1980s
1980s
80 Class Leader
In January, we lost a true leader. As a class officer, Joe Carey infused our work with balance and humor and made us all better for it. Resident of Morrissey Manor, Joe was a son, brother, husband, father and dear friend. His ND friends knew him as “Mom” since he always made sure each was cared for. In real life, Joe was a COO, a role suited to his many gifts. Joe volunteered to “help” with Reunion one year and he quickly demonstrated why he should lead our gatherings. Joe inspired the founding of our Angels program dedicated to helping classmates in times of trouble. Joe seemed incapable of accepting the reality that he could not be in two places at the same time. He touched the lives of so many, and his absence will be felt deeply, especially by his dear wife Nancy, and their boys Ryan ’12, Kyle and Patrick, that Joe loved more than can be described. Those who knew Joe were truly blessed. Rest in peace Joseph Edward Carey. We will dedicate Reunion in Joe’s memory. Bill Mackay wrote on behalf of classmate Dr. Don P. Condit, a member of the ND sailing club during our era along with his bride Sue (Smiggen) ’80SMC, and the sailing crew of his Cruiser Class “Roxy.” On board as part of that championship team was fellow ’80 grad Matt Dubois, ND hockey. Matt’s daughter Meghan is wed to Sue and Don Condit’s son, Patrick. Meghan and Patrick are also talented sailors along with other members of the Condit family, a clan that is multiplying exponentially with five grandchildren at last count. Bill also sent a Flanner Hall “Tower of Power” Section 2A suite-mate reunion update from last fall’s USC game. Amy and Bill Mackay, Paul D’Alessandro accompanied by his lovely sister Karen, Shawn SMC and Vern “Bud” Landeck, Laurie and Mark Krcmaric, Kelly and Dr. James Stierwalt enjoyed a long-planned get-together for this major rivalry game weekend. Lots of memories were shared while watching the Irish defeat the Trojans. Ramona Payne, Theresa Rebeck and Michelle Simon graduated from Ursuline Academy in Blue Ash, Cincinnati OH in 1976 and then went on to Notre Dame. Starting Feb. 18, 2020, Ramona has been the president of Ursuline, ursulineacademy.org. Her ’76 classmates have scheduled a “Welcome back, Ramona” party. Philip Hicks published a memoir, Old Notre Dame: Paul Fenlon, Sorin Hall & Me (Corby Books, 2020). The book focuses on his friendship with the last of ND’s bachelor professors-in-residence, but campus events and personalities form the backdrop to the story. Our hearts go out to Frank Lagrotta, Nick Schneeman and Tom Kozloski who lost their fathers, to Mike Rolfs who lost his mother, to John Hoffman who lost his wife, Pauline “Polly” Wiegand Hoffman and to the family of classmate Dr. Edward “Eddie” Holden Jr. — Mary Ellen Woods; mew.1980@alumni.nd.edu; facebook.com/groups/notredame80/
80MBA 40th Reunion Date Set
As I type this column, it is exactly one month shy of 40 years since we graduated, and the list of classmates that are coming to the reunion for the game on Sept. 12 is growing substantially. We are at 20 now, not including spouses, children or grandchildren and several others who have said they will try and attend. Many of you have written to offer help and it is much appreciated. I will send out a complete list of attendees and other pertinent information as we get closer to the date. If I do not already have your current email addresses, please send them to me soon. Let us also pray that the COVID-19 pandemic will be over before September. As Nancy (Cook) Curley pithily writes, wearing yoga pants at home for work each day gets old. Her daughter Kathleen and husband Nick ’15MBA graduates, have joined her in Phoenix in order to get out of NYC until the virus subsides. They spend time biking, doing puzzles, reading, attending Zoom book club meetings and, my personal favorite, chipping on the green at night. Dave Kavanagh said his year was made recently after receiving a call from Ivan Carrillo. They had a great time catching up and Ivan informed me that he and his wife were planning on coming to the reunion. Upon hearing that Ivan and Raul Jasso would be attending, Dennis Shea wrote that they were two of his roommates during the semester in London. Dennis said he would have a good reason to attend since his son is nearby getting his MBA at the U of Chicago and his daughter will be starting her graduate work at Indiana U this fall. Bill Homer is not enjoying life in captivity but nevertheless he and wife Mary Beth are still able to get in a four-mile walk each day. Molly (Murtagh) Meyers says to count her in for the reunion adding that it can’t possibly be 40 years already. I totally agree. Neil McMahon sold his business last year to TA Realty, an investment firm based in Boston. Now Neil and his wife Debra are spending more time with their two grandchildren. Daughter Alexa ’09 and her husband moved back to DC from Chicago. He adds that his son Morgan left Tesla to take a position with Google in Mountain View. Joe Bowers called to say he has already booked his flight for September and will be picked up at the airport by Mike Previte for the drive to South Bend. Joe and his wife Lane recently completed their two-week cruise to Australia and New Zealand returning just before the virus struck. Joe immediately got back to work helping clients navigate their investment portfolios. Finally, our friends from the ’79MBA and ’81MBA classes are more than welcome to join us if they happen to be at the game. Go Irish. — Joe Kearney; 203-364-0346; jos.w.kearney@gmail.com
80JD Class Secretary — Sheila O’Brien;
sobrien368@aol.com
81 Love in the Time of Coronavirus
