1980s
1980s
80 Humble Brag
In the last issue of this magazine, your editor was featured: “Mary Ellen Woods now closes each Class of 1980 column with a link to the class Facebook group.” Also included was Ron Zier ’52, Ed Zier’s father. Please join our group (facebook.com/groups/notredame80/). Mark your calendars, Reunion 2020 is June 4-7. Paul D’Allesandro and Rich Branning grabbed dinner and laughs in the Silicon Valley. According to Rich, Paul looked great. The NYSE bell rang for the Livongo IPO. Joe Carey joined the team to celebrate a successful launch. Rick Stanley was inducted into the GE Aviation Propulsion Hall of Fame, which honors GE aviation retirees and customers who’ve made outstanding contributions to the company and aviation. Dave Rohrbach lives in northern California and he and his wife, Judy, are proud to announce the birth of their third grandchild. Dave recently visited and went sightseeing in Washington DC with former roommates Dennis Robine of Virginia and Charles Bodkin ’79 of North Carolina. Brent and Martha McLean Whittaker’s eldest son, John Whittaker ’13, married Lisa Moynihan. The newlyweds reside in Salt Lake City. Martha’s twin daughter, Megan, recently got engaged to Jake Kennedy and the couple is planning a June wedding in New Orleans. Susan Gallagher, Lisa Murray, Kathy Kingsbury and Mary McManus got together in Oklahoma City for a minireunion visiting attractions such as the Myriad Gardens and the Bricktown Canal. Gus G. Widmayer sent a press release announcing the ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the start of reconstruction of the former Donelan's Supermarket before it undergoes transformation into the new Kilbourn Place and OX3.com’s new offices and retail spaces. The judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County re-elected Bill Kresse to another three-year term as a commissioner of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Bill was promoted to associate professor and awarded tenure at Governors State U, Illinois. Kevin Fisher-Paulson's new book, How We Keep Spinning! (Two Penny Press) has a release date of November 2019. It is a collection of his columns from the San Francisco Chronicle. Bob Gibson’s twin daughters, Kelly Gibson ’12 and Erin Gibson ’12 each become engaged. After seven years of teaching, Kelly started law school this semester and Erin is a social worker working on her master’s degree in social work. William Fessler and wife MaryBeth became grandparents recently. Son Andrew ’12, ’13 married Christine McDwayne ’11. Another son Nicholas ’10 married Amy Anderson ’12. Mary Chustak Couzin has fun news to share. She was honored with the IDIOT Award at the UK Inventor Dinner. It is an acronym for The International Designer and Inventor of the Toys Award. It is one of the highest, if not highest, award one can be honored with in the toy and game inventing community. Though I vow not to do any reporting, I am pleased that Loyola U invited Melinda Henneberger to speak at a major conference in Chicago and I organized the post-event dinner. Joining us were Mary Ryan Amato, Valda Staton, Sue Barry, Mary Ann Topping ’79, Denise Streff ’80SMC, Linda Rafferty DePaul ’80, Kathy McGrath’80SMC and me. We missed Mary Meg McCarthy, because, who doesn’t need another Mary Something. Leo Latz and Joe Philbin were supposed to integrate the crowd. Sean Fitzgerald, Chris Pierson, Mike Hammes and John Doheny visited Dom Yocius and his wife Mary in Chicago to watch the USC game together. Dom is fighting leukemia. He represents the Fighter of the Fighting Irish. Our hearts go out to Mary Jo Finkenstaedt who lost her father, Terry Halliwell, Peter Cleary, John Mangan and Sandy Brandt, who lost their mothers, and the families of classmates Donna K. Finney Brownschidle and Henry Connors. — Mary Ellen Woods; mew.1980@alumni.nd.edu
80MBA Travelin’ Men
Vic Yeandel reported that he was in South Bend recently visiting a family friend. While there, he attended the Bowling Green and USC games. At the USC game he ran into Pete King, who was hosting a tailgater. Vic and wife Laurie are now empty nesters living in Englewood FL near the beach and invite classmates in the area to stop over. Also at the USC game were Cathy and Jim Publicover. Jim is semi-retired and said that they just returned from Italy exploring the Amalfi coast and Sicily. They reside in Winston Salem and love the fact that their eight grandchildren are nearby. He asks classmates traveling through the area to let him know for a get-together. Another North Carolinian classmate, Nancy Kenna, says that she would be meeting up with Mike Traeger for the Duke game in Durham. Mike Maloney writes that he recently organized a house walk in historic Riverside IL to raise money for the Olmstead Society, most of which will go to natural area preservation and restoration. They ended up raising over $10,000 for this great cause. Well done, Mike. Walt Zukowski just finished his sixth and final year as a member of Notre Dame’s Mendoza Graduate Alumni Board representing the 1980s era classes. He adds that applications are out in January and would be glad to speak with classmates who may be interested in this very worthwhile activity. After 37 years of preparing income taxes, Joe Bowers wrote to say that he has transferred that part of his business to a local accounting firm. To celebrate, Joe and wife Lane are going on a two-week trip to Australia and New Zealand in March. Rich Walker stayed over at our home in October on his way to Boston for his 45th high school reunion. After that, he visited Acadia National Park. He texted me to say that he took a wrong turn and knew he was lost when all the bears that he saw were white. Finally, Dave Kavanagh, Larry Sellars, Mike Colbert and I had the good fortune to meet up with our late classmate Mike Flynn’s wife Barb at the Virginia game. She is doing well and says she is up for any 40th reunion function that we have next year. Speaking of 40th reunions, I stayed with our 2nd year MBA friends Dan Buck ’79MBA, Len Morris ’79MBA, John Hurley ’79MBA, Rob Pfeifer ’79MBA and Tom Brogan ’79MBA, who were also at the Virginia game to celebrate their 40th. I won’t say which two of them I roomed with, but suffice to say that one small bathroom for three 60-plus-year-olds is not nearly enough. After the game, Mike Colbert traveled to West Point for his annual get together and sent me a great photo of himself and the 1958 Heisman trophy winner Pete Dawkins, along with the caption, Go Army. As usual, Mike always adds Go Irish so I will close on that fine note. — Joe Kearney; 203-364-0346; jos.w.kearney@gmail.com
80JD Remembering
Please remember our classmate Dan D’Antonio ’77 ’80JD, who passed away with his family at his side. Many thanks to each of you who sent cards, letters, emails and prayers to Dan. Special thanks to Mark Muedeking, who visited Dan and “walked the walk” with him. Dan, rest in peace. The fall Law School Homecoming welcoming our new dean, Marcus Cole, was a big success. Please mark your calendars for Reunion 2020 this June. It’s our 40-year reunion. Where did all the time go? If you cannot attend, please consider hosting some classmates in your home for dinner or brunch or just reach out to a classmate you have been thinking of for a long time. It’s all about connecting with each other and loving each other. And, of course, as always, please send your news. Yes, we really want to hear what you are up to. Love to all. — Sheila O’Brien; sobrien368@aol.com
