2000s
2000s
00 What a Long Strange Trip
We didn’t expect to be in this spot this fall, but here we are. We have had to change our lives significantly and many of us have had to make sacrifices and decisions that have been difficult. Unfortunately, our class was unable to have our reunion this year, to stay safe and not put anyone in harm’s way. Lucky for us, I did get a few updates that might cheer us up. Keith Parendo was nice enough to send along a great update about his crew of ND friends: “With this summer being the 20th anniversary of our graduation from ND (wish we could have met in June on campus), it was also going to be another year of getting together with Dillon Hall classmates. Over the years since we graduated, there is a core group of us that has been meeting in the summer to get together in a unique spot, see one of our favorite bands and catch up on our days as ND students. While it has changed a little over the years, the core Dillon crew has largely consisted of Brendan Crimmins, Ben Kutylo, Vijay Thangamani, Ron Sutsko, AJ Altman, Eric Hull, Charlie McKenna, Mike Major, Adam Penkhus, Dan ‘Irv’ Irving, Zack Wright and myself, and over the years we have seen our favorite bands. With us all living all over the country, we have made seeing these bands a weekend destination trip to different places. Over the years through all our different travels, we have fallen in love with the manor and all kinds of air travel. This year we will be doing a Zoom call in August, but it will not take away from the friendships and relationships we have created that have spanned almost 25 years from when we all met in Dillon Hall as freshmen in the fall of 1996.” It is so great that you guys have all stayed in touch and have been able to continue to share such fun experiences. We have another update about our classmate Lauren Herring who has been busy. She is the CEO of IMPACT Group, the largest woman-owned career coaching company based in St. Louis. She has a new book out to help people be more effective at their job search, Take Control of Your Job Search! 10 Emotions You Must Master to Land the Job. When not running her business, Lauren can be found running the streets of St. Louis while training for a triathlon or spending time with her husband, Ted, and their two young children. Please continue to send your news and updates to me. I would love to hear all about the small acts of kindness we see our neighbors and friends (and kids) doing. This is a time when it can be easy to turn inward and get upset, but let’s try to find those good moments each day and appreciate the friends and family who are in our lives. I hope all of you are doing well. I can’t wait to hear more updates. — Laurie (Strotman) O’Malley; ndbug3@hotmail.com
00MBA Class Secretary — Georgette (Leonard) Stubin;
46917 Polo Drive, Canton MI 48187; mba2000@alumni.nd.edu
00JD Class Secretary — Brian J. Murray;
178 Cranston Court, Glen Ellyn IL 60137; res 630-881-5181; doubledomer2000@gmail.com
01 Welcome News
Nicole (Carri) Ragains wrote in to say that she and Steve welcomed Camden Charles on Feb. 1. He is incredibly loved by his siblings Riley, 11; Jake, 9; and Alexa, 6. Despite his father’s side being from Michigan, the New Jersey half is hoping his first words are “Go Irish!” She also mentioned that Laura (Adams) Luebbert hopes to see everyone back in South Bend for our 20th reunion next summer as Thomas “Drew” Mitchell plans to reopen Irish Connection with the help of Leon, Super Dave, Sully and Lenwood. — Michael Anselmi; 415-860-7130; manselmi@alumni.nd.edu
01MBA Class Secretary — Dominic Pang;
dpang@panglaw.com
01JD Fun Class Updates
Tricia Hoffman-Simanek was inducted into the Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers in February. Per the IATL, fellowship is by invitation only, upon sponsorship and recommendation from peers and judges and unanimous approval by the board of governors. Fellowship is limited to 250 attorneys who have displayed exceptional skills and the highest integrity and who have dedicated their professional lives primarily to trial practice. Last June, Marjorie McCanta High graduated from the U of Washington with an executive Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. She won the best case study award for a case based on human