Our hearts go out to classmates who have been directly affected by the coronavirus. As I write this, over 3 million people have been affected worldwide, one million of them in the United States. Sadly, these numbers pale in comparison to the numbers you will have seen by the time this column reaches you. While the suffering and loss is incomprehensible, I hear from Notre Dame friends who find the beauty in our collective reaction to it. How we have sacrificed for those most vulnerable in our communities. How we have found peace in the resulting simplicity of our lives. How we have discovered a spiritual renewal in this moment. Let’s continue to pray for the frontline workers who are caring for the sick; there are several classmates who are right there, including our own Steve Blatt. On a lighter note, Farley women Christine Hayes Burgoon, Mary Keleher Castle, Pat Tyrrell Short, Christina Suplick Welsford, Gabrielle Pentz Ryan, Giselle Batacan, and Kathy Schwalbe got together for a Zoom happy hour, the most modern form of getting together across the miles. Another group did the same: Anne Fink Roy, Mike “Pro” Burke, Donna Leary Smith, Janet Bergeron, Dan Gonzalez, Anne Conradt Wilson, Mary Beth Sterling, Steve Burgoon, Amy Olin Mathes and Rick Freedman, plus a few of the Farley women. Not to be outdone, a Farley and Breen-Phillips crowd gathered via Zoom: Kathy McMahon Foresman, Maggie Hallett Sharp, Bridget Jordan Hause, Mary Steiner Lauterbach, Maura Sendlebach Malloy, Alice Gallagher Schulze, Jean Menoni Reidy and Anne O’Hagan Roberts. Another Zooming group was made up of classmates from Lyons, Badin, Lewis and Breen-Phillips. Also meeting by Zoom were the wonderful women of Walsh Hall (WWW) and 15 Morrissey men organized by Dave Pusateri, respectively. Our class tailgater will be at the Oct. 10 Stanford game, or so we have planned. Tom Hostetler wrote an article about the old fieldhouse in The Golden Domer, a newsletter for senior alumni. He detailed his special relationship with the space, and the furniture he made then and later, with materials from the building. Janet Bergeron and Chris Conboy reunited at the Lime Inn in St. John, US Virgin Islands. I got a lovely note from Pat Moskal who just said “hi” but did not provide an update. That is not how this works, Pat. I have fond memories of studying psychology with Pat in Haggar Hall. Rose Tenney’s youngest child will be a member of the Class of 2024 at Saint Mary’s College. This means family trips to South Bend to bring her to school and to yell from the stands at football games. They had hoped to visit before she enrolls but now simply hope that she gets to start school in the fall and have a normal freshman experience. Congrats to all the grandparents in our class, including Ginny Morrison Gadel and Tom Needham, Save the date: our 40th reunion is coming up in June 2021. Who knows if we’ll be gathering on campus but let’s save the date. Please join the Class of ’81 Facebook page where about 400 classmates reminisce, entertain, pray and opine. And please email updates before our July 20 deadline. You are loved members of the Class of ‘81 and we want to know how you are doing. If you have never seen your name in this column, now is the time. Thanks to everyone who has already shared updates and those who are now inspired. — Mary Murphy; marymurphy81@alumni.nd.edu
81MBA Class Secretary — E.J. Fleming;
Dove’s Rest, 600 Hall Hill Road, Somers CT 06071; flemingiv@aol.com
81JD Class Secretary — Michael Palumbo;
3799 East Peachtree Drive, Chandler AZ 85249; res 480-284-4004; bus 602-262-5931; mpalumbo@jsslaw.com
82 Classmates Honored
Our classmate Dr. Patricia Jacques Emmanuel (Lyons Hall) was presented with the William D. Reynolds Award from the Alumni Association in recognition of her lifelong commitment to medical care and fighting infectious diseases, especially on behalf of mothers, children and youth. Pat received her BS in biology from ND and her MD from the U of Florida in 1986. After completing her residency and fellowship in infectious diseases at the U of South Florida, she joined the faculty where she served as the Lewis A. Barness professor and chair of the department of pediatrics since 2012. Previously she served as USF’s associate dean for clinical research and chief of the division of pediatric infectious disease. Her focus has been on research and clinical activities of HIV in infants, children and pregnant women. She has implemented many treatment and prevention trials, directed an HIV education program in India, and spearheaded the establishment of a youth clinic that provides sex education and preventive services to underserved youth in Tampa. She directs a Zika Infection Referral Center and a clinical trials network that is using technology to help prevent HIV infection. Patricia and her husband, John Emanuel (Sorin Hall), have three adult children, including their eldest daughter, Jacqueline ’12. A 2004 recipient of the William D. Reynolds Award was Dr. Joseph A. DiCara. After 36 years in the banking industry, Kevin J. Leitten retired in December 2018. Kevin and his wife, Lisa Madlinger ’83SMC, enjoy traveling and relaxing at home. They celebrated Christmas in Bermuda with their three grown sons: Peter of Atlanta, Matthew of South Korea and Christopher ’17 of Los Angeles. Christopher and his fiancée, Victoria ’17, look forward to their nuptials in the Basilica of Sacred Heart. For some sad news, we lost our classmate David M. Swoboda in November in Reno NV. Dave was born in Palm Springs CA, came to ND on a Navy ROTC scholarship and earned a degree in electrical engineering. He walked on the football team and eventually played on special teams. After graduation, his Navy commitment put him in the back seat of the aircraft carrier-based F-14 Tomcat where he excelled as a radar intercept officer, RIO. He got to see the world via the USS Enterprise, and in 1998 participated in Operation Praying Mantis in the Persian Gulf. After seven years of active duty, he moved to Houston and spent 10 years as a flight control system engineer for NASA Mission Control. He was in the reserves for 10 years and retired from military service in 1998. The family requests contributions in his memory to the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (bbrfoundation.org). Dave and I hope this finds you healthy and safe during this pandemic. These are uncertain and turbulent times affecting many of us. We pray for our University, our priests, teachers and everyone in the front lines for their safety and speedy recovery. We hope for an unaffected football season so that we can see many of you. As always, send us your updates. — 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 Go Irish, Beat Virus
