1980s
1980s
80 Reunion 2020, June 4-7
As we make plans for our reunion, please consider making a small contribution to the Class of 1980 Class Fund. These funds help defray the costs of our class activities at reunion and are available for other class projects. Retired Army Col. Joe Barthel says his medical school, Kansas City U of Medicine and Biosciences, will award him the Star-Spangled Banner Medallion. This award exemplifies the university’s core values demonstrated through commitment in service to the US. Joe has 31 years of service that includes Hospital Command at Fort Stewart GA; 101st Airborne Division surgeon, Deputy Command at Fort Knox KY; division chief, Health Services Division, Human Resources Command; and his last year working on the Army staff at the Pentagon for the Army surgeon general, Army chief, and Army vice chief. He had several deployments to Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan. Mark McNally and three siblings met at ND for an interment service for their parents’ ashes at Cedar Grove Cemetery, Our Lady of Sorrows Mausoleum. The service was officiated by Rev. Joe Carey, CSC, ’62, ACE chaplain. Mark will be celebrating at ND again for his daughter’s graduation from the ND ACE program and obtaining her MEd. As with probably the rest of our classmates, he is giving a lot of thought to what retirement opportunities to pursue. Cindy Elshoff Lupica’s daughter, Annelise ’10 was married recently. Many of Annelise's ND friends and roommates were in attendance as was Cindy’s roommate, Andrea Andrews Larkin and husband, Mike Larkin ’79. Also attending were Patty Dwyer and Ray O’Brien, husband and wife, ’79, and ND faculty members Suze and Mike Villano ’83, and Cindy’s brother, Drew Elshoff ’84. Her son, Gregory ’18 will start at Tulane Medical School in August and son Nick ’14 continues to work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is working on a master's in computer science at USC. Annelise graduated from pediatrics residency and begins her four-year commitment to the federal government for having received a full scholarship for medical school from the National Health Service Corps. Cynthia C. Durley MEd, MBA was recognized with the lifetime achievement award during the Institute for Credentialing Excellence’s annual conference, the ICE Exchange. The lifetime achievement award, the institute’s most prestigious award, is presented in recognition of significant and exceptional contributions to the credentialing industry. Phil Jaurigue, chairman and chief executive officer of Sabre Systems, Inc., was presented the Neumann University Presidential Humanitarian Award. The annual award is given to an individual whose life reflects a commitment to serve humanity and empower the underserved in our society; devotion to religious and family values; dedication to excellence; value for philanthropy and giving back; willingness to take risks in the pursuit of vision; and a demonstrated value for education and a positive intellectual life. Phil received the award for his public service, entrepreneurial spirit, and leadership in the Delaware Valley. A group of Cavanaugh Hall residents met up in Louisville KY for a small reunion. In addition to John Tombari, the others in attendance were Val and Todd Carter, Ron Leung, Susan and Mike Mowatt, Pete Guidon, Ruth and Jim Fenton, Lynn and Gary Hoyer, Kathy and Dick Budde, and Lisa and Pete Steiner. They enjoyed a few stops along the Bourbon Trail, an afternoon at the horse races at Keeneland Racing Course in Lexington, touring downtown Louisville, Thunder Weekend fireworks show, lots of laughs, catching up with each other, and some great meals together. Our hearts go out to Kathleen Connely who lost her dad, a Law School grad, and to the families of classmates Jeff Mitroka, Dr. Kenneth Kelly and Jennifer Hughes. Please visit our class Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/notredame80. — Mary Ellen Woods; mew.1980@alumni.nd.edu
80MBA Goodbye NY
Doug Cooper writes that he and wife Judy have left the snowy and unsavory climes of New York in favor of their house in Lakeland FL. He is looking forward to lower taxes and reconnecting with old friends from when they lived there 20 years ago. Doug also shared the news that he and Judy are grandparents to Leo Joseph. Judy continues her work as an author’s agent in the children’s literature world and Doug is hoping to retire around our 40th reunion next year. Speaking of which, Mike Traeger, who so capably hosted an excellent tailgater for our 30th reunion, has volunteered to do the same for our 40th. He will obtain a parking lot space near the stadium and will help coordinate the food and drinks. I, along with our Chicago area classmates, will assist in those endeavors. Mike reminds us that we will have the best chance of securing tickets to the Arkansas game Sept. 12, Western Michigan on Sept. 19 or the Duke game on Oct. 31. Between now and year end, it would be helpful if everyone could send me their preferred dates in order to determine the date which is best for most, and hopefully all those who wish to attend. Mike Previte continues his impressive community and volunteer efforts by working with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee this summer in helping to develop an education series titled “Overcoming Racism for Parishes.” Lane and Joe Bowers recently completed an excellent vacation to the Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park in Montana where, if there was a golf course nearby, I’m sure Joe found a way to play if only to add another hundred yards to his drives. Mike Colbert writes that he just attended his 50th high school reunion at Roxbury Latin in Boston so the thought of our approaching 40th is not too intimidating, and he is looking forward to getting together next fall. He notes that his West Point class has met annually for 16 years. Mike is also very active in the Notre Dame Club of Phoenix and attends most luncheons. I spoke with Bill Homer recently and he is spending the summer at his New Jersey shore home with his wife Mary Beth. Bill still teaches law part time at Temple U and recently moved from his home in Lake Worth to a spot in Port St. Lucie, which they find more convenient. Independence Day saw the birth of Nancy and Walt Zukowski’s seventh grandchild, Liam. Walt writes that they are hosting their daughter, her husband, two granddaughters and a dog while their house is being readied for occupancy, adding that it makes for a fun, busy summer. I’ll say. Finally, for those classmates who haven’t yet provided me their email address or contact information, I hope they will send me a quick email, especially if they have any interest in attending a 40th reunion on campus next fall. I’m sure I speak for everyone who attended the 30th that it was well worth the effort. The classmates who spent a semester in England were especially well represented and had a great time reconnecting. Go Irish. — Joe Kearney; 203-364-0346; jos.w.kearney@gmail.com
