1980s

80 Undaunted

After three years of diligent work, Ed Zier’s book, Undaunted! about his experiences on and around 9/11, will be published by Koehler Books of Virginia, an independent publisher that examines 1,000 manuscripts annually, but publishes only about 90 of them. They do traditional deals as well as co-publishing arrangements with new authors. Camille ’80SMC and Robert (Bob) Rudy visited Eileen and Joe Murphy on St. Patrick’s Day. The Rudys were driving north after a month of vacation in Florida. Joe and Eileen are in Ponte Vedra, near Jacksonville, where Joe owns a successful restaurant that has come through the pandemic in good shape. Bob has left corporate America and re-launched his tech advisory business serving insurers. He is affiliated as a senior advisor with Alvarez & Marsal, MVP, and a group of insurers. His daughter Morgan lives in Charlotte, where she had his first grandchild in July. A few Dillon Dirtballs are planning an informal reunion around the Wisconsin/ND game in Chicago this fall. Included are Matt DeSalvo, Doug Stringer, Mike Gilroy, Joe and Robert. Beth Larocca spent two weeks in California with Molly McLaughlin Rhine. Their trip consisted of three segments. Beth began her trip on April 24 in Coto de Caza, visiting Judge Julie Palafox. Molly joined her a day later and they began the first segment of their trip: Catalina Island, where they backpacked 25 miles over three days. The second leg of their trip was “Mi Casa es Su Casa.” Beth and Molly spent four days with Karen Pierce and Julie Palafox, reminiscing, relaxing and wine-tasting. The last leg of their trip was the “Thelma and Louise” leg, with a better ending and unfortunately no Brad Pitt. They drove back to northern California, stopping first in Montecito to see Dianna and Rich Branning. Then they visited Molly’s sister, Terrie ’72SMC, in Santa Ynez, where they hiked again, but without packs. Paso Robles was the next stop for wineries and a night in an Airstream in the Nenow Vineyard. Their trip ended in Los Gatos with Molly and her family. Bob and Lucy Maloney Jones are hosting the 42nd annual Bobby Jones Open at the Warren Course at Notre Dame. The tournament is to raise money for hospitals that do research on syringomyelia, the painful spinal nerve deterioration disease the famous Bobby Jones suffered from. Their son, Rob ’11, will be playing with the Bobs, and daughter, Rebecca ’12SMC, will play in the ladies’ division. Cynthia C. Durley MEd, MBA, executive director of the Dental Assisting National Board (DANB) and its official affiliate, the DALE Foundation, received the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention Special Recognition Award for Leadership. Cindy Cronin Cahill hosted Mary Blachowicz Lewis, Beth Larocca and Cindy Casper Durley at her Long Beach IN rental for two days of fun. Michael O’Reilly writes that he, Leo Latz, Michael “Doc” Cusick, Ed Featherstone and Nick Zagotta celebrated the summer solstice by prepping for tailgating season with a brat fry. Our hearts go out to Tom Smith, Jorge Periats and Lucy Maloney Jones, who lost their mothers, and to Mary Blazek, who lost her son, Daniel Buckingham. As always, if you need a prayer or shoulder to lean on, please contact our Angels at 80angelsoncall@gmail.com. — Mary Ellen Woods; mew.1980@alumni.nd.edu; facebook.com/groups/notredame80 

 

80MBA Getting Back to Normal

We have a new addition to our family, says Dennis Shea, who welcomed granddaughter Eloise Shea to the clan. His son Dennis just graduated from the U of Chicago and is moving Eloise and wife Eliza to Boston, where he will be working for Fidelity Investments. Dennis Sr. and his wife, Kathy, are still splitting time between Colorado and Connecticut, but with frequent visits to Dennis Jr. and daughter Caitlin, now at Indiana U studying for her MBA. Pent-up demand for Notre Dame football is especially prevalent this year, as evidenced by Molly (Murtagh) Meyers writing that she will be attending every home game except Cincinnati and would love to catch up with anyone going to a game this year. Molly can meet up with at least two classmates, Mike Traeger and Nancy (Zaytoun) Kenna, who attended a semester in London with her and will be at the North Carolina game. At least eight of our classmates and I will be attending the Purdue game. Included will be Vic Yaendel, who called from Florida to say how much he is looking forward to the trip. Our Texas-based classmate Rich Walker is also driving up from Dallas, so I should have some interesting tales to tell in our next Class Notes. It is great to see things are starting to get back to normal. Brigantine NJ is home this summer for Floridians Bill Homer and his wife, Mary Beth. Bill is still teaching one class at Temple Law School but is enjoying his semi-retirement. On the other hand, I am having a tough time remembering if Joe Bowers is a CPA or a PGA since he always seems to be writing about playing in a golf tournament somewhere. I am quite sure he enjoys golfing more than accounting. I want to thank all the classmates who have written to me recently, even if they do not have anything for the Class Notes other than to pass on their best wishes to everyone or to simply say that all is well. It is most appreciated. Finally, it was a tough choice, but in keeping with the Notre Dame slogan of God, Country, Notre Dame, our son Torin has decided to put country first and is attending the US Coast Guard Academy. So, besides my usual ending of Go Irish, I will close this column with the Coast Guard motto of Semper Paratus, which means Always Ready. — Joe Kearney; 475-225-1421; jos.w.kearney@gmail.com

