Alumni Roll Call and Memorials

ROLL CALL

1970s

Cookie Meireles

‘75 recently caught up with Gio Volpe ‘14. She saw him perform in “Matilda” and “Groundhog Day” in South Florida productions.

Kathy Dixon Pappas ’76 and Mike Pappas ’76 welcome a new grandchild, Harrison Michael Vega.

1980s

Kelly Driver Koch ‘80 and Dave Koch ‘78 shared, “Dave and I attended the

WCS proms together in ’77 and ’78. We were each other’s first “love.” Dave graduated in ’78 and went to Houghton College. I graduated from WCS in 1980 and went to Furman University. We lost touch with each other for 40 years. Dave was married to his wife, Cindy, for 28 years and she passed away in early 2017 from brain cancer. I was married to my husband, Trey, for 30 years and he passed away in 2015 from a lung disease. Dave and I reconnected through social media sharing our common grief as widows. The rest, you could say, is history! We feel so blessed to have found each other after such profound losses. We now live in Greenville, SC and we work together, enjoy golf and travel, and our families – most especially our grandchildren!”

Dr. Dewitt “Jack” Maxwell ‘80 retired this year after 30+ years serving as an educator in universities and schools. During his career, he received a number of accolades including being named a distinguished alumnus by the University of Tennessee. He and his wife Robyn currently split their time between Memphis, TN and Perdido Key, FL. They have two children: Trevor and Jillian, who are both in college.

Sue Mazzola

Dick ’81 was recently featured on the cover of the August/ September issue of the “Tallahassee Woman” magazine. She is the first female to serve as president and CEO of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, a role she as held since 1999.

Michael Fay ‘82

was knighted into the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta. The Knights of Malta are a prestigious humanitarian and business diplomacy organization that has existed for more than 900 years. This will allow him to serve in the future as a rotational diplomat to the United Nations.

Penny Burroughs Robinson ‘83

shares, “Running is my thing now! Just completed my first 10K!!”

1990s

In 2018, Elizabeth “Liz” Morton ‘90 and her family moved their home and business to Nashville, Tennessee. Liz and her husband own Neto Financial Group where Liz practices as a CPA and Arturo runs the investment advisory group. Together, they team up to drive their daughter Maya to her many extracurricular activities and occasionally get out to the performing arts center or enjoy one of the many top-notch food venues in Music City. During the summer, Liz and Arturo enjoy listening to Banjo music by the Barn with their new friends at Arrington Vineyards at least twice a month.

John Jones ‘91 is a wildlife educator and handler. He was featured on Animal Planet, Deco Drive and Rapola commercials. John is the proud father of two young daughters. John’s wildlife shows can be seen at Gator Park (SW 8th Street) in the Everglades on Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Adam Kutner ‘93 is celebrating 20 years in the real estate business. I found my true love in Las Vegas (she is from Michigan) and we were married in June 2019.

Javi Miranda ‘96 and wife Kelley live in Riverview, FL and have three boys: Trey (15), Talan (11) and Ty (5). They have been married for 16 years. Javi has been coaching baseball at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa for five years. He was promoted this season to associate head coach/recruiting coordinator.

Dacia Chaffin

Wiegandt ‘97 an

Karl Wiegandt

‘96 lead very busy lives. Karl is now the vice president of the family business, Strawberry Fields of Kendall and Burr’s Berry Farm, a third-generation farm which has been in business for 60 years. Dacia is a senior national sales director with Mary Kay, Inc. and a lifestyle blogger (@Dacialea). They have three children: Austin, 13, who is in 8th grade at WCS and plays baseball on the school and travel teams; Mason, 11, who is in 6th grade and also aspires to play baseball at Westminster; and, Addison, 9, who is in 4th grade and loves dancing, singing, and creating. She shares, “We cannot tell you what a dream it is to have our kids attend the same school that we did. Westminster Christian school has been a blessing to us. It is our second home from home.”

2000s

Tiffany Keller Lam ‘00 shared, “Everyday I give thanks to our Lord for His generous blessings. My husband and daughter fill my life with the utmost joy! In 2020, I will complete my first participation as a provider in a clinical trial at Mayo Clinic! It is so rewarding to provide patient care as a physician assistant.”

Michael Green ‘01 and wife Simone welcomed the birth of their son Logan James Green on March 21, 2020. His proud grandparents are longtime Westminster employees Lyle and Ann Green. Ann has served in the Business Office for more than 30 years, and Lyle has served in a variety of capacities from teacher to currently as a counselor in the high school.