81 Friends and Family
I am writing this on an iPhone, at surf’s edge on the Big Island, on deadline. Please forgive omissions and typos. Classmates celebrated their 60th birthdays with a weekend in Knoxville: Diane (DeBoer) Salat, Therese Anne (Brown) Matthews, Kay (Mangelsdorf) Haubenreiser, Meg (Goerner) Collins, Suzie (Bernard) Merrick, Madeleine Philbin, Barbara (Corbett) Vogel, Beth Toomey, Jane (Stoffel) Gerold, Mary (Black) Brook, Julie Joyce, Liz (Boo) Neuberger, Mary Jean Dolan, Annmarie (Storz) Crowley, Anne (Pulte) Cornillie, Sue (O’Laughlin) Kelly, Judy (Murtagh) Schulz, Shaun (McAuley) Corry and Kathryn Blankenship ’81SMC. Jack Murphy also popped in; he lives nearby. The Bowling Green football weekend was a big one for ’81 reunions as classmates and their families enjoyed the game and tailgater: Dorothy (Walker) and Dave Pusateri, JT McDonald, Gil Salinas, Ralph Jaccodine, Nanette (Rees) Mullaney, Jana Schutt, Mike Gies, Chris (Hayes) Burgoon, Mike Sexton, Katie Walsh, Sue (O’Laughlin) and Bob Kelly, Tom Gibbons, Ed Durbin, Stephen Hoey, Tammy (Tavis) and Tom Lange, Keith Melaragno, Mike “Pro” Burke, and Janet Bergeron. That same weekend, Betsy (Shadley) and Mike Bernard ’82 hosted a Farley group at their vacation home in Michigan and remembered Patricia Craig, whom we lost last November. They gathered on campus for a prayer service and were joined by Sarah (Craig) Pratt ’98MNA and several of Patti’s cousins, nieces, and nephews. The group: Jenny (Kimball) Olendorff of Alaska; Kathy (Johnson) Keller of the Salt Lake area; Kathy (Durkin) Ferry of Cleveland; Vicki (Mertensotto) Snyder of Eden Prairie MN; Susan Manzi MD, practicing in Pittsburgh and Cindy Weibel a pediatrician in Erie PA; Eileen (Tarpey) Mulcahy of Chicago; and Ann (Smith) Miller who, with her husband Bill, is traveling the country while deciding where to settle next. Cheryl Fassler ’79 traveled from Nashville to join in. Representing Keenan were Mike Fassler from Kalamazoo, Dave (Spider) Lockard from Cincinnati and John Marshall, who relocated to Allentown PA from Hawaii. Mary Ahern joined Bloom Energy as securities/governance counsel. Bloom Energy's mission is to make clean, reliable and affordable energy for everyone in the world. Elizabeth (Goerner) Cristafi joined the investment committee for the San Diego Foundation. Ginny (Morrison) Gadel broke the glass ceiling at the Golden Domers of Louisville and became the first woman to join the club and their monthly luncheon. She also discovered Brother Pete Mahoney there, the rector at Flanner during our time. Ginny is the proud grandma of twins, Hank and Livvie. David Walker recently received the Notre Dame Alumni Association's Rev. John J. Cavanaugh Award, which honors an alumnus or alumna who has performed outstanding service in the field of government or public service. David serves as president and chief executive officer of the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, a Leesburg VA not-for-profit organization. I am profoundly sorry to report the passing of Paul Turgeon’s daughter, Hannah ’14, in a tragic accident during the USC football weekend. Please pray for the Turgeons and their extended family, that they might find peace in the memories of their extraordinary daughter. Save the date: our 40th reunion is coming up in June 2021. 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 Jan. 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 of you who are now inspired. — Mary Murphy; marymurphy81@alumni.nd.edu
81MBA The AWOL Return
It was good to hear from so many of our AWOL classmates. Gary Fedinets is in Colorado, where he works for CenturyLink. Betty and Al Cassaza are in Providence RI, where Al still heads up real estate for Textron. Those of us who remember Al’s drunken Sinatra serenades weren’t surprised that he appeared in the state Dancing with the Stars competition. The video is troubling, but Al raised money for the MENTOR Rhode Island charity. Irene and Jim Connolly are in Haddon Township NJ where Jim still refuses to age and is a long-time engineering manager at L-3 Communications. They’ve made it back to campus for some football games and met up with Chris Grant, Mike Zmachinski and Mike Langnecker. Amy and Chris celebrated their 25th in 2018 and are in Wayne PA, where Chris is a VP with PNC. Son Christopher ’14 works for Textron in Georgia, Alice is a teacher, and Anne is pursuing a PhD in anthropology at UVA. Betty and Mike Z. are in Morristown NJ where Mike retired after 40 years in banking and got a real estate license to keep busy. He was at the USC game. Jan and Mike are in Gibsonia PA. Mike retired from PNC in 2018 and now spends his time exhibiting symptoms of the Latent Athlete Syndrome: trail biking, playing league softball, and planning his knee replacement. Son Sean works for PNC and got married last October and daughter Sara is a teacher. Janice and Jay Milendar are in Foxboro MA where Jim is director of sales for Lampin Corp. Their youngest, Kendall, is at Dartmouth, Morgan graduated from USC and is working for Matt Groenig’s production company on a new cartoon for Netflix, Schuyler is back at Harvard for an MBA and Parker ’11 is newly-married. Donna and Kevin Moon are in Lompoc CA where Kevin is a marketing VP at CW Bank. Daughter Katie, who was born in South Bend after we graduated, is living in Berlin with her husband and child, Ben, who is Kevin’s first grandchild. I had a nice note from Tomoyasu Ozeki who’s in private equity consulting in Japan. He still watches ND football and cheers loudly for the Irish. Kris and Jim Kermott are in Moscow ID where Jim retired in 2018. They are surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mary and Lorne Liechty are empty-nesters in Heath TX where Lorne is a partner in the law firm Liechty Mcginnis Berryman Bown, and three-term mayor. He also played Jed Clampett in the Rockwall Community Playhouse version of The Beverly Hillbillies. Mary and Mike McGuinness celebrated 36 years together in 2018, in Portsmouth NH. Corey is with Enterprise Product Partners in Houston, Shawn is a cook at Tavern in the Square, and Mary Ann and Valerie are special needs ladies who keep Mary and Mike busy. After many years as an SVP with Converse, Mike retired and teaches courses in cost, intermediate, and advanced accounting, and personal finance, at his alma mater, Saint Anselm College. Mary and Mark are close to Dennis McInerney, who with wife Judy is also in New Hampshire. Their son Alex married in August 2018, and Nick married the previous November. Kathy and Bob Weidner celebrated their 34th in 2019. They’re in Lake Barrington IL where Kathy just celebrated two years being cancer free. Daughter Lauren works for a Chicago market research firm and son Matthew is with the Grosvenor hedge fund in Chicago. Robbie is an entrepreneur in the film and camera industry in Cape Town, South Africa. My latest book, Death of an Altar Boy: The Unsolved Murder of Danny Croteau and the Culture of Abuse in the Catholic Church, has been optioned for a movie. Keep those cards and letters coming. — E.J. Fleming; Dove’s Rest, 600 Hall Hill Road, Somers CT 06071; flemingiv@aol.com
81JD 150th Celebration
