2010s
2010s
10 Happy Couples
Erin O’Laughlin got engaged to Alan Yanchak ’12 in early November atop the Coit Tower in San Francisco. The couple met through their ND friends Emily (Everett) Bishko and James Bishko ’12 at their wedding in 2016. The newly engaged couple resides in Boston and will be married later this year in Austin. Colleen Nolan is engaged to Ned Hawley ’08. They are getting married in Dublin, Ireland, after the Notre Dame-Navy game this fall. Stacy Gill married Josh Sanders on Dec. 28 in Dublin OH. Caroline Cullen married Patrick Urgento on Jan. 4 at San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, the oldest church in Texas and the oldest operating cathedral in America. Several Domers were in attendance, including Rev. Matt Kuczora, CSC, ’05, ’11MDiv. Congratulations to the happy couples. Cassidy (Blair) Gerber and Dan Gerber welcomed their first children, twin boys August and Frederick, in July. The family of four is living in Jersey City NJ. Ryan and Lindsay (Williams) Short welcomed their third daughter, Clare Frances, on Aug. 26. She joins Rosemary and Elaine, filling their family with even more love and joy (and much less sleep). Megan (Sennet) and Peter Mushenheim welcomed their first child, Patrick William, on Nov. 6. The family has lived in Atlanta since their wedding at the Basilica in July 2015. Michelle and Danny McRae welcomed their second child, Leo Nguyen, on Dec. 28. He joins his big sister, Riley Eleanor, in Orlando. Vincent “Trey” Tumminello was elected partner at Taylor Porter. He also serves as the president of the Notre Dame Club of South Louisiana. Congratulations to Mary Kate Battle, one of 12 young alumni chosen for the inaugural Domer Dozen for her work with Catholic Relief Services. Check out her video at domerdozen.nd.edu. We are saddened by the loss of our classmate, John Baty. After graduating from Notre Dame, John attended law school at the U of Missouri Kansas City School of Law. He practiced as an attorney at Baty Otto Coronado, PC alongside his father and sister. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. My wife Molly (Smith) and I welcomed our second daughter, Katherine “Katie” Patricia on Nov. 2. We are moving to Cincinnati in June for my pediatric hospital medicine fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s. We hope to see you all back on campus for our 10-year reunion from June 4-7. Registration opens soon. Please visit reunion.nd.edu for more details. Keep sending updates. Go Irish. — Matt Molloy; ndclass2010@gmail.com
10MBA Get Ready for Reunion
Xavi Navarro and his wife Lauren celebrated the new decade by welcoming their third girl, Micaela Sofia Navarro, on Jan. 2 in Miami FL. Her sisters, Siena, 4, and Catalina, 2, welcomed their little sister with open arms and excitement. On the work front, Xavi is the co-founder and CFO of Momus Analytics which is a first-of-its-kind jury selection analytics tool being used in live courtrooms across the nation. Congratulations to Xavi and Lauren. Tim Hannigan recently started a new position as engineering services manager at Tankcraft Corporation in Darien WI. Tankcraft is a supplier of manufactured products to the OEM heavy truck industry. Tim, wife Katie, and daughter Emme, 5, still reside in Wauwatosa WI and welcome any visitors passing through. Casey Wilson shared some awesome news. He and his wife are expecting their first child in April. Casey shared that he is looking forward to hearing more about the 10-year reunion and can’t wait for some sleepless nights when the baby comes. Garrett Busch ’09, ’10MBA and wife Betsy Busch ’10, ’11MSA were delighted to welcome twins, children No. 5 and 6, to the family Oct. 11. MacGyver and Eleanor are doing great and their siblings are taking great care of them. Garrett has also become very involved in the Opportunity Zone space with the family real estate business and successfully closed their first Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund at the end of 2019 and is working on a few more for 2020. On a personal note, the past 10 years have been rewarding for me to witness the personal and professional accomplishments of our class. Thank you for doing what you do and sharing your news with me along the way. Cheers to another amazing decade. I hope to see you all at Reunion June 4-7. Please go to reunion.nd.edu to register. Go Irish. — John Gerberich; cell 847-331-4707; jgerberi@alumni.nd.edu
