Alumni Updates/WLHS Foundation Pages

Alumni Updates

John Morgan (’63)

(pictured right) was an actor in “And Welcome Home Again: A Soul Journey Out of Vietnam” a play put on by the Feast of Crispian at the Next Act Theatre, in August. All of the actors in the play were Vietnam/Vietnamera veterans from Dryhootch, a peer support place for veterans, and who have flown in an Honor Flight.

Al King (’68) married Maggie on February 16, 2021 in Las Vegas.

Richard Passow (‘68) was awarded the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “Combined Federal Campaign Heroes Award,” for his agency, the Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD), which brought home four awards for various levels of giving. He also was selected to receive a DHS Management Directorate Award for Excellence for his work in planning a major relocation effort for CWMD staff.

Steve (’70) and Charlene (Tryggestad) Peske (’70) are enjoying retirement. Charlene was a manager for ADM chocolate until 2015. Steve was an engineer for German machine tool builder HERMLE and retired in 2019. The Peskes currently reside in Vernon, Wis. Rev. John Gawrisch retired after 43 years in the ministry; 38 of those years were at Star of Bethlehem in New Berlin. He currently resides in Watertown, Wis., and looks forward to spending more time with his six kids (all graduates of WLHS) and 18 grandkids. Wisco alumni family include: Wendy (Gullickson) Gawrisch

(’70), Laura (Gawrisch) Punzel (’95), Brandon Wigley (’96), Lisa (Gawrisch) Wigley (’96), Kelly (Gawrisch) Schauland (’97), Kimberly (Gawrisch) Weidner (’00), David Gawrisch (’01), Katie (Sikorski) Gawrisch (’01), Daniel Gawrisch (’03), Kaitlin (Parbs) Gawrisch (’09),

Bria Wigley (’20), Kayla Wigley (’22), and Lauren

Wigley (’25).

Mark Prowatzke (’71)

published “Yet, Will I Trust Him: Insights from a Brain Aneurysm.” The book is for sale on Amazon and Christianbook.com. Mark lives in Missouri with his wife Suzanne (Schwecke) (‘71).

Thomas Kneser (‘73), Sharon (Molkentin)

Kneser (‘73), and daughter Bethany

(Kneser) Behm (‘13)

traveled to Mount Rushmore this summer, proudly sporting their Wisco alumni shirts. Sharon retired from WLHS as receptionist after 16 years, and Bethany teaches 4th and 5th grade at Trinity Lutheran School in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Jean Bell-Calvin (’75) retired from the UW-Milwaukee College of Nursing in July 2021 after 32-years of employment as a Clinical Assistant Professor. The focus of her work involved community nursing education, practice and partnerships. On June 17, 2021 she received a Commendation from the Common Council and a Proclamation from the Mayor’s Office of the City of Milwaukee.

Charles Kurth (’75) retired in May 2021 after 31-years in the appraisal profession.

Russell Andreas (’78)

married Karen (Luckwaldt) Voigt (MLC ‘83) at Carroll University on August 14, 2021.

Steve Reinhardt

(’79) celebrated his 60th birthday on May 25, 2021 among WLHS friends and family whose graduation dates spanned forty years, from 1979 to 2019. Alumni in attendance include Jim Shilobrit (’79), Sue (Weiss) Eick (’79), Paul

Henne (’80), Sandy (Miller) Krueger (’80), Jeff Van Alstine (’80), Pam (Kneser) Henne (’81), Kevin Krueger (’81), Mark Manthey (’81), Yvonne (Boettcher) Manthey (’81), Steve Mess (’82), Joseph Eick (’16), Anne (Reinhardt) Eick (’16), Doug Reinhardt (’18),

and Olivia Gerbing (’19).

Bonnie (Garbe)

Hoersch (’84) and her husband, Steve, are celebrating 35-years of marriage on August 9, 2021.

Kristin Gjerdset (‘86) rappelled down the 20-story Hilton Hotel in Milwaukee to raise money for the Milwaukee Rescue Mission on Thursday, June 17. She raised more than $1,500 for those in need.

Valerie (Rasner) Gospodarek (‘98)

is the new WLHS Central Office Receptionist. Val’s husband, Jesse, serves as coach for the WLHS Jr. Vikings Baseball program. They are parents to Regan (‘23), Finley (13) and Declan (8). The Gospodarek family are members at St. Jacobi Lutheran Church.

Alumni Updates

Tim (‘99) and Melissa (Koschnitzke)

McEachern (‘04) were married on July 10, 2021. Alumni included co-officiant and father of the bride Pastor Gary Koschnitzke (‘75), co-officiant and brother of the bride Pastor Chris Koschnitzke (‘98), and wedding party members: Becky

(Koschnitzke) Jeske (‘05), Anna (Baum) Koschnitzke (‘00), Amber (Lau) Bergner (‘09),

and usher Micah Koschnitzke (‘22).

Stephanie Rebman (’99) was named editor-in-chief of the Birmingham Business Journal after five years as managing editor of the publication.

Lindsay (Augustynowicz)

Capizzi (‘01) and husband, Sam, welcomed son Parker Ford on May 13, 2021. Parker joins big brother Jack (3). Lindsay is a Senior Recruiting Consultant with elite Human Capital Group supporting Grande Cheese Company. The Capizzi family reside in Brookfield.

