell

Carmella Phillips

Seattle, Wash.

Larry and Lois Canaday

Nina Prohaska

Executive Committee

Gary and Udell Fresk

Dorothy Canwell

Pat Reynolds

Ed Ammon

Richard and Carmen Graham

Casey and Barb Casebolt

LaVerne Rudolf

Dennis N. Carlson

Rick and Betsy Claridge

Lester and Vera Ruud

Sherrice Croft

Spokane, Wash.

Jon Claridge

Aimee Saddler

Richard Hellie

Brad and Susan Davis

Sandra Clark

Teri Sannar

Jerry Hiner

Bryce Cole

Bob and Shirley Sarve

David Hutton

Walla Walla, Wash.

Bernard and Margaret Cook

Aileen Saunders

Robert Wood

Michael and Tobi Goff

Ann Cornell

Doris Smith

Jason and Becky St. Clair

Loretta Cotter

Garrett Smith

Marion Dressler

Mary Smith

British Columbia, Canada

Bonnie Eichner

Ward and Lois Soper

Adriana Scuka

Jean Fletcher

Otis Standley

Carolyn Gaskell

Vivian Swanson

Paul and June Giarde

Wilbur and Lola Sylvester

Norma Glatt

Karl and Becky Thompson and family

Ed Ammon

Virginia Gonthier

Mike Tohivsky

Corina Car

Larry and Jacqueline Goodhew

Caroline Torkelson

Janine Childs

Charleene Grellmann

Gina Tsujimura

Richard Hellie

Stan and Kathy Hazen

Janis Tsujimura

David Hutton

Frances Henderson

Helen VanDenburgh

Duane Meidinger

Virginia Hoffarth

Nancy Vaughn

Loren Peterson

Ilo Hutton

Barbara Vories

Randy Unterseher

Bernie and Carolyn Janke

Robert Wood

Pat Johnson

Parliamentarian Thomas Knoll

Alumni Endowment Investment Committee

Many more volunteers than those listed on this page give their time to Walla Walla University. Although we do not have their names in our records, we extend our appreciation to these individuals as well.

Echo Johnston Ruth Joice Kevin Kellogg Lois Kind Richard and Twyla Kruger

Fall 2009  Westwind  29

Board of Trustees and University Administration

Board of Trustees

University Administration

Chair

President

Max Torkelsen II

John K. McVay

Vice Chair

Vice President for Academic Administration

Russell Gilbert

Ginger Ketting-Weller

Secretary

Vice President for Financial Administration

John K. McVay

Steve Rose

Members

Vice President for Student Life and Mission

Tom Allen

Ken Rogers

DeLona Bell Alex Betancourt

Vice President for university Advancement

Gary Botimer

Dennis N. Carlson

Kenneth Crawford Larry Dodds

Vice President for Marketing and Enrollment services

Mumtaz Fargo

Jodi Wagner

John Freedman George Gainer

Assistant to the President for Diversity

Carmen Graham

Pedrito U. Maynard-Reid

Yoswa Gwalamubisi Don Hall

Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies

Alan Hurlbert

Joseph Galusha

Marshall Keymer Gordan Lacey

Associate Vice President for Academic Administration

Cameron Libby

Scott Ligman

John Loor, Jr. Stephen McPherson

Associate Vice President for Financial Administration

Bryce Pascoe

Glenn Carter

Barbara Prowant Al Reimche Mark Remboldt

Credits

Paul Rhynard

Executive Editor: Dennis N. Carlson

Sue Smith

Managing Editors: Dede Steffanson, Chelsea Patten

Bruce Thorn This report lists information about gifts received from July 1, INVITEES

2008, to June 30, 2009. A copy of Walla Walla University’s

Darold Bigger

financial statement may be requested by contacting:

Darren Wilkins

University Advancement, Walla Walla University

Alphonso McCarthy

204 S. College Avenue, College Place, WA 99324 Phone: (509) 527-2002, Fax: (509) 527-2398 E-mail: dede.steffanson@wallawalla.edu

30 Westwind Fall 2009

From My Point of View

One Gift I Would Give

Ron Wilkinson, Courtesy of WWU Archives

H

as it really been thirtyseven years since I served as a student missionary?

I look at an old black-and-white photo of village kids gathered around me. Seeing them is like pushing “play” on a video of the adventure of a lifetime—of a year that profoundly clarified my purpose for living.

This virtual video of mine begins to play. It is now 1972 on the Walla Walla campus. I meet Ron Wilkinson. He’s 19 and I’m 20.

Within minutes we discover that we share the dream of going as Extreme Student Missionaries— going where no SM has gone before. Someplace primitive, where people are in desperate need of the help that we can give. We decide to team up for a year, if the opportunity comes.