As I write this column, the world is virtually shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak. I hope that you and your families have remained safe and healthy throughout the pandemic and, that by the time you are reading this column, our lives and our economy are back to some sense of normalcy. Several of the third-year students at the Law School have had their job offers rescinded due to the economic hardships facing law firms, and several of our first- and second- year students have had their offers for summer positions rescinded. If you become aware of any job opportunities for our students, please contact Vinny Versagli, director of career development at the Law School (vversagl@nd.edu). Remember: hire a Notre Dame lawyer. Carol and I spent five fun-filled days touring wineries in Paso Robles CA with Kath and Greg Kruzel in March. Kath and Greg are frequent visitors to Paso Robles. Greg organized the trip and arranged for private tastings hosted by the wine makers and owners of several vineyards. Our timing was fortuitous as the wineries were ordered closed due to the virus the day after we left. Congratulations to Bruce Baty who was named co-leader of the insurance practice group at Bryan Cave in February. Bruce had previously been with the Dentons firm. Cele and Bruce will remain in Kansas City. Please send me news items for future columns. — Frank Julian; ndlaw82@gmail.com
83 Hunkered Down
Hello, Class of 1983. At this time of global pandemic due to the coronavirus, I want to offer my best wishes for the health and safety of each of you, your families and loved ones, and all members of our extended Notre Dame family. John Fragala self-published an e-book and has posted it to a Wordpress site, which is viewable free-of-charge. The book is titled The Case of the Hungry Detective and can be seen at thecaseofthehungrydetective.wordpress.com. Lynn (Rukavina) Myhra reports that she is several weeks post-surgery and has received the terrific news that she is cancer free. Her surgeons gave her the good news in mid-March. Our thoughts remain with Lynn during her recovery. Lynn also says that she and her husband, Mark Myhra are hoping to visit their son, John, who is an officer in the Marine Corps and is stationed at Camp Pendleton. Christopher Temple Davis has reported that the non-profit he founded, Building Trust Americas, is planning to continue the work that he was involved in through Habitat for Humanity in Colombia. Building Trust Americas will be partnering with Catholic U of Colombia to build a park between two very poor neighborhoods. Chris indicates that Building Trust Americas appreciates contributions toward the cause and that contributions may be made online at givebutter.com/ihdkoc. We are approaching almost 500 members of the Class of 1983 as members of our class Facebook page. For those who are not yet members, 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 would be very happy to add as many more of our classmates as possible. The Facebook page is restricted to members of the Class of 1983. You’ll be able to reconnect with classmates without waiting for Reunion, see pictures and get news of who will be attending various 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 St. No. 32G, New York NY 10036; res 917-399-8784; bus 212-537-1781; ldenkovic@gmail.com
83MBA Pushing Through
As I write this, our country is suffering through the coronavirus and I am grateful for my friends, my family and the Notre Dame community. Speaking of the power of the Notre Dame community, my dad, Jack Hilbric ’50, and mom Judie moved into the Shubert Villa at Holy Cross Village. This is an excellent facility located at Holy Cross U, directly across the street from Notre Dame. Fortunately, they moved before the COVID-19 crisis and are in good, safe hands. They love being near campus and will enjoy it even more when they can roam freely. Soon after they moved, my ND Roomie Jim Hart paid them a visit and graciously brought Mom flowers. What a guy. We appreciate Jim’s thoughtfulness very much. My sister, Amy Hilbrich Davis and her husband Randy, have moved to South Bend to be close to mom and dad. Amy and Randy’s son Connor Hilbrich Davis ’18 graduated from Notre Dame with a double major in economics and political science. Notably, he was also the Bernoulli Prize honorable mention for his economics thesis. Connor works with IBM in Boston. On a sad note, Jim Hart’s wife Karen, lost her mom in March. Rosemary Clifford flourished in the South Bend business community and was a caring provider of support for those in need. She will be deeply missed by her husband Don, family and friends. On the grateful side for the Harts, daughter Bri graduated in May from Central Michigan and was voted Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week in March for field hockey. She has been a four-year starter and enjoyed a stellar varsity career. The Hilbrich family is safe and healthy. We are all sheltering in place in Bozeman MT. Daughter Nikki’s graduation in May from Montana State will be virtual and I’m sure, a one-of-a-kind experience. She will be heading to vet school after taking a year off to help a startup veterinary hospital get off the ground. Sons Jack and Tom as well as daughters Annika and Sanne are flourishing in the West in tech and outdoor adventure businesses. Son Christian will be working an investment banking internship in Frankfurt this summer before continuing his pro hockey career in the German Ice Hockey League in Bremerhaven in the fall. Sue keeps us all together and has also become a caregiver for a local elder care organization. She has boundless energy and I am very lucky she chose me 36 years ago. Our granddaughters Savannah and Adeline are smart and incredibly gorgeous. We are blessed and grateful. Last not least, hopefully the virus will be over by the time the Clemson game on Nov. 7 rolls around. Jay Carter, Dave Valenti, Phil Pinkstaff, Mike Burton and Al Jonas have issued the invite again, to join them at motorhome 38. Write, text or call folks. I can get you a job, promote your business, pump up your kids and give you a reason to read this fine publication. I think it best that you contact me and send your news before I make up something about you. Warmest regards. — John Hilbrich; 630-677-2725; john.hilbrich@gmail.com
83JD Sad News
