2010s

10 Celebrating

Sara Seidler and Matthew Camus were married in May 2018 in South Bend. The wedding party included Kylynn Fontaine, Jackie (Mirandola Mullen) Gonzales, Brian Hagerty, and Jim Naughton. They live in Columbus OH and are awaiting the birth of their first child in July 2019. Monika and Chris Luken welcomed their second child, Nolan Perry, on Jan. 12. He joins big sister Nora. Nolan was baptized on May 5 at St. Michaels Catholic Church in Independence OH. Classmate Andrew Cavanagh is Nolan’s godfather. Samantha Williams and Eric Johnson welcomed their first child, daughter Sydney, on Jan. 17. Lindsay Morris Morgan and John Morgan welcomed their first child, son Ryan Lee, on March 3. Alyssa (Moya) O’Rourke and Matt O’Rourke ’06, ’14JD welcomed their first child, son Theodore James, on March 4. He was due to be baptized June 1 in the Log Chapel by Rev. Joe Carye, CSC. Godparents are Joslyn (Moya) Nettey ’06, Alex Nettey ’06, and Katherine O’Rourke ’08. Congratulations to the happy families. Hanna Mori was named state director for Sen. Cory Booker’s New Jersey office in February. She previously served as the senator’s deputy state director. Enjoy your summer and keep your eyes out for information about our 10-year reunion in 2020. Send me your updates. — Matt Molloy; ndclass2010@gmail.com

 

10MBA Another Quarter in the Books

Nicole Phillips was elected to the Alumni Association Board of Directors. She has served as the president of the ND Club of Columbus for the past couple of years and is excited to give back as the regional director for the Ohio Valley. She resides in Columbus and works in corporate strategy for Nationwide Insurance. Special thanks to Nicole for all she does for her fellow alumni. Ted Kwartler continues to be on the move. He is heading to Switzerland to be a guest lecturer at St. Gallen U for the Global School in Empirical Research Methods program. He will be leading a one-week workshop for PhD candidates in natural language processing. Even better, his wife Meghan and kids Nora and Brenna will join him. The family will be exploring cheese and chocolate while Ted is tied up in the classroom. His wife Meghan recently launched an SQL course for DataCamp.com that in the first month has already been taken by over 300 learners. Garrett Meyers welcomed a new addition to the class of 2040. His daughter Greer Catherine Myers was born on Aug. 15, 2018. Garrett lives in Dallas and is a VP at Wells Fargo where he manages an OEM vendor finance program. I’m looking forward to next quarter’s update. If you have news send it my way. Go Irish. — John Gerberich; cell 847-331-4707; jgerberi@alumni.nd.edu

 

10JD Class Secretary — Jennifer (Hernandez) Laffitte;

10310 Southwest 128^th Ave., Miami FL 33186; res 305-322-7154; bus 786-762-3815; jherna11@alumni.nd.edu

 

11 Honors and Families

Congratulations to Army Capt. John (Jay) Rowley, ROTC graduate, who was selected as one of five Army officers for the Olmsted Scholarship. Jenna ’10 and Soeren Palumbo welcomed their son, Milo (Class of 2041), on Dec. 30. Laura (Schneider) and Franco Zarama welcomed their son, Damian Jorge Zarama, on Jan. 10. Meggie (Campbell) Garcia ’11SMC and Bernardo Garcia are living in Kailua HI. Bernardo is a company commander with 1st Battalion, 3d Marines, and Meggie is teaching at the base school. Daughters Evelyn, 7, and Gigi, 4, love the beach, gymnastics, and jiu-jitsu, and never want to leave Kailua. Eileen Bingle Adams and husband Kevin Adams ’16MSBA recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary. They have no children or pets but adopted a robot vacuum named Clark. Stephanie DePrez graduated with a master’s in music from UCLA, where she was the graduate commencement speaker for the Herb Alpert School of Music. She sang the lead role of Susan B. Anthony in the opera The Mother of Us All with Opera UCLA and performed twice with Grammy nominated Seraphic Fire as an ensemble artist. In August, she was part of the Aspen Music Festival’s first annual professional choral institute. She splits time between Denver and Vienna, Austria. Annette Esquibel has moved to Minneapolis to work as a market researcher and looks forward to meeting the Twin Cities ND alumni family. Please send updates. — Evan James; ndclass2011@gmail.com

 

