1990s
1990s
90 The Ragged Edge
Mike Zacchea, who was Marine ROTC at ND, checked in to tell us about his new book. Mike’s career in the Marine Corps was cut short after he was wounded in Iraq, in the second battle of Fallujah. Mike had a unique and historic mission and was part of a team of US military advisers that built, trained and led in combat the first Iraqi army battalion trained by the US military. His book, The Ragged Edge: A US Marine’s Account of Leading the Iraqi Army 5th Battalion, is very timely, as it sheds light on the origin of the Iraqi army fighting ISIS, the origin of ISIS and the potential for a broader ground conflict in Syria. You can find the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores. theraggededgebook.com. Killeen Mullen is senior director, global events for the National Basketball Association. Her focus is on international events including Latin America initiatives, NBA Global Games in Europe and Brazil and elite development camps in Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa. She usually lives out of a suitcase, but she calls New York her home. Capt. Mark A. Prokopius is heading back to South Bend to finish out his Navy career. Mark will be a professor of Naval science for the Notre Dame NROTC Unit. He and his wife Kathy ’89SMC are looking forward to being back on campus. Please send your news and updates to me or Christine (Boron) Griffin. Check us out on Facebook at Notre Dame Irish Class of 1990 and at 1990.undclass.org. Go Irish. — Marty Falkenberg; martin.falkenberg@yahoo.com; Christine (Boron) Griffin; cgrif57@gmail.com
90MBA Updates Galore
Ben Ernst moved last summer from Savannah MO to Savannah GA. Believe it or not, they are empty nesters. They have one son in Austin TX working for Rooster Teeth; one son in the Marines in Navy flight training in Pensacola FL; a daughter in intel in the Marines at Camp Pendleton CA; one son in college in Missouri and headed to the Marines as an officer after graduation next year; and one daughter in undergraduate at Mizzou aspiring to be a doctor. Ben has come back to the military, this time as a civilian employee working for the Army. In between SEC and ACC country so they should be able to catch some ND games as they are about an hour from Florida. All are welcome for a visit. Please send updates my way. Do tell. — Dave Wilson; 104 N. Wilson Court, Palatine IL 60067; david_c_wilson@hotmail.com
90JD — Cathy Pollock Gregory;
30 Walnut Farms Drive, Farmington CT 06032; cagregory@sbcglobal.net
91 A Living Memorial
Hello, Class of ’91, I hope everyone is having a blessed summer. Unfortunately, I must start with some sad news about the passing of a classmate. On March 13, friends and family of Angela McRae Jackson celebrated her life, her love and her lasting light in a memorial service in Philadelphia. During her four years at ND, Angie lived in Breen-Phillips Hall. To celebrate Angie’s beautiful life, a tree will be planted on campus this fall. Her family has requested that expressions of sympathy take the form of a donation to the Angela McRae Memorial Tree Fund. If you would like to donate, visit supporting.nd.edu and follow these six steps. 1. Input amount of donation under “Make Your Gift Today.” 2. Select single gift option. 3. In designation box, write “Angela McRae Memorial Tree.” 4. Select circle option in memory of someone special. 5. Write “Angela M. McRae ’91” in the NAME box. 6. In the notification box beneath this, write “Vernetta Brooks.” When this fund grows beyond the cost of tree planting, contributions will go toward advancing Notre Dame’s Office of Student Enrichment, a program committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for every new generation of Fighting Irish. May perpetual light shine upon you, Angela. In other news, I recently heard from Kevin Miltko, DDS. Kevin was recently elected to the ND Alumni Association Board. He reports: “Susan (Moriarity) Miltko and I are still in Missoula MT. Our daughter Caelin graduates from ND this spring. Our middle daughter Maggie is finishing her freshman year at ND. Our youngest daughter Molly is a junior in high school. Susan is still busy with her law practice and I am still busy fixing teeth and coaching girls’ softball.” Lastly, I am happy to report some personal news that I may have alluded to in prior columns. I am a published author. My first surgery textbook, NOTES and Endoluminal Surgery, finally came out in April after two years of work. Talk about a labor of love. That’s all for this column. Have a great summer. Go Irish. — John Romanelli; jrndmd@comcast.net