I am saddened to report that our classmate Rebecca Butler Power died in a scuba diving accident in the Florida Keys in mid-January. Becky practiced law for 35 years at Butler Power Law in Elkhart IN. She also maintained a law office in Estes Park CO. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her husband, Barry Power, daughters Elizabeth Butler, Katherine Butler ’14, and Roxanne Butler, stepson Chad Power and her three granddaughters. Thanks to Eric Diamond and Al Rosenfield for sharing this information with me. Al has a law office in Westborough MA where his practice focuses on divorce, personal injury, motor vehicle, premises liability, medical malpractice and criminal defense. I hope you are staying healthy and safe during this pandemic. I have been taking some solace in this quote from St. John Baptist de La Salle: “Do not have any anxiety about the future. Leave everything in God’s hand, for he will take care of you. You can do more with the grace of God than you think.” Please send me an email with an update on you or a classmate for this column. — Ann E. Merchlewitz; cell 507-450-6609; bus 507-457-1587; amerchle@smumn.edu
84 Lots of News
Congrats to Scott Malpass as he retires as ND’s chief investment officer after 32 years. Scott grew the endowment from $25 million in 1989 to $12.5 billion as of June 2019 and increased endowment spending from $19.5 million to $425.7 million over the same period. Scott’s career was distinguished by many awards such as the 2014 Chief Investment Officer Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2011 Institutional Investor Magazine Large Endowment Manager of the Year Award, the Wall Street Journal noting his performance was “worthy of a Heisman” and being profiled in a book of 12 leading American chief investment officers. Happy retirement, Scott. Congrats also to Mark Stechschulte who received a patent for a unique bike rack he designed and built for use in a pickup truck bed. He hopes to manufacture a limited number, see how they sell and take it from there. As for Shark Tank, he told his lovely wife, Beth (Hards) Stechschulte, that it wasn’t in his future. We’ll see. Dr. Tom Preston is a COVID-19 hero. He and his wife have three grown kids and live in Indy where he worked tirelessly in the ICU during the COVID-19 crisis. Piper Griffin, a long-time civil district court judge in New Orleans, is running for the LA Supreme Court. Margret (LaChapelle) Sonnier is a labor and employment attorney and legal consultant in Houston, focusing on HR investigations and training as well as trial assistance. She and her husband have two kids, one of whom graduated from ND in 2014, and three grandkids. Mary Alice (McAuliffe) Rogers sheltered in place with her husband and their two kids in Silver Springs MD. One of their daughters was a junior at ND and, while her heart was still at ND, the rest of her was at the dining room table at home. Their other daughter owned the kitchen table space while her heart remained in Charlottesville. Their family extends a big warm enthusiastic “Go Irish” to the 2020 grads. Beth Ann (Mahrer) McLane gave a big St. Louis update, where she and her family live. She is in marketing at MilliporeSigma, a raw materials manufacturer for pharmaceuticals. She is active with the ND Club of St. Louis, where Jenny (Grantham) Stein’s and Chris Ritten’s daughters volunteered in the Summer Service Learning Program. She saw Mike Hannegan and Mike Hennessey at club events. She reported that Tom Wheeland continues to perform at Christ the King Church in St. Louis when he and his wife are not in Chicago visiting the grandkids. She also reported that Stephen Braddock is the director of pediatrics at St. Louis U Hospital. Outside of St. Louis, she saw Louis Glunz at a pharmaceutical conference and keeps in touch with Chicagoans Lori (Marley) and Mike DeCicco, Cathy (Chopp) Hinckley and Jill (Boler) McCormack, whose three boys graduated from ND, and whose daughter is headed there in the fall. — Martha Avery; mayoravery@comcast.net
84JD Highs and Lows
In January, Don Cleary ’80, ’84JD, Chip Cavanaugh, Nancy and Peter Reilly, and Mary Monnat ’80, along with four friends, summited Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Chip’s wife Kate climbed as well but became ill and had to go down at the end of the third day. The climb was seven days, with wonderful weather and great scenery until summit day, when the weather turned brutal. Chip relates that their guides admitted that they were the oldest group they had ever taken to the top. Eight of the group of nine were over 60. Their trip ended with a far more relaxing three-day safari. I recently heard from Dr. Greg Andrews MD, JD, FCLM. After law school, Greg practiced law in his hometown of Erie PA before entering the SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine, where he graduated in 1993. After medical school, Greg spent seven years training in family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology and addiction medicine. Greg reports that he and his wife, Eugenia J. Zawadzki ’97, returned to Erie last summer to open a private practice in addiction medicine (addictionmedicinedoc.com). It is a national practice because of its geographic accessibility. As this note goes to press in April, Eugenia, a certified physician’s assistant, has taken time away from the practice to provide medical care in New York City to those suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. “I am truly humbled and inspired by my wife’s courage and fortitude to go to the front lines in New York City to care for coronavirus patients. She truly exemplifies being a daughter of Notre Dame. Please remember in your prayers all healthcare providers around the world who are on the front lines battling this pandemic.” And speaking of the coronavirus pandemic, I find it reassuring to see Brian Moynihan in the White House sitting next to President Trump and providing guidance on the economic fallout from the “stay at home” orders. Be well. Please send updates to my attention. — Matthew J. Dunn; 19834 Timbered Estates Lane, Carlinville IL 62626; 773-294-6851; mdunn19834@gmail.com
85 Reunion Postponed