80JD Support and Prayers
Please keep sending those cards and letters to Dan D’Antonio as he fights brain cancer. Mark Muedeking reports that Dan really appreciates the support and prayers. Please send to Dan D’Antonio, 140 Turkmar Drive, Aliquippa PA 15001-1400. Dan, we’re praying for you. Congratulations to Jane Farrell on the graduation of her daughter Kate from ND Law School. Jane, what does that feel like having your child relive your own life? Congratulations to Judge Dave Dreyer, who is retiring from the Indiana Trial Bench in 2020. Dave is not “retiring from life,” just from the bench. Thanks, Dave, for your life of service. Here’s to many more years of joy. Judge Dan Buckley is back trying cases on the bench after two years of service as the presiding judge of Los Angeles County. Thanks Dan. Andy Grosso is living in the Georgetown area of Washington DC where he has his own law practice. In May, Andy gave the keynote address on “Big Data, Better Health,” to a conference of the International Lawyers’ Association in New York City. According to Andy, it was the first (and hopefully the only) time that an audience of lawyers was treated to a description of quantum computing and a musical quote from Jefferson Starship’s “Ride the Tiger” in the same sitting. Our 40th reunion is fast approaching and there are several ways to celebrate. Some are celebrating during the fall 2019 Law School Homecoming, the Virginia/ND home game weekend, Sept. 27, 28 and 29. Our new dean, Marcus Cole, will be front and center at the Friday night reception. Others in our class are gathering June 4-7, 2020 for the University Reunion 2020. Others are hosting gatherings in their home cities where several classmates live. Please consider hosting a gathering where you are if you cannot make it back to campus. Let’s stay connected with each other. Send your news, please. Love to all. — Sheila O’Brien; sobrien368@aol.com
81 Honors Galore
Our class is most of the way through our 60th birthday celebrations. Whether you honored this milestone with world travel, a big bash, quiet time with family, or a long moment of solitude, I hope you were able to look back on six decades of life and love with a sense of gratitude for both the good and difficult parts. Only now do I understand what my mom meant when she looked in the mirror at this age and what she saw did not match what she felt on the inside. I can relate. Last spring, Tommy Brilbeck, Dan Charhut, Gerry Jablonski and Jim Slattery got together at Chicago Cuts Steakhouse alongside the beautiful Chicago River. Anne Villaneuve, Stanford PhD, was recently honored by the Genetics Society of America (GSA) as the recipient of the 2019 Genetics Society of America Medal. Anne is recognized for her research on the mechanisms governing chromosome inheritance during sexual reproduction. Her research focuses on meiosis, the specialized cell division program involved in generating egg and sperm cells. Meiosis enables diploid organisms (which have two copies of each chromosome) to generate haploid gametes (which have only a single set of chromosomes). This halving of chromosome number is crucial for sexual reproduction, as it allows restoration of the diploid chromosome number in the offspring formed once the egg and sperm fuse. Got that? Last August, Gilbert Salinas was inducted into the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) Hall of Fame. Gil lead Burbank High School to the state championship game, before choosing Notre Dame over many other programs across the country. He played in more than 60 games for the Fighting Irish, most notably on the way to the Final Four our freshman year. Congrats to Gil. Terry Coonan was recently featured in the campus press for his work as director of the Florida State U Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, an entity dedicated to human rights education and the representation of people, usually immigrants, seeking better lives. Save the date. Our 40th reunion is coming up in June of 2021. Your class officers will be sending you a survey so we can get a handle on what you would like us to plan for that big weekend. All our time in the beer tent? Opportunities for community service? You will have the opportunity to weigh in so we can get planning. Thanks in advance for helping us figure it out. Please join the Class of ’81 Facebook page where about 400 classmates reminisce, entertain, pray, and opine with surprising civility. And please email updates before our Oct. 20 deadline. You are loved members of the Class of ’81 and we want to know how you are doing. Thanks to everyone who has already shared updates and those who are inspired. — Mary Murphy; marymurphy81@alumni.nd.edu
81MBA Class Secretary — E.J. Fleming;
600 Hall Hill Road, Somers CT 06071; flemingiv@aol.com
81JD Autumn Notes
Maureen (O’Connell) and John Hurley recently visited El Salvador. While there, they took a trip to Programa Velasco, a charity doing great work with children and with women entrepreneurs that they support. Maureen and John note that if we're going to solve the Central American refugee crisis, it will begin with creating opportunities for Salvadorans. In addition to Central America, John and Maureen went on a biking trip in the Italian Alps, The Passo dello Stelvio, with son Brian ’13. Lorne Liechty recently had the opportunity to play Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies at the Rockwall TX Community Playhouse. While it was an enjoyable experience, Lorne is not giving up his day job. Georgia and Brian McDonough’s eldest daughter, Morgan, gave birth to their first grandchild, a girl, Mackenzie. Their middle daughter Jane works in New York City as a senior designer at ClassPass, and their youngest daughter, Madison, is a professional ballet dancer with the Miami City Ballet. Also, Georgia is the creator and owner of a ballet apparel company, Bullet