10JD Babies Welcomed
Welcome to all the new ND babies. Aubree and Andrew Gill added their third boy, Jack Gill, to their family in August. Megan (Matuska) ’07, ’10JD and Brent Baxter celebrated the birth of their second son, George Gibson Baxter, on Oct. 23. He joins brother Charlie. Caitlin (Gildea) Robinson and Mark Robinson welcomed their third child, a son, Will. He joins two sisters. Stacey (Forbes) and Justin Heyman had a baby boy, Grover John Heyman, in November. Erin (Brown) and Scott Jones welcomed their Christmas baby, Henry Parker Jones. He joins a sister. Switching to the baby girls, Kathleen Donovan and Ken Coffin welcomed their second little girl, Charlotte Anne Coffin. Bernie (Nguyen) and Tom Florip welcomed their second baby girl, Margaret Florip, in October. As for babies to be, Sarah Woolley and David Diorio expect their second child. Congratulations to everyone. Please keep sending me your updates for my next column. Until next time. – Jennifer (Hernandez) Laffitte; 10310 Southwest 128th Ave., Miami FL 33186; res 305-322-7154; bus 786-762-3815; jherna11@alumni.nd.edu
11 Weddings, Babies, Careers
Erica Miller married Landon Arnold on Nov. 9 in Ponte Vedra Beach FL. Alumni Hall Dawg Richard Paulius married Madeline Root outdoors at her parents’ home in Barrington IL on Aug. 17. Joe McMahon and Scott McIntosh were groomsmen. Ten Alumni Hall and four Lyons Hall grads were on-hand for this multi-generational celebration. Class of ’11 included Mike Delach, Kyle Hakanan, Riley Orloff and Elise Smith, Marcus Perez, Colleen ’11SMC and Zach Reuvers, Chris Schiraldi, Khai Thomas, Bobby Ward, Kelly (Paulius) and Tim Wallace. Also attending were Tom Paulius ’16, Mike Paulius ’73, ’76 (father), Tom Paulius ’76 (uncle), Bill Sauerland ’73, Paul Reuvers ’88, Mary Kay (Duffy) Gott ’66SMC and Larry Gott ’64. You’ll likely see the couple training for their next marathon before the BC game this fall. Madeline W. Goralski and Kevin G. Murphy were married on Oct. 19 in Glens Falls NY. The wedding party included classmates Tyler Kaplan, who served as best man, Griffin Dassatti and Matt “Peyton” Stolze. Other ND grads in attendance included Joseph J. Sass ’12, Elizabeth Callahan ’06, ’09JD, and Tony Jordan ’86. Kevin and Maddie, both attorneys, live and work in Albany NY. Don Lemire and Katherine Gruenberg were married on March 23, 2019, at St. Margaret Mary Church in Winter Park FL. Dozens of Domers traveled to celebrate in the warm Florida sunshine. The wedding party included Eileen Wahl, Janna Lam, Julie Mulloy, Katy Colby, Fred Jung, Cooper Howes, Dan Rimkus, and Colin Diamond ’09, ’12JD. The happy couple resides in San Francisco. Melissa (Vondriska) and Michael Flanigan welcomed their second daughter, Bridget Carol, on Aug. 1. She was baptized on Dec. 8 at St. Edward the Confessor in Granville OH with Laura (Tiche) and Ryan Dwyer as godparents. Casey Larkin and husband, Ryan Zauner, welcomed their son, William Moran, Aug. 8. The family resides in Austin TX where Casey works for Baylor Scott & White Health. Jennifer (Henzler) Salcich and husband Zach welcomed baby Audrey Laverne in July. Kristen Andree is the godmother to Audrey and all enjoyed her baptism in Houston. Kelly (Forster) Jacobs and Dan Jacobs welcomed their first child, Isabella Louise, on Sept. 20. Colleen ’11SMC and Zach Reuvers welcomed their second child, Reagan Pierce Reuvers, on mom’s 30th birthday, June 23. She attended her first ND game this fall. McKena Kovar and Nicholas Minni were blessed with the birth of their daughter Elise Marie Minni Kovar on Oct. 29. Uncle Ethan Kovar ’17 loves his new niece. Alex Macomber and wife Kelsey welcomed their second child, Mia Everly Macomber, on Sept. 1. Alex retired from Amazon Robotics and founded The Nutrition Corner in Derry NH. Michael Quinn and wife, Colleen ’11SMC welcomed their son, Seamus Michael, into the world in August. Kaitlyn (Kiger) Rusca completed her MA in couples and family therapy from Seattle U, and gave birth to baby Elijah Muir. Rev. Peter (Chris) Gautsch, OP, after earning a licentiate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC last May, is assigned to Providence College, where he teaches theology and serves as an assistant chaplain in campus ministry alongside fellow Domers Pam Tremblay ’13MA and Allyse Gruslin ’16MDiv. Jeffrey Steimle completed his PhD in developmental biology from the U of Chicago last summer. He and his