11MBA Marriages and Babies

We are pleased to welcome lots of new Domers. Carla and José María Guillén got married on March 23. They live in Madrid and would welcome anyone who happens to come by. Chris Wiesehan joined them at the ceremony. Marina and Tony Petro welcomed Zoe Ann Petro on Jan. 22, 2018. She was happily welcomed by her parents and two dogs, one of which recently got a new citronella collar. Kelsey and John Burgess welcomed Evelyn Marie on Jan. 4. Andrea (Antelo) and Rafael Deheza live in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. They’ve been married for four years and have a daughter Adriana, 3, who loves to wear ND gear. Rafael is CEO of Triplex Ltda., a home appliance distribution company in Bolivia. Rebecca and Erik Haass welcomed Isabella, their third child and first girl, in July 2018. Sarah Beck married Christopher Honecker on March 23 and they began their marriage with a honeymoon to South Africa. Kirsten and Linc Verlander welcomed Peter Vagn Verlander on Jan. 16. He was happily welcomed by his sister, Aliena Maddux Verlander, who was born May 16, 2017. Chris Orenchuk was selected out of 1,500 applicants for a short-term assignment in Stuttgart, Germany. He left behind his current role and solely concentrated on developing new and innovative customer support for Bosch’s consumer goods divisions. He will return to his day-to-day work in early July. Meg Howat just moved to a new university job and loves it. — Mimi Wilfong; 515 Northwest Highway, No. 1711, Irving TX 75039; 903-714-4988; mimitwilfong@gmail.com

 

11JD Varied Paths

Elizabeth Adams ’08, ’11JD guest lectured at Notre Dame in March regarding energy regulation. Just days earlier, she rode in the Iris Krewe in the New Orleans weekend parade. She is a woman of many colors. Meghan Sweeney Bean ’08, ’11JD won her Supreme Court case, Dawson v Steager, regarding intergovernmental tax immunity. Megan Wold interviewed Amy Coney Barrett at an ND club event in DC. And on the other end, Samantha Winter McAlpin took a deposition at a gun range, with gunfire in the background. Caitlin Dahl ’06, ’11JD and Matthew Cirenza ’06 welcomed baby Hailey on March 20. Carolyn O’Connell and Michael O’Connell ’06, ’09JD welcomed Conrad a day earlier, March 19. Is it too early to announce arranged marriages for month-old babies? It looks like this one is locked in. Send updates my way. — Lauren Sharkey; lksharkey@gmail.com

 

12 Wedding Announcement

David Grau and Rachel Tran were married on Aug. 25, 2018 at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego. Fellow Domers from Farley and Knott Halls in the wedding party included Melissa (Woo) Siochi, Anmar Siochi, Alyssa Morones, Kaley (de Nicola) Study, Alex Study, Joe Sorice, Katie (Herbig) Sorice ’12SMC, Daniel McHugh and Hans Helland. — Tyler Harmsen; tharmsen14@gmail.com

 

12MBA Class Secretary — Chris Villani;

christopher.villani@gmail.com

 

12JD Got Scoops?

Hello classmates, I hope you're all doing well. Only a few of you sent in updates and I’ve been spending a lot less time on Facebook getting my own scoops, so this will be relatively short. First off, as is tradition, the babies: Cooper Gallimore and his wife Catherine welcomed their second son into the world on Oct. 17. Jude Arthur Gallimore, aka JAG, and his brother, Walker William Gallimore, are hanging out with their parents in Knoville TN. Cooper recently left the public sector to act as sole in-house counsel for PerfectServe, Inc., a healthcare tech company. He loves living the in-house generalist life, and the extra time it gives him to hang out with his family. Brendan Geary reported on family and job-life. He’s still working at the Department of Justice in the National Security Division and is on a special assignment in the Eastern District of Virginia. His son is turning 4 this year and will be attending his first Notre Dame football game in the fall. Further, Brendan is elated to report that as of this coming academic year, he will have four nieces and nephews attending Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross. This means he has his choice of dorm room couches to sleep on when he comes for that football game. Claire Leatherwood Slebonik sent along an email, which I will jealously note has a super-cool signature with the ND monogram. She just finished up teaching her first semester as an adjunct at NDLS. She taught a course called “Legal Topics in Intercollegiate Athletics.” Claire had a blast teaching it and is still working as an assistant athletics director of policy management for Notre Dame. From the number of positive adjectives in her update email, I gather that she's really loving it. Finally, Alvin Adjei reports that he has been actively working on a screenplay about a young lawyer who, after spending a few years as an ADA and a plaintiff's lawyer in an unnamed large town in Texas, decides to strike out on his own and start a new firm. After a few years, this attorney, who is named “Shmalvin,” gets a case that will test the limits of what he’s willing to do for his clients. I asked Alvin if this was autobiographical, and he strongly denied any connection to real life events. He expects to shop it around to the studios in early 2020. Thanks for the updates, please keep them coming. — James Champlin; james.c.champlin@gmail.com

