2000s
2000s
00 Class Secretary — Laurie (Strotman) O’Malley;
ndbug3@hotmail.com
00MBA Class Secretary — Georgette (Leonard) Stubin;
46917 Polo Drive, Canton MI 48187; mba2000@alumni.nd.edu
00JD Good News, Sad News
I learned from Chanda Kirchner that our dear classmate, Tammy Greenwald, passed away in November 2017. Tammy dedicated her career to those who most needed her help. She was a staff attorney in the Portsmouth office of Southeastern Ohio Legal Services (SEOLS). She was particularly passionate in assisting domestic violence survivors. Our classmates sent many touching messages to Tammy’s family in their time of loss, which were truly appreciated. In happier news, Joe Reid reports that after many years of writing fiction unsuccessfully on the side, his first novel came out July 1. It’s a thriller called Takeoff and follows an air marshal-turned-investigator’s first case as he tries to protect a teen pop star from a mysterious gang of gunmen that is trying to kill her. Joe says that pursuing publishing has been a wild ride. After getting up at 4 a.m. to write for over a decade, it’s finally happening, and it’s extremely surreal. He adds that he’s nearly done with the sequel that will come out in 2019. God bless. Go Irish. — Brian J. Murray; 178 Cranston Court, Glen Ellyn IL 60137; res 630-881-5181; doubledomer2000@gmail.com
01 Remembering Rachel Gernerd
It is with the deepest sadness that I share the news of Rachel Gernerd’s passing on July 21. Rachel embodied the very best of the Notre Dame spirit: loyalty, dedication, determination, selflessness, good humor and optimism. All of us will remember her wit, overwhelming positivity, love of travel, bright smile and devotion to her friends and family. She was also dedicated to her fellow students, committing so much of her time and energy to student government and Class of 2001 volunteer activities. Rachel served as class president during our senior year. She is survived by her parents, Patty and Mark Gernerd ’72, her sister, Meredith Gernerd Burton, her brother, Mark “Bubba” Gernerd ’05, her brother-in-law, Drew Burton, and nieces, Emma and Mary Kate Burton. During her final days, she was surrounded by loved ones, including several of her Howard Hall dormmates and other close Notre Dame friends. A University scholarship fund has been created in her name. More details are available online at giving.nd.edu/rachelgernerd. Please keep Rachel’s family and friends in your prayers. Susie (Fritts) Fiesta reported that Air Force Lt. Col. Linda Thierauf took command in July of the Heavy Airlift Squadron at the NATO Air Base in Pápa, Hungary. This is the only multinational C-17 squadron and supports airlift requirements for the US and 11 European nations. Linda was previously stationed at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage AK. Linda is joined in Hungary by husband Joe Napolitano and daughters Ella, 6, and Nora, 3. Thanks to those following and contributing to the @nd2001alumni Instagram account. We’re connected with more than 10 percent of the graduating class, that is 243 as of July 20. If you are on Instagram, please tag with the class name and if you aren’t following, please make a follow request. — Michael Anselmi; 415-860-7130; manselmi@alumni.nd.edu
01MBA Class Secretary — Dominic Pang;
dpang@panglaw.com
01JD A Couple Updates
Christina Rissler was inducted as a fellow in the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers in April. To be admitted, you must be nominated, have practiced law for 15 years, have substantial experience in commercial finance law for at least 10 years, have achieved preeminence in the field of commercial finance law, and have made repeated and substantial contributions to the promotion of learning and scholarship in commercial finance law. Congrats, Christina. I’m excited to share that in June, after 16 years in Phoenix as a state and federal prosecutor, most recently as the chief of the organized crime drug enforcement task force/asset forfeiture section at the US Attorney’s Office, I started a new position as the managing assistant US Attorney with the US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Florida, Pensacola Office. The office has approximately 30 employees, and handles criminal, civil, and appellate cases. I sold my house, made the cross-country move, and am enjoying living by the beach. I was also fortunate to receive recognitions from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, and the US Postal Inspection Service for my work on narcotics and money laundering investigations. Although I relocated, my contact information is the same. Please friend me on Facebook so I can add you to our class page. — Jonell Lucca; (602) 677-3266; jonelllucca@yahoo.com
02 Fall Notes