resources and administration challenges in a non-profit legal services organization. Shortly after graduation, she returned to the Northwest Justice Project to become the managing attorney for the Enhanced Volunteer Assistance Project, a grant-based project to create innovative models to involve pro-bono attorneys in legal services work. She also reports that she loved her new job as a homeschool coordinator for her three lovely children. Kristen (O’Connor) Golby and her family moved from Brussels, Belgium, to Austin TX where her husband is a senior fellow at the Clements Center at the U of Texas. Instead of job searching, Kristen anticipates managing virtual education for their children in grades 1, 4, 6, 7 and 9. I sensed a touch of sarcasm from our classmates turned teachers. I hope you all continue to stay safe and healthy during these challenging times. Please remember to send me updates for our column. — Jonell Lucca; cell 602-677-3266; jonelllucca@yahoo.com
02 Notes from Quarantine
Nate DeNicola started a new position as an OB/GYN laborist covering labor and delivery at Sibley Memorial Hospital with Johns Hopkins Medicine. Nate’s team published a high-profile article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that was featured in the New York Times: “Climate Change Tied to Pregnancy Risks, Affecting Black Mothers Most.” The JAMA article, titled “Weight and Stillbirth in the US, A Systematic Review,” can be found at online. Sarah and Jim Creagan welcomed their fourth child, Rose Bernadette. Big sister Claire and brothers Danny and Charlie are thrilled to have another playmate. Rose will have a story to tell for the rest of her life about being born during a pandemic. Jocelyn Allison moved home to Chicago in November after almost 12 years in NYC working for Law360, a legal news publication for corporate lawyers. Jocelyn now works as a senior editor on the business page for the Chicago Tribune. Her great grandfather, Zachary Taylor Davis, was the architect for Wrigley Field and the original Comiskey Park. In 2018 the Zachary Hotel opened in his honor across the street from Wrigley Field. It was the perfect place to hold Jocelyn’s 40th birthday bash in January, and several ND friends attended. Little did they know it would be the last celebration for a while. Kelly Donnelly, Jocelyn’s freshman roommate, flew out from NYC for the party. Kelly works as director of communications for New York AG Tish James. Penny Wolf Houy and her husband, Daniel, welcomed their second baby, Simon Christopher, into the world on March 4. Big sister Claire cannot get enough of her little brother. Tom Rodriquez recently joined Republic Services in Houston as their director of well operations. He oversees all deep wells and the development of new wells for the US operations. Tom has been surviving the pandemic by staying home, wearing masks in public and social distancing, even at the neighborhood pool. Patrick Wirtz welcomed his fourth child, Jacqueline Margaret Wirtz, on Oct. 26, 2019. Some of you may have seen my request for ordinary updates on our class Facebook page considering the days all running together during these crazy times. Cheryl Ziemba shared that she has been baking a lot; Kristen Fitzpatrick bought a house on a whim; and Jonathan Jorissen and his wife were bored so they had twin girls on May 1: Edith Therese and Zelie Denise. They joined four brothers. Elizabeth Wagner shared that her small start-up is developing a COVID-19 treatment and she is starting clinical trials and treating patients soon. Google “The novel coronavirus attacks the lungs” for the article on statnews.com. Lynne Privitera Buccheri virtually taught her sixth graders, helped her oldest with kindergarten e-learning and potty trained her twins while providing daycare at home. Sean McCarthy shared that Joe Biggs became a master LEGO builder certified by the LEGO Institute, and Melissa Trevino Berendzen shared that Allison Downey moved from Spain to Boston where she works as a partner for KPMG. Trying to channel my COVID energy, I made the last-minute decision to enroll in the executive Master of Nonprofit Administration at ND. I finished the summer session of virtual classes and I am happy to report that the Notre Dame spirit and community feels just as magical to me 18 years later. Now that we have DART online, students these days have no idea how easy they have it. I hope that you are all doing well, staying healthy, and finding ways to get through these challenging times. Thinking of you all. —Lisa (Sestile) Corcoran; lsestile@alumni.nd.edu