 

13 Midnight Grind

Hello classmates. Thanks for reading the whole magazine all the way to Class Notes. I write to you from the waning hours of my overnight shift, so any spelling errors or ill-conceived attempts at humor can be taken as evidence of delirium. I only received a handful of updates from the last issue and found out that I had missed two wonderful updates back in August. A few of our classmates were recently engaged. First would be Elizabeth Klinepeter and Chris Vanckunas back in August, and they’re set to be married in 2020. I was apparently derelict on my email account this month and am late to the celebration of their engagement. My good friend Tom Nevins Oliver recently became engaged to Ysabel Salanga, meaning she’s either a saint or she’s never actually met him. Gong Weng recently became engaged as well, to Caroline Daniel. They met, dated and got engaged without telling many other guys from Sorin, which is probably why it was successful. There are a few weddings coming up as well. Ryan Lion and Ivey Summerlin are set to marry May 26 in North Carolina. Ryan also recently matched to a pediatrics residency in his hometown of San Francisco. I tried to convince him to that Cincinnati is a fine place to live, but he kept going on and on about weather and the ocean, or something like that. My fiancé has until July 13 to pull a Maggie Carpenter. We’ve got one more baby ’13er born, to Anthony and Olivia Cossell, and one on the way this summer to Chelsea Howe Sitter. Anthony is getting his MBA at IU, and Chelsea is an accountant at Ernst & Young. Speaking of children, Maureen McQuillan is going to start her clinical internship in child psychology at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, through IU school of medicine. She defends her dissertation and graduates her PhD program this summer. Apparently, Derek Novacek is wrapping up an impressive clinical internship at UCLA. For career news, we’ve got two classmates recently ordained. Rev. Kyle Sladek was ordained for the Diocese of Green Bay on June 30, 2018 at his home parish of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, with his mother Mary Ann ’72SMC and several fellow graduates in attendance. Dan Samide served as a deacon and is to be ordained this spring in the Diocese of Cleveland. Javier Pineda and Rebekah (Wielgos) Wojtysiak ’13SMC were in attendance as well. Kyle will be a priest at Holy Cross and St. Katherine Drexel parishes in Wisconsin. This should come as a relief for him, because I imagine being a priest in Green Bay also comes with the responsibility of Dominic Lucero’s salvation, which is no small endeavor. These are the only updates I’ve received since the last issue, please keep sending updates my way and I’ll include them. Cheers. — Chris Champlin; Cincinnati OH; nd2013updates@gmail.com

 

13MBA Babies, Burgers and Brands

Andrea Sanchez and Luis Mireles became the latest members of our class to join the parent club as they welcomed Eric Matthew in February. The little man is an ND fan and already rocking the Irish gear. The family lives in Houston and Andrea works for ExxonMobil. Nick Jones is continuing in his entrepreneurial ways. He sold his business, Chow Public Market and Eatery, and started a burger company called Good Burger. They have five locations and are slated to have 12 by November. Based on the on-line reviews, a visit to Boise ID should be on your to-do list. Kasia Prouty moved to Cleveland and is now the brand manager at Smucker’s for soft and chewy dog treats. If you are wondering what food to get your fur babies, check out Pup-Peroni and Canine Carry Outs and support your classmate. They sound pretty tasty, I’m a little jealous that they aren’t for humans.  Well, I’ve been writing these notes for more than five years. I’m happy to keep doing it, but if anyone out there disagrees with my adjective selection or thinks I misuse gerunds and wants to give this a shot, let me know. Otherwise, send me your updates before the next deadline of July 20. I hope you’re having a great summer. — Nick Imgrund; 314-775-7364; daimgrund@yahoo.com

 

13JD Class Secretary — Alex Blair;

apblair@gmail.com

 

14 Class Secretary — Michael Nichols;

miketnicholsii@gmail.com

 

14MBA Class Secretary — Jessica Bonanno;

407-808-7148; jbonanno@alumni.nd.edu; Krick Cahill; 518-598-4222; kcahill1@alumni.nd.edu

 

