12 minute read
Class Notes
1970
Michael Meacham and his wife, Vicky Tripony, relocated from Charleston to Bluffton/ Hilton Head, South Carolina, in contemplation of his impending retirement from the Medical University of North Carolina. They are looking forward to spending time near the beach and at their cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. He is also in the process of authoring the 7th edition of Health Policymaking in the United States for Health Administration Press. It will come out in the fall of 2020. He also coauthored Essentials of Healthcare Management, which came out last year, also Health Administration Press. While he will be leaving MUSC, he is not going to retire completely, as he expects to do some consulting for healthcare organizations and continue with another writing project or two.
1976 / 1977
Walter '76 and Polly Mann Berry '77 have four children along with their spouses and 10 grandchildren. Walter runs Berry Companies and the couples' three sons are in the business with him. Their daughter's husband owns his own woodworking business, designing and making custom furniture. Any spare time they have is usually with family, dear friends, and traveling occasionally. They are thankful to the Lord!
In Memoriam
Duane Petty, former faculty member 1979
Kristy Harter Cosden and her husband Darrell will be moving to the Fiji Islands, where he has secured a job teaching at the Pacific Theological College. Come visit us, we have a place for you!
1980
Dr. Sara Koch Jernigan received her Ordained Minister Certificate on November 17, 2019.
1985
Liz Fowler has a new job. As of July 2019, she took on the role of EVP of Programs at the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation based in New York City. She's still living in DC but commuting to New York each week. If anyone is in DC over the weekend or NYC during the week and wants to get together, she would love to connect!
1997
Alexis Thompson Michael has gradually made the transition over the last five years from working in the hospitality industry to teaching about it. She began as an adjunct at Butler Community College, teaching hotel and culinary arts classes. She is now in her third full-time year as chair of the hospitality department at the college, alongside her husband John, chair of culinary arts. Watching her students discover the industry and the community engagement opportunities make it truly rewarding work.
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Wichita Collegiate School
@WCSKS
@Wichita_Collegiate_School 1998
Oliver Bressani, Collegiate's own "Italian Stallion," became an American Citizen on January 10, 2020. The Kieffer family (Justin '99, Brandon '02, Barbara Kieffer and Joseph Kieffer) reunited with him in Las Vegas, Nevada, to witness the swearing in ceremony. 2000
Brett Gehrer and his wife Brittany welcomed their first child, Logan, on January 15, 2019. Baby #2 is due in July 2020!
2001
Sara Zafar left her long-time position as an attorney at Kansas Legal Services in June to become the Title IX Coordinator at Wichita State University. She continues her primary work with survivors of domestic and sexual violence through this new role. In August, her husband Josh began working remotely for Ad Hoc, LLC, a Baltimore, Maryland based software and design company that works with government agencies. Kai is in his freshman year, Natalie entered kindergarten, and Ivy is in preschool. All are doing well!
2002
Barbara Ann DeSousa and husband Drew welcomed their second child, Beckett Michael DeSousa, on January 29, 2020. Big brother Brooks is very excited! 2002
Dr. Will Messamore, wife Katie, and daughters Joanna (7) and Evelyn (5) have spent the last year in Kansas City as Will completes his fellowship in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine with KU Health Systems after graduating from residency in June 2019. This final year of training for Will has been exciting as he has been able to work with KU sports, the Chiefs and Royals, while improving his surgical skills. The Messamores will return to Wichita in late July 2020 and the girls will continue with school at WCS this coming fall. Will is happy to announce he will be joining the Kansas Orthopaedic Center and looks forward to beginning his orthopaedic surgery and sports medicine practice in August 2020.
Jeff Sweeney married Brette Benedict in Peoria, Illinois on August 3, 2019. The couple now resides in Orland Park, Illinois. Jeff still works for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City and Brette is a professional ballet dancer for Ballet 5:8, a professional Christian ballet company. 2003
Sean Kennedy, his wife Abigail, and golden retriever Duke welcomed William Clark Kennedy on May 31, 2019, in Kansas City. Clark weighed in at 7 pounds and 7 ounces and was 21 inches long. Clark is also the grandchild of Jamie Kennedy, a former WCS teacher.