 

80JD Come Home

Notre Dame Law School Homecoming is Oct. 2 for the Cincinnati game. Come, enjoy, visit, relive happy times and cheer on the Irish. Look for more information in your emails and on the Law School website. Can it be? Grandchildren, babies, babies. Nancy and Wendell Walsh are expecting their third grandchild, and Ann and Dick Waris just welcomed their first grandchild. These children will be the Notre Dame Class of 2042. It is hard to imagine. Travel is coming back a bit. A family wedding brought Ginny Roemer back to South Bend from her home in San Francisco. Judge Sue Zwick traveled to see her grandchildren far from Chicago. Dean Emeritus Patty O’Hara is now fully retired, yet still working on selected projects. She and I had dinner and a great time together in the remodeled Morris Inn. We shared stories of having an apostrophe in your name in this digital world. If you have an apostrophe, you know of what I speak. It is sad to hear the news that Frank Sabatino ’79JD passed away after a long health struggle. Frank was much beloved by his class and many in our class. Prof. J. Eric Smithburn passed away in June after a long and interesting career on the bench and at Notre Dame Law. God rest your souls. Get to South Bend for the Homecoming on Oct. 2. Love to all, and please send your news. — Sheila O’Brien; sobrien368@aol.com

 

81 Together Again

When these notes are published, we will be just days from gathering on campus Oct. 29-31 for our homegrown, volunteer-fueled 40th reunion. Friday night will bring dinner with views of the stadium and a live band. Saturday is the tailgater and ND-UNC game. Sunday morning includes the Mass of Remembrance, breakfast in South Dining Hall and a visit en masse to the Grotto. Thanks especially to the “dorm ambassadors,” who wrote epic emails to their old dorm mates and inspired them to register. If there were an award for hyperbole and exaggeration, it would be a multi-way tie. In our next Class Notes, I hope to have updates and stories from the big event. Forty-ish years ago, President Reagan was our commencement speaker, with varied reactions from our class. One line I remember from his remarks rang true: “A University like this is a storehouse of knowledge because the freshmen bring so much in and the seniors take so little away.” I certainly felt smarter when I arrived than when I left, fueled by the humility of being surrounded by all of you. Last June, Joe Ciuni, Mike Grace, Dave Pusateri, John Ryan, Dennis Regan, Brian Morris, John Sheehan and Mike O’Sullivan ’82 rode their bikes for a weeklong trip from Pittsburgh to Washington DC along the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Towpath. It was something like 250 miles. Congrats to the cyclists. Dave Pusateri reports that he and Dorothy will miss our reunion for good reason. Their eldest daughter, Emmy ’13, is getting married to Matt Robison ’13 that weekend. And here is another fun report: Sue (O’Laughlin) and Bob Kelly’s son, Dan, recently proposed to Rachel Lombard ’17. The twist? Rachel is the daughter of our classmate Dan Lombard. The soon-to-be-married couple met in study hall at Fenwick High School, the source of more than a dozen of our classmates. Please join the Class of ’81 Facebook page, where about 400 classmates reminisce, entertain, pray and opine. Facebook will also be the place to catch last-minute updates about the reunion. Please email updates before our Oct. 20 deadline. You are loved members of the Class of ’81 and we want to know how you are doing. Thanks to everyone who has already shared updates and those of you who are now inspired. — Mary Murphy; marymurphy81@alumni.nd.edu

 