Pointe. Brian continues to practice affordable housing law at Stearns Weaver Miller. Bob Allen has been asked by Florida’s governor-elect to advise on Florida Supreme Court appointments and was named to the Judicial Nominating Commission for Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal. He and his family are planning their summer visit to Crooked Island, in the out-islands of the Bahamas, where they enjoy exploring, spearfishing and tracking down Jimmy Buffet. Barbara and John Fitzpatrick are off on a 12-day Baltic cruise that will take them to St. Petersburg. Fitz notes that it is the longest vacation he has ever taken, and that Barb does not really believe it will happen. Ellen (McLaughlin) and Bob Cimala spent time in Germany and France this summer. The real reason for their trip was to attend the Women’s World Cup in Lyon, France. Ellen is representing the US Soccer Federation in the pay equity cases filed by the women’s national team and Hope Solo that have received a lot of media attention. (It was a scouting trip, so to speak.) They said it was a terrific time. Two of their three kids joined them to cheer on the US against the Netherlands. Jean and I also attended the Women’s World Cup in France. While there, we also visited the landing beaches in Normandy for the 75th anniversary, and many other places in the beautiful country. After returning from France, Jean and I went to the wedding of Martha and Fred Miller’s daughter, Betsy, in Detroit. Peter Durand officiated at his niece’s ceremony. Since the wedding was on Fred’s birthday, a special remembrance was made to him. “All in the Family”: Joe Holston caught up with Don McLean at Joe’s niece’s wedding in mid-July. The wedding had a distinct Notre Dame flavor. The bride’s parents are class of 1988; Joe’s brothers Mike ’84 and Pat ’95 also attended; and, the bride’s grandfather, Nordy Hoffmann ’31, played for Knute Rockne in the first game at Notre Dame Stadium. I hope all are well. Go Irish. — Michael Palumbo; 3799 East Peachtree Drive, Chandler AZ 85249; res 480-284-4004; bus 602-262-5931; mpalumbo@jsslaw.com
82 Well-deserved Award
St. Louis County Circuit Judge Michael D. Burton received the Judith S. Kaye Award for Judicial Excellence from the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence at the ABA’s annual conference in Chicago. The award is given annually to recognize service by judicial officers who demonstrate knowledge of domestic and sexual violence, and show exemplary leadership developing courtroom responses to these issues. Michael has been a judge in the St. Louis County Circuit Court since 1999. From 2008 to 2012, he served as the administrative judge of the St. Louis County Family Court. He is the alternative treatment court judge for the St. Louis Circuit Court. He also teaches evidence at the Washington U School of Law. Congratulations on a well-deserved award. James T. Derico Jr. was sworn in as a circuit judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County on January 18 by the Illinois Supreme Court. Darlene Y. Sowell, from Lewis Hall, was the mistress of ceremonies. Greg Jeffries ’83, Stanford Hall, spoke on behalf of the Class ’82. Bob (Zahm) and Mary Beth (BP) Weigel were also in attendance, as was his niece, Naomi Foster, on her fifth-year engineering. Prayers needed: Kathleen Eisbrenner, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister and friend to all whose life she touched, passed away in her hometown of The Woodland TX this past May. She had suffered a devastating injury from a fall in her home and died surrounded by her family. Raised in Munster IN, she participated in the Harvard Business School Strategic Marketing Management program after graduating from ND. She was a true visionary who possessed the innate capability to implement her ideas. In 2010 she formed Next Decade LLC, a liquified natural gas development company focused on LNG export projects. She took the company public in 2017 as Next Decade Corporation. She remained founder, CEO and chairman until February 2018 and was the chairman at the time of her passing. She is survived by her husband, Ray, and children Lynn, Michael, Ray and Michelle and granddaughter Ava Ray. Our condolences to her family. Ermilinda and Francis Tisak lost their daughter Jessica, 27, unexpectedly this year. Francis and Ermilinda have two other daughters, Tricia and Joanne ’07. They can use our prayers. Patrick M. Jank passed away on March 24. He is survived by his wife Mary Wells and children Peter, Sam and Martha. Pat lived in Watertown NY and played lacrosse at ND. He was a physical therapist, a Deaconate candidate for the Diocese of Ogdensburg and very active in his parish. He was a life member of the Glen Park Fire Dept., a member of the Dry Hill Ski Patrol and the Northern Choral Society. Gregory P. Kot passed away on April 22. He is survived by his children Phoebe and Sophie from Raleigh NC. We ask you to pray for Sean Croscadden ’83, who was traveling to ND in May for his niece’s graduation. He suffered cardiac arrest at O’Hare airport and never truly recovered. He passed away in July. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Sean played lacrosse at Notre Dame. He was a dear friend, teammate and loyal individual. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Nov. 2 as ND battles Virginia Tech. This will be our minireunion for the year, so watch for updates and opportunities to purchase tickets. As always, please send your news. — Dave and Tess Lewis; 30 Battle Ridge Road, Morris Plains NJ 07950; cell 973-219-4050; tess@lewislegal.com or dave@lewislegal.com
82MBA Class Secretary — Renée (Amirkanian) Cooper;
reneemsr@aol.com
82JD Aloha, Your Honor
I received an email from Peter Cahill. After nearly 30 years as a trial attorney in New Jersey and Hawaii, Peter began serving as a circuit court judge in Hawaii in 2012. If you’re in Maui, drop by and say hello. Therese (Noonan) and Mark Tallmadge and Bill Raby attended the memorial service for Greg Moore in St. Augustine Beach FL in May. Greg was appropriately memorialized with full military honors. Carol and I had dinner at the Carriage House in May with Wendy and Tim Nickels, and their daughter Grace ’17, who is a rising 3L at ND Law School. Please send me news items. — Frank Julian; ndlaw82@gmail.com
83 Memories and Togetherness