wife, Allison, have started postdocs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Congratulations to Claire Brown who recently received her PhD in anthropology from Binghamton U. Timothy Powers works for Inovateus Solar in South Bend while earning a master’s in public administration from IUPUI and coaching men’s club Ultimate Frisbee at Notre Dame. Capt. Erin Plate, after two and a half years in Germany, was selected by the Air Force for an exchange position with the Italian Air Force near Rome in summer 2020. She moved to the DC area for a stint studying Italian in preparation for the assignment. There she unexpectedly reconnected with classmate and Navy officer Lt. Steve Thomas, also studying the language. If you’re in the neighborhood, please come by to say ciao. Please send updates. — Evan James; ndclass2011@gmail.com
11MBA Welcome to 2020
Happy new decade. Our class has lots of updates as we move into the new year. Adrienne Coyle was promoted to director in the structured solutions group at Deutsche Bank in March 2019. She focuses on origination for the structured finance business through coverage of private equity and credit funds. Manny Niebla had an eventful 2019. He got married in January 2019 to Patricia Rodriguez in Miami. He also started his second health care business, JustWell Health Partners in Miami, and serves as its director and chief operating officer. JustWell Health Partners (JHP) is a population health management organization that provides back-end services to primary care physicians working in the Medicare program to enhance revenues, contain costs and improve quality in value-based healthcare. As icing on the cake, Manny is expecting his first child in March. Tim Loeffel accepted a new job at Amazon in Las Vegas, so he and his family just left the East Coast. He will be working on the Amazon Key for Business team to scale their product line in support of Amazon delivery services. Marina and Tony Petro welcomed their second child, James Shaw Petro, into the world on Dec. 21 Also, the Petros have secured the franchise rights to a territory in Dallas for Blaze Pizza. Tim Frahme sent along an amazing photo of himself and a seal along with this message, “Tim Frahme is a Disney Princess. A seal hopped on my boat and we hung out.” After roles in Omaha and São Paulo for Cargill, Jeff Harer has enjoyed being back in his hometown of Minneapolis for his latest role as a corporate finance leader. His wife Jenny and their three kids have enjoyed being back in Minnesota as well. In addition to his work at Cargill, Jeff also chairs the Corporate Advisory Board at ND and was asked to join a new program called Alumni Fellows. Staying involved at ND over the years has been really rewarding for Jeff and he’d be happy to connect others with opportunities to give back if they are interested. Mariana Fonseca recently took on more responsibility at American as managing director of digital customer experience and is in charge of online ticket sales in aa.com. Cole Isban married Veronica Petree in August 2018 in Kansas City. They live in Charlotte NC and are expecting their first child in 2020. He encourages everyone to reach out if they’re ever in Charlotte. Shormila Sarkar McCarthy lives in Austin TX with her two stepkids and husband. She was expecting her first baby, a girl, in early January. Professionally, she’s going on year four at Facebook where she manages a team of sales professionals. — Mimi Wilfong; 903-714-4988; mimitwilfong@gmail.com
11JD News for 2020
Remember back to 2009: PJ Hines was just a destitute, poor, single law student, with no life or love prospects, wasting away his hours at Mulligans seeking companionship and fortune, or even a side glance from the ladies of South Bend. Well, 10 years have done him well and within the span of 24 hours (he was never a man of moderation, and some things never change) PJ was elected as equity partner to HodgsonRuss in Buffalo and got engaged to Kara Rossi. We can’t wait to see what 2029 brings for the Hines rollercoaster. Similarly, in career achievements, Nicole Ruggiarello ’08, ’11JD was named to the 2019 class of “Up and Coming Lawyers” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Andrea (Grano) Thaxton ’07SMC and David Thaxton ’07, ’11JD, and welcomed Clara Rose Thaxton on Nov. 15. Christina (Pyle) Engle and husband Scott welcomed son Henry on Dec. 19. Santa was good to her. And in a shocking upset, Blake Rambo was not nominated for any awards for his guest appearance as “Man No. 5 on Company Retreat” in episode six of season two of Succession. We hope next season the academy recognizes his talent. — Lauren Sharkey; lksharkey@gmail.com