Due to the uncertainty and ever-changing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University has postponed our class reunion previously planned for this summer. Dolly Duffy ’84, Alumni Association executive director, has stated that she and other association staff are exploring a variety of options to provide our class with an opportunity to celebrate on campus in the next year. Class leaders and classmates who had been planning the reunion have been asked to refrain from creating alternative plans for our class until the Alumni Association can do so. We will keep you posted on these plans. I have not been receiving much news for this column. Please send an update soon. Maybe you can share how you dealt with the nationwide shutdown during this pandemic. I am sure some of you have been on the frontlines as healthcare workers or researchers or have been helping those in need. Let us memorialize some of these experiences in this column in the next issue of the magazine. — Kathleen Doyle Yaninek; yanzlaw@comcast.net
85MBA Class Secretary — Dom Yocius;
dyocius@ameritech.net
85JD Difficult Times
I am writing this from Boston during a surge in COVID-19 cases. Many of us have loved ones on the frontlines of the pandemic, including first responders, medical workers, and those who staff essential businesses. I would like to express my deepest, heartfelt thanks to those who have fulfilled their duties with grace and dignity at a difficult and dangerous time. They are heroes. Before COVID-19 shut down the world, Walter Brown and Dave Scheper were reunited as trial counsel to represent two of six Silicon Valley executives indicted in a criminal trade secrets misappropriation case in San Jose. After the court severed the defendants, the case against Walt’s client proceeded to trial in January. Following a two-week trial, the jury deliberated for 90 minutes and acquitted Walt’s client on all counts. Thereafter, in a sweeping victory for the defense, the Department of Justice dismissed all remaining charges against Dave’s client and the other defendants. In February, Dave and Steve Naughton drove from Chicago to South Bend to see the men’s basketball team defeat North Carolina (Barb Scheper’s alma mater) at the buzzer. They sat with Matt Barrett and Patty O’Hara ’74JD and after the game visited with John Gibbons during a Chicago snowstorm. In March, Tom Ajamie was profiled in The Hollywood Reporter in an article that described how Tom’s pro bono investigation into Harvey Weinstein’s questionable dealings with a charity ultimately led to Weinstein’s prosecution and conviction for rape and criminal sexual assault. Tom was hired by a charity to investigate Weinstein’s shady deal to divert for his own personal use charitable donations given to support AIDS research. Weinstein pressured Tom to suppress information about the fraud. Instead, Tom reported Weinstein’s unethical behavior to the charity’s board, starting a chain reaction that led to the disclosure of Weinstein’s sex crimes; Weinstein is now serving a 23-year prison sentence. Cari Votava, who is a financial specialist with the World Bank, is a finalist in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Anti-Corruption Innovation Challenge Competition. The purpose of the IMF challenge is to identify and support projects that disrupt corruption in the public sector. Cari’s project proposal, Rule of Law Foundations: Improving Access to Laws/Regs in Africa was one of eight finalists chosen from 120 entries. She proposed a cloud-based IT system into which a country can upload its collection of national laws and regulations. The documents would be systematically and reliably updated and accessible online for free to officials, courts, the legislature, citizens and the private sector. Cari notes that in most African countries, laws are not publicly accessible for free in an official and reliably updated form, thus undermining the foundation of the rule-of-law. Kim Kirn was able to transition her St. Louis mediation practice to a largely virtual format after the COVID-19 outbreak. Kim writes a blog titled “Mediation Under the Arch,” which includes helpful information for mediators and attorneys who are advocating for their clients in mediation. You can find Kim’s blog at kirnmediation.blogspot.com. John Roda posed a great question, which I invite you to answer in the next column: have you retired from the practice of law and, if so, what are you doing now? I look forward to hearing from you. — Kelly Kiernan Largey; kellyjd1985@alumni.nd.edu
86 Skiing, Yoga, Bond and Wings
John Waller, Bryan Dedrick and Patrick Conboy met up with Greg Dingens for a long weekend of skiing in Aspen in March. We heard they hit the mountain hard, enjoyed some great après ski (including Cloud 9) and had some awesome dinners together. Anne and Chris Benz and their children Lucas, Lena and Larsen have been living in Germany for two years. They plan to stay another year before heading back to the States. After skiing all over the US and Europe, Chris says that Japan is hands down the best powder in the world. This past winter, he joined David “Rewind” Reuter and Tom “Rom” Ryder for their second annual ski trip to Japan. They mixed in some great CAT skiing there, as well. Since we are on my favorite topic, I’ve got to jump in here. In my quest of skiing 200 (currently at 70) different mountains in the US before I hit 85 or head to the everlasting powder day in the sky, I added Big Sky MT to the list in March. For the skiers out there, slot that one onto your list. It moved into my top three for sure. As I write this in mid-April, I am in my home office. At around the same time, I heard that from her Brooklyn home, Lisa Considine was doing the occasional online yoga class “with” Liz Kenney, and feeling good about the company she works for (Penguin Random House) which was doing its best to prioritize things that are important to Lisa, too — namely, the safety of the employees with an eye toward preserving jobs, and providing some distraction and comfort to people with great things to read. And Mike Falso dropped a line saying, “What can one say during this terrible pandemic, other than we are alive and well, sequestered at home as part of our civic duty, more thankful now for the little things in life, and wishing we could do more to help. We have the privilege of working from home, a luxury many of our fellow citizens do not enjoy, so we are very thankful. We’re donating to worthy causes to do our part. My daughter Chris works for MSNBC in New York City. She bravely went into the studio when the crisis started heating up, doing her part to produce the news. She found it to be a surreal experience, finding the city practically deserted. Fortunately, she’s now working from