02MBA Class Secretary — Melissa Hurd;
hurdmc@yahoo.com
02JD New Babies and New Jobs
Greetings from Connecticut. As I write this column, the family is enjoying a two-week visit to our old state to catch up with family and, in a socially distanced fashion, old friends. We managed to arrive just under the wire. Days after we arrived, Indiana was added to the quarantine list that included New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. I hope all of you manage to find time to disconnect and de-stress this summer. It feels more important than ever to do so. Fortunately, I have happy news to report from two of our classmates. Myra McKenzie-Harris and her husband, Dr. Christopher Harris ’00MSEE, welcomed their third child, Alexander Cornel Harris, on April 26. Myra reports that big sisters McKenna, 4, and Grace, 2, are becoming great helpers. Stephanie Niehaus has joined the start-up practice of Nelson Law LLC where she will be focusing primarily on litigation involving emerging technologies with emphasis on autonomous vehicles. Stephanie previously was with Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP where she had practiced since 2002, most recently in the New York office where she led the New York litigation group. Stephanie is living and working in Rowayton CT. She can be reached at stephanie.niehaus@nelson.legal and would love to hear from everyone. — Ryan D. Costantini; 414 S. Notre Dame Ave., South Bend IN 46617; mobile 574-339-8050; ryan.costantini@gmail.com
03 Short and Sweet
Class of 2003, while tucked away at home during this pandemic, give some thought to sending me a quick update. I’d love a big push this fall and winter if you’re open to sharing your latest updates. Staci Pangle Schulte and her husband Mike welcomed their second child, Andrew Xavier, on May 6. Andrew joins his big sister Annalise, 4. Staci teaches fifth grade at Columbus School for Girls in Columbus OH. Go Irish. — Joshua Gentine; jgentine@alumni.nd.edu
03MBA Class Secretary — Rosemary Guillette;
9 Messenger St., Unit 7, Plainville MA 02762; rguillette@alumni.nd.edu
03JD Class Secretary — Lawrence A. Ward;
206-903-8817; ward.lawrence@dorcey.com
04 Life Changes
We have many updates to share this issue. If you haven’t yet done so, please join our Notre Dame Class of 2004 Facebook group. I put a post out to ask for announcements and check out how many I received. Genevieve (McCann) Chartrand wrote that Beatrix Rose was born in March of 2017, and Noëmie Mae was born in May of 2019. They moved to Jersey City NJ right before COVID started and are loving their new city, despite the shutdown. Brian McKenna and Jennifer Fish ’04SMC live in Bennington VT and have five little girls. Maggie McCourt Mendoza and husband Carlhos just had their third child, Juliet. Isabel and Paul Xavier were happy to welcome their sister home. Katherine Brick got married in March to Zach Blair ’10JD. They were supposed to have a wedding, which would have included Julianne (Plazas) White and Laura (Wolohan) Kutsko in the wedding party, but they ended up eloping to protect families and friends as the pandemic was just starting. Luckily, Laura was able to be there as Kat’s witness. Elizabeth (Emilian) Schipper and husband Andrew welcomed their eighth child, Peter Homer David Schipper in April. He was welcomed by his adoring siblings Cecilia, Brian, Catherine, Paul, Gianna, Daniel, and Patrick. Congrats to Mike Pykosz, whose company Oak Street Health, announced filing of registration statement for proposed initial public offering of shares of its common stock. Pykosz’s company, founded in 2012, is a fast-growing network of value-based, primary care centers for adults on Medicare. Katy Welzbacher DeBlois and husband Ken celebrated the birth of their second child, Nora Elizabeth, on March 10. She joins her brother Cormac William who was born on Aug. 27, 2018. Katy is an emergency medicine attending and the interim program director for the Kent Hospital Emergency Medicine Residency Program. Liz (Stedman) Andersen gave