The pickings are sparse this time. Everyone must be retired or on vacation. Nancy Helling Gargula reports that on Sept. 27 and 28, the celebration of the Law School’s 150th anniversary continued. On Friday, Sept. 27, former US Sen. Joe Donnelly joined former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and Delaware Sen. Chris Coons for a panel discussion moderated by Prof. Jimmy Gurule titled “Partisan Politics in the Era of Trump: A Threat to our Democracy or Merely Politics as Usual?” It was attended by members of the NDLA Board, students and Law School Alumni. A reception was held that evening in the Duncan Student Center where Nancy, president of the NDLA Board, served as MC for a short program culminating in the introduction of the new dean, G. Marcus Cole, followed by inspiring remarks from him. More than 425 students, faculty and staff of the Law School and alumni were in attendance, including former deans Rev. David Link and Patty O’Hara, who were specifically recognized. The Law School posted a YouTube video of the program to its website if you are interested in viewing it. The celebration continued the next day with the Law School’s third annual homecoming tailgate held on the DeBartolo Quad prior to the match-up between the Irish and Virginia that was attended by more than 800 faculty and alumni. Classmates Jill and Joe Donnelly (now with Aiken Gump), Nancy Helling Gargula (now US trustee for Regions 10 and 21), Mark Gargula (enjoying retirement), Vicki and Mike Ridgway (chief bankruptcy judge for the District of Minnesota), Jack Sawyer (practicing estate planning/taxation in Atlanta) and Terry (Abendroth) Harmon attended the various 150th anniversary celebration events. The anniversary activities were also featured in the latest edition of the Notre Dame Law School alumni magazine. After more than 30 years of working for large firms, Maria (Acevedo) and Brian Belt formed their own firm, Acevedo Belt PA in Miami. They practice in the areas of corporate, real estate, hospitality, and international transactions with emphasis on Latin America. Brian says that they are doing the same work that they have always done but having a lot more fun. We regret to inform you that Tom Shiels passed away June 30. Rest in peace, Tom. Go Irish. — Michael Palumbo; 3799 East Peachtree Drive, Chandler AZ 85249; res 480-284-4004; bus 602-262-5931; mpalumbo@jsslaw.com
82 Looking Ahead
A group of our classmates practiced on campus in September in preparation for upcoming competitions in the ND Rowing Club’s Alumni Row. Among the group were Jane (Wagner) Murphy, Vreni Hommes and Maria (Carbone) Coyne. You go girls. Carol ’83SMC and Michael O’Connor have decided to retire after 26 years of running the manufacturing businesses that they founded, Innovative Components Inc. in Schaumburg IL and Componentes Innovadores LTDA in Cartago, Costa Rica. These plastic molding companies proudly employ special needs adults and offer apprentice programs that provide debt-free college education and careers to first-generation immigrants. Michael and Carol plan to spend their time at their lake house on Lake Tippy or a condo in Myrtle Beach. Friends are welcome to visit. Congrats to you both on a great career and, most of all, on the work you have done to help those in need. The University celebrated 50 years of Lacrosse at Notre Dame in October during the USC football weekend. Among those in attendance were Michael Lynch, Dave Lewis (co-captains), Steve Linehan, Rich Wickel, Bob Cozzie and over 200 additional players from every decade. The weekend celebrations began with a cocktail party on Friday evening where Coach Kevin Corrigan was awarded a wooden stick commemorating his 300th career win, a feat only achieved by three other coaches. With his 300th win, Coach Corrigan moves into a tie for second place for all-time most wins at a single school for Division 1 men’s lacrosse. Pictures were taken by each decade. Let’s not forget the man responsible for starting the lacrosse program, Coach Rich O’Leary, a man who was not just a coach, but a father figure, a mentor and a great supporter of sports at Notre Dame. Saturday festivities included an alumni game followed by a tailgate at Arlotta Field. We were serenaded by Kevin Campion ’81. Food trucks and a party atmosphere carried the festivities to a win over rival USC. The NDames raced three boats in the Head of Schuylkill Regatta in Philadelphia on Oct. 26. The Women’s Veteran Four won bronze. Included in the group were Coach Clete Graham ’75, Mimi Troy ’83, Vreni Homes, Maria (Carbone) Coyne, Jill Delucia ’78 and coxswain Mary Alice Reid ’84. Please don’t forget to visit our class page on Facebook, “Notre Dame Class 1982,” and send updates to the email addresses below. — 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 Law School Sesquicentennial
Cele (Glacy) and Bruce Baty, Liz (Medina) Imhoff, Tim Nickels, John Smith and Carol and I were on campus the weekend of the Virginia game for the NDLA Board meeting and the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Law School. Kathy and Tom Brickley and Anita and Tom Veldman also attended the anniversary celebration at which Marcus Cole was formally introduced as the new dean of the Law School. Tim Nickels taught at the Intensive Trial Ad class in August. Carol and I attended the annual Blue Mass on campus in October. Gen. Martin Dempsey, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the guest speaker. General Dempsey was a West Point classmate of Greg Moore. After Mass, I was able to meet the general. We enjoyed reminiscing and remembering Greg. — Frank Julian; ndlaw82@gmail.com
83 Remembrances and Catching Up
Please remember Kevin Eddy and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Kevin passed away in August. Please remember Sean Corscadden and his family. Sean passed away in July. Sean’s funeral was attended by Tracy Cotter, Dan Pace, Tom O’Connor, Mike Norton ’80, Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan ’80, Brett Jackson ’80, Bob Durgin ’81, Jack Murphy ’81, Kevin Campion ’81, Mark Farino ’82, Steve Linehan ’82, Joe Hart ’85, Brian McKeon ’85 and Megan Corscadden ’19. Please remember Maggie Gleason and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Maggie’s father-in-law passed away in June. Please also remember Carolyn Panzica Zhiss and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Carolyn’s father, Anthony Panzica ’50 passed away in August. Robert Lally joined Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP as a Partner in its construction practice group. Catherine (Reddy) ’83SMC and Ken White celebrated the wedding of their daughter, Caroline, to Brad Higgins in Ponte Vedra Beach FL in July. Attending the wedding were John Delaney Jr. ’79, Mike Welch, Rick Snyder, Tony Benvegnu, Amy ’85 and Pete Brecount ’85 and Christopher White ’11. Gregory and Jacqueline (Pagley) Lezynski planned on attending most of the Notre Dame football games as two of their four children, Nick ’11 and Xavier ’20, are part of the football program. Nick is in his second year as defensive graduate assistant linebackers’ coach and Xavier is a senior tight end on the team. Their other children, Siobhan ’08 and Blaise ’15, also planned to take part in the family’s reunions on campus. Siobhan was a member of the pom squad and Blaise was a member of the baseball team. Greg and Jacqueline reside in Bucks County PA and are the proud grandparents of five grandchildren. We welcome home Dr. John Wieland from deployment with the Naval Reserve Medical Corps to Iraq and Syria. John