91MBA News from Ecuador
Santiago Iturralde lives in Quito, Ecuador, and is married to Maria Jose and they have three kids: Ignacio, 20, a junior at U of British Columbia, Maria Belen, 18, a freshman at Pepperdine U, and Alegria, 15, a high school sophomore. Santiago worked for 17 years in a family construction chemicals business that became part of BASF. Currently, he is doing business consulting with a focus on change management. Santiago is also involved in getting funding from international foundations to help with the rebuilding effort after Ecuador’s 2016 earthquake. He spends his free time with family, having friends over for barbecues (they have spring-like weather all year), traveling, jogging and trying to run a 15k and a half marathon every year. Recently Santiago was in touch via email with Dave Walkowski and Christian Vohradsky from the London Program. It would be wonderful to hear from other international classmates: Alan Huang, Sumanth Subramanian, Renn-Peir Wang, Miho Shibahashi, Masatoshi Matsumura and more. Please send me an email for the next magazine. Share your news. — Patty (Spiekermann) Lynch; cell 301-502-3843; pattylynch05@gmail.com
91JD Bursting With Pride
I appreciate all of your nice comments about how much you enjoy the column. The truth is, I love reporting on all of the great things our class is doing. Keep up the good work. Patricia (Shearer) Mahlstedt from the Pittsburgh PA office of Eckert Seamans was named co-chair of the hospitality and gaming group at the firm. Patricia joined the firm in 2006 and practices in the area of hospitality law representing hotel owners, developers, and management companies. Before joining Eckert Seamans she was associate general counsel at Interstate Hotels. Mary Margaret (Bleyer) and John Foradora and are the parents of a teenage son, James. Judge Foradora serves as a judge on the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas and was appointed to oversee the Jerry Sandusky criminal appeal. He also serves as the president of the State Conference of Trial Judges. Mary Margaret volunteers at James’s school and keeps busy with his athletic endeavors in basketball, soccer, and baseball. She also works from home doing deeds, wills and estates. Ginny Mikita and her husband, Robert Kruse, practice law together at the Mikita Kruse Law Center in Rockford MI. In addition to her animal rights work, Ginny and her husband have expanded their practice to include representation of unaccompanied refugee children from many African and Central American nations. She said the work is extraordinarily challenging and would appreciate your prayers for these children, many of whom are orphans. Ginny and Robert have two children, Spencer, a sophomore in college, and Greta, a high school junior who may be following her mother’s path in social justice law. Ginny recently hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain. She described the experience as “transformative.” Bernie Lau has been working for the German chemical company, Evonik, for just under two years. He was in Germany for a meeting in March, spent Easter in Washington DC with his family, and is off to France for a family vacation this summer. Bernie’s son, William, is beginning the college application process, and his son, Charlie is off to Singapore to work on a science project and volunteer in a hospital. Conor Meyers reports that life is good in Idaho. Conor is the vice president/general counsel/principal at Axis Construction Consulting. Conor said that the company continues to expand and he is on the road a lot. Conor’s sons, Zach (born when we were in law school) and Carrick, are out of college and on their own. His youngest son, Patrick, a recent college grad, is pursuing job opportunities. His daughter, McKenna, will start middle school in the fall. I still have a few football tickets available for the minireunion game on Sept. 30 against Miami of Ohio. Let me know if you are interested. Until next time, act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God. — Martha (Boesen) Trout; 12823 Clark St., Clive IA 50325; cell 515-249-9235; bus 515-281-6660; mtrout@iowa.gov
92 Down Memory Lane: 25 years