Please keep Clare Padgett, Sean Maloney and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Clare’s father passed away in June. Sean’s uncle Pat passed away at Holy Cross House on campus, also in June. Christopher Temple Davis was in Denver and met up with Sarah McGrath for a short visit. Michele Dietz Chynoweth has asked Mike Perez to be on the book launch team for her latest novel, The Jealous Son. Michele says that Mike didn’t hesitate to join the team and has observed that Notre Dame alumni stick together and support each other. Michele also has offered to assist with reviews if anyone is writing or has written a novel. John Goebelbecker has been working to help raise money to fight pediatric leukemia and fund research cures. He has been doing this work as part of a community/parish team in honor of a local student. If you would like to assist with this effort, please reach out to John through the class Facebook page. I was fortunate to join many University alumni, their families and friends, including Jean Collier and Christina Smith, for a New York screening of the film Hesburgh this spring. The film gave an in-depth view into Father Ted’s life and service to the University, the country and the world. Many of the scenes and photographs shown in the film were from our time on campus and brought back many memories. Congratulations to Ita Rahilly on her election as president of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. Ita assumed office on June 1 and is the 100th president of the society. She is also the partner-in-charge of RBT CPAs, LLP. Ita previously served the society as a vice president and as a director-chapter representative. Be sure to join the class Facebook page if you have not done so already. Search for “Notre Dame Class of 1983” on Facebook and click “join.” We have more than 450 members of the class on the Facebook page and it provides a great opportunity for you to reconnect with class members and get information on what everyone is doing. As always, a big thank you to all who have reached out with news to share about themselves or classmates. Please continue to send updates. — Louis J. “Chip” Denkovic; 520 West 43 St., Apt. 32G, New York NY 10036; cell 917-399-8784; bus 212-537-1781; ldenkovic@gmail.com
83MBA Class Secretary — John Hilbrich;
630-677-2725; john.hilbrich@gmail.com
83JD Recognition
Congratulations to Diane Rice, who was recognized as a 2019 Northern California Super Lawyer in the field of intellectual property and general commercial litigation. Her law firm, Hosie Rice LLP represents primarily inventors, emerging technology companies and commercial ventures. She reports that in the past two decades, Hosie Rice LLP has recovered billions of dollars in intellectual property, business tort, antitrust, and energy cases. On a side note, Diane reports that two of her three children are in law school (Yale Law and NYU Law). She and her husband (also a lawyer) hope that their youngest daughter, a freshman at Princeton, will perhaps choose a different career. I am excited to report that I have been named the vice chair of the board of directors for the new Merchants Bank in Northfield MN. Please send me an email with an update on you or a classmate for this column. — Ann E. Merchlewitz; Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, 700 Terrace Heights No. 30, Winona MN 55987; cell 507-450-6609; bus 507-457-1587; amerchle@smumn.edu
84 What a Great Reunion
I’m sorry I missed our 35th reunion because I heard it was fantastic. If you missed it, be sure to check out the photos posted in the Class of ’84 Facebook page by William Dawahare, Joe Chan, Stephen Abowd, Beth Ann McLane, Glenn Kane and many others. Some of the highlights included seminars on a wide variety of topics by Sheila (Shunick) Burton, Dennis Ryan, Vice Admiral Mat Winter, Dave McAvoy and Mark Rolfes, a reappearance by the ’84 Rockers band led by Dan Meakin, and a packed class Mass. Some quick updates by my roving reporters include that Nancy (Scribner) Ruscheinski is a PR guru in Chicago with two college graduates, and Tricia (Romano) and Pat Barry are back in the liquor business and treated classmates to their new prosecco, Bariano. Look for it on shelves soon. Patrice (Purcell) DeCorrevont is at Wells Fargo and Amy Seach is at a Connecticut boutique bank with twins in college. Elise (Dalton) Brennan is in Baltimore doing real estate and planning a wedding for her elder son. Sue (Facenda) Walsh practices law in Chicago and has three teenagers. Steve Cecchettini does insurance in New Jersey and Lisa Fabian is doing great in Ft. Wayne. Greg Marita and Chris Davis ’83 are Minnesota empty nesters since both sons graduated from college. Maureen Canavan and the fabulous Farley women, Julie (Vormezeele) Dunn, Ellen (Beston) Harris, Sheila (Shunick) Burton, Julie (Heinz) Montgomery and Emily Burns Roeder made it an extended get-together with a VRBO stay in South Bend to start the fun early. Classmates came from afar: Ted Boueri made the trip from Lebanon, Pat Carroll from California, Josie (Kaiser) Froelke from Arizona. Others came from near: Mindy (Fey) Kinser from Indiana, Beth (Hards) and Mark Stechshulte from Ohio and Anne (Wernimont) Kritzmire from Illinois. Sightings were also reported of Marty McGinn, Ann Pfister, Rev. Paul Kollman and Rev. Gary Chamberlain, Molly (Malone) Sund, Mike Gillepsie, Mike Yunkas, JoJo (Batista) Palutsis, Rachel (Allen) English, Mo Milota, Kathleen Cavanaugh, Linda (Legault) Quinn, Pat Malley, and Chris (Callahan) McCabe. London friends Patty and John (Cromie), Cathy (Chopp) Hinkley, Mickey Keneally, Dan Osborn, Maureen (Hesburgh) Ryan, Dan Koop and Andy Tucker reconnected. Of course, Alumni Association Executive Director Dolly Duffy should be commended for all she does to make things like our reunion so special. If I missed anyone who wants to add their information, please send it to me and I’ll do a reunion recap number 2 in the next column. In non-reunion news, Sandy and Bob Simoni traveled to Brussels to visit Sandy and Kevin McCarry. Kevin is finishing four years there after five years in Paris, all for Boeing. On a sad note, please remember in your prayers two classmates who passed away recently. Joe Cosgrove passed in July after a long illness and Dr. John Dages passed away in June. He served the mental health community as a clinical psychologist and will be sorely missed by his wife Teresa and his family. — Martha Avery; mayoravery@comcast.net
84JD Alumni Association Award