home. One silver lining, much to my surprise and delight, is I discovered during our sequester that my daughters love James Bond, so it’s been a Bond movie a night. Be well, everyone.” Jeff Shupe bought a hibernation house in East Mesa AZ last year. He did his quarantine time in the desert where his two daughters joined him and his wife. His eldest will be attending ASU law school in the fall and his youngest will be a senior at Clemson. He’s looking forward to the game this fall. Jeff is working on an electronic boat venture. Earlier this year, Kate Rose Marquez was named CEO of WiNGS, a Dallas nonprofit that empowers woman, fights poverty and impacts generations by providing services to help them live their fullest potential. She was most recently director of development at St. Vincent de Paul Society of North Texas, leading fundraising, marketing and communications. I am sad to share the news that we lost our classmate Brendan Owen on Oct. 11. A candle has been lit at the Grotto in his memory on behalf of all of us. Take care and God bless. — John Spatz; 201-264-2459; john@jjscb.com
86MBA Class Secretary — Maureen (Mullan) Decker;
21855 Town Gate, Macomb MI 48044; bus 586-741-4305; mobile 586-817-1317; maureen.decker@mclaren.org
86JD Sheltering in Place
My John Prine reference struck a chord. (See what I did there?) Many of you shared COVID stories. Lori Guzzo keeps “a list of things I love about life under COVID. I recommend it as a gratitude practice, or even to keep up one’s list-making skills.” Lori’s son lives with her in hard-hit Seattle, working nights as an EMT. Lori’s disinfecting skills are second to none. Eileen (Beadling) Doran reported that Pat has weathered a tough cancer battle but is surviving thanks to the folks at Johns Hopkins. Pat is back home, working remotely for the Federal Home Loan Bank. Eileen’s agency, TARC, has been hard hit during the crisis. Jim Landenberger, GC at Amalgamated Bank, has the “essential worker blues,” having to go to the office when he would rather be out on his bike. Jim and Leslie’s daughter, Amy, is a culinary student studying from home and keeping mom and dad well fed. Herb Tanner, four years gone from serving as director of the Violence Against Women Project (Michigan Prosecuting Attorneys Association) started a consulting and training business, presenting to clients in most of the lower 48 states. Herb’s wife, Stacey O’Toole ’87JD, is the compliance and risk manager for the mental health authority in Kent County MI. Herb and Stacey have two sons in college, one at Michigan State and the other at Western Michigan. All four are sheltering at home. Al Weldy, GC of Goshen Health System, worked to double the capacity of the hospital in anticipation of the COVID peak. Al shelters with wife, Carla, daughter Malaina ’19JD and son Landon. Effective May 1, he starts as chief legal and compliance officer for Stratum Health in Florida. Quick COVID hits: Judy Morse, who founded a boutique Phoenix family law practice 20 years ago, detailed extensive preparations to work from home only to find on day one that her laptop died. Laura Hollis is teaching her NDLS and Mendoza College classes online. Tami ’81 and Tom Lange reported an Easter Zoom with 18 including children and spouses and grandchildren. Two daughters are physicians in Chicago, in the thick of it. Steve Powell has been riding his motorcycle daily with daughter Olivia to break the monotony. Nick Simeonidis still teaches at Taipei American School in Taiwan, where the outbreak has been minimal. Jeff Thomson had brain surgery for a subdural hematoma in February, so his recovery blended straight into social isolation. Jeff’s physician-daughter, Kate, has been busy at UM Medical Center. Felecia Rotellini was the subject of a George Will column in March. Ernie Mayor, who left private practice for the Hillsborough FL County Attorney’s office, sent a picture of the college decals on the back of his truck: ND, Wake Forest, Clemson and Florida, all followed by the word “Dad.” A fifth decal says, “driver carries no cash.” Maureen (Watz) and Tom Gornik’s elder daughter, Mia, will be a freshman at Notre Dame in the fall. Younger daughter Lily will be a high school junior. Houston ERISA attorney Mark Miller has a book out, Behind Blue Eyes. It details life lessons learned from departing “big law” to travel the world and returning energized to “big law.” (I am not sure that is a lesson I care to learn.) John Goetz reports Julie (Maloney) retired from practice, but John says he still works like a dog managing Jones Day’s Pittsburgh office, primarily doing aviation tort defense. He also teaches at Duquesne Law. The light of their life is their adopted daughter, Tao, 12. Also touching base from the Keystone State was John Gurganus, who has spent the last 30 years in Scranton as an assistant US attorney, and is now chief of the Middle District of Pennsylvania Criminal Division. Finally, I got a note that Tim Reynolds ran into classmate Larry Corcoran, last summer. You may recall Larry from 1L year. — Brian Bates; bbates@abblaw.com
87 Praying for the Class
Hello everyone. I hope you are staying well during this difficult chapter, physically, mentally and spiritually. Please know that you are especially in our prayers if you have been personally affected by COVID-19 or are working as a health care provider. July is typically a slower news time for the column, and I put out some feelers a few weeks ago to hear from people on the topic of community service. Erik Janowsky was the first person I heard from and I so wish I could print his entire email (and maybe have a beer with him) because he has lived a fascinating life. He is currently in North Macedonia, working as the USAID director, while his wife, Gloria, works at the embassy there. Erik joined the Peace Corps after graduation and spent his years of service in Ecuador. With encouragement and sponsorship from Rev. Ted Hesburgh, CSC ’39, he then got a PhD, co-founded Andean Health and Development (AHD), and converted to Catholicism. After a stint in South Bend, Erik later returned to the Peace Corps as their global advisor on HIV/AIDS, and then found his way to USAID in 2004. He was the recipient, along with David Gaus ’84, of the 1999 Dooley Award for outstanding service to humanity for their work in founding AHD. Last November, Meredith (Healy) Duncan traveled to Chiltiupan, El Salvador, with a Cleveland-based parish, St. Dominick’s, which has a sister parish there. Meredith loved the opportunity to build relationships with Salvadorans, learn about their culture, share music, laughter and dance, and most importantly, grow in her faith. She hopes to return in the future with her husband Greg ’86. It was terrific to hear from Marty Loesch. Marty lives in Washington State with his wife Cyndi and their daughter, Ruby, 15. He was back on campus as a guest speaker at the new School of Global Affairs and was able to catch up with Rev. George Rozum, CSC ’61, and Rev. Bill Beauchamp, CSC ’75, both of whom he says are doing well. Last September, he had a minireunion with some of his Holy Cross Associates colleagues, including Juliette LaChapelle, Tom Stewart and Bud Luepke, along with Sue Faust and Mary Albertoli ’87SMC in Colorado Springs. He writes that “life has been rich for all, and their spirits have not dimmed.” Marty mentioned that Catherine O’Neill is also in Washington, with her husband Dave and their two sons, and that he saw Catherine’s roommate Tricia (Dolan) Abruzzo last fall while running his daughter around for lacrosse camps. He would love to hear from other classmates at mcloesch@gmail.com. Marianne (Herb) Wells wrote from Seattle that she is already dreaming of returning to volunteer in eastern Kentucky when she retires. During October break of our senior year, she signed up with two of her best friends, Lisa Guenther and Mike O’Malley for a short stint with the Christian Appalachian Project and loved it so much that she returned for the full year after graduation. She was a 22-year-old “mom” at a small residential home for 14- and 15-year-old teenage mothers, helping them change diapers, plan meals and cook, and study for their GEDs. Finally, two classmates wrote in to let us know of organizations they work with that they feel others might want to become involved with during this time of national crisis. Patti (Ryan) O’Meara is on the board of Hope Supply in Dallas, along with another Domer, Rob Snyder ’84. The organization supplies critical care items, especially diapers, for homeless children. Maura Mandyck, a faculty member at Spring Hill College, is working with Feeding the Gulf Coast Food Bank in Mobile AL. This column was inspirational and enjoyable to write during this time of uncertainty. For the next column, I will be happy to publish any news you would like to share, but I’d like to hear from people in the performing arts. Be well. — Meg Hamilton; meghamilton@yahoo.com
87MBA Class Secretary — 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 Milestones and Transitions
Carla and Mike Bordallo welcomed their first grandchild, Ellie Louise. Mike resigned from the local bench on Guam after 22 years and on Feb. 14 was sworn in as the new US magistrate judge for the District Court of Guam. In April, Fred von Rueden retired from Deloitte after 28 great years. He has begun his next chapter in life heading up tax and financial regulatory matters with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association at its Chicago headquarters. Tim Borchers is riding out the storm in New York City. Tim is at Thomson Reuters and watching carefully how medium and large law firms are dealing with issues resulting from the pandemic. Mary (Ambrose) Gerak has been keeping herself busy with some travel and by conducting anti-harassment training for companies, teaching business law, and serving as an arbitrator for the AAA and Illinois courts. Mary is writing a book on practicing law in Chicago and serves on an Illinois Supreme Court lawyer ethics subcommittee. Mary saw Karen Morrison and Laura Yustak in Florida for a February weekend. The pandemic caused her to cancel a trip to Seattle with Shauna Brennan the last week in March. Mary hopes to co-host a Chicago reunion for the women in our class, probably in the fall. She prays that it will be in-person rather than on Zoom. Given social distancing circumstances, Paul Matousek’s firm, Walker Wilcox Matousek LLP, had a Zoom happy hour to celebrate its 15th anniversary. Paul’s firm has more than 40 attorneys in Chicago and Houston. Renae and Steve Ryan celebrated 25 years of marriage. Steve is still at Miller Johnson in Grand Rapids, where he was a 1L clerk and started straight out of law school. He heads up Miller Johnson’s litigation group. If there is a college football season, Steve and Renae are planning to see the Irish play in Dublin in August. Their eldest daughter, Ellie, graduated from Dayton and is doing diabetes research at IU med school. Their eldest son, Kennedy, also graduated from Dayton. He is putting his marketing and business degrees to use in Grand Rapids. Their son, Anderson, is currently at Dayton where he is a business major. Their youngest son, Aaron, will be a freshman at Butler. Steve occasionally runs into Tim Ryan and Tim VerHey in Grand Rapids. Mike Richardson reports he has been doing pro bono work helping small businesses obtain Paycheck Protection Program loans from the SBA and otherwise stay afloat. His wife, Ruth, is a volunteer nurse with the Red Cross assisting with coronavirus procedures at Red Cross sites and shelters in Illinois. Their son, Ed, was just elected vice chairman of the pilot union at American Airlines’ regional carrier, Envoy, and is tackling the turmoil in the airline industry. Their daughter, Erin, graduated summa cum laude from U of California Hastings College of Law and will be practicing health care law in San Francisco at Hooper, Lundy & Bookman. After five years of contracting work for legal publishers, Tony Foley has returned to his old stomping grounds at Wolters Kluwer as a content management consultant in the company’s legal and regulatory unit, focused on state, federal and international privacy and cybersecurity laws. Tony and classmates Paul Castiglione, Dan LeRoy, Bruce Ortega and Chip Lewis have formed a lively text message group in which they talk mostly about baseball. There is no word on how much the group discusses the reigning World Series Champion Washington Nationals. Please send me news to share in this column or in our class email loop. — Mike Gurdak; 202-879-3939; mpgurdak@jonesday.com
88 Quarantine and Beyond