birth to her daughter, Alexandra, in November 2019. She lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband, Ben. Cristin McAuley is a mental health therapist and started her own solo practice in downtown Chicago in April 2018. She opened her second solo location in October 2019 in the Beverly neighborhood on the south side of the city. Since March, she has been doing video sessions with her clients and can’t wait to see them in person again. Justin Lantzer and his wife, Deanna, welcomed their second daughter, Matilda Rose Lantzer, on Leap Day. Her big sister (Maisie), mom and Justin are blessed to have two, beautiful girls. Kenna (Brewer) ’05 and Pat Millea celebrated their 11th anniversary in July. Kenna is a marriage and family therapist and Pat is a youth minister and speaker. They live in West St. Paul MN. They just had their seventh child, Lucia, in April, just for something to do during quarantine. Now they have three kids under the age of 2, which Pat reports is fun and totally insane. Having triplet boys who are 2, along with a 5-year-old daughter, I can relate. Congrats to our Class of ’04 VP Tommy Gaeta and his wife, Victoria, who welcomed their first child, Jack Costa Gaeta, in June. And finally, a big kudos to our classmate Rev. Greg Celio, SJ, who was ordained as a member of the Society of Jesus on July 15 in Los Angeles. Father Greg’s first Mass was celebrated at St. Juliana’s Parish the following weekend. Keep those updates coming. — Carol Martino; carolmartino10@gmail.com
04MBA Quiet Times
The summer has been quiet on the update front for this issue. I’ve heard of a few updates developing for future issues, and we look forward to those updates when they arrive. Stay healthy and hopefully the Irish are playing football and the Cubs are still playing baseball when you receive this fall issue of ND Magazine. — Harry Howisen; hhowisen@gmail.com
04JD Class Secretary — Elizabeth Miceli;
emicelilaw@gmail.com
05 Class Secretary — Kristin Boyd;
Credit Suisse, 11 Madison Ave., New York NY 10010; 317-523-1195; kristin.boyd@gmail.com
05MBA Class Secretary — Himanshu Gosar;
hgosar@alumni.nd.edu
05JD Career Success
One of the few bright spots from the COVID-19 pandemic is that it afforded me the opportunity to reconnect with some classmates. Now, some 15 years after graduation, I have enjoyed watching the careers of our classmates blossom. Many of you have migrated to in-house roles with increasing levels of responsibility. For example, in Columbus OH, Ryan Bednarczuk serves as the associate general counsel, global marketing, technology, and contracts for The Wendy’s Company. Their chili and salad got me through many nights as a bachelor. This is his second stint in-house, previously serving at Contech Engineered Solutions. In Texas, Tim Hubach has spent the last 10 years as senior assistant general counsel, corporate, at The Howard Hughes Corporation in Dallas. He handles various SEC and corporate matters for the commercial, residential, and mixed-use property development company. In Houston, Xavier Jordan serves as deputy general counsel at Sensia, a Rockwell Automation and Schlumberger Joint Venture, after spending more than eight years with various roles at Cameron. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Libby Stockstill is general counsel of Vans, a division of VF Outdoor, in Los Angeles after spending many years as a rock star at Latham & Watkins. When you can, please drop me a line and let me know where the last decade and a half has taken you. “May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back.” Go Irish. — Adam J. Russ; Houston TX; adamjruss@gmail.com
06 Growing Families
Jessica (Fedor) and Kevin Friedrichs welcomed daughter, Violet Ruth, on Jan. 19. Siblings Clara, Emmett and Hannah, love kissing and snuggling their baby sister, with no regard for the rules of social distancing. According to his mom, Brendan Meyer and his wife, Kristi, and big brother, Ronan Rockne, welcomed Landon Holtz into their family on April 10 in Chicago. Meredith (Laux) and John Flocarri welcomed twin boys, Lucas John and Gavin Thomas, on June 7. Liz Maher and Nandu Polavarapu welcomed their first child, Kiran Pierce Polavarapu, on Oct 9, 2019. He is named in honor of Notre Dame design professor Robert Pierce Sedlack Jr. who passed away from ALS in 2015. Andrew ’05 and Sabitha Salzmann welcomed their fourth child, Ruth Anneliese, on Feb. 8. Big brothers Ben, Gabe and Max had plenty of time at home this spring to get to know their new sister. Crista and Will Fischer welcomed their first child, Annabelle (Annie), into the world on Nov. 26, 2019. The Fischers have lived in the Milwaukee area for two years, and Will is a cardiac surgeon with Aurora Medical Group. — Anna (Skoien) Lall;