The Notre Dame Alumni Association awarded the 2019 James E. Armstrong Award to Ann (Stockmann) Firth ’81, ’84JD for her distinguished service to Our Lady’s University. Established in 1978, the James E. Armstrong Award is conferred on an alumnus/alumna who is a current employee of Notre Dame and has rendered distinguished service to the University. Ann’s service to the University has spanned 33 years. It began when she was appointed the University’s inaugural director of residence life. Later, Ann took on other leadership roles, eventually becoming the associate vice president for student affairs. In 2011, she joined the President’s Office, where she serves as vice president and chief of staff, working closely with University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, CSC. Ann manages the staff and operations of the President’s Office and communicates with internal and external constituencies. She serves as a primary liaison with the University’s Board of Trustees, helps coordinate the initiatives of the President’s Leadership Council, and serves as part of several key University committees. She is also responsible for the planning of University-wide events hosted by the President’s Office, including the annual commencement exercises. Ann and her husband John ’81, ’84JD are the proud parents of five children, including four Notre Dame graduates: John ’10, Molly ’12, Kate ’13, Jim ’16, and a current Notre Dame senior, Clare ’20. Upon receiving the award, Ann stated, “As I look at the list of past recipients, I am humbled, as so many of them taught me by their examples what it means to serve Our Lady’s University. It’s a great blessing in my life and that of my family to be part of Notre Dame, to try to pass on all that we have received from Notre Dame and the Congregation of Holy Cross.” Please send any updates to my attention. — Matthew J. Dunn; 19834 Timbered Estates Lane, Carlinville IL 62626; 773-294-6851; mdunn19834@gmail.com
85 Class Tailgate
Remember to mark your calendars for the 2019 class tailgater (BACT) which will be held Saturday, Sept. 28 at the ND/U of Virginia game. In case you are on the fence about attending, check out these reviews from BACT 2018 that Nancy Walsh shared: “Wow, whew! The BACT is the kind of place where you can wear stirrup pants and a polo shirt with the collar up without shame. Plus, you drink free if you have a mullet or a perm.” Look for the BACT flag and join in the fun. Former Zahmbie Danny Maier is president of the Notre Dame Club of Ann Arbor and plans an official bang-up tailgater for when the Irish take it to Michigan on Oct. 26. The tailgater, chaired by Kyle Brindza and featuring several ND football players, also presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have your photo with Johnny Lattner’s Heisman Trophy. Advance ticket sales only, so email Danny at annarbor.president@alumni.nd.edu. How many Domers live in Ann Arbor? More than 800, believe it or not. Tom Reidy wrote that his youngest daughter, Meghan Reidy and Sheila Roohan ’18 (the youngest daughter of Ed Roohan) were in Notre Dame’s ACE 25 this summer and lived next door to each other in Alumni Hall. Tom and Ed were roommates all four years in St. Ed’s. ACE 25 is a Notre Dame teaching fellowship program of talented, faith-filled college graduates who aim to renew and transform Catholic school classrooms. ACE teachers form a select cohort of the nation’s top emerging Catholic school teachers and leaders, and through ACE’s innovative instructional model, they develop the skills and knowledge necessary to serve some of the most under-resourced schools in the United States. Also, Tom’s daughter Colleen Reidy ’13 and Ed’s daughter Mary Kate Roohan ’12 were close friends during their time at ND. Now both are clinical mental health professionals. Tom wrote, “Ed and I couldn’t be happier with it all. Lots of Irish memories created. The fact that all these daughters are now committed to service to others is not lost on us either.” Former roommates Paul Johnson, Will Weidman, Mark Richards and Dave Sobczak had a minireunion at the Final Four in Minneapolis last April. Paul and his wife Cleo live in Minneapolis and hosted the event. Paul wrote, “Beer flowed plentifully (catching some of us out of practice) while we caught up on years of everyone’s lives and checked off a bucket-list wish at what some would argue was the best Final Four in history. The years melted away and it was 1985 all over again. We swore it won’t be another 20 years before we’re together again.” Dawn Roth Lindell, senior vice president and Rocky Mountain regional manager at Western Area Power Administration (WPA), has been selected as one of Colorado’s Top Women in Energy for 2019. The award, presented by the Denver Business Journal, recognizes 40 risk-taking women who are changing the energy industry in Colorado each year. Dawn was nominated for the award by her coworkers at WAPA. She began at WAPA in 2013 as the senior VP and chief information officer, managing more than 200 IT specialists working with traditional and operational technology programs across a 15-state area. In 2018, she took the helm at the Rocky Mountain regional office where she leads 350 employees in marketing and delivering reliable, cost-based federal hydropower to customers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. The office also manages more than 3,400 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. Throughout her career, Dawn has been active in the utility IT sector, serving as the chair of the Large Publix Power Council CIO organization and Pikes Peak Regional Communications Network Board and the Rocky Mountain Electric League board. She also co-founded the Western Cyber Exchange, now merged with the National Cybersecurity Center. Finally, I have sad news about the passing of a classmate. Tim Cannon of Telluride CO died in a hiking accident on July 8, 2018. His wife, Amy Cannon, reached out to share the news. Tim enjoyed a successful career in banking and loved running and the outdoors. A devoted family man, he also spent a great deal of time volunteering in his community. “Tim and I meant the world to each other,” Amy shared. “Our intimate family included our steadfast children, Morgan and Erin Pihl. Our closeness as a family of love transcends death. We miss him immeasurably.” Tim’s obituary is posted online at montrosepress.com/obituaries/tim-cannon/article_7c2d749c-9a2e-11e9-9fc8-97c199c468af.html. Please keep his family in your prayers. — Kathleen Doyle Yaninek; yanzlaw@comcast.net