12 Professional Life Update
Brian Conway joined the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) as a research staff member in IDA’s operational evaluation division. Conway earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from ND and his PhD in chemistry from Pennsylvania State U in 2019. IDA is a nonprofit corporation that operates three federally funded research and development centers in the public interest. Congratulations to Brian. — Tyler Harmsen; tharmsen14@gmail.com
12MBA Class Secretary — Chris Villani;
christopher.villani@gmail.com
12JD Traditions
Good morning classmates, or good whenever-you-happen-to-be-reading-this. If you’re reading this, that is. Otherwise, I totally missed the deadline to submit this. My bad. I hope it doesn’t happen again, but it might. As is tradition by this point, we are starting with babies. And there are many this quarter. Kimberly and Dante Tota had their first child this December, Alexandra Kay Tota. Dante sent a photo, which I sadly cannot print. For the record, even though I can’t print photos, please feel free to send them to me. Wendy (Tran) Novotne and her husband, Anthony, had a baby boy in November. Logan is named after the neighborhood they used to live in when they were living over in DC. Again, Wendy sent a photo. And again, I love it. Melesa Freerks and her husband, Nick, welcomed kiddo No. 2 in November. Mikko Boston Weeks is doing great, and is much loved by his big sister, Nike. Melesa sent two photos, so she’s winning so far. Bryan Bond and his wife, Megan, had a baby boy back in September, Liam Patrick Bond. You may remember back when I mistakenly reported that Bryan had a baby with Brian Boyle’s wife, Jenna. If you don’t remember, Bryan sure does. And I guess Brian and Jenna, too. Either way, congrats Bryan. I’m happy I won’t have to retract this one. Kelsey Danner had a baby on Oct. 10, a girl named Aurelia Ceit Danner. Aurelia was Baby Yoda for Christmas, and there is photographic evidence that it was epic. Monique Magar and her husband Damon also had a baby, Isidore Moses Jenkins. Isidore joined the world on Dec. 13 and decided to make his debut at the time that Monique was supposed to be at the office Christmas party, which she personally planned. Ryan Shupe and his wife, Raquita, are expecting their first kiddo in May 2020, as are Carter (Mills) Isham and her husband, Rob. Carter also reports that they’re about to move to Denver. Fabian Gauna got engaged to Cassandra Karooz. I haven’t seen Fabian in a while, and I heard about this from Wendy. I hope you’re doing well, Fabian. Feel free to send me the scoop and I’ll give you another shoutout in the next column. Mike Mattingly made partner at Dinsmore and Shohl LLP in Cincinnati. He’s been doing a lot of work with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Title VII, the ADA and the FLSA. Ryan Snyder is headed to California this summer to start a two-year fellowship with the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, run by Michael McConnell. This is a big step toward Ryan’s goal of becoming a law professor. Prior to this fellowship, Ryan was working with Jones Day in Columbus, handling appellate cases and complex civil litigation. Chris Regan left the Bronx DA’s office after seven years and started working with the New York City Cyber Command. They’re the people who defend NYC from cyber-attacks. Ryan Raybould sent along an update. He is an AUSA in Dallas, doing a little bit of everything: white collar, violent crime, drugs, trafficking. He and his wife, Brooke, have three boys under the age of 5. Ryan is the coach of his eldest son’s soccer team and takes a lot of coaching inspiration from the movie Kicking and Screaming. And finally, Alvin Adjei and I shared an Airbnb at a wedding outside of Washington DC this winter. It was a lot of fun; except I didn’t know that Alvin has started doing what he likes to call “loud yoga” at the crack of dawn. Thanks again everyone. Keep those updates coming. — James Champlin; james.c.champlin@gmail.com
13 From Sunny Cincinnati