annagracelall@gmail.com
06MBA Class Secretary — Andrew Sama;
276 Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame IN 46556; cell 574-339-6115; bus 574-631-5206; nd.mba.classof2006@gmail.com
06JD Class Secretary — Amir Hassan Sadaghiani;
sadaghiani@alumni.nd.edu
07 Class Secretary — Stephanie Pelligra;
ndclassnotes2007@gmail.com
07MBA Class Secretary — Tom Ponisciak;
tponisci@gmail.com
07JD Class Secretary — Patrick A. Salvi II;
Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., 161 N. Clark St., Suite 4700, Chicago IL 60601; 312-372-1227; psalvi2@salvilaw.com
08 Updates for Fall 2020
Hey, folks. My name is Patrick O’Brien and I am stepping in as Class Notes secretary for a while. I lived in Fisher Hall, wore a lot of flannel shirts, and often high-kicked in Finnegans. After ND, I was a Spanish teacher, and now work as a labor and employment attorney with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. Please send all complaints to former editors, Megan O’Hara ’08, ’10 MEd and Bridget Keating, who have done fantastic work the past decade or so. OK, let’s do this: Jesse Brawer married Emily, a lovely lady from Pennsylvania, during a beautiful oceanside ceremony. Kerry Renz was a groomsman. Lawrence Sullivan attended the ceremony but was not invited. Speaking of Lawrence Sullivan, he married Elissa, a pediatrician and overall incredible human, in a beautiful ceremony in Castletownbere, Ireland. Casie Sweeney, Carolyn Sullivan ’09, Marianela (Sullivan) Crema ’08 MEd, Catherine Sullivan ’11SMC, and yours truly, Patrick O’Brien, were in the wedding party. The craic in Ireland was fantastic and many Notre Dame ’08 grads attended, including Michael Reilly and Patrick McInerney, who thought they were attending a Styx concert but settled for having a great time at the wedding. Jesse Brawer, Patrick Ryan and Hunter Land did not attend. Megan and Andrew Zeiser welcomed their first daughter this winter. She looks like Megan and we are all grateful. Garrett Mandeville ’08, ’10MEd and Mary Claire (Sullivan) Mandeville ’08, ’12MBA welcomed their second child, Charlie, in April. Brother Gage is excited for another playmate. John Biddle ’08, ’10MEd and Katie Biddle ’10 MEd welcomed their second son, Stephen, in April. The child is already smarter than you. Katie Scully ’08, ’10MEd, ’16MEd Leadership married Matt Colnar in a beautiful Chicago COVID-19 wedding in late June. Despite Matt being a Kansas Jayhawk, plenty of ND grads celebrated in person and watched online. The wedding party included Megan Scully ’08, ’12 MEd, Jenny Scully ’10, Erin Scully ’10, Michael Scully ’06, ’08 MEd, and Kasey Farrell Scully ’06, ’08 MEd. Many ND ’08 grads sent great video vignettes wishing Katie and Matt a grand adventure and life together. Nice job, folks. Kirsten and Christopher Liedl welcomed their second child, Thomas Joseph Liedl, on April 30 in Boston. Everyone is doing well, including big sister, Lizzie, who is loving so hard. While nobody plans on having a child during a global pandemic, caring for a newborn is like quarantine anyway. Bobby Delgadillo, Tom Dorwart, John Gleason, Mike Hatke, Christopher Liedl, Brendan McMeel, Josh Rivera and Mike Schaefer have been making the most of social distancing by hosting a weekly virtual trivia. These men of Dillon rotate hosting duties with each week’s winner hosting the next week and putting their own spin on the contest, though nobody has come close to matching Josh’s professional quality production. Erin (O’Neill) Clarke, creator of the popular recipe website WellPlated.com, has published her first cookbook with Penguin Random House, which features 130 classic comfort recipes with a healthy and approachable spin. Titled The Well Plated Cookbook and released in August, it is the perfect resource for fast, nourishing yet delicious family meals. She is also grateful to the many ND friends who helped her test (and retest) the recipes to make sure they were just right. Finally, for all of you ND ’08 graduates on the frontlines of COVID-19, thank you. We are praying for you. Please keep the updates coming. We love hearing from you and so do our classmates. — Patrick O’Brien; classof2008@alumni.nd.edu