Ryan Blaum ‘02

and wife Ashley announced the birth of their son Bodie on June 15, 2020 in Texas. Lucette Talamas ‘05 shared, “I remember being one of six students in Dr. Martinez’s AP Chemistry class, not knowing at the time that the strong science foundation she would instill in me would be what helped me excel in my preparations to become a Registered Dietitian (RD). I remember the day Mrs. Dumas informed me about being accepted into a Hispanic High School Student Scholar’s program at the Univerfor her guidance which is the reason I considered applying to UF and ultimately had an amazing college experience. In college, I fell in love with nutrition when I realized food is science. After graduating from the UF in 2009 with a degree in food science and human nutrition, I completed my dietetic internship at Florida Hospital Orlando, where I then worked as a clinical dietitian for 2 years. Longing to be closer to my family, I returned to Miami in 2012 to work at Baptist Health South Florida as a wellness dietitian in the Community Health Department. Through this role, I provide group focused nutrition education classes throughout South Florida. I have also had opportunities to contribute nutrition advice through print and broadcast media, featured in South Florida PBS the Health Channel, Miami Herald, CBS Miami, Telemundo and Univision. In 2018, I was honored as Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award from the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. As of this year, I just completed my Master of Science in Nutrition and Wellness with an Entrepreneurship Certificate from Benedictine University online program. As I approach my 10th year of practice as a RD, I am grateful for all the people that have poured into me and opportunities that have provided a platform to communicate complex health concepts into practical nutrition advice that to help people prevent and manage chronic conditions. Looking back, I can see how God’s hand worked in my life through my experience at WCS which then prepared me for what was to come,

sity of Florida. To this day, I am grateful especially academically and professionally.” Rachel Pappas Vega ‘05 and Christian Vega ‘08 welcomed their first child. Harrison Michael Vega was born on April 16, 2020.

Dr. Anne Langhorne Jeffrey

‘06, assistant professor of philosophy at Baylor University in Waco, TX, was recently interviewed on the university’s weekly

podcast sharing her insight into building community and engaging with students remotely during COVID-19. She explained how she pivoted her Bioethics class to focus on real-world ethical questions related to resource allocation and more during the pandemic and how students can engage with classmates and topics from separate locations. Anne joined the faculty at Baylor in fall 2019. She earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Georgetown University, and then was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Notre Dame. She earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Baylor in 2010.

Katie Medder

Moon ‘07 and

Tim Moon ‘07

have two children at Westminster: Summer ‘31 and Deegan ‘33. Katie works for Kiso Group, a swimming pool contracting company, where she is the lead residential estimator and project manager. She also manages the pool maintenance division. She has also been coaching volleyball for 12 years and is the director of the training program for Miami Elite. Tim is a real estate agent and team leader. He works with customers and his team members all over south Florida. Both are members of Hope Chapel where Katie is a worship leader and Tim is a keyboard player on the worship team.

Monica Blanco-Taggart

‘08 and husband Eric had their first son, Bradley, on May 9, 2020

Taylor Chao

Butler ‘09 and husband Saxon welcomed their son, Hudson Rhett Butler, on April 28, 2020. The family lives in Salt Lake City, UT.

Ashley Chao

Owens ‘09 and husband Josh celebrated the birth of son, Jordan Hunter, on June 7, 2020. The family lives in Birmingham, AL.

2010s

Juan Brizuela ‘10 has been living in New York City for three years now working as a publicist in one of the city’s top PR firms.

Nicky Jocelyn-Holt ‘10

married Nick Herrera on Satur day, March 7, 2020 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Miami Beach.

Jacquelyn Rodriguez Davis

‘10 graduated in 2014 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration. She is a customer strategy consultant with Deloitte, in Washington, D.C. This past December, she married Jeffrey Davis from San Diego, CA. This joyful event took place at The Deering Estate and was attended by many WCS classmates including Michelle Hilson, her maid-of-honor and best friend since kindergarten.

Sterling Pilsbury

‘11 married Valentina Izaguirre on the island of St. Barths on August 18, 2020.

Katie Diaz ’11

moved to Los Angeles after graduation to pursue a career in acting. She has appeared in several films, one of which aired on the Lifetime Channel in 2019, and another one being released later this year. She also supplements her acting work as a post-production coordinator for an Amazon documentary.

Wilson

Medder ‘11 is married to Shawnee and they have two children: Arrington, 7, and Izzy, 5. The family lives in Washington Courthouse, Ohio. He is the network administrator for the Cincinnati Bengals NFL football team. He had the honor to be side by side with the Head Coach, Zac Taylor during the 2020 Virtual NFL draft for the first pick. Wilson is also an elder and worship team member for Renew Church.

Janelli Perez Roberts ‘12 married her college sweetheart this past March. They met through his two college roommates at Florida Gulf Coast University, who had attended Westminster: Bijan Ghaemmaghami ’11 and Nicholas Mata ’11. Mr. Reed officiated the wedding and her best friend, Camila Aramburu ’12, was the maid of honor. Many WCS alumni were there to celebrate, as well as being in the wedding party and as ceremony speakers. “I wouldn’t have met the love of my life

without the friendships and connections I made at WCS. We plan on continuing to live in South Florida.” Janelli works as a nurse in a NICU and her husband is a research scientist at the University of Miami.

Richard Diaz ‘12 graduated in May as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Florida. He will be starting his internship in Coral Springs Animal Hospital specializing in ophthalmology.

Walker Blanco

‘13 started modeling with Wilhemina Miami and LA during his senior year at Westminster. In 2019, he began working with a private manager out of LA and now models on the runway and in print campaigns. He is signed with D’Management Group in Milan, Italy; Kult Models in Germany, London, and Sydney; Sight Management in Spain, and Ford in New York. His most recent project was with Armani.