took part in a six-month deployment and his patients were American military, coalition partners, such as Iraqi law enforcement, and military contractors. John and his wife Kathy have eight children ranging in age from 14 to 32. Christopher Temple Davis just finished the eighth draft of his novel, Samuel’s Dream, and is looking for beta readers. If you are interested, please contact Chris. Chris is still working with Building Trust Americas, which has stepped in for Habitat for Humanity in helping to build homes in Colombia. Speaking of authors, Michele Dietz Chynoweth planned to do a book-signing at the bookstore on campus this fall alongside Coach Mike Brey. I’ve mentioned the class Facebook page several times in past columns. You may be wondering how to join. It’s simple. On Facebook, search for “Notre Dame Class of 1983” and select join. That’s all there is to it. We have 480 members and would be very happy to add more. You’ll be able to reconnect with classmates without waiting for reunion, see pictures and get news of who will be attending various Notre Dame and non-Notre Dame events. If you have any news you’d like to share with the class, send me a note or email and I’ll be happy to include it in the next column. — Louis J. “Chip” Denkovic; 520 West 43 Street, No. 32G, New York NY 10036; res. 917-399-8784; bus. 212-537-1781; ldenkovic@gmail.com
83MBA Class Secretary — John Hilbrich;
630-677-2725; john.hilbrich@gmail.com
83JD Born to Be Mild
Well, imagine my delight when my phone rang and I saw the caller was Bill Vertes. I was not disappointed. Bill announced that, even though he is too young and too good-looking, he has retired from the practice of law. He and wife Amy purchased Bill’s Big Rig and are touring the US. Please be cautious if you see the rig, towing a car as well, as Bill does not really know how to drive it. He may be calling you for dinner invitations as he parks in a Walmart parking lot near you. As Bill says, he’s “born to be mild.” Congratulations to Vicky and Don Strumillo on the wedding of their son, Rob Strumillo ’14. Cindy and Eric Diamond and Dan Absher and Daria Nacheff Absher attended the wedding. It looked like a beautiful and fun affair. 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 Keep the News Coming
Four-star Admiral Chris Grady was presented the Corby Award by Alumni Association President, Dolly Duffy. The award goes to an alumnus with distinguished military service. Mat Winter also has received this honor. Judge Piper Griffin, after years of service as a New Orleans judge, is running for the LA Supreme Court. Darryl Daniels, Lisa Johnson, Eleanor Walker, Paula and John Autry, Regina (Howell) Atkins, Margaret (LaChappelle) Sonnier, Colette (Payne) Mann, and Penny Epps-McIntosh hosted a fundraiser for her in Ann Arbor the night before the Michigan game. We have several authors in our class. Perry Hohman wrote Trust God, available on Amazon and perryhohmanbooks.com. Perry and his wife Theresa (Smith) were at the bookstore for the UVA games signing copies of his book which addresses finding God’s help for our everyday decision-making. Tracy (Reimer) Neis wrote Mr. R: A Rock and Roll Romance, a contemporary Jane Eyre story, available on Amazon. Rob Snyder penned Poker Night, a novel telling the story behinds the dogs in the famous painting, and it’s also available on Amazon. Mike James, a Boston College professor, has published several academic books in his field, including Catholic Universities: Identity & Globalization; Five Steps to Effective Student Leadership; Education’s Highest Aim: Teaching & Learning Through a Spirituality of Communion; Principles of Good Practice for Student Affairs at Catholic Colleges and Universities and Greening Our Built World: Costs, Benefits and Strategies. Nancy (Ball) Martin Looby is the author of Servant of God Gwen Coniker: God Leads, Faith and Trust Follow. She documents the life of Gwen Coniker, who raised 12 children and ran an apostolate. Nancy is a degreed and certified bioethicist and theologian who has also published articles in the Social Justice Review. Jim Herr (jamesherracoustic@outlook.com) is living his dream of playing local acoustic music and has performed at Chicago’s Uncommon Ground Listening Room and Pontiac Illinois’s Eagle Performing Arts Center. Lots of classmates were back on campus for games this fall. The USC weekend was a big one with many spending the weekend in South Bend to catch up with old friends. Lyons Hall was well represented with Anne (Wernimont) Kritzmire handing out jackets to Arizonans Sheila (Dresser) and Greg Novak. Sharing a house with them were Marie Devlin, Maureen Canavan and her son, me and my husband and Brian Callaghan. Joining for the festivities were Mary Jo (Conradt) and Joe Francis, Teresa (Hedrick) and Sam Williams with their son Ted ’19 and new wife Lindsay ’19, Paula (Toohey) and Todd Smith, Kelly (Frank) and Tom Kehl and their daughter Katie ’13 and Josie Froelke with her daughter Grace. George and Julie Kolettis, Carol and Kevin King ’85 and Maureen (Doyle) ’84SMC and Jeff Toner hosted a massive tailgater. Many Morrisseyites and their lovely families attended including Louis Herrara, Dave Conboy, Ned Legare, Tom Brietenbach, John Marvin, Mark Kramer, and Rev. Paul Kollman. Dropping by to join in the fun were Rachel (Allen) English, Maureen (Hesburgh) and Dennis Ryan, Mike Cannon, JoJo (Batista) Palutsis, and Jenny (Grantham) Stein. — Martha Avery; mayoravery@comcast.net
84JD Fascinating Career
I received a welcome update from Ed Hunt. As a graduate of the Air Force Academy, Ed continued his service to our country as a judge advocate general (JAG) after graduation. Ed reports, “after ND law, Karen and I loved our Air Force life where I served as a JAG, traveling the world for about 30 years, having the chance to lead some incredible legal professionals and, working some fascinating issues and cases across the spectrum of criminal law, international law, cyber and space law and contract law. In 1990, I completed an LLM in government contracts at George Washington U law school in Washington DC. I retired from active duty in 2007 and since then have been working as a civilian lawyer for the Department of Defense in the Space and Missile Defense Command here in Colorado Springs. I still have the privilege of working with young active duty members, many who have deployed way too often to war zones, which keeps me humble and prayerful. Karen and I love living in the foothills of Colorado Springs. Our son, Edward, who was a toddler when I was in law school, is an evangelical minister in Fairfax VA, while our daughter, Kelly is a doctor of physical therapy and hospital administrator in Denver. We have been blessed with and adore our three granddaughters. Karen is president of the local Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary, while I am active in our local parish. I was recently selected as a trustee to the Air Force Academy Falcon Foundation. So, life is good; we feel very blessed.” Please send updates to my attention. — Matthew J. Dunn; 19834 Timbered Estates Lane, Carlinville IL 62626; 773-294-6851; mdunn19834@gmail.com
85 Sad News