When this article is distributed, we will have celebrated the 25th anniversary of our graduation. Some of us extended our reunions time to attend the U2 concert in Chicago and continue the walk down memory lane. The time we spent on campus helped us meet classmates, dorm mates and friends who became our ND family. I have witnessed this ND family rally around its own many times over the last 25 years, and know I am not the only one who is thankful we had that time on campus to meet these “family” members. Speaking of rallying around, many classmates helped Jamie Reidy during his cross country, sporting event tour to write, Need One: A Lunatic's Attempt to Attend 365 Games in 365 Days, a hilarious and heartfelt road trip memoir. He learned about life’s moral victories while observing those tracked on scoreboards. I was lucky enough catch up with him during his Dallas stop. Timothy Deenihan says he and his wife JP (Willenberg) ’93SMC moved the family to Seattle so they missed our reunion, but he will return to campus to walk the Notre Dame Trail, blogging the preparations, introductions, and pilgrimage itself at trail.nd.edu. DeeDee and Doug Clarke live in San Carlos CA (Bay Area) with their three kids. Doug is a sales manager for Stryker Neurovascular and DeeDee is an occupational therapist. In February, Gina (Bacigalupi) Kastel, a partner in Faegre Baker Daniel’s Minneapolis law office, was appointed and confirmed as their next vice chair and chief operating partner. She has been with them more than 17 years. Tom Salvino was chosen as one of America’s top financial advisors in America for 2017 in Barron’s magazine for Illinois. This is the third consecutive year that Tom has been acknowledged with this award. Cory Mee was on campus in April as the head baseball coach for Toledo. Unfortunately his team lost to the Irish 8-3. If you are looking for an inside track at Nike, Dan Laboe is their senior director of talent acquisition operations and innovation in Portland. Congrats to the parents of the Class of 2021: Gina (DiRenzo) and John Coffey are excited their son Matthew will be a freshman in the fall. Jennifer (McRedmond) Ragsdale says her first child, Collin, will be on campus too. I wonder if these kids will follow in their parents’ footsteps as dorm presidents. Sarah (Williams) and Lindsay Knapp send word their daughter McKenna plans to study business at Mendoza. Diana (Bradley) Stapleton says her son Sean will be a third-generation Domer in the freshman class, having spent high school in Ireland and the Chicago area. Sarah (Esterline) Sampson says daughter Courtney was on the rowing team at ND and graduated in May with a double major in IT management and Spanish. Her daughters Cally and Cassidy will be together at Purdue next year as business majors and swim team members, so she and Jon Sampson ’91 will then have only seven at home. Betsy (Paulsen) and Wally Crapps send word that Katherine, their eldest, will attend U of Kentucky in the fall. Betsy says more than 90 Mom Proms are held across the country. Visit momprom.org to find a fundraising prom near you. Angie (Baase) and Mike Carpin ’91 are still in the Rochester NY area. Their daughter will attend Penn State in the fall and son Zack will be a senior in high school. Additional congrats to Brad Grabs, who received the William D. Reynolds Award from the Alumni Association during the winter board of directors meeting for his service to children in need. He started the Learning Club of KCK, an after-school and summer program for children in the urban core of Kansas City. It expanded to serve more than 120 children each week. Over 100 volunteer tutors serve at five sites, four of which are located in public housing projects in which the average household income is less than $10,000 per year. Do you know any classmates who started fundraisers or non-profits we should support? Send me details and I will help spread the word. For those who read my last article, Kristie (Rolke) Smith lost her battle with cancer on April 20. Many of her Howard Hall dorm mates and friends celebrated her life in California on May 6. Donations may be made to ND via Stacy Koebel-Harder, director, donor services. Please send updates through our class Facebook page (University of Notre Dame, Class of 1992) or email me. — Jill-Beth (JB) Hayes; ndclassof92@gmail.com
92MBA Save the Date for Reunion
