2010s

10 Pride of ND

As I write this update, the Irish have a record of 8-0. I hope many of you have had the opportunity to share a part of this great season. I know that I saw many of you at Soldier Field watching the Irish defeat the U of Miami. Our short update for this quarter includes two very happy wedding announcements: Brittney Horan and Kevin Martin were married on July 7 in Oyster Bay NY. Their wedding party included four classmates: Amelia Schwingle, Katie McKenzie, Stephen Bant, and Patrick Rogers. Brittney and Kevin have made the move to Stoneham MA, where Kevin is auditing for Deloitte and Brittney is teaching at Melrose High School. Lindsay Johnson and Tom Pappas were married on Oct. 13, in Bloomington IN. Classmates Megan Kloet, Michael DesJardins, Nick Andert, John Minser, and Andy Gray were in the wedding party. — Matt Molloy; 602-510-7373; NDClass2010@gmail.com

10MBA Another Great Year

Jenny and Brent Piechowiak welcomed a new addition to their family in October. Lucas Brent Piechowiak was born on Oct. 26 and is doing great. Jessica Hartzell and Chris Neligon were married in Guilford CT, on the eve of Hurricane Sandy. They held the ceremony outside under blue skies, although 24 hours later the storm rolled into their area. They had planned a honeymoon on Cape Cod, but the storm cut their plans short. Instead they stayed at Chris’s mom’s house in Connecticut, playing board games by candlelight and cleaning up yard debris during the day. Chris reports that all of their friends and family in the area are OK. Another exciting East Coast event happened on Sept. 22, when Kelly Brennan married Eric Heller in Cape Cod MA. Mendoza alumni in attendance included: Kristin (Greenwood) Reilly ’08, Bridget Higgins ’11, Garrett Myers, Kasey Suryan, and Matthew Sullivan. Kelly and Eric spent the week leading up to the wedding in Cape Cod with their family and friends and enjoyed a honeymoon in Italy. Kelly is a new market development manager at GE Capital and splits time between Dallas and Los Angeles, where Eric is finishing his MBA. Mike Hurley proposed to Leah Exten on Aug. 18; the two plan to wed at the Basilica in August 2013. After dating long distance for a year and a half, and traveling every other week between Portland and Denver, Leah relocated to Portland in January. Mike works as a process engineer for Longview Fibre and Leah works as a procurement advisor for Geodis Supply Chain Optimisation. Casey Sponseller, after starting at Press Ganey Associates as an account manager in January 2012, has accepted a newly-created role as client experience quality specialist. On Nov. 3, Casey got engaged to his best friend, Nikki Benninghoff. Nikki is a competitive runner who also works at Press Ganey. They aim to exchange their vows in South Bend sometime in early summer. Sarah Duke shared that she bought her first single-family home this summer. It was a bit of a fixer-upper so she now spends free time remodeling bathrooms, learning to do yard work, and slowly painting the entire house. Sarah is a financial analyst for Zions Bancorporation. Meghan and Ted Kwartler welcomed twin girls Nora Irene and Brenna Rose in August. Brendan Condon accepted a position in London as a director in the European structured credit team at Fitch Ratings. He works and lives near Canary Wharf and has been to several game watches with the London club. Karl Jensen shared that he is still at Bank of the West in the Bay Area and was recently promoted to vice president, financial analysis manager for the wealth management group at the bank. He shared it has been an exciting and challenging opportunity. Victor Arias received a promotion to director of account management at Hispanic Communications Network. Mike Boyle, Dan Kirkconnell, and P.J. Hornik, with their ladies, met in Key West. Some highlights included catching and releasing a large mahi-mahi, spearing a big mutton snapper, and snorkeling for lobster. — John Gerberich; cell 847-331-4707; :jgerberi@alumni.nd.edu

10JD Big Deal

First, let’s check in on Ashon McKenzie, living the good life in Columbus OH, where he works for the attorney general. He works on federal habeas cases and writes and argues briefs in front of the 6th Circuit. One of the cases he worked on will be heard by SCOTUS, so he’ll go to those arguments. Next on the list is Bonnie Kellman, who made the large move (culturally) from NorCal to SoCal and now clerks in the US District Court in San Diego. She likes to explore the beaches, zoos, and hiking trails in the area, basically living the life of a tourist in America’s Finest City. I’ve seen her several times and can attest that she has an awesome apartment in Little Italy and is within walking distance to ComicCon. On to lovely Lincoln NE, where Rachel Williams is clerking for the Nebraska Supreme Court. Her cats, Max and Minnie, are enjoying her apartment and have found that corn husks are a good aid to digestion. Rachel has gotten involved with her church and is playing in a community orchestra in her spare time. On a recent trip to ND for the BYU game, I saw many completely impressive Double Domers. Johnny McDermott ’07, ’10JD, who was watching the Yankees game in Reckers, is getting a master’s in sports administration at Valparaiso U. As a sideline, he works in the NBC truck during the home football games doing statistics. After graduation, he attended seven World Cup games in South Africa and had a close encounter with a rhino in Pilanesberg. Both parties survived. Jessica Brock ’05, ’10JD, ’11LLM, who was found drinking hot chocolate in LaFortune, is living in the nunnery at Saint Mary’s and is on her way to joining the Sisters of the Holy Cross. The process apparently takes several years, and in the meantime, she works at the Legal Aid Clinic and makes music. A composition of hers, titled “In Her Name,” is featured on the newly-released CD Spirit of Notre Dame, and is available on iTunes. Finally, Kyle Chamberlin ’06, ’10JD, who was spotted letting us park in his driveway, is in-house counsel for the commercial real estate firm CBRE/Bradley. In his spare time, when he’s not attending every possible ND sporting event, he teaches an exploratory course at ND called “Giving Back Through Education.” Kyle Chamberlin, who may be best remembered for shouting “More Gimmicks!” at halftime, is shaping young minds. — Susie Wine; 206 Via Vicini, Rancho Santa Margarita CA 92688; 574-514-3746; swine@alumni.nd.edu

12JD And So It Begins

Let me be the first to congratulate you for finally making it into the Alumni Section of Notre Dame Magazine. Let’s all give ourselves a big pat on the back. This column will have short updates on the life milestones and professional/unprofessional achievements of our classmates, so take a look in each issue to see what’s going on. There’s just one caveat: if you want something included, you need to tell me about it. Examples of appropriate subjects include networking events, new jobs, babies, weddings, and anything else you don’t mind sharing with every single living Notre Dame alum. If you have something you want included in the next installment, email me as soon as possible. I’ll be the one to type it up, format it, and submit it to the magazine, for the rest of my life. It’s a duty I did not know came with the secretary position, but it’s one that I will gladly perform until the day I die. — Jimmy Champlin; jchampli@alumni.nd.edu