85MBA Class Secretary — Dom Yocius;
dyocius@ameritech.net
85JD Rice-Hasson Lecture Series
Notre Dame Law School’s Program on Church, State and Society has named a new endowed lecture and conference series the “Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture Series” for our classmate Kevin “Seamus” Hasson, his wife Mary Rice Hasson ’84JD and his father-in-law, the late and beloved Prof. Charles Rice. The Rice-Hasson Distinguished Lecture Series will bring accomplished and influential scholars and jurists to Notre Dame to engage students, faculty and the entire Notre Dame community. Seamus, a quadruple Domer, founded The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, dedicated to protecting the fundamental rights of all religious believers and institutions in the courts of law and the court of public opinion. Mary is the Kate O’Beirne Fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC and directs the Catholic Women’s Forum, a network of Catholic professional women and scholars. Kevin and Mary are the proud parents of seven children. Maureen Cafferkey will be spending more time in South Bend, at least until 2023. Maureen’s son, Michael Cafferkey Doyle, is a freshman in the College of Engineering. Maureen and her husband Mark Doyle live in the Cleveland area, where Maureen works in the Office of the Solicitor for the US Department of Labor. Tom Ajamie joined his clients Duran Duran and several NASA astronauts at Cape Canaveral for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing. Please tell me about your small steps and giant leaps. Send your news to my new email address. — Kelly Kiernan Largey; kellyjd1985@alumni.nd.edu
86 We Are Notre Dame, Amen
We lost another classmate. Sheri (Richards) O’Dell fought a brave battle against breast cancer for over a decade. Please pray for her husband Chris, her sons Ryan and Connor, her mom and dad, her family and her friends. I was on campus in June and lit a candle for Sheri and her family on behalf of all of us. Sadly Mo Stubbs ’85 lost her battle with ALS in June. Please keep her sister Anne Stubbs and cousin Rick Stubbs, along with his wife Carolyn Hagan Stubbs in your prayers. Please also keep one of our classmates in your prayers. She is in a tremendous amount of pain and battling a very serious and life-threatening condition. A candle was lit for her from all of us. For years Mark Herkert battled cancer and helped fund new studies and therapies through his incredibly grueling fundraising events. In March he said, “Almost exactly one year ago, I left for Nepal to meet my MMRF (Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation) Everest team. Our climb to Everest basecamp was incredible for many reasons: the beauty of the Himalayas, pushing ourselves at altitude in frigid temps through driving snowstorms, the challenge of frozen pit toilets at 16,000 ft and smoky yak dung stoves. And yes, we raised an amazing amount of money for myeloma research, $400,000. But perhaps the most impactful part of the trip was bonding with other survivors, myeloma doctors, and caregivers who have walked in my shoes, or know intimately what it’s like to have this cancer. This year I will be running the Boston Marathon in April (well done) and trekking to Patagonia in November with some MMRF Everest teammates.” Both events are for MMRF, with his goal to raise $20,000. Mark sent a link to me, but I wanted to share: endurance.themmrf.org/2019Boston/markherkert. Martha Sommers spent much of 2018 being diagnosed, treated, and slowly recovering from recurrent breast cancer. She is now healed and works to regain her strength. She said the silver lining was visiting with classmates on the road. She had a super fun dinner with Carol (Rosenthal) and Mike McClory near Portland OR. Carol works in fundraising and Mike in law. Carol has three sisters who are breast cancer survivors and has been a great encourager. In Boulder, she saw Karen (Povinelli) Lochhead and Mike Lochhead ’88, and their three daughters. Mia, their second, is a freshman at ND. Karen is a nephrologist, and Mike is at a biotech firm. In Michigan, she saw Ann Mauro-Vetter, who with her husband Tim, love being new grandparents. She saw them again this summer at their daughter Maria’s wedding. She also saw Anne Attea and her daughter Bela when they visited Chicago. Anne and Bela were planning a trip to Guatemala, which is where Bela was born. I had a great time catching up with Pat Hayden over lunch when he was passing through NYC this summer. He was road tripping and visited Suzanne Ritger ’87SMC and Joe Pheiffer ’82 in Red Bank NJ where they went to see Hesburgh. He also visited ’86 Arkies Jay Valade and Brendan Miggins up at Farmingham CT at Brendan’s place. They toured Collinsville and the architecturally remarkable Avon Old Farms Prep School. We learned that Mike Allegretti’s eldest son was applying to law schools, and his middle son, who was applying to medical schools, got engaged last winter. His youngest just graduated high school and will be playing baseball in college. — John Spatz; 201-264-2459; john@jjscb.com
86MBA Class Secretary — Maureen (Mullan) Decker;
21855 Town Gate, Macomb MI 48044; res 586-468-7713; bus 586-741-4305; mobile 586-817-1317; maureen.decker@mclaren.org
86JD Meeting of the Minds
At my desk one day, I got a call from Peter Lutz and Bert Sugayan. Bert was in Rochester NY following his Cornell U softball-playing daughter around. There he met for lunch with Peter and Tony Monaco. Peter is a commercial real estate lawyer (purchases, sales, leases, etc.) with Bond Schoeneck & King since returning to upstate from Dallas 25 years ago. Margot and Peter are proud parents of four: Fiona, 16, Pete, 14, Will, 12, and Maura, 7. Tony is the CEO/GC of Rochester Colonial Manufacturing Corp., a window and door manufacturer and contractor in Rochester. Vicky and Tony have twin sons, Nick and Adrian, living in London, and working in finance. Nick will have relocated to San Francisco by the time you read this. As empty nesters, the Monacos sold their suburban house for downtown living and are also scouting for a place in southern Italy. If that happens, Tony says ND classmates will be welcome to visit. I heard from Felecia Rotellini while she was in Sheridan WY visiting her dad, age 104, and the rest of her family. As you know, Felecia lives in Phoenix where she was recently re-elected chair of the Arizona Democratic Party and