We have lost another classmate. Maureen Elizabeth “Mo” Stubbs MD lost her three-year battle with ALS in June. She is survived by her husband Gary Moser and her children Aidan Minton and Chloe Minton. Mo graduated from The Ohio State U College of Medicine and after her internship at Riverside Hospital she completed a residency in anesthesiology and a pain management fellowship at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Mo was a founding member of Premiere Anesthesia serving the Ohio Surgery Center in Columbus, where she was in demand by parents of small children because she sang to her pediatric patients to calm them before surgery. Mo was a long-time member and past president of the Columbus chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She also volunteered as a math tutor in the Westerville OH schools. Mo was a talented musician who played her flute for many church functions over the years, most recently at Saint John Neumann in Sunbury OH. Please keep her husband and children in your prayers as well as Mo’s sisters Anne Stubbs ’86 and Cailin Stubbs ’88. Remember also Mo’s cousin Rick Stubbs ’86 and Rick’s wife Carolyn Hagan Stubbs ’86. Tom Sullivan, secretary for the Class of 1966, sent a note regarding the Independent Notre Dame Footballers Medical Research Project, which has a website that former players, as well as ND alumni and friends, may visit. This medical study involves some 500 former ND players, ages 58-75, from the Fighting Irish teams 1964-1980 coached by Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine. It is being conducted by Boston U and is designed to evaluate the long-term impact of playing major college football, particularly relative to CTE and other neurological issues. The project is independent of the University. Former ND All-Americans Rocky Bleier, Dave Casper and Vegas Ferguson are co-chairs of the players steering committee. Check out Rocky’s video. You can find the website at independentndfootballers.com. Planning is now under way for our 35th reunion to be held June 4-7. I hope to see you there. — Kathleen Doyle Yaninek; yanzlaw@comcast.net
85MBA Class Secretary — Dom Yocius;
dyocius@ameritech.net
85JD Class News
Mary Alice Winn Culhane is the proud “Mori” to two grandchildren: Marcus Paul and Anastasia Clare. When they are not helping with the kids, Mary and her husband Mark enjoy life on a lake south of Minneapolis and traveling to southern places to break up the Minnesota winters. Those who participated in the London Law Program second year will remember Mary’s husband Mark because he was also in London that year, doing his MBA. London may now be known for an international breakup, but it was the place that brought Mary and Mark together. This past spring, Barb and Dave Scheper attended a Dodgers vs Pirates game in LA with Pete Hebert, lead litigation counsel for City National Bank, and Tom Nessinger, visiting from DC, where he works for the FCC. Tom is a loyal Nationals fan and was at Nationals Park when the Nats swept the Cardinals to win the National League pennant in October. The Nats’ win was 31 years to the day after Tom attended his first World Series game. The Schepers recently hosted Karen Kiley Toohill and Steve Toohill ’84JD at their Pasadena home. The Toohills were in town to see their son Casey (Stanford ’19) play football against USC. Dave entertained with memories from his football playing days at Harvard. In true ND tradition, football brought many classmates together. Dave had dinner with Walter Brown and Patty O’Hara the night before the USC game. Dave attended both the USC and Virginia games, along with Paul Coletti and Joseph Shannon. Before the Virginia game, Maureen Cafferkey, Laura Hanson and Ted Eichelberger joined Dave and Barb to meet G. Marcus Cole, Notre Dame Law School’s new dean. Dave and Barb also met up with Terry Brady before the Virginia game. In non-football news, Barb and Dave’s son Tommy finished his first year at NDLS and worked at the LA US Attorney’s Office criminal division over the summer, where mom and dad worked 20 years ago. Edward Rolwes recently became a grandfather to twin boys: Benjamin Martin and John “Jack” Edward. The twins’ father is Edward’s eldest son Justin. Edward has his own practice in St. Louis, where he represents lawyers and law firms in legal ethics, bar complaint, lawyer discipline and risk management matters. Over the summer, Tom Lupo and his girlfriend Christina attended the wedding of Steve Gouletas’ son in Panama City FL. I was able to catch up with Michael Bruton, Molly Murphy, Madeleine Murphy, Deb Hennigan Knapp and Karen Kiley Toohill over the summer. We enjoyed a delightful meal with Matt Barrett and his wife Kate and attended a beautiful Mass on campus. I continue to be grateful for the durable friendships that were forged in South Bend. Let’s stay connected; please send your news. — Kelly Kiernan Largey; kellyjd1985@alumni.nd.edu
86 Paths Crossing Everywhere
Marty Connor flew down to Dallas in the fall to get together with John Kunz. They played a round of golf and then took in the Eagles/Cowboys game. John said that Marty is the only guy that he ever played with that successfully hit a driver out of the rough. They traded many stories and updated each other on who they had run into over the past few months. Brian Donley, CEO of Cleveland Clinic London, established and is teaching a new course at Notre Dame London this semester entitled “Healthcare: The Business of Empathy.” As part of this course, Dr. Donley has been joined by a number of Cleveland Clinic London as well as outside experts, who are leading discussions about the role empathy plays in healthcare, covering topics such as building design, psychological safety and teamwork. For one class session in September, John Meara, Kletjian Professor of Global Surgery at Harvard Medical School, spoke about the importance of incorporating empathy and compassion into the delivery of care, sharing a wealth of experience from his leadership role on Global Health initiatives. Brian and John’s friendship began as freshmen roommates in Dillon Hall and has developed into both a personal and professional relationship these many years. John “JC” Coffey has been having a blast living on Capitol Hill seeing ND Alumni all over the place. His first grader is going to St. Peter’s on Capitol Hill, and he sees fellow ’86er John “Woody” Hayes at church every Sunday. JC is Executive Director for Unmanned Systems for Cherokee Nation Businesses, In August, John was named to the Order of Prometheus during the 2019 Pathfinder Chapter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Symposium in Huntsville, Ala. The Order of Prometheus Medallion recognizes the significant and enduring contributions of the inductees to the unmanned systems community, both air and ground. Each inductee must have exemplified the highest ideals, aspirations and accomplishments in order to receive the honor. Werner (Rip) Graf and his daughter Angelina (15) returned from Belize with SCUBA certifications and Angelina presented the Key of the City of Sea Isle City, NJ to Mayor Daniel Guerrera of San Pedro Town on Ambergris Caye. Sea Isle and San Pedro are entering into an environmental “sister city” relationship. Angelina is Sea Isle’s Ambassador and she and her 15-year-old old counterpart, Carina Paz from San Pedro, will work to reduce single-use plastics in each community under Rip’s supervision. Rip also had an article published recently in Consumer Goods Technology on the plastic packaging imperative facing the industry. Many of you are aware that Tara Shea McLaughlin suffered paralysis from a spinal fracture during her vacation