It almost doesn’t. But then an urgent telegram arrives. Needed: two Americans to oversee relief project in Bangladesh. Millions had recently died in a war. Thousands of refugees returned to find their homes destroyed. Many would die of exposure. This project is to construct over 1,000 tin-and-timber houses near a small Adventist hospital. This is exactly what we were looking for!

Fast-forward six months. We’re now on the ground in the middle of that project. It certainly isn’t all fun and games! Nothing ever gets done on time. Some villagers lie to get houses; others threaten to harm our workers if they’re denied. And eventually a gang

of violent, underground communists threatens us. To them we are CIA agents posing as relief workers. (We are shooting film footage of our work, but we’re just making an SM promotional movie.) In spite of the setbacks we soon see hundreds of houses rising up in the surrounding villages. Over 1,000 families will now sleep warm and dry during monsoon storms. Our hard work is paying off.

In the evenings we help out in surgery. A Hindu father brings us the only remaining member of his family—his 5-year-old son. The boy is critically ill with a bowel obstruction. As we roll him into the operating room, the father very reluctantly finally lets go of his son’s hand. A few minutes later I look up to see the father licking a frosted window pane, trying desperately to see how his son is doing. Such love brings tears to my eyes. And a wonderful truth dawns on me: This man may not know God’s name as I know it, but he certainly knows God! I begin to see that God already dwells in the hearts of many we were taught to see as “heathen.”

On Sabbath we visit nearby villages. With picture rolls we teach the plan of salvation and the hope of heaven. I rest in the thought that God was already here long before we came. I play my guitar, sing about His love, and Ron snaps a photo.

Fast-forward again to near the end of our project. The timber

is almost gone. The monsoon season is bearing down fast, and far-too-many villagers still need houses. Desperate mothers come to us, laying their babies at our feet. They bow low, grasping our ankles as they beg us to build for them. “And if you can’t,” they say, “please take our babies to America or they will die.”

You can’t just walk away from such experiences unaffected. They change you—permanently. I begin to realize that life will never be fully good for any of us until it is finally good for all of us—till pain and suffering are no more.

And I determine to spend my one life helping people in need, thereby siding fully with the Great Provider and opposing fully the Great Predator.

Now fast-forward 37 years. I am managing a 38-foot Winnebago mobile dental clinic for Medical Teams International. There comes a knock on the door, and I open it to find a woman whose cheek is so swollen that one eye barely opens.

“Is this the place where dentists don’t charge?” she asks. “I don’t have insurance, and I lost my job.

I haven’t slept much for three nights.”

I say, “You’ve come to the right place. Come on in.”

Soon the volunteer dentist provides her with the sweet relief of numbness. (He just happens to be Ron’s uncle, Ted Flaiz—a young, 89-year-old retired missionary dentist.) He extracts her tooth because it’s too far gone.

Keith Canwell, a 1976 theology graduate, answered a call to service in 1972, overseeing a relief project in Bangladesh.

Then I arrange for a partial denture so she can job-hunt with dignity.

“God bless you folks for what you do!” she says through tears.

“You have no idea what this means to me.”

Actually, I think I do. That’s exactly why I love my work.

Bangladesh taught Ron and me that nothing can satisfy like helping people. Through our student mission experience, college really did become “the gateway to service” for us. And not for us alone. Hundreds before us and thousands after have also learned to leverage their lives through service. If I could give just one gift to every college student, it would be to send him or her somewhere as a student missionary. n

Fall 2009 Westwind 31

Westwind

Walla Walla University 204 S. College Ave. College Place, WA 99324-1198

Nonprofit Org. US Postage PAID College Place, Wash.

Permit #11

College Avenue Crossings

Chris Drake

Y

ou don’t have to be an engineer to join Engineers Without Borders. Senior psychology student Chelsea Moore and junior civil engineering student Kiffer Green tell Brittany Blankenship all about Walla Walla University’s chapter of this international organization. Blankenship, a senior English major, stopped by the group’s booth at WWU’s Welcome Back Bash.

Engineers Without Borders is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that partners with developing communities worldwide to improve their quality of life through sustainable engineering projects. Most of its members are engineering students and engineering professionals, like Professor of Engineering Curtis Nelson, who helped found the WWU chapter several years ago.

The WWU chapter plans to travel to Honduras this school year to begin the group’s first project— building an elementary school in the small town of Luis Garcia. Ten years after Hurricane Mitch devastated the town, Luis Garcia residents are still trying to rebuild. The three-phase project will begin with the construction of two classrooms, a water tower, a security wall, and a septic diversion channel. n