14JD A Few References

As I write this, Game of Thrones is finishing its last season. I know this will be published weeks after the untimely deaths of probably all the characters, but I could not resist working in a few references. I have great memories watching episodes in law school with many of you. If you are not a fan, I apologize in advance. Congrats to Alyssa ’10 and Matt O’Rourke on the first birth of house O’Rourke, Theodore James O’Rourke. Theodore’s primary mission is keeping his parents awake through what probably feels like an endless winter to Matt and Alyssa. He boasts a 4.99 success rating. Special congrats to Libby ArcTan who was elected to the Young Lawyers Section Council of the State Bar of Indiana. This makes her the district representative for Elkhart and St. Joseph counties. Translation: Lady Libby is warden of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties. She is also still dominating the stage and serves on the board of directors (small council) of the South Bend Civic Theater. Final shout out goes to Rob and Carter Isham for adopting the cutest Welsh terrier, Zelda. Though in her mind a dire wolf, she is a cute bundle of endless energy. This matters to you because little Z has an Instagram page: @zeldafitzisham. “My feed needs less puppies,” said No One, ever. If you have an update and it’s not listed here, please email. Thanks. — Rachel Hanley; rachelrhanley@gmail.com

 

15 Class Updates

It is an exciting summer for Mariah Flenniken, who finished her MS in speech language pathology in May, and married William Turner Boles on May 25. Taylor Boyd got engaged to Eric Peace, who subsequently booked a six-month trip to Africa to avoid wedding planning. Alexandra Hippen and Josh Smith got engaged in Paris in November. They are engineers with Ford and live in Michigan. Joanna Lagedrost passed away in October. As many may remember, the Ryan Hall alumna spent her four years at Notre Dame in a wheelchair due to the devastation of Friedreich’s Ataxia. Despite the limitations from her disease, Joanna loved Notre Dame, her many friends, and all that the school stood for. Even after graduation, she often emailed relatives updates about the University asking, “Can you believe ND did this?” These emails were rarely about football. Joanna will be sorely missed by her parents, three siblings, and extended family and friends. Anyone wishing to contribute in her memory may do so at CureFA.org. Michael Conry and Joe Corsaro are participating in The Mongol Rally this summer. They will drive a one-liter engine car 10,000 miles from London to Mongolia. They are participating for two great charities: Ramp Less Traveled and CoolEarth. To learn more about the rally and donate to the charities, visit fleetwoodyak.com. Follow their adventures and sure-to-be disasters on Instagram @FleetwoodYak. — Emily Flores; eflores2@alumni.nd.edu

 

15JD Update from Our East Coast Classmates

 It has been four short years filled with very long days since we left NDLS. It is hard to believe. Hopefully everyone caught the Law School’s profile about our classmate Jessica Binzoni and her amazing work for the nonprofit organization she founded, HOPE + FUTURE. If not, you can find it at law.nd.edu/news-events/news/jessica-binzoni-15-j-d-iraq-hope-plus-future.We have a few updates from our colleagues on the East Coast. Kristen Macher lives in Philadelphia and works for Dechert’s real estate finance practice group. Word is she can close deals faster than she can crush an eating competition record. She took over classmates Chaz Enerio and Krissie Connolly’s former apartment, à la Friends, and will be traveling to Italy this fall. Fellow Philadelphian Jae Kim is continuing her legal career at DLA Piper, specializing in FDA regulatory compliance and litigation matters impacting clients in the life science and consumer product industries. If you need travel tips, contact Jae. She has been racking up the miles, most recently to Japan and Hong Kong. Erin (Wurst) McCourt is also an East Coaster now. She and husband Andy McCourt ’12 are living in Boston and Erin is a legal staffing consultant at Beacon Hill Staffing. She loves being in a city that is filled with history, but close to the beach. Meseret Araya is living in Washington DC and working for US Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. Email me if you have any life updates to share. — Alisa Finelli; alisafinelli@gmail.com

 

16 See You Next Issue

It snowed in South Bend in April, bringing back good memories of graduation three years ago when it was 32 degrees. Good times. Class Notes deadline came at one of our busiest times at work, sorry! Check back next issue for updates. Email me—I’d love to hear from you. — Bridget Doyle; bdoyle3@alumni.nd.edu

 

16MBA Babies, Babies, Babies

Hannah and Thomas Thomas welcomed Lucy Wright Thomas into the world on April 5. The Thomas family resides in St. Joseph MI. Emily and Brinker Dailey are the proud parents of Hudson London Dailey born April 3. Brinker and Emily were married in February 2017 and live in Atlanta. Janet Yiu and Justin Chaudoin are loving life with daughter Juliette Jia Chaudoin born May 2, 2017. Juliette is a true California girl with a love for avocado, cheese and the beach. Lauren and Vince Lynch have a lot to be excited for. They were married in May 2016, welcomed their daughter Stella into their lives in 2017 and are expecting a son this summer. The Lynch family lives in northern Kentucky. Qi Peng and Lei Hong celebrated the birth of Oliver Enshu Hong on May 13, 2017. Shea (Hillis) and Josh Sawyer are proud parents of Avery born May 8, 2017 and Aiden born Dec. 28, 2018. We know there are more babies out there, but we only publish updates with your consent, so please send us any and all life updates. Congrats to all. Go Irish. — Kelly Chase; 320 W. Illinois St., Apt. 2116, Chicago 60654; res 952-270-7830; kchase@alumni.nd.edu; Claire Kenney; 7533 Aspect Drive, Apt. 309, Granger IN 46530; res 734-751-2354; ckenney2@alumni.nd.edu