this summer. Please keep those prayers and warm thoughts flowing her way. We had asked a special request for prayers for an unnamed classmate who is ill and in a life-threatening condition. Please continue to pray for a return to health for her. We lost classmate Therese “Teri” Millen DeMarco last June. Please keep her husband Frank and children Jennifer, Christopher, Rebecca, Thomas and Maria in your prayers. We had a candle lit at the Grotto for Teri and her family. Our Mini-Reunion Tailgate and group seating at the Bowling Green game was a blast. We had a huge turnout with many people reconnecting and having a great time. As Dave Waldbillig wrote after attending, I had a chance to chat with Karen Nill, Karen Povinelli and Jan Englehardt, people whom I have not seen since graduation. Load those pictures up on the class Facebook page (facebook.com/NotreDameClassof1986/). Thanks to Pam Fox for coordinating all the tickets and to Pam and Jim Raycraft and Lori Bush and John Kaminski for preparing, hauling and setting up all the tailgating gear on campus. Shoot us a quick email with what you have been up to. — John Spatz; 201-264-2459; john@jjscb.com
86MBA New Beginnings
Dave Sobek retired from AT&T after 23 years with the company and 32 years in the telecom industry. Plans for his free time include spending time with family and friends and sending his son off to college. He participated in his 40th Peachtree Road Race on July 4. Contact him at djsobek@bellsouth.net or at 770-380-1141. Dave Pustinger visited several Santa Barbara vineyards in support of his Cincinnati wine shop, A Bottle or Two. Andy King, JR Reid and Jorge Valencia cheered the Irish on to victory at the USC game. Dan Kerrigan joined the festivities celebrating JR’s son’s September wedding in Chicagoland. I wasn’t successful in the football lottery for the Michigan game, but did attend the Virginia Tech game. Keep in touch with me, and I’ll share your news with our classmates in the next issue. — Maureen (Mullan) Decker; 21855 Town Gate, Macomb MI 48044; bus 586-741-4305; cell 586-817-1317; maureen.decker@mclaren.org
86JD Big Event
As I write this, I am back a couple weeks from the very festive third annual NDLS Homecoming Weekend and Sesquicentennial Celebration. Thankfully the football squad cooperated and pummeled UVA. The big event of the weekend was the Friday night celebration of 150 years of Notre Dame Law School and the introduction of our new dean, G. Marcus Cole. More than 600 attended the Friday night event including a few of us from the class of 1986: Rick ’84 and Beth (Schneider) Naylor, Mary Jane and Mike Walker, Tom Burger, and Heather (Ribar) and Bellew McManus. I wrote not too long ago about Beth, Mike and Tom, but to repeat, Beth practices principally products liability defense in Cincinnati and around the country. Mike retired a few years back as chief IP counsel at DuPont. Tom continues his patent practice in Cincinnati and has two at ND, one of whom is studying in Italy this year. Heather is vice president and deputy general counsel of the American Kennel Club and Bellew is senior attorney with the State of New York, Division of Human Rights. They are the proud parents of two daughters and a son. The eldest, a daughter, is a Georgetown grad and a personal trainer in DC. Their middle child, also a daughter, is a Drexel grad and a validation engineer detailed to Boston Their son is a Georgetown junior. Saturday brought out the law school homecoming tailgate tent and a few other classmates: Mike Seghetti (Peoria IL), John Glowacki (Philadelphia), Susan (Lindbloom) and Dave Link (Twin Cities). Mike’s practice emphasizes governmental work and general corporate and banking. He represents several Illinois municipalities. John is a longtime insurance industry insider in Philly with Brandywine Group of Insurance Companies. Susan continues her estate planning practice at Maslon LLP. And, get this: Dave recently retired after many years as tax counsel at Cargill. The most interesting thing I heard about practice all weekend is that Susan volunteers with and runs the Minnesota chapter of Wills for Heroes, where attorneys, on a pro bono basis, prepare wills, advanced directives and POAs for military veterans. Bravo, Susan. Suzie (Bernard) and Tom Merrick and Beth and Mike Mulhern were also in for UVA weekend. Mike didn’t make the law school tent event, having gotten “stuck” tailgating. Tom and Susie arrived after I left. Another interesting factoid: Tom’s high school football team (Pittsburgh’s South Catholic High) played our new dean’s high school team (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) when Tom and the dean were sophomores. The dean’s team finished on top 23-6. Back-up QB on the dean’s team was Dan Marino. I did manage to grab lunch with Mike Mulhern and Tim Reynolds on my way into ND. I assure you both were relaxed, appear to be aging well, and bragged at length about their newfound appreciation of yoga. (Mike’s wife, Beth, is their instructor). Errata: I wrote in the last issue that Peter Lutz was a longtime member of Bond Schoeneck in Rochester. Well, he moved his practice to Hodgson Russ LLP, also in Rochester. Don Passenger (Grand Rapids) and Steve Powell (Bloomfield Hills) wrote to inform me that Denny Barnes was installed as the 85th president of the State Bar of Michigan last September. Finally, please say a prayer for Kim Reid, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. May our Notre Dame Du Lac watch over her treatment and recovery. Please send me your news by Jan. 15, the deadline for the spring Notre Dame Magazine. — Brian Bates; bbates@abblaw.com
87 Hello Everyone
As I write this, football season is in full swing and the Irish are 5-1, with a particularly satisfying win over USC. Many thanks to Frank Zomerfeld, who’s doing a great job of keeping the stats up-to-date on the very unofficial ND/SMC Class of ’87 reunion page on Facebook. Don’t worry, you aren’t missing reunion news, but after Frank set this page up in 2017, it’s lived on as an informal class bulletin board. If you’re a Facebook user, please give Frank a shout so he can approve your membership. It’s particularly good for meeting up at games. Mike Gallagher of Zahm and his wife Andrea are in Wyomissing PA. Mike is in his 24th year of teaching social studies and he’s also an adjunct professor at the local campus of Penn State, an easier job now that the Irish no longer play them. Mike and Andrea’s son Chris is studying jazz trumpet at Temple U. They were in town for the Virginia game, and Mike writes that they caught up with Todd Taylor, Mike Melia and several other Zahmbies. He also reminisced a little about working at The Huddle and marveled at how the food selection on campus has improved over the past 32 years. Mike and Andrea also visited Ireland this past summer and lit a candle for the Class of ’87 at a roadside church in the north of County Galway. I also heard from Katie (Traxler) Abele. She’s in Los Angeles, working as an attorney with Paul Hastings LLP. Her eldest graduated from Yale in May and returned to LA to work at Bain. Her two middle children attend Pomona College and spend a lot of time in the pool. One is a swimmer and the other is a member of the water polo team. Her youngest is in high school, and so she thinks there’s hope yet for another Domer in the family. The Pasquerilla West ladies made a strong showing at the Virginia