81MBA Almost Football Time 

I hope these Class Notes find you doing well and enjoying a wonderful fall. As I write this in summer, the Simmerman clan, with three grandsons included, is headed to Higgins Lake in Michigan for fun, fishing, boating and cooler temperatures than we’ve experienced here in Phoenix. It is good to hear from several of you. If you are reading this column, please send me your email address. The class email list is a bit of a mess and I’m trying to clean it up. Thank you. Susan Leopold reports that she and her family are blessed to be healthy and enjoying life in Texas. Susan plans to attend a couple of home games this football season and hopes to connect with classmates. Post-COVID, we should all try to connect at games if possible. Jim Connelly says all is well with the Connelly clan. Irene and Jim recently retired and are enjoying the beach life in Ocean City NJ. Older son Jimmy has been serving as claims advocate at Epic Insurance Brokers and Consultants since graduating from Rutgers in 2016. Ryan received his degree from Temple U in supply chain management last summer and is working for global shipping company Hamburg Süd in their Philadelphia office. Jim may be coming out to ND for the Purdue game with Chris Grant. With any luck in the lottery, he is also considering the Cincinnati, USC and Virginia Tech games. Margie Ward Pettibone went back to work at Catholic Charities as an advocate for immigrants and people experiencing homelessness. The agency is one of the largest immigration service providers in the country. An update on her kids is that one is getting a neuroscience PhD at UCLA, one is in the fourth year of med school at UC Davis, one is a strategic financial analyst in San Francisco, one is in college at Claremont McKenna. Anybody want a tour of Napa Valley wine country and the coast? Let Margie know. Jan and Mike Langnecker became first-time grandparents to Reed Michael Langnecker on March 14. Their son, Sean, and his wife, Sarah, went back to work in June, and Mike and Jan are fortunate enough to get to watch Reed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mike periodically plays Springsteen’s “Thunder Road,” turns it up loud, closes his eyes, and thinks of good buddy the late EJ Fleming and smiles, knowing how blessed we were to have him cross our paths. As always, we have very fond memories of our years together. Let’s keep the news and updates coming. Like many of you, I plan to go to several football games this fall, and I hope to connect with many of you back on campus. Please send me your current email address so I can update the class list. Go Irish. — Steve Simmerman; 3126 E. Desert Broom Way, Phoenix AZ 85048; cell 602-524-7662; srsimmerman@gmail.com

 

81JD The Other Side

John Hurley has announced that after 12 years, he is going to retire as the president of Canisius College in June 2022, the end of the current academic year. Maureen, who is in her sixth year of retirement, is excited that John is “joining me on the other side.” John says, “The Canisius presidency has truly been a labor of love for an institution that means everything to me. But, having just turned 65 and having led the college safely and successfully through the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s time to step down and move on to the next phase in my life.” They are planning a trip to Colorado during August to visit Tim Rastello, Maureen Reidy Witt ’80JD and Brian Donovan. News from Tim: his daughter, Mackenzie, will be a 3L at NDLS this semester. His son, Reilly ’19, will be a 1L at the U of Michigan this autumn. (It may be difficult to say, “Go Blue.”). Mark Williams planned to retire at the end of last year, but instead he formed a new partnership: Jordan & Williams, Attorneys at Law, 180 W. 6th Ave., Junction City OR 97448. He will now be able to take a more relaxed glide path to his final landing. His new office is just a few blocks from the parish where he is the music director. Nancy Helling Gargula urges everyone to mark their calendars and plan to attend the Law School’s Homecoming Weekend Oct. 1, where we can celebrate the 40th anniversary of our graduation with a tailgate on the quad before the Cincinnati Bearcats take on our Fighting Irish on Oct. 2. Rev. Dave Link ’58, ’61JD (formerly Dean Link) is always there, along other faculty from the Law School. Dean G. Marcus Cole will be there, as well. Other faculty who usually attend are Patty O’Hara ’74JD, Judge Kenneth Ripple and others. With COVID-19 wreaking havoc with the 2020 Homecoming, this October should see a huge crowd. Please make your hotel reservation when you receive your email from the Law School. Lorie Masters has been appointed co-chair of the ABA Federal Practice Task Force of the Section of Litigation. The task force analyzes issues relating to the federal rules and responds to requests for recommendations on changes to the rules from the advisory committee on the federal rules. Lorie encourages all in the class who have thoughts on improvements to contact her. On a personal note, Lorie reports the birth of a second grandchild, a boy born April 14: James Kai Countryman. Lorne Liechty informs us that he and Mary starred in their community theatre’s first show of the new year, Love Letters, and they had a great time performing in it. Joe Holston reports that he is a long-time board member and past chair of the Capital Area (Harrisburg PA) Big Brothers Big Sisters. After their major fundraiser was canceled for COVID, Joe organized a quick replacement that raised $50,000 through sponsors and donations tied to his playing 100 holes of golf in one day. Finally, we note the recent passing of former adjunct professor J. Richard Ransel ’74JD, who taught bankruptcy at the Law School when we were students. Nancy Gargula notes that Prof. Ransel was instrumental in her being appointed the United States Trustee for Region 10 almost 20 years ago. May he rest in peace. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. I hope all are well. Go Irish. — Michael Palumbo; 3799 East Peachtree Drive, Chandler AZ 85249; res 480-284-4004; bus 602-262-5931; mpalumbo@jsslaw.com

 