An avid free diver for many years, Walker also run Deep USA. The company was founded by Dimitris Kollias, whom Walker met in Greece and who taught him the proper techniques for free diving. Their friendship blossomed into a business partnership and Kollias asked Walker to introduce the products in the American market. Unfortunately, Kollias passed away and now Walker runs the company in the U.S., with the help of his sister, Quinn Blanco ‘17, who is a senior studying public relations and marketing at the University of Miami. You can view Deep’s product line on www.deepusagear.com, and follow them on Instagram @deep_usa.

When he isn’t modeling or working the business, Walker’s passion is raising endangered turtles, tortoises and iguanas for conservation purposes.

Gio Volpe ‘14 is an actor in South Florida. He has recently been featured in “Matilda” and “Groundhog Day.”

Daniel Dvorak ‘15 is living in Saint Paul, MN and working at 3M as a Project Engineer.

Eli Medder ‘15

graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2019. He shared, “I’m the electrical officer on the USS Vella Gulf stationed out of Norfolk, VA. I’m in charge of the electricians onboard and together we maintain most of the electrical work throughout the ship. During my designated times I’m one of three officers that drives the ship and represent the Captain when he’s busy doing other things. My ship is a Guided Missile Cruiser with a crew of about 400 people, 30 of which are officers.” Stephanie Bloodworth ‘16 graduated from the Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Integrated Design in New York City.

Nicole Boulris ‘16

graduated in May from Belmont University with a BS in Creative Entertainment Industry Studies and a minor in music.

Ilse Brenner ‘16

graduated from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in managing for social impact and the public good. She works for Oracle Corporation in Santa Monica, California.

Ashley Diaz ‘16 graduated in May from Emory University as a Woodruff Scholar. She earned a BA in chemistry, as well a double major BS degree in neuroscience and behavioral biology. She was accepted into more than eight medical schools, ultimately choosing the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine with

a full tuition scholarship, over Harvard Medical School. She shared, “I thought it would be a tough decision... In the end, it was the easiest decision I ever made!”

Katy Milian ‘16

graduated summa cum laude from Wake Forest University with a double major in psychology and theater, earning a bachelor of arts with honors. She was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest, most prestigious, academic honor society in the U.S. She is pursuing acting and playwriting professionally in Miami, and is also working in the Westminster Fine Arts Department. Eventually, she plans to return to grad school for a master degree in counseling.

Dayma Pla ‘16

graduated from St. Thomas University with two bachelor degrees: English Literature and Criminal Justice.

Kevin Rodriguez

‘16 graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Highest Distinction (summa cum laude) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as vice president of his senior class and earned the Undergraduate Business Award for Leadership and the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Excellence in Consulting Award. He begins his full-time position as an associate with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in December.

Until then, he will continue to work part-time remotely as a STAR Ambassador for UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, and in June, he will be earning his Yoga Teacher Training Certification at Franklin St Yoga Center.

Andre Wennin

‘16 graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems. Andre will be attending Florida State University to receive his MBA this fall. Sofia Wennin ‘16 graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and will attend Florida State University to receive her master’s degree in Commuinications and Marketing.

Miranda Torres

‘17 graduated from Florida State University with honors in May 2020, just three years after graduating from Westminster. She majored in Public Relations and is also currently pursuing a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications. On campus, she was actively involved in Dance Marathon, the largest student fundraising event benefiting Childrens Miracle Network, and was a regular contributor to hercampus.com online magazine.

Victoria Winter ‘18 is a college sophomore in the ROTC majoring in Religious Studies. She is training with the Air Force and her goal is to commission in the Air Force as a Chaplain.

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(L to R): Joey Alamo ‘15 and guest, Jess Dietrich Warren ‘07, Tim Moon ‘07, Katie Moon ‘07, Patrick Wennin ’12, Sam Zakka ’16, Mr. Medder, Diana Puente Gutierrez ‘03, Lisa Colon Eustis ‘03, Coco Perez-Medrano ‘05, Tomorris Roberts ‘10, and Eduardo Solorzano ‘09.

MEMORIALS

Jeffrey Munzell ‘71 of Bradenton, FL went home to his Lord and Savior on January 21, 2020. Jeff is survived by his wife of 27 years, Jane, three children, two granddaughters, a brother Adrian, and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents and a brother, Gregory. Dan Smading ‘74 of Sarasota, FL passed away on June 26, 2020. He is survived by his son, mother and sisters Connie Musselman ‘72, Karen Cannon and Kristi Devaney ‘78, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Mingle with Medder r. Medder hosted a group of alumni on campus just before the pandemic required the M campus to close. Alumni gathered in the new WorldWonder Nature Center and visited the Elementary School campus, and the new performing arts center, The Lighthouse, while it was

under construction.

David Barrentine ‘88 passed away on August 11, 2020. He is survived by his sons Justin and Brandon Barrentine.

Laura Smith ‘10 passed away in April 2020.

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