game. Theresa (Russell) Bannon hosted a large tailgate that gave us all the chance to catch up. Some of us hadn’t seen one another since graduation. Theresa is in Virginia Beach with her husband Matt ’86. She works as a brand manager for Swimways Corp, while Matt is a pilot for United Airlines, flying international routes. Nancy (Joyce) Callahan and her husband Sean ’87 live in Chicago. Nancy works for Heartland Alliance Refugee Community Services as a vocational training specialist, and Sean is with LinkedIn as a senior content manager. Natasha Lifton and her husband John Lavelle ’87 were also there, in town from Brooklyn. Natasha is a senior program manager at New York Community Trust and John is a litigation partner with Sidley Austin LLP. I enjoyed catching up with Ellen (Ehrmann) Anhut, who lives in downtown Chicago and is a senior vice-president at Willis Re, a life and health reinsurance broker. Finally, Diann Williams lives in Boston and works in global sales for Cisco, and Jeanne Sullivan is in Burlington VT. As you can imagine, this group has lots of children, interests and life experiences. I only wish the space in the column allowed me to write more about what everyone has been up to these past three decades. Finally, I’m sad to report the death of our classmate Tom Cramer, who died unexpectedly on July 12. Tom was a writer and posted a series of articles for the Huffington Post under the banner “Growing Up in the 70s,” which was a nostalgic look back at a boyhood in suburban Chicago, heavily influenced by a Chicago-Irish background. He is the younger brother of John Cramer ’68, the uncle of Tim Cramer ’05 and Terry Muldoon Jr. ’20 EMBA, and cousin to Samantha Allison ’22 and Madeline Galvin ’22. Please hold Tom and his family in your prayers. I cherish being in touch with so many of you, and I hope the new decade brings you peace, joy and health. — Meg Brennan Hamilton; meghamilton@yahoo.com
87MBA Class Updates
Hello, everyone. The updates are few and far between. Please send any and all updates to me. I hosted a tailgate for the Virginia game. Among the attendees were Bob Krohn, Nancy (Ball) Martin Looby, Mark Brostowski and Chris Murphy. Congratulations to Nancy (Ball) Martin Looby (nmartin11@sbcglobal.net) on her achievements. Nancy recently released a new book called Servant of God Gwen Coniker: God Leads, Faith and Trust Follow. As a wife and mother of five, Nancy has developed and led many varied ministerial efforts, and has taught classes on Consecration to Our Lady via the St. Louis de Montfort charism, both online and in the classroom. She has also published articles in the Social Justice Review. Congratulations to Nancy! I have also been in contact with Jay Jhaveri (jay@jayjhaveri.com). Jay continues to play professional golf on the Asian Seniors Tour (and has been since 2016, when he qualified to play on the tour). While Jay doesn’t make a living from playing golf, he does enjoy teeing it up with some of the best senior players in the region and playing some of the best courses in Asia under tournament conditions. Congratulations Jay! 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 Bikers, Hikers and More
In August, Ed Kelly and a buddy decided to get back on their bikes after riding across the country together in 1976. This time they decided on an “easy” one-week trip: 360 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington DC, riding on the Great Allegheny Passage, the C&O Canal Trail, and the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. Ed is planning a shorter trip (80 miles) on the Greenbrier Trail in West Virginia. When he’s not on his bike, Ed is an appellate immigration judge at the Board of Immigration Appeals, the highest administrative tribunal on immigration law in the United States, as well as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School. Ed and his wife, Sara, live in northern Virginia and have proudly raised five children. In October, Karen Morrison rode her bike from Pittsburgh to Washington. After 29 years in higher education as a coach, administrator, NCAA diversity and inclusion director, and campus chief diversity officer, Karen is now working for UNESCO, researching gender equity in sports around the world. Karen lives in Orlando with her youngest son, Max, preparing for her next adventures: biking across New Mexico and hiking in Bhutan. Steve Price spent some time in September hiking with friends on a section of the Appalachian Trail. Once or twice a year he and his wife, Cameo, spend three to five days hiking portions of the trail, with the goal of hiking sections in all 14 states through which the trail passes. Steve practices real estate law in Grand Rapids with McShane & Bowie. He and his wife have three children. Their son John recently completed his communications PhD at Kansas, daughter Janet is completing her microbiology PhD at Michigan, and their youngest, Cathy, completed her business degree in Grand Rapids and is focused on nutrition and personal fitness training. Tim Borchers was honored by the Notre Dame Club of New York City, receiving its Career Service Award. Tim has spent countless hours over the years handling a variety of activities for the club, including leading the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, organizing the club's Spirituality Committee and family picnic, and leading both for several years. Juan Bermudez, mayor of Doral FL, was honored by the Latin Builders Association as its Elected Official of the Year. As you may have heard, Linda Weaver tragically lost her husband and both sons on July 15 in a float plane crash in Canada. Linda credits her faith, friends and family with helping to keep her moving forward. If you are traveling in the downtown Chicago area and would like to get together with Linda, she lives next to Navy Pier and can be reached at lweaver2019@outlook.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 What Was, Is and Will Be
Numerous classmates have reported that they’re either in the homestretch of first careers, retired from first careers and/or taking on new challenges. From northern Virginia, Greg Rowe reported that he’s kept one of his day jobs but given up the other. He is continuing his 10-year stint with Integrity Applications, Inc. as an intelligence community contractor, working with communications and space systems. However, in June 2018, he freed up all his weekends by retiring from the Navy Reserve as a captain after 30 years of service in aviation and cryptology. He is married to Donna Shank ’87, and they have two sons, Daniel, 21, and Ryan, 17. Daniel is a junior at Virginia Tech, studying mechanical engineering and spending a semester abroad in Ecuador. Ryan has autism, inspiring Donna to start a business, Wings to Fly, and a non-profit, Wings to Thrive. Both organizations are focused on supporting children on the spectrum. Another classmate with 30 years of military service is Shawn Ricketts. After three decades of living in all parts of the country with the Navy and then as a defense contractor employee, Shawn has finally been able to return to his origins in the Northwest. He has taken a position as a principal technical advisor with the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, proving that you can finally make it back home again. Having just passed the 27-year mark with Warner Bros. Studios, Kevin Brennan has the finish line in sight, with