82 What a Party

Tim Hennessey has a BBA in accounting and MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern U. His company, Hennessey Financial Services, just celebrated its 20th anniversary, providing consulting services in Washington DC. He moved his practice from Fort Lauderdale 10 years ago. Most clients are smaller pre-IPO companies and nonprofits getting ready for an audit or an acquisition. He also has federal engagements on accounting projects with US agencies, including COVID loan relief programs and the Recovery Act, assisting with capital for struggling banks after the financial crisis. Pete Rush and Kathleen Kucaba celebrated the wedding of their son Nicholas to the beautiful Rachel Betancourt at Whitehouse Station NJ. They met in NYC. It turns out, her parents are our clients, and we were able to partake in the celebration. And what a party it was. Every guest was on the dance floor. Either the band was awesome or everyone was thrilled to be out of quarantine. Pete and Kathleen have five children: Dr. Danielle Rush ’11, who recently gave birth to a baby boy, Joshua Rush Stevens, a future Domer; Nick, who works for TPG in San Francisco; Christine, a Brown graduate living in London while getting her master’s at London School of Economics; Gabrielle, as 2015 Princeton grad; and Matt, a rising junior at Washington U in St. Louis. Pete and Kathleen just sold their family home in Hinsdale IL and downsized while searching for a property in Naples FL, where they plan to retire. We were joined by Kevin Kenny and his lovely wife, Deanna. Kevin works for Alliant Insurance Services, as executive vice president and managing director. Kevin and Deanna have three children: Kieran, a Villanova grad working in NYC for Morgan Stanley as an equity research associate; Brendan, who just graduated from Villanova and is working for a startup, Qredible, Inc., a cloud-based platform for transparency in the hemp and CBD supply chain; and Mackenzie, their gorgeous baby girl who just graduated from Wake Forest and works as a recruiter for Insight Global. Also in attendance was Bob MacDonald. Bob and his wife, Molly, live in Seattle WA and have three children, all ND grads. Congratulations to Jason Tullai’s daughter, Sydney, who graduated from USC with a psychology degree and a minor in sports business and management. She ran cross country and track, and her teams won two NCAA track and field championships. Sydney works for Fox Sports in LA. We are sorry to share the news of the deaths of two of our own. Capt. Douglas A. Tracey is survived by his wife, Julie, and son Maddox Loucks. Thomas M. McSteen is survived by sons Colin and Sean McSteen. Our sincere condolences. — Dave and Tess Lewis; 30 Battle Ridge Road, Morris Plains NJ 07950; cell 973-219-4050; tess@lewislegal.com; dave@lewislegal.com 

 

82MBA Save the Date

Please save the date for our 40-year reunion June 2-5, 2022. Yes, it has been 40 years. Visit reunion.nd.edu or our class page on myNotreDame in the coming months for additional information and updates on our Forever Irish celebration. It was very nice to hear from Jim La France regarding the reunion. He is interested in attending our 40-year, and his daughter Katie ’02 has her 20-year as well. Jim and his wife, Janis, are splitting time between Connecticut and Tucson AZ as he has been enjoying retirement for seven years. I hope to hear from more of you in the coming months. — Renée (Amirkanian) Sutherland; mobile 630-846-2707; reneemsr@aol.com

 

82JD Congratulations Graduates

Perry Vieth and his family celebrated two graduations this spring. Perry’s daughter Morgan ’11 received her MBA from Notre Dame, and his son Patrick graduated from Perry’s undergrad alma mater, Marquette. Jane Lynch’s son John graduated from the U of Illinois. Congratulations to all. Prof. Eric Smithburn passed away in June at the age of 76. Our 40-year reunion will be held June 2-5, 2022, on campus. Additional details should be available in January or February. Please plan to attend. Also, please send me news. — Frank Julian; ndlaw82@gmail.com

 

83 News and Updates

Please keep the following classmates and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Daniel Vittone passed away on May 23; Gregory Hawley passed away on April 20; Anne (Chapski) and Mike Doyen’s son Christopher passed away on May 31; Larry Smith’s father passed away on May 26; Tom McLennan’s wife, Krista (Smith) ’90, ’94JD, passed away on April 7. Mark Myhra is fighting stage IV pancreatic cancer and Margaret (Peg) McCarthy is recovering from injuries in a home accident. I know I speak for all of us in offering our best thoughts for comfort, peace and healing. In happier news, Warren Wright announced the birth of his granddaughter, Rowan Rose Wright, on June 29. Warren says he and Joann are happy to be grandparents. Brian McFeeters is the US ambassador to Malaysia. Brian is a career foreign service officer. He was nominated for the post by President Trump and was appointed to the post by President Biden. Sheila Roesler shared an article on the swimming accomplishments of the family of Patty (Cooney) and John Sweeney. Several of their children have competed and aspire to the Olympics. Mike Murphy participated in a Pangborn ’83 get-together at Pat Doran’s home in Asheville NC. John Educato, Bob Fricke, Matt Mullen, Jack McKenna, Steve Karaffa, Steve Carberry, Tim White, Tom O’Brien and Mike Honerlaw attended. Mike also reports that all the attendees’ spouses, including Mary (Rauth) O’Brien ’83SMC, Jackie (Merritt) Educato and Kathy (Hawkins) Mullen, were present as well. John Goebelbecker is conducting a fundraiser for the ALS Association Golden West Chapter in honor of his high school classmate, Kevin Heller. You can find the fundraiser page through John’s page on Facebook. Thank you to Greg Bell, Sheila, Mike, Claire Padgett, Sonny Peek and Tom for sharing the information through Facebook and email that helps me write this column. We now have over 500 class members who have joined our class Facebook page. It is the quickest and easiest way to stay up to date with what our classmates are doing. As a member of the Facebook page, you also will get an advance look at this column. The Facebook page is restricted to members of the Class of ’83. To join, search for “Notre Dame Class of 1983” on Facebook and click “join.” If you have news you would like to share with the class, send a note or email and I will 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 Class Secretary — John Hilbrich;