Ruse Brown was named the Top Next Gen Wealth Advisor for the state of Kansas by Forbes Magazine.
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2003
Megan Greaves Geherin, Patrick Geherin, and big sister Ella (11) welcomed Claire Violet Geherin on January 10, 2019. Claire is a happy girl with lots of personality. They have had the most fun this past year as a family of four!
2004
Austin Moore was recognized in October 2019 as one of five attorneys nationally named among Law360's "Rising Stars" in the field of Cybersecurity and Privacy Law, which recognizes attorneys under the age of 40 whose legal accomplishments transcend their age. Austin was recognized for his work representing consumers in many of the nation's largest data breach class action lawsuits, including helping achieve final approval of the historic Equifax data breach settlement valued at over $1.5 billion stemming from the credit reporting agency's massive 2017 breach. In January 2020, Austin was named a partner at Kansas City-based law firm Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP. 2004
Katie Hill Leiding has joined Amelia Sumerell as a licensed Realtor at Coldwell Banker Plaza Real Estate, helping buyers and sellers with their real estate needs.
2005
Kate Schaake Suhr and her husband Zack welcomed Addison Lynn Suhr on March 11, 2019. She joins big brother Cameron at home and they are both doing great!
2007
Brett Alexander recently married Tiffany Chevins at The Engineer's Club in Baltimore, Maryland. They met while he was living in Texas. Tiffany and Brett recently bought a house together in historic Federal Hill, a neighborhood by the Inner Harbor of Baltimore. 2009
Andrew Hourani and Morgan Lovett, two Collegiate Lifers from the Class of 2009, married on October 19, 2019 at St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas. A reception followed at the Wichita Country Club. The couple honeymooned in Hawaii and resides in Chicago. Andrew is the Founder/CEO of Groove Health, a healthcare technology company, and Morgan is an Associate at Heitman, a real estate investment company.
2009
J. Bailey Burcham is currently living in Los Angeles with his wife of five years, Rachel. Bailey is a working writer, director, actor, and producer and has been fortunate enough to work with some of the top talent in the nation. This past August, Bailey went to Kenya for a month with the Obama Foundation and directed a devised conceptualization of Hamlet in three different languages. As a writer, last summer he won both 1st and 2nd prize in a major sketch-comedy competition with his two scripts, "Basil and Dick," and "Three Guys, One Groupon,"
both of which are being turned into full-length shows and produced by Sacred Fools Theater in Hollywood. As of January 2019, Bailey has accepted a salaried position at Pasadena Playhouse as the Operations Manager and is continuing to pursue many other artistic endeavors.
2010
Emilee Greenleaf married Gene Ross on October 11, 2019 in Harrisonville, Missouri. They reside in Kansas City and are expecting a son this summer.
2010 / 2011
Miles Dunne 2010 and Taylor Phipps 2011 were married in August 2019. There were quite a few WCS people in attendance, including Bryce Cornejo 2010, Ty Fiegel 2010, Joseph 2007 and Alexa 2008 Houlik, Chase Atnip 2011, Kevin Richardson 2011, Regan Sherwood 2011, Kelsey Clothier 2011, and many more, which was great considering none of them live in our area! Miles is working at ARSONAL Design, an entertainment advertising agency in Los Angeles. Taylor is finishing up her final semester of dental school at USC and will be graduating in May. They look forward to what the future holds!
2012
Robert Schifferdecker graduated Washburn Law School May 2019, and passed the bar July 2019. He and his fiancé Ashley Garcia reside in Wichita. Robert accepted a position at Lewis Brisbois in the Waterfront and Ashley is a Customer Service Representative at PetroChoice. Robert and Ashley met at Baylor University, where both were members of the Baylor Riding Club. They are planning an October 10, 2020 wedding near Colorado Springs, Colorado.
2013
Korea, and are teaching English to elementary and middle school students. They are two of only three foreigners in their building. They are getting better at speaking Korean and having a blast!