retirement less than five years down the road. His role at Warner Bros. is physical production finance, and he is involved with every feature film they do. Here’s to making the most of his final years before declaring, “That’s all folks!” Mark Napierkowski is closing in on his 30th wedding anniversary. He was married to Jennifer (Palm) ’88SMC in 1990. Daughter Sara ’14SMC lives and works in Indianapolis while son David finishes his senior year at Holy Cross College, Notre Dame. Khalil Shalabi remains in Austin TX but has mixed things up by taking a new job. He’s now employed as the executive vice president of strategic initiatives and transformation at the Lower Colorado River Authority. While Joann Whitfield-Welsh and Jim Welsh call Mishawaka home, they have covered many miles following the D1 softball journeys of their two daughters. Kelly just graduated from the U of Wisconsin, where she played softball for the Badgers. In fact, her team played spoiler to the Irish women at the Oklahoma Regional, beating them twice and knocking them out of the NCAA tournament. Daughter Megan, a sophomore at Harvard, plays Crimson softball. As a freshman, she played in the NCAA Regionals at Arizona, where Harvard won the Ivy League. With her undergraduate days behind her, Kelly works as an intern in the ND Athletic Department. Missy Lahren is working on her dissertation in philosophy and assembling a K-12 curriculum on the topic, “planetary consciousness.” The term was developed by Ervin Laszlo, the founder of systems philosophy. Please email her if you have ideas to contribute: missy@thefutureofenergy.org. The final product will be open sourced for all teachers. Missy met classmates Ann Seifert and Carol Spils in London for ND Law’s 50th anniversary celebration of the London Program. Your updates are vital to this column, so keep them flowing. To make communication even easier, please know that you can text me news and anecdotes, as well as emailing them. — 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 Great Showing
Hello, classmates. I am happy to report that we had a great showing at the September Law School Homecoming tailgate. I was joined by Cathie Jones Rikkers, Mary Laudick Stucko, Jim Stucko, Mary Ellen Schill, Dan Lynch, Dave Gilmartin, Megan Bovee, Sue Faccenda Walsh, Theresa Maggioncalda Anderson, Amy Maher and Joe Karaszewski. Rumor has it that Gail Glassmeyer Pryse was at the event Friday evening. I am sorry if I missed anyone. It was great catching up and would be wonderful to see more classmates at the event next year. Now for the good part: Cathie Jones Rikkers is celebrating her 30th year as a professor of law at Grand Valley State U. She is making the world a better place one mind at a time. She is also celebrating 30 years of marriage to her husband, Dan. They are the proud parents of two boys. Five years ago, Dave Ristaino left the firm of Akerman where he practiced for 17 years and went in-house with one of his clients. He has since returned to Akerman as the chief operating officer. Akerman is a national law firm with more than 750 attorneys in more than 25 offices across the country. In May, Mary Ellen Schill was elected to the board of directors of Ruder Ware, LLSC in Wausau WI. She has been a shareholder since 1997 and served on the board 2008-2014. Mary Ellen has also been a member of the board of trustees of St. Norbert College since 2015 and has served as chair of the audit committee of the board. After giving the “big city” and “big law” life a chance in Chicago and Phoenix, Sheri Schrock returned to North Dakota in 2002 with her husband, Jim, who is from the Fort Wayne IN area, and daughter, Gretchen. Sheri is SVP/chief fiduciary officer and fiduciary legal counsel to Bell Bank in Fargo ND. The Schrocks try to attend one Notre Dame football game each season. Sheri recently celebrated her second anniversary of being breast cancer free. Jill Jones is senior managing corporate counsel at MISO Energy in Carmel IN. She has been at MISO for almost 18 months and although most of her work remains centered on employment law, she also assists in other corporate areas. Jill is remarried and is the proud grandma of a very precocious 5-year old. Rob Cianciulli practices law for a Fortune 300 corporation headquartered in New Jersey. He is seeking reelection to the Berkeley Heights Board of Education. In his spare time, Rob volunteers for Habitat for Humanity. Meanwhile, I am the proud mom of five children and grandmother to one. I practiced law part time while raising my children and left it altogether 15 years ago to serve as the administrator at a Montessori elementary school. I am very involved at Youth Challenge for Sports, a non-profit that pairs physically handicapped youth with teen volunteers. If you are ever in Cleveland, I would love to get together. — 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 Homecoming News
We had a tremendous turnout for the Law School Homecoming and Sesquicentennial celebration during the Sept. 27 weekend. Thank you to Audra and Bob Schultz for organizing the Class of ’89 reception at the Law School on Friday night. Classmates in attendance included Ann and Gene Feeney and sons Patrick ’18 and Robert, Leanne (Fellin) ’85 and Mike Burnett, Joan Mannix, Sue Schierl, Judge Kathy Burke, Joe Jennings, Jeannine Cordero and husband David Franklin, Tricia ’88SMC and Gary Glass, Martha (Michael) and Ray Gates, Beverly (Bailey) Wittekind, Jan and Peter Noone, Barb and Mike Luzum, Patty and Tom Griffin, Kim (O’Hanlon) and Dan Griffin, and Ann (David) and Tom O’Neill. Peter Coppinger could not make the festivities but phoned in to the fun. Most attendees braved the torrential rains to make it for the reception to share stories about and toast to classmates we have lost, including Don Manderfeld, Richard Dominguez, Kevin Cummings, Kathy Meyers, Anne Marie Finch, and Jim Smith. Many of these same people gathered at the Orange Van the next day, along with Paul Carvelli, Dan McMahon, Sue (Magee) and Arthur McColgan, Deanne (Kopkas) Calvert, Cindy (Constantino) and Sean Gleason, and Monica Harder ’90JD and Ed Gibbons. Jim Krumsiek put forth an impressive effort, taking planes, trains, and automobiles to make it to the Orange Van before game time. Paul Pasin generously provided 10 tickets to classmates for the game, but sadly could not attend himself due to a death in his family. Ed delivered a beautiful tribute to Jim Smith on the fifth anniversary of his death and the occasion of his two alma maters battling on the field. He also announced that the Jim Smith Fellowship at the law school has provided scholarships for the past two years. Thanks to the hard work, persistence and generosity of Ed, Matt Haney, our Orange Van friends, classmates and countless others, the fellowship was funded in record-time. Our Notre Dame family never disappoints. In other news, our classmate Jim Basile, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, established the James F. Basile Fund for Excellence in Trial Advocacy at the Law School. This fund will enable the Law School to bring some of the nation’s top trial attorneys and judges to Notre Dame to teach in the Intensive Trial Advocacy Program. Finally, congratulations to John Schlinker on his marriage in June to Loryn. John and Loryn live and practice law in Grand Rapids MI. Please keep the updates coming. — Jenny O’Leary Smith; jennyoleary@comcast.net