Ann Fitzsimmons (‘03) and husband, Justin, welcomed their first child, daughter Madelyn Jean, on July 8, 2021. They reside in Rochester, Minn. where Ann serves as a Physician Assistant in Trauma and General Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Alumni Updates

Emily (Kleist) Jiles (‘03) and husband, Lewis, welcomed their fourth child, Camden, to the family on July 24, 2021. He joins big sisters Kyla (7), Zoey (5), and Ryann (3). Emily serves WLHS as Director of Student Services, and Lewis is Site Director at Lighthouse Youth Center.

Matthew Martz (’04)

married Jaquelyn on May 28, 2021 in Cozumel, Mexico. Alumni in the wedding party included Shayne

Perkins (’04), Matt

Riege (’04), and best man Martin Rodriguez (’98) (pictured left).

Angie (Priewe) Livingston (‘05)

joins the WLHS faculty parttime in the FACE and English departments teaching Food Techniques, English 9 and Composition. Angie and her husband, James, reside in Kewaskum and are members at St. Lucas Lutheran Church.

After working for Aurora Healthcare for 11 years, Samantha Keihl (’07) is now the Director of the Cardiovascular Technology program at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Samantha is teaching others about performing lifesaving cardiac procedures such as coronary stenting and pacemaker implants.

Nicole (Beglinger) Plank (’07)

and husband, Matt, welcomed their first child, Madelyn Joy, on October 8, 2021. The Plank family resides in Waukesha.

Dr. Steven Wipijewski (‘07)

graduated from Aurora St Luke’s Family Medicine Residency in June 2021. He will be moving to Boston and employed with Fenway Health, as well as on the faculty of Harvard University and on staff at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Kevin (‘08) and Angie

(Blasezyk) Raasch (‘08) grew by two beautiful little ladies on April 27, 2021 welcoming twins Avery Lynn and Emery Margaret. The twins are loved by their big sister pup Remy. Kevin is an Associate Attorney at Judge Lang & Katers, LLC, and Angie is a Pharmacist at The Rehabilitation Hospital of Wisconsin.

Elizabeth (Willett) Kirby (’09)

was appointed as the Director of Admissions at Greenville University in Illinois.

Jenny (Ebeling) Biebert (’10)

and husband, Shem, welcomed Judah Malachi Biebert on April 29, 2021. He joins older sister Elinor (3).

Joan (Zastrow) Zimmer (’11) married Daniel on July 9, 2021. Alumni in the wedding party included Elizabeth Metz (’11), Jessica Zastrow (’16), and Jennifer Zastrow (’19).

Hannah Kren (’13) completed her doctorate of pharmacy in May 2021 from St. Louis College of Pharmacy. She plans to continue working with Walgreens as a pharmacist in Missouri.

Leah Gawel (’15) received her Master’s in Music Theatre Vocal Pedagogy from Carthage College this year.

Wisco alumni made up a majority of our Summer Academy Teacher’s Assistants this year! Pictured left to right:

Carrington Cunningham (‘17), Claire Leverence (‘19), Lydia Hahm (‘21), Heaven Bausley (‘18), Michael Fromm (‘18), Elijah Henning (‘19), Colin Olson (‘19),

and Grace Stroh (‘19).

In July 2021, Kailey Luehring (’18) opened her very own Starbucks store in Marshfield, Wis. Kailey accomplished all this while obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Justice Studies at Arizona State University. She plans to complete her degree in May 2022.

Three alumni worked at the Center for Urban Teaching at Mt. Lebanon this summer.

Cat Chan

Chu (‘20) (left) taught 1st grade,

Terry McGlaston

(‘19) (middle) served as a chaplain, and Andrew Steinberg (‘20) (right) taught 4th grade.

“Start children off in the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it,” (Proverbs 22:6).

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend. I commented that my son had just graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran High School, while his son was starting his first year at a different Lutheran high school. My friend and I both attended a Lutheran elementary school and high school, and then became friends attending Wisconsin Lutheran College. We had a poignant conversation about the sacrifices our parents made and how thankful we are that we could do the same for our children. I started to think, though, but what about those families who cannot afford a WELS Christian education?

At Wisconsin Lutheran High School, we are blessed to have a Foundation committed to ensuring that

students from all backgrounds can continue to grow

and develop academically and spiritually (see the school report card on pages 4-5) for generations to come. The WLHS Foundation provides scholarships and resources for faculty support, development, and program enhancements. I wanted to share a breakdown of the awesome blessings God has granted us in the 2021 fiscal year: • The Foundation was able to give nearly $432,000 to WLHS; the majority of which went to tuition assistance and scholarships. • Eight families, that have ties to WLHS, created five

new endowed scholarships.

• The Foundation received $311,267 in new

scholarship funds.

• Two student-led funds, through Foundation programing, gifted our faculty and staff more than $21,000 for non-budgeted, special projects (faculty and staff must apply for funding and then the students choose the projects and gift amount to fund).

Eric Ruh We are so incredibly grateful for the love and support you have given us over the past year. I look forward to showing how you impact our students here on their earthly journey and also towards their heavenly home. Visit wlhs.org/

foundation for more information.

Mr. Eric Ruh is the Director of Planned Giving at WLHS.