Hello all, thank you again for reading all the way through to the Class Notes section of the ND Magazine. We are lighter on the updates this go around, but for the mid-January due date, it is common to get the cold shoulder. Megan Poloskey got engaged during the Virginia game weekend to Eric Zimmerman, a Duke graduate. It stopped raining long enough for them to walk by the lakes and for him to propose. Her ND roommate, Megan Gamble, hid by the lake, avoided the swans, and took pictures. They’re set to marry in Austin in May. Kat Chew was at the wedding of Dr. Lindsey Marugg and Brian Connolly, who is a true Irishman from the isles. He did not, despite my encouragement, wear a green tuxedo. Colin Rouser, one of Sorin’s finest voices, sang at the wedding. Matthew Robison and his wife Emmy Pusateri ’18 welcomed their son, Henry, on Dec. 11. Here’s hoping that Henry, like Emmy’s younger brother, ends up in Sorin College. Speaking of future Sorin alumni, Jackie (McGushin) and Joe Wirth welcomed Michael Hitchner Wirth in January. I’ve been told that Michael has already surpassed Joe’s reading level. Ryan Lion, my usual source for news, gets his own section this time. Anna Perino married Alex Boll ’12 in August. I’ve got nothing snarky to say about Anna because I’m almost certain she would hunt me down. He also told me that Erin Rosario is going to marry Will Newkirk ’14ACE in May. Shannon McDowell is engaged to Andrew Kwong, a USC graduate. Adele Bruggeman got married in South Africa, Ryan’s favorite place he’s worked. Finally, for Ryan’s updates, Allie Rauh started a DNAP in January. For being a first-year resident, Ryan apparently has a lot of time on his hands. As far as professional updates go, the first crop of our colleagues will be finishing up medical residencies this year. I might have been better about finding out what people are doing, but I have two more years and I’m too bitter to be excited about Andrew McKernan going into allergy pediatrics. I can’t complain next to Connor Wathen’s four remaining years, however. In non-medicine news, Bobby Shields is freelancing as a podcast writer for a few shows in the DC area. So, if you’re interested in rural petty crime podcasts or My Little Ponies, make sure you look him up. Now, if you all would please do me a favor. Please email the guy who writes the class column before mine and tell him to stop taking up my space. He’s some jerk lawyer who probably eats all the cookies at Christmas then spills eggnog on your favorite sweater. That’s all I’ve got folks. Please keep the updates coming. Next issue is due April 20, 2020. Cheers. — Chris Champlin; Cincinnati OH; nd2013updates@gmail.com
13MBA News Needed
The MBA Class of 2013 continues to be the humblest class or the least accomplished, as no one sent me any updates. I’m pretty sure it’s the former. I hope things are going well. As always, send any updates my way. — Nick Imgrund; 314-775-7364; daimgrund@yahoo.com
13JD Class Secretary — Alex Blair;
apblair@gmail.com
14 Since High School
Claire LaRosa Eide recently got married to Alex Eide. They met in 2009 at Notre Dame’s Introduction to Engineering summer camp for high schoolers. They went on to attend ND and the rest is nerdy history. They had Domers from 2014 in their wedding party: Nan Lan, Hali Nguyen and Sarah Eide. Claire and Alex live in Minneapolis where Alex does software implementation and Claire is a nurse. — 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 Class Secretary — Rachel Hanley;
rachelrhanley@gmail.com
15 Advanced Degrees
Kelly Marie Morgan graduated from The Ohio State U College of Optometry with a Doctor of Optometry Degree and a Master of Vision Science Degree. Dr. CJ VonBargen DDS graduated with honors from the U of North Carolina Dental School in May 2019. He is in a three-year residency for orthodontics at the Medical U of South Carolina in Charleston. — Emily Flores; eflores2@alumni.nd.edu
15JD Class Secretary — Alisa Finelli;
alisafinelli@gmail.com
16 New Decade, Same Shenanigans