630-677-2725; john.hilbrich@gmail.com

 

83JD Mr. Fun Strikes Again 

Imagine my delight when my phone rang in late June and the caller ID said Bill Vertes. Bill and Amy and their son, Nate, were in the Wisconsin Dells on their way to Yellowstone. To my delight, they planned to swing by Winona WI for dinner with yours truly, Ann E. Merchlewitz, and Mark. Bill is again retired from his law practice with Derrevere Stevens Black & Cozad in West Palm Beach. His practice centered on litigation defense. We caught up a bit on classmates and then committed to attending our 40th class reunion next year. You all should do the same. On an unrelated note, Ellen LaBerge sent me an article, “When Law Firm Offices Shut, Work-Life Boundaries Crumbled. Rebuilding Them Will be Difficult.” Our own Matt Feeney, chair of Snell & Wilmer, is quoted. By the way, Ellen continues as chief legal officer of C&S Companies in Syracuse NY. 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 Awards

David Proulx will receive the Meritorious Service Award for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this fall, the federal government’s highest honor for outstanding service to the agency. Congrats to Karen Flynn, president, biologics, and chief commercial officer at Catalent. She was included in 2021’s The Medicine Maker Power List. Mark Himsworth, business litigation at Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin, is on the 2021 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers List. Lots of prayers are needed for the grieving families of classmates Lou Somogyi and Joe Jehring. — Martha (Burns) Avery; mayoravery@comcast.net 

 

84MBA Class Secretary — Dhanraj Bhagat;

dbhagat1960@gmail.com

 

84JD Spending Time

Wayne Patrick is in his 12th year of retirement from the Department of Justice. Currently beaching it in Siesta Key FL, great-grandpa Wayne spends his time on competitive tanning, studying war and drinking the occasional early morning Ketel One martini in a favorite village coffee shop. He says he hopes to go back to burning up his frequent flyer miles, as well as his hobby of collecting European Michelin starred restaurants. He would like to remind all to take their money sooner rather than later. — Matthew Dunn; 773-294-6851; mdunn19834@gnail.com

 

85 Reunited

Former roommates Mark Ishaug and Francis James reunited at Mark’s Michigan home in April. Francis and his family had visited Notre Dame and were on their way to the U of Michigan. Mark and Francis had seen each other only one other time since graduation. Francis is the resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Libreville, Gabon, in West Africa. He has been with the UNDP since 2004, working in Haiti, Senegal and Burundi, among other countries. Mark is CEO of Thresholds, Illinois’s largest community mental health center, which provides housing and behavioral healthcare to thousands of men, women and adolescents with serious mental illnesses. He has been with Thresholds for nine years. He worked at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago from 1991-2011. Mark writes that it is “amazing how, despite the time, distance and continents, friendship and love thrive.” I am sad to report that Michele (Rooney) Grasberger has informed me that our classmate Dave Boulay passed away on March 29 in Omaha NE. He leaves behind his wife of 34 years, Ann (Smalley), five children and three granddaughters. The Flanner crew, including Nick Grasberger (with wife Michele), George Connor, Dave Minion and Tom Sexton, gathered to honor their dear friend. Michele remembers, “Dave’s laughter was infectious and his love for family and friends was never-ending. He will be greatly missed.” Please pray for Dave’s family and friends. — Kathleen Doyle Yaninek; yanzlaw@comcast.net

 

85MBA Class Secretary — Dom Yocius;

dyocius@ameritech.net

 

85JD News Streak Continues

Thank you, friends, for generously sharing news for our Class Notes. We have published news in every single Class Notes column since at least 2010, which is as far back as I have files. This issue is no exception. Joe Harraka checked in from Philadelphia, where he lives in the Old City historic district. Joe is a partner with Becker LLC, which has offices in NYC, Trenton and Livingston NJ and Center City Philly. Joe’s daughter Jaimie graduated magna cum laude from Pepperdine Law School in May. After taking the Florida bar, she will be joining the national law firm Nelson Mullins in its Boca Raton office as an associate in the real estate department. Joe’s youngest son, Jake, graduated from the U of Southern California in May and moved to Nashville to become a history teacher for a private high school, where he will also be the school’s football and track coach. Peggy Gillis Ayalp is an assistant prosecutor in the appeals division of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in Michigan. Her daughter Erin, 26, lives in Chicago and works as a copywriter for Edelman, and her son Kurt, 24, lives in Seattle and works as a software engineer for Amazon Web Services. The family was reunited recently after an 11-month separation due to COVID. John Heitkamp stepped down as the general counsel of Old Republic International Corporation at the end of 2020 and eased into retirement by retaining a smaller portfolio of responsibilities until retiring completely at the end of June this year. John noted that the pandemic accelerated his plans to work from home in central Wisconsin by about nine months. John’s wife, Kathy, has been retired since 2018, but it doesn’t sound like John and Kathy are taking it easy. They are regularly on the road to visit their six children who are in Florida, Illinois, Nevada and Wisconsin and who have blessed them with six grandsons. Their youngest daughter, Margaret, followed her dad into the legal profession. She graduated from Northwestern Law School and is a senior associate at Husch Blackwell in Milwaukee. Let’s keep our news streak going. Please send news for the next Class Notes. — Kelly Kiernan Largey; kellyjd1985@alumni.nd.edu