 

17 Our Teachers

It has been two years since graduation, which means some of us are graduating from teaching programs, including ACE. We would like to highlight some of those individuals who are inspiring the next generation. Jack Assaf explained his experience with teaching succinctly when he said, “Teaching teaches you to be ready for anything. Some days you must be a teacher, but most days you are working as a counselor, mentor, coach or even a bit of a drill sergeant. It’s a beautiful challenge to work and learn to strive to be exactly what each student most needs in a given moment.” He will continue a career in education post ACE. Elena Silla is finishing her second year in ACE as the fourth-grade teacher at Saint Cornelius Catholic School in Oakland CA. Teaching has a tough work-life balance, but she finds time to enjoy all the natural beauty and food the Bay Area has to offer. Between lesson planning, grading, and ACE coursework, she is also organizing and running in the ACE Marathon in Oakland. Down in rural south Louisiana, Shannon Hodges is serving as a Teach for America corps member, teaching 10th grade biology at Livonia High School. She works with about 120 students, leading them in laboratory experiments and preparing them to take their LEAP state tests. Additionally, last summer she had the opportunity to serve as the Area Health Education Center educator where she worked with college-bound high school students as they volunteered at the local hospital, completed their college applications, and considered majors and careers in the health sciences. Adam Pasquinelly has been a high school science teacher in Scottsdale AZ for two years. He teaches biology, chemistry and anatomy at (coincidentally) Notre Dame Preparatory Academy. He will start applying to medical school this summer. Kristen Ochs have been challenged in ways she never thought possible while serving as an ACE teacher. Being a young teacher is a unique experience that allows her to connect with kids and fill a role that she thinks many of them desperately need filled. Kristen is grateful for this experience, which taught her important lessons she will carry forever about people, faith, and her own strength. Maura Doré has been a Teach for America corps member in the West Englewood community of Chicago, teaching 5th grade math and science. She has developed strong relationships with her my students and their families. They invite her to their birthday parties, meet her high academic expectations, and sometimes accidentally call her “mom,” which makes everyone laugh. This fall she will be matriculating to the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. For Yaa Dankwa, her past two years of teaching middle school in Atlanta has taught her that teaching means a lot more than just showing up each day. Hours of preparation and planning go into the lessons before the students even get there. When the students are there, part of teaching is seeing who they are, even outside of the classroom and trying to help form who they will become when they leave class. Post ACE, Yaa will move back to Columbus OH and continuing this vocation God called her to do. Congratulations to Gabrielle Rogoff, who will tie the knot with Daniel Passon ’16 in June. It will be a gathering for many of our classmates including maid of honor Hayden Bauer. If you would like to be featured, please contact me. — Celanire Flagg; cflagg@alumni.nd.edu

 

17MBA Babies, Weddings, Jobs Galore

We have lots of updates for the Class of 2017. First, I’m excited to share some baby news. Frank Skeen and his wife welcomed their second child, Calvin. Chris Moffo and his wife welcomed their second child, Eloise Grace, on April 13. The family happily lives in their new home in the suburbs. Hans Rohr and his wife are expecting baby number 5, a boy, in August. Now onto wedding bells. James Huang got married on March 16 in Taiwan. Classmates Matt Beck and Mike Ferrigno traveled to the festivities. Allison Paddock is getting married on Aug. 2 in Boulder CO. Andrew Roehl will be marrying Amelia Gayle in November; they live in Charlotte NC. On the career front, Andrew has also graduated from Bank of America's consumer MBA rotational program, moving into a role within the stress testing division. Also at Bank of America is Tiffany Lee, who was promoted to vice president, consumer lending business support manager. Finally, Matt Dudevoir has taken a position as an alumni startups manager at the IDEA Center at Notre Dame. He also bought a house in South Bend and adopted a second cat. Congratulations to all, and please continue to send me your updates. Go Irish. — Mary Tomasik; mtomasik@alumni.nd.edu

 

17JD Please Send Updates

This is a call for announcements. Our first official update will be next issue. Please text or email me all life updates, big or small, that you would like to share with our class. I look forward to hearing from you. — Lauren Nottoli; 640 E. Michigan St., No. D246, Indianapolis IN 46202; cell 803-269-4979; laurennottoli@gmail.com