Kelly (Perry) and Matt Buyske live in St. Louis MO and welcomed their seventh child in January. Peter Conrad joined William, Benedict, Leo, Maximilian, Theodore and Miriam in an active household. Peter was baptized at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in St. Louis with his godparents Angela (Chiappetta) ’03 and Brendan Fitzpatrick ’03. Matt is a commander in the Navy and commutes across the river to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois to work his staff job at the US Transportation Command. Kelly is the ringmaster of the circus and claims to have a tenuous grip on reality as she slings meals and diapers about the house. Drop them a line if you are looking to take in a Cardinals game and some delicious post-game custard at the renowned Ted Drewes Frozen Custard a couple blocks from their house. Kate (Caballero) Horanburg and her husband Ryan welcomed their fourth boy on April 4. He is named Regan Corless. He joins the crew of brothers Ryan, Rory, and Riley. I hope everyone has a great fall and please email more updates. — Lisa (Sestile) Corcoran; lsestile@alumni.nd.edu
02MBA Class Secretary — Melissa Hurd;
hurdmc@yahoo.com
02JD Congrats DA Kevin
On May 15, Kevin Barton was elected the next District Attorney for Washington County, Oregon (located in the Portland metropolitan area). The race was a contested election and saw an influx of out-of-state money and interest (including tweets from at least one Hollywood star). Kevin said it was truly heartwarming that so many of our former NDLS classmates (and even a professor!) helped support him from afar. Rachelle Hong noted that she had no idea that by marrying Kevin she would end up on a political mailer or a TV commercial. Congrats to Kevin on the hard fought race! Abe Moore and Andy Mayle organized a fundraiser to dedicate a bench on campus in honor of Tony Mendoza, who passed away suddenly last year. In a testament to how much Tony was loved and is missed, the entire $20,000 needed was raised within just two weeks, with many contributions coming from our classmates, as well as members of the ND Law Classes of 2001 and 2003. Abe and Andy tell me that the bench will be located on the south end of ND Stadium, just east of the Frank Leahy statue. The memorial plaque should be in place before football season. They hope classmates will “stop by, have a seat, and raise a toast to Tony. We think he’d like that.” July 26 was the date of several mini class reunions across the country. In NYC, Cari Marino, Ryan Costantini, Adrian Delmont, Ginger Gray-Trefry, Trish O’Donnell, and Stephanie Niehaus gathered at Rockefeller Center. Meanwhile, that same night in Chicago, Elizabeth Wons Kappenman dined with Beth Garino and me. Keep the reunions coming! Megan Glunz Horton; 521 Elmwood Avenue, Wilmette IL 60091; res 847-256-2335; megan.g.horton@gmail.com.
Class Secretary — Megan Glunz Horton;
521 Elmwood Ave., Wilmette IL 60091; res 847-256-2335; megan.g.horton@gmail.com
03 Sad News, Happy News
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of two of our classmates. First, Keenan alumnus David Choe passed away April 28 after a short bout with cancer. David was married last September to Christy Hill and found out he had terminal cancer five months later. Also, Paul Harris passed away unexpectedly. Paul leaves behind his wife Nicole and twin girls, Taylor and Hadley. They will be greatly missed. Please keep their friends and families in your prayers. In other class news, Kay (Scanlan) and David Wolff have welcomed their third child, Maggie, who joins brother Charlie, 5, and sister Elizabeth, 3. Kay and David went to high school together, reconnected in Chicago after college, and live in Milwaukee where Kay worked as a nurse practitioner until Maggie’s arrival. Rene Perez was featured in the Miami Herald for his success at CONCIERGEpad, an iPad-based app that allows schools to discreetly screen all visitors, checking them against sex offender registries, banned-persons lists, and mug shot databases. Rene launched CONCIERGEpad in 2014, and it is now being used in 250 schools. Finally, my wife Meredith and I are happy to announce the birth of our daughter, Juliette Elizabeth, born July 17. Henry, 20 months, is excited to be a big brother. Go Irish. — Joshua Gentine; jgentine@alumni.nd.edu
03MBA Class Secretary — Rosemary Guillette;
9 Messenger St., Unit 7, Plainville MA 02762; rguillette@alumni.nd.edu
03JD Class Secretary — Lawrence A. Ward;
206-903-8817; ward.lawrence@dorcey.com
04 Autumn Notes
Thomas Fisher and his wife welcomed their second child, Cade Thomas Fisher. Their daughter Ella Lynn turned 5 this summer. The family resides in the south Denver suburbs. Veronica Rivero got engaged to boyfriend Teddy Wyder in her hometown of Lima, Peru. The couple was in town for Veronica’s grandmother’s 90th birthday and Teddy surprised her with an amazing proposal that she got to share with her family. They met in Hawaii at the wedding of Michael Burkholder ’03. Teddy is a Wisconsin grad, but his brother Drew Mitchell ’02 went to ND and started Rent Like a Champion, so he’s a huge ND fan. We are short on updates this month so please send me your announcements to share. It is less than a year until our 15-year reunion. I hope many of you will be able to make it. — Carol Martino; carolmartino10@gmail.com
04MBA News from San Antonio
Kate and Ben Bauman welcomed Elizabeth June (Ellie) into their family in July. Before Ellie’s arrival, the family relocated from Seattle to San Antonio after Ben accepted an offer to be USAA’s senior strategy officer, technology and digital. Keep the updates coming. — Harry Howisen; hhowisen@gmail.com
04JD Class Secretary — Elizabeth Miceli;