 

86 Reunion in the House that Rockne Built

I am writing this in July so you will have seen an email or two with info on our 36th mini reunion and COVID-bumped 35th reunion, which will be the UNC game weekend. With over 350 football tickets allocated to our class, along with those of you with your own tickets, this is looking to be one awesome celebration. We are looking at the largest class tailgate since the early days when we almost got shut down for having a blowout with a live band. We will be holding our tailgater in the Stadium lot behind Legends, but given the size of the crowd, we will likely be in the back of the lot closer to the new Walsh Family Hall of Architecture. Watch for that email with final details and please make sure ND has your correct email address. One thing is for sure: you won’t miss our class. We’ll be flying our class flag. For those who haven’t seen it yet, it is red and black with Rev. Ted Hesburgh, CSC, welcoming all of us back. We are catering with lots of food and refreshment so come early and bring your appetite. Special guest appearances are likely. Since this is our 35th, plan to spend as much time as you can tailgating and celebrating with us. If you are staying over, we look forward to seeing you at the Class of 1986 Mass at 9 a.m. Sunday in Baumer Hall. Who said we had to wait another five years for a reunion? Speaking of reunions, we learned that a Domer ’86 crew gathered in person at the Jersey Shore for their own reunion. David Graham, Scott Cade, Rick Schimpf, John Adams, David Stang, Jeffrey Chou, Paul Anderson, Gerry Bradley and Werner (Rip) Graf convened for a round of golf at the Philadelphia Country Club before migrating to the South Jersey shore for three days of revelry on the ocean. The weekend was highlighted by a bumper car challenge on Atlantic City’s Steel Pier, boating on the Great Egg Harbor Bay, and of course enjoying the beach. They capped the weekend celebration with a double feature of Echoes Awakened and Knute Rockne, All American. Also, I wanted to share that “Rip” Graf took a position as chief customer officer for Visionet Systems, a global IT/digital IT firm with operations in the US, Europe, India and Pakistan. Jack Gibbs let us know that his daughter Ainsley started at ND this semester. He will attend as many games as he can, and that he’ll be dancing the jig at our UNC tailgate. Some things never change. Jack wanted to say that if anyone is touring the upper California, lower Oregon region, please consider visiting The Gnomestead as a part of your trip. It is an off-grid getaway on a rugged creek at the base of the Trinity Alps, which can accommodate small groups. Pam Fox was at ND to see her nephew John Peter Fox IV (Jack) graduate magna cum laude in May. Jack is in Washington DC working with Capital One in computers. Jack’s sister Elizabeth is in her senior year at ND studying data analytics in the business school. Jackie Byers resides in Fishers IN and wishes she had a vacation home during the pandemic. Her daughter Kathleen is an RN at Ascension St. Vincent in Indianapolis and started her job in January 2020 just prior to the pandemic. She is in CVPV (cardiac unit) and is deeply passionate about her job. Jackie gives a shout out to all those in health care who are our heroes. Jackie is retiring later this year from her role as CFO at Centerfield Capital Partners and is looking forward to serving on some corporate boards and traveling with her husband, Tony. She looks forward to cruises to the Caribbean in late 2021 and Panama Canal in May 2022. She will also hit the Shamrock Series game at Soldier Field and plans to be at several home games, including UNC for the class reunion. She has seen many of her classmates from Lewis Hall via Zoom calls over the past year. Other Lewis Chicks she reconnected with recently include Mary (Richardson) Donley, Mary Mullaney, Angela (Verdoorn) Rodriguez, Katy (Spalding) Cressy, Beth (Loebel) Ligenza, Stephanie (“Fie” Trainor) Marsden, Mimi (Soule) Taylor, Alison (Hilton) Genova, Mary (Struckhoff) Michener, Laura Johnson, Kate O’Malley, Terry Kirchmier, Kate (Snakard) Bergin, Linda (Simon) Fink and Tricia (Bevelock) O’Reilly. What have you been up to? Folks want to know so drop us a line. — John Spatz; 201-264-2459; john@jjscb.com

 