Pam Cahouet recently visited Kerry (Giovanini) Welch in Scottsdale AZ. Kerry is active on the board for Chances for Children, an organization that supports children and families in Haiti. Pam is serving her fourth year as president of AACTA, a nonprofit organization for tennis programs in Annapolis MD. Pam also provides accounting support for Frank Cahouet’s executive search firm, Harbor Cove Partners. Frank recently merged with his brother David to expand the firm’s area of expertise. David Perkins happened upon Bruce Bishop while working on a business deal. David was representing a business owner/seller and Bruce is the CFO for the buyer, Summit Truck Group in Dallas. David and Bruce had not seen each other since they left Notre Dame. Tom DiBari has been with Chartwell Investment Partners for two years. He is responsible for relationships with advisors in the Northeast. Tom and family live in Long Valley NJ. His kids are finishing sixth grade. Daughter Sloane plays softball and basketball, and son Jackson plays soccer and runs track. Paul Kucera is organizing our 25-year reunion. We would really love to see all of you there. Please our class LinkedIn group (University of Notre Dame MBA Class of 1992) to stay informed. Send me updates. — Julie Pendell; 6054 Gabrielle Ave., Ann Arbor MI 48103; 734-680-5635; pendell.julie@gmail.com
92JD Class Secretary — Paul A. Drey;
Brick Gentry PC, 6701 Westown Parkway, Suite 100, West Des Moines IA 50266; 515-271-1765; fax 515-271-1766; paul.drey@brickgentrylaw.com
93 Class Secretary — Anne Marie (Krauza) Yuhas;
1524 W. Calle Escuda, Phoenix AZ 85085; res 623-249-2998; mobile 623-606-7000; amyuhas@cox.net
93MBA Shout Out
Hi everyone. I have no new information since my last update. So, I thought I would remind you that our 25th class reunion will be in 2018. Please let me know if you will be attending. I will include the names in my next update. I hope you are doing well and hope to see you at a football game next fall. Oh, a shout out to Matt Gleason, whose son is part of the ND lacrosse team. Brendan had a great lacrosse season with the Irish. — Tricia Hug Schorr; 12429 Sanderling Trace, Fishers IN 46037; 317-987-5000; thugschorr@yahoo.com
93JD Getting Close to Our 25th and Getting Older
Greetings classmates. I have not heard much from you. While I am tempted to generate a lot of interesting scuttlebutt, the rules for the Class Notes column prohibit me from fabricating. So here we go with the truth and nothing but the truth. Rob Mitchell checked in and reports his retirement from the Air Force in 2005. He practiced law in the real world for a while and is teaching law at the Joint Special Operations U. Rob’s children Tec, Chelsie and Megan, are just as amazing as his bride, Mary. Lynn (Arnold) Kalamaros, being an overachiever, is teaching law students under the Dome part time while also demonstrating outstanding knowledge as she handles Title IV and Title IX administrative investigations. On top of that she has three children: high school, middle school, and grammar school. Charlie Rose has served for a decade as the director of Stetson Law School’s Center for Excellence in Advocacy. Charlie’s daughter is also an attorney (chip off the old block) and his son is a novelist with his second published book due out soon. Kevin Cieply is the big cheese, president and dean, at Ave Maria School of Law. Speaking of big cheese, Mary Yu is an associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court. Before that she was a judge with the King County Superior Court. Jim Fleming runs a division of the North Dakota Attorney General’s office while keeping track of his four brilliant daughters. With all this great news, I have to report a bit of really terrible news. Our classmate Mike Kettle passed on Oct. 27. Please remember Mike and his wife Peggy in your thoughts and prayers. Please pray for me and my family and I will do the same for you. And send me updates to share. Peace and Blessings to you all. — Jamie O’Brien; 15822 Cedar Ridge Court; Granger IN 46530; res 574-532-6860; bus 574-631-9100; jamesobrienesq@yahoo.com
94 Class Secretary — Lynne Russo Hartzer;
ndclass1994@yahoo.com
94MBA Class Secretary — Rodger Laurite;
678-644-0422; rodgerlaurite@hotmail.com
94JD Everyone Welcome
Frank Pimentel has been appointed a US immigration judge in Port Isabel TX, which is adjacent to South Padre Island. He and Gretchen extend a Texas-sized welcome to everyone visiting the beach. Michelle Mancias is training for the 2017 Chicago Marathon, raising funds for the Organization for Autism Research. It will be her eighth marathon. In May she earned her MBA from the U of Illinois, where her eldest son, José, is in the Materials Science and Engineering program. Clint Feddersen checked in from California where he is living with his wife and two teenagers. Clint has been a judge for the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board since December 2015. He plays bass for various bands around LA when he is not out playing shows across the US with the Surreal McCoys. Pat Smith moved his team from Wells Fargo to Morgan Stanley in November 2015 where they opened a private wealth management office for the Minnesota area. Remember that our unofficial reunion game will be the Oct. 28, the North Carolina State game. Please contact Jim Carrig or me for game meet-up information. Also send me updates and news. — Doug Duncan; pdouglasduncanjr@yahoo.com