During this time of social distancing, it is heart-warming to focus on an endeavor that brings about social closeness, this column. Carole (Crawford) wrote from San Antonio, where husband Dan Tubbesing is an emergency physician. As of her email, the virus had not overwhelmed San Antonio and Dan keeps busy with his clinical shifts, plus lots of additional meetings. All three children are quarantined with them: Connor ’20Texas A&M, Shannon ’22U of Texas, and Ryan, a high school senior and soon ’24U of Texas. Carole and Dan are glad they had not downsized the house yet. Mario Pellicano sold his food manufacturing company. He and wife Lori built a winery and planted a vineyard. Daughters Andrea ’17SMC and Julianna ’21 wound up at home and helped expand the vineyard. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, some of their wines were stranded at their partner vineyard in Sonoma. Mary (Devlin) ’90SMC and Paul Bierbusse quarantined at home outside Atlanta. They are excited to share that they have added another ND alum to the family. Daughter Erin graduated from Mendoza with an MBA this May. Erin and her brother Patrick are U of Georgia Dawgs, which has made for some interesting family dynamics these past few years. Also from Georgia, Patti Tripathi reported that staying home did not change her life significantly. She continued to work from her laptop on her Saris to Suits initiative, a charity she launched in 2012. She was glad to pull off an event to honor the 2020 Saris to Suits “Pose for a Purpose” role models before the stay-at-home order hit. For details, go to: nripulse.com/nri-pulse- fundraiser-benefits-saristosuits-legal-fund-for-victims-of-domestic-and-sexual-abuse. With the United Nations calling for urgent action to combat the worldwide surge in domestic violence during the pandemic, Saris to Suits launched a legal fund for victims of gender violence. Paul Reuvers found himself with a full house again. Under his roof were Riley ’17, Jon ’20, Jon’s girlfriend, Maria Luisa Paul ’21, who couldn’t get home to Caracas, Venezuela, and Nate ’20U of Wisconsin. Making the best of the situation, they celebrated two virtual graduations, one at ND and one at UW. After graduating with a degree in finance/banking in three years and being named Third Team All Big Ten, Nate will be back at UW next year to defend their Big Ten basketball title and to earn his MBA. In Virginia, Simone and Patrick McKnight enjoyed hanging at home with their newborn son, Brendan Artur, who was born on Aug. 1, 2019. With a divorce, a remarriage, the loss of many loved ones and plenty of new adventures on the horizon, a ton has changed for Patrick in the past year. In about two years, he’s planning to sail around the world with his family, raising his children on the high seas. His eldest, Patrick, finished his second year at the U of Oregon and is transferring to Penn State to be closer to friends and family. Eric Hunter is in his 23rd year as a full-time professional stand-up comedian and actor. He is in his third year as a full-time loving father of two adorable young daughters. Margo Kirchner emailed to say that in the crazy Wisconsin pandemic election, she won election as municipal court judge for the Village of Shorewood. Here’s hoping that, as you’re reading this, classmates are able to visit in person again, not just via Zoom. — Laurine Megna; PO Box 6847, Avon CO 81620; 970-390-9742; magnet@vail.net
88MBA Class Secretary — Ron Linczer;
1251 N. Eddy St., Suite 300, South Bend, IN 46617; mobile 574-302-2832; bus 574-631-3591; rlinczer@nd.edu
88JD Class Updates
Tom Dixon, a member of Clark Hill PLC, is the co-author of a book that was just published by the ABA, Undue Influence and Vulnerable Adults. ambar.org/UndueInfluenceRPTE. Undue Influence is about financial abuse of the elderly. Erin and Don Fessler and daughter traveled to Barcelona, Spain, to visit another daughter who was spending her spring semester in Barcelona. Don and family survived their 14-day self-quarantine but their daughter, unfortunately, was forced to come home. Similarly, JC Culver and his wife, Kathy Tynus MD recently visited their eldest, Nicole, in Spain. JC and his wife came back and self-quarantined and their daughter was forced to come home and do the same. From a professional standpoint, JC hung out a shingle 10 years ago after practicing primarily as a defense attorney: med mal, products, personal injury. He has a solo plaintiffs’ practice, fortunate under the circumstances, as he can avoid human interaction and keep up. His office is just over a mile from home. It was nice to connect with Barbara Sullivan. She retired a few years ago from practice with the Legal Aid Society in Louisville and is now the coordinator for a house of about 45 retired Dominican Sisters of Peace in Kentucky. Enjoy retirement, Barbara, although it sounds like you will still be busy. In February, Dave Gilmartin took a role as general counsel for the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) in Chicago. In Valparaiso IN, Dan Sherman continues his “unique business plan.” He works from home with his solo law practice approximately two-thirds of his time and continues his foray the last eight years into part-time grant writing for approximately one-third of his time, working with Capital for Compassion, helping non-profits obtain real estate development funds through the Federal Home Loan Bank system’s Affordable Housing Program. Dan and his wife Meg Heffernan ’86SMC are parents of four children: Jake, 21, Katie, 19, Annie, 18 and Bridget, 15. Lisa Hurni Jackson started a new job April 13 as senior corporate counsel at Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company. Here is a funny story. In February, just before COVID-19 blew up, Cathie Jones Rikkers and I were on a cruise and we stopped for the evening in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We were walking down the street and who did we run into but Mary (Laudick) and Jim Stucko. What are the odds? We still can’t get over how small the world is. Stay healthy and don’t forget to email me updates. — Lori Merlo Coticchia; lcoticchia@aol.com or lcoticchia@ruffingmontessori.org
89 Class Secretary — Noel (Murtha) DiNome;
noel.d.dinome@live.com
89MBA Class Secretary — Maggie DeVoe;
612-845-9662; maggiedevoe@yahoo.com
89JD Class Secretary — Jenny O’Leary Smith;
jennyoleary@comcast.net