86MBA Rising to New Heights

Jamie Maguire embarked on the ultimate cycling challenge, the Haute Route Pyrenees, riding the climbs of the Tour de France. The route included climbing the epic Tourmalet before the arrival of the Tour, as well as Col de Pailleres in southern France. His photos prove the hardest climbs have the best views. Tom Hicks and his family are adapting to the post-COVID era, with his eldest daughter, Jessica, starting her first year of college at Boise State, and his youngest daughter entering eighth grade. Tom has been with Comerica Bank for 33 years, working with large corporate depositors and payment processors on their nationwide platform. He is leading a contingent of his SoCal friends to the Wisconsin game in Chicago. Martha (Apalsch) Tsuchihashi and her family live in Mequon WI and she is VP, securities law counsel at MGIC. She earned her law degree in 2001 from the U of Chicago. Her daughter, Mia, turned 15 in June. Congratulations to Sam Duggan, CFO of Stupp Bros. Inc., who was elected to the legal board of directors of Midwest BankCentre. Stupp Bros., based in St. Louis, provides infrastructure development in the US. Sam also sits on the board of Ben Hur Construction Co. Sam lives in Chesterfield MO. After a long vacation drought, I visited St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, with Mitch Opalski and Doug Young in May. Traveling with these two never gets old. Please stay in touch so I can keep this column going. My next deadline is Oct. 20. — Maureen (Mullan) Decker; 21855 Town Gate, Macomb MI 48044; bus 586-741-4305; cell 586-817-1317; maureen.decker@mclaren.org

 

86JD Career Changes 

My two predecessors were kind enough to check in. Glenn Schmitt retired from the Army Reserves at the end of August after more than 25 years of service. Glenn deployed twice, once to Iraq, where he was a defense counsel, and once to Afghanistan, where he was an instructor to the Afghan military. In total, he spent 21 months in combat zones. After his promotion to colonel in 2015, he twice commanded Reserve legal detachments, which were 55-person units of lawyers and paralegals. In Glenn’s final assignment, he was the staff judge advocate to a division commander, a two-star general. He says he is happy to scale back to only one full time job as a senior executive at the US Sentencing Commission in Washington. Janese and Don Passenger bought a small camping trailer in June and hit the road to Texas to visit their eldest daughter, Lindsey Passenger Wieck ’16PhD. Lindsey is the director of public history at St. Mary’s U in San Antonio TX, where she recently was tenured. While in Texas, Don had 16 Zoom court appearances in Michigan, and three more in Arkansas. Beth Schneider Naylor reported that she and Rick ’84 had several milestones during the pandemic. Their eldest married in a scaled-down pandemic wedding and their youngest graduated virtually from ND. Beth indicated that she and Beth Spencer Meyer, Ellen Kelly Cordrey and Mary McPherson have been getting together at least once a year for the last several years. Most recently, they met in early 2020, shortly before the lockdown, at Ellen’s new home in Florida. Grosse Pointe MI resident Mike Shields wrote that he sold his automotive data analytics business in 2015 to Delphi and began focusing on venture capital/angel investing in various industries, including medical devices and media. His four sons are in various stages of their careers with his youngest entering the U of Michigan this fall. Mike claims he and fellow Detroiter, Tim Riordan, could still take down previously mentioned Ellen and Mary Mac in hoops. (Now there’s a wagering opportunity for our 40th.) Mike occasionally sees other Detroit boys Steve Powell, Rob Kurnick and Denny Barnes. From across the water, Nick Simeonidis tells me life is good. He reports that he and wife Tara have been married 35 years; that their two sons have grown into fine men with wonderful life partners; and that Tara received her doctorate in education from a school that shall not be named but is in Southern California. They continue to work at the Taipei American School and have escaped many of the hardships of the pandemic. Blake Bailey checked in from Dallas, where he migrated over to from the Phelps Dunbar firm to open its Dallas-Fort Worth office a few years back. He also returned to the “State of NITA” by helping with the trial ad program at SMU, where he channels Prof. Jim Seckinger ’68JD, by slamming his hand on the table, yelling, “I object, I object, I object!” Jeff Thompson retired on Jan. 1, 2020, with plans to travel extensively, but then had to undergo brain surgery just before the onset of the worldwide pandemic. He and his wife are making up for lost time in 2021: selling their home of 17 years and building a new one. Their second daughter is marrying soon; their first daughter is having her third child; their son is off to the Air Force; and another daughter is off to live in England. Peter Lutz, commercial real estate practitioner in Rochester NY, spent the summer working remotely from Nantucket. He reports all is well on the home front. Fiona is a sophomore at Providence College; Peter is a high school senior; Will is a high school freshman; and Maura is killing it as a fifth grader. After retiring as chief DNA geek with more than 30 years with the NY State Police, Steve Hogan now teaches in the biology department and in the Rockefeller College of Government Affairs at the U at Albany. His favorite course is Law and Science in Criminal Justice. If you get this column before Oct. 2, come to the Law School Homecoming at ND, the day of the Cincinnati game. I’ll report on all the gossip learned there in the next column. — Brian Bates; bbates@abblaw.com 