08MBA Class Secretary — Megan Ulrich;
meganlouisefitzgibbons@gmail.com
08JD #GirlBoss
What a crazy ride it has been thus far in 2020. I can’t wait for the day when we will be able to plan for reunions and travel, and our biggest complaint will be ND losing a close football game. Until then, I hope and pray that everyone stays healthy and safe. Even in these uncertain times, our classmates have continued to excel. I am honored and inspired to share information about some strong women from ’08JD in this update. Best wishes to Kristin (West) and Jadon Farleigh on the birth of their daughter, Quincy Jean, on May 29. Quincy joins big sisters Sophia, Livia and Dylan and big brother Jaxon. Kristin and her growing family live in Fairbanks AK, and she continues to work for Gazewood & Weiner PC. Once it is safe again to travel, she encourages classmates visiting Alaska to get in touch as she would love to catch up. Congratulations also go to Jennifer Lamirand who was promoted into the partnership at Crowe & Dunlevy PC in April. She also was voted in for her next term as an associate justice on the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Supreme Court. Jennifer shares that the recent Supreme Court decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma, which recognized the traditional reservation territory of the Muskogee (Creek) Nation as intact, will make for a new and interesting transitional period. She goes on to say that because McGirt has upended decades of thought on how traditional tribal territories and jurisdictions are viewed and considered in Oklahoma, that it is the first step into a brand new world. We all look forward to your updates on your work in this important area, Jennifer. Krishna (Thomas) Walker continues to rock, now as general counsel for CareVet, a veterinary practice management company with operations throughout the US. Corporate headquarters are in St. Louis. Congratulations, Krishna. Also, if you can believe it, Krishna shares that her daughter Kyla will be a senior in high school this year. After almost seven years at my last company, I recently started a new position of strategy and project lead at Henry Crown & Company in Chicago. Henry Crown & Company is a family enterprise that, in addition to its many business ventures, has a strong philanthropic mission specifically supporting education, the environment, health and human services, global health and Jewish causes. I am excited about this new opportunity and working with such a remarkable family company. Finally, in memory of Kyle D. Smith, the Class of 2008 Mock Trial Award fund has been established at NDLS. Please donate at donate.nd.edu/, and under “Designations” mark “Kyle D. Smith Class of 2008 Mock Trial Award.” This is an expendable scholarship meaning that we will be able to award the scholarship as long as we have money in the fund. Please be generous this year and in years to come. — Marie-Therese Mansfield; mt.mansfield1@gmail.com
09 Doing Better Than Fine
In continuing our gratitude for our healthcare heroes, we would like to mention Caryn LaBuda. Please reach out to acknowledge a classmate who has yet to be mentioned. Andrew Matasic and Craig Wiborg stayed home and stayed safe while playing Fortnite for 36 hours straight. Christine Carty ’10 and Jeremy Pawlak were married in Spring Lake NJ in September 2019. Jeremy celebrated with ND groomsmen Peter Checki, Michael Fasing ’08, and Jason Pawlak ’03. Among the 37 Notre Dame alumni in attendance, other friends from the Class of ’09 included Chris Terschluse, George Packer, Michael Short, and Mark Hinken. Please visit the Notre Dame Class of 2009 Facebook page to reconnect with members of the class. If you have any additional news or announcements, please contact me. Go Irish. — Megan Flynn; megflynn7@gmail.com
09MBA Class Secretary — Shawn Pulscher;
801-336-7344; spulscher@alumni.nd.edu
09JD Class Secretary — Josh Rinschler;
josh.rinschler@gmail.com