emicelilaw@gmail.com
05 Class Secretary — Kristin Boyd;
Credit Suisse, 11 Madison Ave., New York NY 10010; 317-523-1195; kristin.boyd@gmail.com
05MBA Update
Michael Stroud and wife welcomed their third child into the world in August. Evan Patrick Stroud was born on Aug. 1, and has a name fit for a future Domer. Mike is director of the Center for the Future of Surgery at UC San Diego. Please send your updates for the next column to me or to the Notre Dame MBA Class of 2005 Google Group by emailing at ndmba2005owner@googlegroups.com. Take care and good luck in life and work. — Himanshu Gosar; hgosar@alumni.nd.edu
05JD Visiting with Classmates
When my wife was part of her college friend’s wedding in Boston in early June, I took the opportunity to visit with some of our classmates who call New England home. First, I met up with Myra Michail, who serves as managing director and counsel for John Hancock Financial Services. At John Hancock, she devotes her practice to international project finance deals, among other things. She moved to Boston two years ago after spending eight years in Chicago. Next, after touring the fantastic Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, we met up with Jeff Christoforetti in Cambridge for a beer in Harvard Square. After many years representing companies in M&A deals, Jeff is the co-founder, chief strategy officer and general counsel for CraveLabs, which provides geospatial intelligence services to assist companies with marketing campaigns. That night, my wife and I had a wonderful Italian dinner with Jennie Sullivan and her husband, Bob MacDougall, in Boston sharing memories from law school, stories of our honeymoons in Italy and South Africa, and tons of home renovations. Finally, we traveled out to Waltham MA for lunch with Meghan (Rhatigan) Holmes. She is the associate general counsel, litigation, for Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. We loved hearing Meghan tell us about what she, her husband Joe, and their two kids have been up to the last few years. Back here in Cleveland, I had a chance to watch Cortney (McDevitt) Marchetti give a talk to entrepreneurs on her experience with startup companies at JumpStart’s Startup Scaleup 2018. She serves as the director of talent management at OverDrive, Inc., and runs Ampersand Consulting, an HR strategy and consulting firm. As you would expect, her presentation was fantastic. — Adam Russ; 1386 Lakewood Ave., Lakewood OH 44107; aruss@alumni.nd.edu
06 Happy News Abounds
Jonathan Christman has been elevated to partner at Fox Rothschild LLP in Blue Bell PA. Jon represents clients before the United States Supreme Court, federal appellate and trial courts and state courts in cases involving the First Amendment, class and collective actions and federal employment laws. Katrina (Anderson) and Patrick Wilkinson were married in Estes Park CO March 3 with several Domers in attendance: Amelia (Hoffman) and John Anderson ’05, Raquel (Ferrer) Harrison, Joy (Doverspike) Davis, and John Baker ’05. The happy couple resides near Boulder CO where camping, hiking and biking options are plentiful. Bridget ’09MSA and Eric Lindfelt welcomed their third son, Aidan, on Aug. 10, 2017. Brothers Patrick and Declan are excited to have another future Domer in the house. Monica (Van Eyck) and Paul Jancha welcomed their third son, Caleb Jude, in December 2017. He joins brothers William and Gabriel. Paul is an attorney in St. Joseph MI and Monica was recently promoted to associate teaching professor in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Notre Dame. Siri and Evan Walsh had a boy, William Ernst, on June 9 in Chicago. William and dad are excited for football season. My dear friends Kate (Distler) and Ken Michelson welcomed their first child, Ava Hannah, on July 11 in Boston. Kate is the program director for the Boston Combined Residency Program at Boston Medical Center. — Anna (Skoien) Lall; annagracelall@gmail.com
06MBA Class Secretary — Andrew Sama;
276 Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame IN 46556; cell 574-339-6115; bus 574-631-5206; nd.mba.classof2006@gmail.com
06JD Class Secretary — Amir Hassan Sadaghiani;
sadaghiani@alumni.nd.edu
07 Class Secretary — Stephanie Pelligra;
stephanie.pelligra@gmail.com
07MBA Businesses and Families
Lisa and Chris Saldana live in Dana Point CA and have a son, Jack, and a daughter, Grace. Chris is a director at BMO, covering the West Coast for debt financing to private equity firms and privately owned companies across nine states. Katherine (Berry) Christlieb serves as senior finance manager of logistics at Starbucks. Katherine had a chance this summer to speak with business luminary Howard Schultz before he stepped down as chairman of Starbucks. Schultz received the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC, Award in Business Ethics in 2007 from Mendoza. Marilyn and Alan Rambaldini are proud parents of a baby boy, Dante, born on July 13. Keep sending me your notes. Go Irish. — Tim Ponisciak; tponisci@nd.edu
07JD Class Secretary — Patrick A. Salvi II;
Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., 22 W. Washington St., Suite 1600, Chicago IL 60602; 312-372-1227; psalvi2@salvilaw.com
08 Cheers to 10 Years