is champing at the bit for the 2019-20 election cycle. For her day job she is the director of regulatory compliance for DriveTime, since 2015. Wayne Malecha reported in from Dallas (Jackson Walker LLP) where his “days are filled fighting crime and keeping the world safe for real estate owners and investors.” In the not so recent past, Wayne handled the sale of the historic Texas Waggoner Ranch, the largest single-fence ranch in the US at more than 500,000 contiguous acres. He also handled a sale of a recording studio to a rock star (whose name you know) and represents an NBA all-star in a variety of real estate matters. Wayne is trying to generate interest among the class for attending the ND/Wisconsin game at Lambeau Field in 2020. Bob Cessar is approaching 30 years with the US Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh. Bob has held every position in the criminal division and is economic crimes chief, heading up the Opioid Strike Force. To date, he has 26 successful prosecutions of doctors, pharmacists, and health care workers and the removal of hundreds of thousands of illegal pills from the streets. All three of Bob’s children are through college, including one ND grad, Katie ’01. Dealing with lawyers practicing below the standard of care (allegedly) are Chicagoans Nancy Montroy, who runs the underwriting department at Attorneys Liability Assurance Society, Inc. (ALAS), and Jerome Frazel, at Berkley Select Insurance Company. Jerome claims to hear lawyers’ confessions all day long and can tell you who to stay away from in the AmLaw 200. While Jerome continues to plug away, spouse Nancy Wilder ’87JD, retired after 22 years as a criminal prosecutor with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Their son, Paul, a 2015 Dartmouth grad, is a MD/PhD candidate at NYU, while their other son, Michael, a 2017 Reed College grad, is working in the Chicago theater scene as a writer and script coordinator. Mike Mulhern (Clover Lane Partners, LLC) and C. Tom Evans (senior VP and GC at Kemper Ins.) met for beers and a Cubs game in July. Tom attended the wedding of the daughter of Leslie and Jim Landenberger (EVP/GC, Amalgamated Bank of Chicago). I guess my invitation got lost in the mail. Please send me your news by the Oct. 15 deadline. — Brian Bates; bbates@abblaw.com
87 State of Affairs
Hello, everybody. I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable summer. As this is published, many of us will have just finished packing kids off to college, and some of us are empty nesters for the first time. Best wishes to those who are entering this new chapter in life. You’ll be shocked at how much time elapses between grocery store runs and loads of laundry. I received an interesting email from Alfredo Dominguez, one of our Venezuelan classmates. He writes that he relocated to Panama about five years ago, after becoming concerned about the state of affairs in his home country. As the situation there has deteriorated, he’s considered writing articles or perhaps a book to explain what happened to those of us less familiar with his country’s history. Alfredo has a company that distributes oil production tools and technologies throughout Latin America. Additionally, he started a construction business and this year will be finishing his first project, consisting of 365 homes for low-income families. This first project has been so successful that he’ll begin the second phase later this year: 2,000 additional homes. Also, Alfredo was able to meet up last December with Gil Bucio, Oswaldo Egas and Roberto Noce for the Cotton Bowl. It was an unfortunate outcome for the Irish, but they had a great time catching up with one another. Ellen McDonald sent in a quick update. She’s in the San Francisco Bay area, working as an attorney at a cyber security software firm. She’s got two sons, 15 and 18, and her eldest is headed to the U of Edinburgh as a freshman this fall. Way to score the good travel destination, Mom. Brian Reilly and his wife Sheila (Kanehann)’87SMC sent great news: their youngest, Grace, will follow her three siblings to Notre Dame as a freshman this fall. Brothers Jake ’16 and Matt ’18 live in Chicago and Quinn will graduate with a degree in American Studies next spring. Brian really enjoyed the previous column about Sean Callahan’s van tour. Apparently, the van was also functioning as a kind of shipping service for Sean’s friends, and Brian lost some items that were in transport when the van was broken into en route to Boston. If you happened to be watching the Tonight Show on April 4, you may have caught our own Lisa (Thummess) Kovalik correctly answering a trivia question about Game of Thrones. Lisa, Connie (Klenke) O’Connor, Leah (Weis) McDonald, Meredith (Healy) Duncan and I were in NYC together, and since Lisa’s daughter Kendall ’17 works for NBC, seeing the show was a highlight of the trip. Knowing us, Kendall had us on strict orders: “do not embarrass me, Mom.” But of course, Jimmy Fallon had no way of knowing that Lisa was a staffer’s mom, and he randomly addressed her on air. Lisa did Kendall proud. She looked beautiful, correctly answered the question, and appropriately refrained from any embarrassing fan girl behavior when Kit Harington shook her hand. If you’d like to admire Lisa’s great poise under pressure, google “Game of Thrones or IKEA?’ on YouTube. Finally, Tom Sullivan ’66 class secretary, contacted me to spread the word about the Independent Notre Dame Footballers Medical Research Project, which is a medical study involving 500 former Fighting Irish football players. It investigates long-term neurological issues related to playing college football. Additional information can be found at independentndfootballers.com. Enjoy football season, and please keep in touch. I enjoy hearing from you. — Meg Hamilton; meghamilton@yahoo.com
87MBA Hello Everyone
I am sad to inform you that our classmate and friend Patti Cassidy passed away on June 21 after a short but courageous battle with cancer. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family. The updates are few and far between. Please send any and all updates to me. I will host tailgates for the Virginia, Virginia Tech and Navy games. We will be in the usual location. Just look for the Canadian flag. All are invited. Keep the information flowing. We look forward to hearing from you. Go Irish. — Perry N. Dellelce; Wildeboer Dellelce LLP, Suite 800, Wildeboer Dellelce Place, 365 Bay St., Toronto, Ontario M5H 2V1; 416-361-5899; fax 416-361-1790; perry@wildlaw.ca