95 Send News
I am sorry for the radio silence. No news has been sent for quite some time, but we are happy to report we’ve heard from a classmate recently. Dr. Allyson (Hardin) Irom (along with co-author, Dr. Karol Hardin) published a textbook in 2016 titled Español Conversacional para Profesiones Médicas. Allyson has been a professor at Baylor U in Waco TX since 1999. Please send news. Your classmates want to hear from you. — Colleen (Mickus) and Mike Robson; 847-998-1402; colleen.robson@starcomww.com; therobsons@sbcglobal.net
95MBA Class Secretary — Renee Werner;
134 Willow Blvd., Willow Springs IL 60480; res 708-467-0454; reneewerner@yahoo.com
95JD Promotions
Congratulations to Savalle Sims, who was promoted to general counsel at Discovery Communications. She will lead Discovery’s global legal teams, managing lawyers and all legal issues on behalf of the company in nearly 20 worldwide offices. Most recently deputy general counsel at Discovery, Savalle managed Discovery’s litigation and trademark legal teams, handling all legal efforts around Discovery’s intellectual property, including trademark, patent and copyright portfolios. Prior to that, she was senior vice president of litigation and intellectual property for Discovery. Before joining Discovery in 2011, Sims was a partner in the commercial litigation department at Arent Fox, LLP, in Washington DC. Congrats also to Mark Quayle, who was recently named as a member of the leadership team of Cargill’s protein group, in the role of vice president and chief legal officer. He is based in Wichita KS. Mark and his wife Tammy have three children, a high school senior, a sophomore and a seventh grader. Things are also going well for Dione (Ludlow) Hauger, who writes that she is working for the Pierce County, Washington, prosecutor’s office, the second largest prosecutor’s office in Washington State. Dione says, “I am in the high priority offender unit trying major felonies, including homicides.” She adds that she has been married for nine years to “the love of my life, Layne.” Have a wonderful summer. Please continue to send your news and updates to me. — Julia Meister; meister@taftlaw.com
96 Box Full of (No) Letters
Unfortunately, we didn’t receive any updates for this issue’s column. Please reach out with some news! — Kate Crisham; catherine.crisham@usdoj.gov
96MBA Class Secretary — Maureen Maher;
ndmba96news@hotmail.com
96JD Doing Good Things
Fred W. Tiemann helped open a new crisis pregnancy center in Spanish Fort AL called the Women’s Health Center. The WHC offers material and spiritual assistance to women and men experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. Fred is employed as an assistant federal defender in Mobile AL. I continue to serve as president of The Volunteer Lawyer Network, which provides pro bono legal services in a six-county region in northern Indiana. I am employed by Genesis Products, Inc. and enjoy my new role as VP of human resources. If you have news to share, or you want minireunion tickets to the Wake Forest game, or a job in the RV industry in Elkhart County IN, please email. — Chris Spataro; 57027 Wedgefield Court, Elkhart IN 46516; 574-596-2417; chrisjspataro@gmail.com
97 Send Updates
Please look to the fall issue for exciting news from our reunion. Sadly, prior to my May 1 deadline for the Notre Dame Magazine I received no updates. I am sure everyone was waiting for the reunion to regale us with their amazing lives. Stay tuned and please send me updates. — Kate (Fisher) Murray; 1840 Huntingdon Road, Huntingdon Valley PA 19006; kmurraynd@yahoo.com
97MBA Class Secretary — Paul Mongelluzzo;
646-584-7340; dr_paulnd@email.com
97JD Miami Game Get Together