Our 10-year reunion was a fantastic celebration with a huge showing from our class. We enjoyed tons of quality time on the quad, festivities in campus venues old and new, and a special dinner with remarks from University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, CSC, ’76 78MA. Thank you to those who traveled from around the world. Reunion 2018 reminded us all how blessed we are to have such a strong and loyal class. If you are interested in participating in ’08 initiatives, such as helping with these quarterly Class Notes or future gatherings, please contact us. We are always thrilled to welcome new ideas and approaches to keep our class connected. Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers as we mark a decade since graduating. Now, onto some great ’08 updates. Mallory McMorrow is running for State Senate in Michigan's 13th District, just north of Detroit. She ran unopposed in the primary and will be on the ballot in the November general election in what has become one of the top races in the state, and one that’s garnered national attention as well. Katy Sidrow became a physician assistant in 2016 and wrapped up her post graduate fellowship in plastic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in August. She’s moving to the Washington DC area to continue her career in plastic surgery and can't wait to get back to the East Coast and become an active member of the Notre Dame Club of Washington DC. In March, Amy Walker graduated with a Master of Science in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has since returned to Washington DC, where she works as a manager of infectious disease policy at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. During her time in Europe, she added stamps from nine countries to her passport. This past April, Caitlin Conant was named political director of CBS News. In her new position, Caitlin helps guide the network’s political and campaign coverage. Prior to joining CBS News in May 2016, Caitlin spent eight years working in the US Senate and on various political campaigns. Kathryn L. Hough joined Black Marjieh Leff & Sanford LLP, a full-service Metro New York-based law firm. Kathryn’s practice focuses on general liability, premises liability, and claims arising out of alleged New York labor law violations. After completing a PhD in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State U, John Larson along with Theresa (Klear) Larson’08SMC moved to Birmingham MI where John took a job with General Motors. While in Michigan, the family has been growing. Two little boys, Arthur and Julian, joined their daughter Ariana. — Megan O’Hara; classof2008@alumni.nd.edu
08MBA Class Secretary — Megan Ulrich;
meganlouisefitzgibbons@gmail.com
08JD Congratulations and Celebrations
I am happy to report the newest additions to our classmates’ families. Nicole (Somers) and Andrew Soukup wrote in to announce the birth of Mackenzie Julianna on June 1. Mackenzie joins big brother Aidan and big sister Natalie. Nicole and Andrew are excited for their new family of five to visit ND and cheer on the Irish. In other big news, Andrew was elected partner at Covington & Burling LLP in September 2017 in their Washington DC office. Nicole also shared that they have traded city life for the suburbs in northern Virginia. Join me in congratulating Guilherme Costa on his new roles of vice president, general counsel and secretary to the board of trustees of Ithaca College, starting fall 2018. G, his wife Jen, and sons, Jack, 4, and Oliver, 1, are excited for their new adventure and move cross country to Ithaca NY. In his new role, G will be responsible for providing executive and administrative direction over the college’s legal affairs. Finally, the Class of 2008 Mock Trial Award Fund has been established at ND Law School in honor of Kyle D. Smith. You can donate at donate.nd.edu. Under “Designations” mark “Kyle D. Smith Class of 2008 Mock Trial Award.” This is an expendable scholarship, meaning that we will be able to award the scholarship if we have money in the fund. Please be generous this year and in years to come. — Marie-Therese Mansfield; mtmansfield@jumptrading.com
09 Doing Better Than Fine
Class president Joey Brown married Darcy Loeb in a beautiful ceremony in Portland OR. A rowdy contingent from the Class of ’09 joined the celebration. Dan Niceswanger tied the knot with Kayla Mayers on a beautiful July day in Fort Wayne IN. Sean McNichols and David Ladao were groomsmen for the occasion. Rick Ward, Paul Macias, Stephanie O’Leary, Liz Lefebvre, and Nicole Ladao ’11SMC. were also in attendance. Andrew Matasic and Craig Wiborg perfected riding a unicycle with one person on the other’s shoulders. John Avila married Abigail Heider on June 30 in Richmond VA. Will Loftus served as a groomsman. Several former members of the Band of the Fighting Irish bass section were also in attendance. Please visit the Notre Dame Class of 2009 Facebook Page to reconnect with members of the class. If you have any additional news or announcements, please contact me. Go Irish. — Megan Flynn; megflynn7@gmail.com
09MBA Class Secretary — Shawn Pulscher;
801-336-7344; spulscher@alumni.nd.edu
09JD Class Secretary — Josh Rinschler;
josh.rinschler@gmail.com