87JD Time Flowing Like A River
John Farnan reports that he and his wife, Stacy, have three children out of school and off the family payroll, all living in St. Louis. He has two more in college and a rising high school junior. John litigates at Weston Hurd in Cleveland and is one of several classmates still at their original firms. Pat Mackin checked in to advise that he is still working on getting over the Cubs beating the Indians in the 2016 World Series, although finally beating his niece, age 8, at a video game is helping his mental progress. Tony Bonacci remains Phoenix-based but spent much of the summer in the Pacific Northwest with his collegiate wood-bat summer baseball teams, the Cowlitz Black Bears and the Ridgefield Raptors. The teams play in the West Coast League, which operates in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. Tony and his wife, Caroline, founded the Black Bears as an expansion team in 2010, and the Raptors in 2019. Their three sons live and work in Portland, and their daughter is a senior engineering student at Gonzaga. Chip Lewis reports that his wife, Ana Maria, has graduated from Notre Dame with a master’s in educational leadership through the Alliance for Catholic Education’s Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program. Liz (Roberts) and Tim VerHey’s daughter, Madeline ’19, received her BA from Notre Dame this past May and will be attending Boston College Law School. Tim and Liz also have a son studying music and history at Kalamazoo College who is likely on the law school path as well. John Owens is a senior advisor to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority assisting with preparations for the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion meetings in 2020, and also working with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion preparing guidelines for financial regulators across Africa on responsible digital credit. Linda Weaver is helping form a caregiver’s ministry at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, Linda would love to hear from anyone whose church or other organization has a good program, website or other resources to help support caregivers. Linda can be reached at lweaver@wcgrp.com. Please send me news to share in this column or in our class email loop. — Mike Gurdak; 202-879-3939; mpgurdak@jonesday.com
88 The Company We Keep
In July, Chris Simms completed his year-long term as president of the Notre Dame Alumni Association Board of Directors. When asked about the most memorable points of his tenure, Chris replied, “The highlights were working with the NDAA staff and the fellow alumni regional directors and working to increase alumni engagement with ND. The Alumni Association has multiple programs for us to stay connected. It was great learning about all of them. I would encourage all to consider serving on the board.” Chris formerly served as the chair of the Black Alumni of Notre Dame. Professionally, he works as a clinic administrator at Novant Health. Along with wife Yolanda (McCullum) and sons Sean and David, he lives in Concord NC. Thanks for your service, Chris. Paul Reuvers shared two snippets from Bloomington MN. First, this summer, he and Teresa welcomed their second grandchild, Reagan Pierce Reuvers, whose parents are Zach ’11 and Colleen ’11SMC. Second, the youngest of his five, 6 foot 11 Nate, has entered his third year as a starter for the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team. While she hasn’t been back on campus recently, Martha (McGuire) Boyle has kept company with many Domers and classmates over the past few years. The ND/Texas game was the setting of her 50th birthday celebration in 2016. Then, in honor of our 30th reunion, she headed to Ireland for a wonderful time with two Farley friends, Noeline Morrissey and Laurie (Vaughan) El-Naggar, along with her husband and friends from Iowa State. She even managed to squeeze in a visit with roommate Dianne (Summers) Haimes and her husband, David ’87, when they traveled to the vicinity of Holstein IA for their son’s sporting event. Martha has put her mass communications degree to productive use in her family business, McGuire Auction Co., Inc., which she owns with her father, Jim ’51, who retired just three years shy of his recent 90th birthday and passed the reins to Martha’s husband, Marty. Peggy (FitzGerald) and Bill Wood attended the US Senior Open at the Warren Course to cheer on their brother-in-law, Scott Parel. While there, they saw Tom Yemc and daughter Kate (ND freshman), Teresa (Sheppard) and Mike Meyer, John Monteiro, Paul Meissner and mom Lois, as well as Mary (Pedulla) ’91JD and John Lake. Lastly, Brother Eric Pilarcik, OFM, died unexpectedly in his sleep on July 2. A realtor back home in Michigan after graduation, he moved to LA to pursue his dream of becoming a screenwriter, only to join the Franciscans, for whom he served the last several years as vocation director. He'll be remembered for his joyful presence, his ability to accompany people as they discerned life decisions, and his knack for turning ordinary moments into humorous and cherished memories. Rev. Kevin Sandberg, CSC, delivered the homily, and Maureen (Kelly) Behrens, her husband Bill, Brad Drawer, Steve Jackson, and Mike Hawley attended the wake and funeral in the Serra Chapel of Old Mission Santa Barbara, where Eric's ashes are inurned. (Steve and Mike were roommates of Eric in St. Ed’s.) Kevin, our class chaplain and a dear friend of Eric for 34 years, compiled this tribute. John Flory also reached out to make sure that Eric’s death was properly noted, and he too mentioned what a joy it was to be in Eric’s presence. John also shared that Eric hailed from Clarkston MI and leaves behind three sisters and countless loved ones. May he rest in peace and may his memory continually inspire joyful aspirations. — Laurine Megna; PO Box 6847, Avon CO 81620; 970-390-9742; magnet@vail.net
88MBA Class Secretary — Ron Linczer;
1251 N. Eddy St., Suite 300, South Bend, IN 46617; mobile 574-302-2832; bus 574-631-3591; rlinczer@nd.edu
88JD Class Secretary — Lori Coticchia;
lcoticchia@aol.com
89 Class Secretary — Noel (Murtha) DiNome;
noel.d.dinome@live.com
89MBA Class Secretary — Maggie DeVoe; 612-845-9662;
maggiedevoe@yahoo.com
89JD Class Secretary — Jenny O’Leary Smith;
701 Big Sky Trail, Cary IL 60013; 312-504-2298; jennyoleary@comcast.net