I hope you’re all welcoming this new decade with the same enthusiasm as Zach Waterson and his Sophomore Class Council had for the Great Gatsby Dance out on Bond Quad. Good times, old sports. It has been an exciting season for Brandon Angelini, who proposed to Theresa Saad in Washington Square Park in New York in December. He also ran the New York Marathon the month before, along with a few other classmates: Audrey Kelly, Emily Dowling and Will Geoghegan. Good luck to Savannah Roy as she trains for the NYC half marathon in March. Lauren Garatoni crushed a half marathon around Disney World, and Lesley Stevenson did the same at the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis. Lucinda Krahl ran her third half in Dallas. Cheers to the couples who got engaged over the holidays: Rachel Bohac and Robbie Husting, Candace Castillo and Kevin Lee, Colleen Iverson and Jon Wiese, Payton Celedinas and Riley Strumillo, Haley Van Steenwyk and Gary George II, Mary Prouse and Allen Khayat, Emma Shannon and Tom Czaja, Katherine Joyce and Chris Viamontes, Gail Kelly and Cody Mason, and EJ Leppert and Christin Moermond. Nidia Ruelas, Eryan Gwin, Rose Walsh, Flor Flores, Theresa Bickel, Ana Rodelas and Gen Lyons ’15 fulfilled a promise they made back in LaFun in 2015 that they’d take a Lyons girls international trip in 2020. They started the year off right with a trip to Mexico which included an engagement. Alex Rocha ’17MSA showed up and surprised Ana with a ring. Congrats to the couples who recently tied the knot: Christina Gutierrez and Jake Grefenstette, Kalley McMullen and Scott Terry, Melissa Poczatek and Tyler Kim, and Jessica Trinkl and Shane Giles. Shane and Jess married in August at the basilica in Milwaukee, and Rev. Pat Reidy, CSC, ’08 concelebrated the Mass. Kelsey Longe and Mike O’Connor love each other so much that they had two wedding ceremonies to celebrate, one in August at the Log Chapel and another in October in Michigan. Alison (Widner) and Hunter McDaniel have been loving life with their little Mason, and Madi (King) and Marc Prather have been soaking up the Hawaiian sun with their sweet Tatum. Congrats to Bridget (Bruns) and Chris Moyer, who are expecting a baby in May. Michael McClean moved from LA to Indy last year to work as a water and wastewater engineer. After a year of training, he’ll transfer to South Bend. Also coming back to South Bend is Alissa Bahr. She’s building a house which should be finished by the time you’re reading this. She’s currently getting her MSM degree from ND and works with her dad in their family business. Erik Siegler is back for his MBA and Gabby Mercurio is in her first year at ND Law School. Rohan Andresen is also a 1L at Loyola U. Meg Gegick is finishing up at the Tufts U School of Medicine, and Danielle Rieger is getting her MSW at Simmons U. Shannon Kearney is in the master’s in sports management program at George Washington U and has already worked with the Military Bowl and the Washington Nationals. Noreen Fischer moved from Chicago to Pittsburgh at the beginning of the school year to pursue her MBA at Carnegie Mellon. Janine Romy is at Stanford also getting her MBA. Cait Smith is set to graduate this year from Purdue’s College of Veterinary Medicine. When you’re done reading this one, make sure you read the questionnaire with Jessica Smetana in the winter issue. She co-hosts Sports Illustrated’s Most Valuable Podcast. Some of you might recall that senior year during halftime I’d toss Hershey Kisses to anyone who’d make eye contact. Jack Hanle caught one and the rest is history; he proposed to me in November on the field with a ring and a Kiss. I can’t wait to marry him. I want to share your enthusiasm for all the things you’re doing. Email me. I’d love to hear from you. — Bridget Doyle; bdoyle3@alumni.nd.edu
16MBA #ThisIsMBA
Congratulations to Neha and Akshay Mehta who welcomed a bundle of joy into their lives on Nov. 18. Neha and Akshay named their baby boy Kabir Mehta. The Mehta family lives in Jersey City NJ and Akshay is working for Microsoft. Danni Gui and Bradford Chen welcomed daughter Olivia Chen, 6 months, into their family. Bradford, Danni and brother Jeremy, 6, could not be happier. Danni is working for Cabot Microelectronics and her family lives in Naperville IL. Mami Takenoshita and Ken Nagai held a wedding celebration on New Year’s Eve at Notre Dame. It was a wonderful celebration attended by many classmates, alumni and family. Chris Rubey ’16JD and I adopted a puppy in January, special thanks to Danni Gui and Denise Yee. Thanks for reading. Please send more updates our way. — Kelly (Chase) Rubey; 952-270-7830; kchase@alumni.nd.edu; Claire Kenney; 734-751-2354; ckenney2@alumni.nd.edu
17 God, Country, Engagements