Kate Singer reported that her father and our professor, Tom Singer, passed away this March. Prof. Singer had a passion for excellence in the courtroom and the art of trial advocacy, which he conveyed to his many students. He will be missed and remembered by scores of Notre Dame Law grads. The law school is offering its first annual NDLS Homecoming Weekend on Sept. 29-30. The agenda will include a Friday night cocktail reception, an academic event Saturday morning, and an afternoon football tailgate for the Miami of Ohio game under a tent on the Quad. Jennifer (Girard) Gehrlein started a new job as senior corporate counsel at Fairmount Minerals, which is a publicly traded sand mining company headquartered in Cleveland. Jen’s daughter Maggie will be a freshman in the honors engineering program at Purdue in the fall. Her sons Alex and Ben attend St. Ignatius High School. Jen is planning a reunion tailgate for the Miami of Ohio game on Sept. 30. Contact her for details at jennifergehrlein@gmail.com. — Julie Vales; cell 973-727-5767; juliemvales@gmail.com; john.vales@dentons.com
98 It’s Summer, Wear Sunscreen
Dr. Amy (Farmer) Derick was featured in the January issue of Chicago Magazine. Amy was selected as one of the 12 top dermatologists in the Chicago area. Have an update you would like to share with our class? Please send it my way. Go Irish. — Bob Flannery; rflannery98@gmail.com
98MBA Class Secretary — Joseph Dunlop;
330 N. Rockingham Way, Amherst NY 14228; res 716-625-8470; bus 716-821-9393 Ext. 274; joseph.dunlop.1@gmail.com
98JD A Novel Entry
Revelations, Jasmine Flores Tucker’s young adult novel, debuted in spring. The novel tells the tale of a Catholic teenager whom the Devil attempts to ensnare in a web of deceit and who finds romance with a mysterious member of a secret Catholic military religious order. This synopsis does not do it justice, so look for the book on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. Have news to share? Drop me a line, and fill me in. Also, pay a visit to the NDLS Class of 1998 Facebook page for news and fun. — Chris Putt; res 574-514-3703; crputt@gmail.com
99 This is 40
It seems to be a common theme among groups of ND friends to be celebrating 40th birthdays this year. Happy birthday to all of you, and enjoy toasting with dear “old” friends. Ron Fiesta reminds us that May was our 18th post-graduation year, which means the majority of the incoming freshman class was born the year we graduated. Yikes, where does the time go? He also invites anyone who sees Adam Ortega on Sept. 7 to wish him a happy birthday. Adam is doing well living in Glen Ellyn IL. Clare (Deckelman) Roach, Suzi (Prchal) Worm, Michelle (Viglietta) Joyce, Mary-Irene Slatt, Jen (Busick) Blatt, Maura (FitzPatrick) Ackermann, Amy (Goodenow) Hynes, Cindy (Bohn) Lang, Malin (Stearns) Johnson and Laura Redding reunited in Las Vegas in February to celebrate their collective 40th birthdays. These Cavanaugh Hall alumni enjoyed relaxing, catching up, hiking and enjoying the Vegas night life. A few ND spouses/dads, Brandon Roach, Tim Joyce and Mike Lang were busy that weekend hanging with the kiddos. Congrats to Roese ’01 and Jeremy Ramp on the arrival of their third child, Will, in June 2016. Julie Poulos married Christopher Sims in California in October. Bridesmaids included Kimberly (Gibson) Lees, Jackie (Lievense) Delaney, and Anne (Mackenzie) Carr. Julie works as the director of operations at A Place Called Home, a nonprofit in south central Los Angeles. Andrew Klosterman shared he’s on a six-month deployment in the Western Pacific with his Navy P-8A squadron, the “Tridents” of VP-26. He assumed command of the squadron in May. They are scheduled to return home in mid-October. His wife Kristi is expecting the newest additions to the family in October as they have twins due at about the same time Andrew will be returning home from deployment. Jim Arkedis lives in Washington DC and runs a progressive, national security focused political action committee called 4DPAC. In 2014 he co-wrote his first book on politics, Political Mercenaries, and is pitching a second about diplomacy and rock music. Go Irish and God bless. — Erin (Wysong) Martin; erinmartin03@yahoo.com
99MBA Speaking Out
On April 10, Sean King spoke about the China Sea to Notre Dame undergraduates in Lionel Jensen’s class, “Sex, Freedom, and Economy in Contemporary China.” Sean also recently enjoyed some great lunches with Andy Brummel and Chris Schultz in Chicago and New York. Jason Pistulka was promoted to AVP of talent acquisition at HCA. Scott James has a new book out about creating resilience in neighborhoods, where sustainability meets preparedness. Learn more at preparedneighborhoods.com. Go Irish. — Christy (Hayes) King; christyking@alumni.nd.edu
99JD Class Secretary — Steve Boettinger;
boettinger@alumni.nd.edu