2014
Ryan Emmitt and his wife Monica welcomed their baby girl on December 18, 2019. Indiana Mae Emmitt was born at 6:35 p.m., weighing in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and was 20.25 inches long. They couldn't be more excited to be parents and to finally have her here with them! Ryan is currently working as a 5th grade math/science teacher at Santa Fe 5/6 Center in Newton, Kansas. During the fall, he assists his step-father, Troy Black, and his football team as their equipment manager. He is excited to be working with the athletes and to help keep their heads safe by making sure their helmets fit perfectly.
2018
Addison Harris is currently in the Gulf on a chemical tanker ship, going through the Panama Canal, with a destination in Korea. This is all part of his winter work experience through college.
SHARE YOUR NEWS!
Send your professional or personal updates to Susan Klingenberg at sklingenberg@wcsks.com.
CLASS REUNIONS
CLASS OF 1989
The Class of 1989 had a small impromptu reunion this year. An old band got back together - The Manfred Jensens: Ranjit Arab, James Byrne, Chad Dyer, and Chris Kupersmith, with the addition of Lillith Rausa (now Cappelli) and Tres Smith. They came together as a new band – Birds & Snakes & Aeroplanes – and played in Wichita at Vorshay’s June 22. Another classmate, Allison Myers, came into town, as well as several other WCS alumni, to enjoy the debut. We had a great time!
// Blaine Schultz ’89
CLASS OF 1999
The Class of 1999 descended upon Collegiate last September for Homecoming 2019 and, just like we thought 10 years earlier, we still looked exactly the same as in high school... We had a great turnout this year (almost half the class) and there were more spouses and children as we met under the alumni tent for burgers, hot dogs, and reminiscing. The Spartans ran up the score early on Trinity, allowing some of us to leave before the end of the game to socialize at Deano's. The following morning we received a fabulous tour of the school from our own former classmate, Kathy Rukes (Talbot)! We finished off a lovely weekend with a wonderful meal at Scotch & Sirloin and made promises to come to the next reunion. For those of you still reading about another class's reunion, it truly is a great experience and we highly recommend you attend your next one! The Class of 2004 had a GREAT 15-year reunion weekend September 13-14! On Friday, they cheered for the Spartans in their first home football game of the season. On Saturday morning, they brought all their kids together for “Popsicles On The Playground” at the Early Childhood Playground. On Saturday night, they got together at the Mitchell’s breathtaking Four Mile Ranch for an evening of BBQ, beer, fishing, early 2000s music, and catching up with old friends and their spouses. They are already looking forward to doing it again in 2024!
CLASS OF 2004
The Class of 2009 loved getting to see the Spartans win their football game on Collegiate’s campus for Homecoming. The following evening, several members from the class enjoyed a casual evening of dinner and drinks at downtown Wichita’s River City Brewing Company. It was wonderful to catch up with classmates, some of whom had even traveled from out of state to attend the reunion. It was a great weekend for the Class of 2009!
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@WCSKS
@Wichita_Collegiate_School
FOR ALUMNI
Proba Te Dignum
Connect with Lisa Schooler and the Wichita Collegiate Alumni Group
RESERVE A PLACE IN COLLEGIATE’S history As a tribute to the alumni who have built Collegiate’s history and who are an important part of the school’s future, the Alumni Association is offering engraved bricks for purchase. Bricks may be purchased for students graduating THIS May or for those who have already graduated.
RESERVE A PLACE IN COLLEGIATE’S HISTORY BY PURCHASING ONE OR MORE BRICKS TODAY!
Yes, I want to buy a brick! Please accept my order for____ engraved brick(s) at $75 each to be placed in the Alumni Courtyard. Enclosed is my check for $________.
Name______________________________________________________________ Year ___________________________
Name______________________________________________________________ Year ___________________________
Name ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Street Address ______________________________________________________________________________________
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Return this form and your check to: Lisa Schooler Wichita Collegiate Alumni Association 9115 E. 13th Street N. Wichita, KS 67206
9115 E. 13th Street|Wichita KS 67206 316.634.0433|wichitacollegiate.com
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Spartans today...leaders tomorrow.