If it were not for Father Sorin and the Holy Cross priests building Notre Dame, the University would not exist. And without men choosing to answer God’s call and join the Congregation of Holy Cross, the legacy of the University could be lost. Yet we have men and classmates who choose to answer God’s call and continue the legacy. Brian Vetter entered Notre Dame planning on going to medical school post-graduation. However, in undergrad, he felt a call to consider religious life and priesthood. Because of the great experiences Brian had with community life at Notre Dame, particularly in Alumni, he felt drawn to join the Congregation of Holy Cross post-graduation. His time in community, ministry and studies has been life-giving. He is currently in the first year of a four-year Master of Divinity program at Notre Dame and living at Moreau Seminary. Upon completion of the program, Brian will profess final vows and be ordained a deacon and then a priest. Steve Jakubowski, Ryan Kerr, Luke Donahue, and TJ Groden are also in Holy Cross. In writing this update, I have learned that a ripe two years post-graduation is when it appears that everyone is engaged. Now I realize that that may seem like an exaggeration, and please get to the end of this list before you dispute this statement. Without further ado a list of the happy couples we can’t wait to see wedding photos from: Stephanie Burton and Brent Jordan, Mackenzie Gray and Joe Salvi ’16, Matthew Mooney and Shannon Hodges, Ashley Calvani and Michael Feula, Dan Thompson and Emily Fisher, Catherine Kitz and Andrew Clark, Caitlyn Cavanagh and Heinrich Enslin, Jessie Tubbs and Logan Brock, Louis Bertolotti and Yajahira Mariell Cordova Gonzalez ’17SMC, Pat Hoskinski and Katie Acosta, Colin Lillibridge and Holland Shodeen, Claire Kampman and Eric Marasco, Brad Powers and Mariana Tumminello, John Porter and Simmone Collins, Jimmy Kemper and Kayla Matthews, JT Schwartz and Jenna Boyle ’17SMC, Rachel Staud ’18 and James Reilly, Monica Robinson and Scott Daly ‘16, and Clare Geraghty and Matthew Henne ’15. At St. Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Mike Pohl ’18MSM married Margaret Carswell ’17SMC with multiple ND alumni in attendance. The happy couple resides in Fox Chapel PA where Mike works real estate market research and finance, and Margaret is a nurse at St. Margaret’s Hospital. Courtney Sampson and Areyan Gonzales-Stocks ’18 wed in Indianapolis in November and Kianna Eurick married her high school sweetheart Jacob Bering. Maureen Tracey and Patrick Connolly tied the knot and reside in DC where Patrick goes to Georgetown Medical School. Ally Scruggs and Henry Dickman returned to wed under the Dome in August and Patrick McMahon married Margaret McDevitt in October. We have new Notre Dame fans entering the world soon. Tabi and Brendan Galloway and Rachael and Frankie Wamsley expect babies. Congrats to all the happy couples with engagements, weddings and babies. 2020 is shaping up to be a busy year for our class. If you would like to provide an update, please contact me. — Celanire Flagg; cflagg@alumni.nd.edu
17MBA Cheers
Spring is upon us, and with the change in seasons comes some exciting news from the class. First, I’m excited to share that Angelica Ramos and her husband are expecting their first child on March 22. Before their little girl arrives, they’ve moved to Oak Park IL at the end of January. Angelica works as a senior financial analyst at Knoll. In other baby news, Debora and Bernardo Sicsú welcomed their second child on Dec. 14. Little Isaac joins his brother, Theo, 2, and everybody is doing splendidly. Jan Porvaznik is engaged to Alyssa Ingle, and the happy couple will be getting married May 9. In addition, Jan was promoted to Director, Energy Storage at RWE Renewables in December. Congratulations to everybody on their exciting updates. Cheers to the MBA Class of 2017. — Mary Tomasik; mtomasik@alumni.nd.edu
17JD Strong Start to 2020
Megan (Davis) and Samuel Sturm welcomed their first child, Levi Charles Sturm, on Nov. 22. He, mom and dad are doing great. After two and a half years with the Walsh Group, Riley Smith will be joining Poyner Spruill LLP in Raleigh NC as a construction litigation associate. Finally, yours truly, Lauren Nottoli, and Jimmy Schwabe are getting married. We got engaged Nov. 14 and the wedding will be March 2021 at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame. Jimmy literally emailed me this update, as if I didn’t know. Thanks to those who emailed updates. I look forward to hearing from you all for the next issue. — Lauren Nottoli; laurennottoli@gmail.com
18 Class Secretary — Matthew Peters;
mgpeters96@gmail.com