 

87 Sweeter

Hello, Class of ’87. I hope everyone had a nice summer and is enjoying football season. As I write this in July, I hope the Irish will be playing again in front of a packed house. For many of us, it will seem sweeter for having missed games on campus last year. Marc Bergin was appointed superintendent for Bedford County Public Schools in Virginia and began his new position June 1. He and his wife relocated to their new home with 100 farm animals, mostly acquired through 20 years of involvement with 4-H. They have two children and their elder son, Jeremy, is married and works in education as a primary school teacher. The younger one, Alex, is still at home as a college student. Marc was in the Glee Club and is still active in community theatre to continue his love of music and performance. He’d love to hear from classmates: marc.bergin@gmail.com. Big sports news comes from Utah. After Connie (Nytes) Frontero’s move to Park City, she and Ann (Doyle) Wagner met in Moab to run the Thelma and Louise race on May 22. Connie ran a half-marathon and Ann ran a 15K. Ann wrote that they are hoping to make it an annual thing and that they would love to see more women from our class join them. I am in Park City often and would love to meet classmates there — and maybe run a 10K, or a 5K, or do a fun walk. All good. Ed Junkins is back on campus as the new director of University Health Services and has taken over the job as the University continues to emerge from the pandemic. Best of luck in this important role. Ellen McDonald travelled to Alaska recently to visit with Jenny (Fisher) and Dan Coyle, recreating a trip they took 34 years ago with Fred Nelson and Molly McGinnis. I don’t know many details about the trip, but the photos were fabulous and apparently the Alaskan air keeps everyone who’s ever been there from aging. Decades long friendships are a blessing. We have a few Jim Gallaghers in the class, and this quarter I heard from Stanford Hall’s Jim Gallagher. He and Denise (Knittel) ’89, who lived in Lewis, will have two sons at Notre Dame this fall: Tommy, a junior, and John, a freshman. He mentioned that he’s really looking forward to home games this fall. COVID broke a 25-year streak of attending every home game, although he was able to get to Georgia Tech and the Alabama game in Dallas last year. Marianne (Herb) Wells’ youngest daughter will be a freshman at ND this fall, living in a quad in Badin Hall directly beneath the room where Marianne lived 38 years ago as a freshman. Marianne and I exchanged a few emails about life in Switzerland. It turns out her father-in-law worked for Nestle and her husband spent several years of his childhood just 10 minutes from where I’m living now. Finally, I had a last-minute update from Mike Zaske. He’s a Lutheran minister, and this past spring had the honor of officiating at the wedding of Jack Adams, son of his Keenan Hall roommate Tim Adams and his wife, Michele (Mengel) ’89. The wedding was in Chaska MN. As always, thanks for the updates, and go Irish. — Meg Hamilton; meghamilton@yahoo.com

 

87MBA Happy News

Hello everyone. In my previous column, I reported that my daughter, Taylor, was accepted as an undergraduate at Notre Dame. My wife, Sue, and I are pleased to report that Taylor has accepted, and she is attending Notre Dame. We are so happy for her. We will be visiting campus quite regularly. We will be hosting our Canadian Tailgater at Notre Dame for the following games: Toledo, USC, Cincinnati and Navy. You are always welcome to attend. Look for the Canadian flag east of Legends in the Stadium Parking Lot. Mark Brostowski, Rick Hans, Chris Murphy and our families will also be at the Wisconsin game in Chicago. Please let us know if you are in attendance as well. We have no other updates. Keep the information flowing. We look forward to hearing from you. Stay positive and healthy. Go Irish. — Perry N. Dellelce; Wildeboer Dellelce LLP, Suite 800, Wildeboer Dellelce Place, 365 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2V1; 416-361-5899; fax 416-361-1790; perry@wildlaw.ca

 

87JD Here Come the 60s

Carol and Jeff Hahn celebrated Jeff’s 60th birthday at the resort in Napa where they were married. Jeff’s eldest daughter, Ashley, graduated from Boston College and is a CPA with KPMG in Chicago. Raine is a Purdue grad and works for Enterprise in Illinois. Kelcey received her doctorate in clinical psychology from East Tennessee State U and works at the Arkansas State Hospital in Little Rock. His daughters have also made Jeff and Carol the proud “Gigi and Papi” of four grandsons. Jeff is with a law firm in northwest Indiana doing collections work and has put a succession plan in place with retirement a few years down the road. Regular readers of this column may recall that Dave Moorman had been planning an Alaska trip with his family for the summer of 2020, but COVID had other plans. Dave was successful this summer in getting his family to our 49th state for a few weeks of vacation and a lifetime of memories. In September, Phil Kalamaros spent three weeks on his bicycle on fundraising rides for Andean Health and Development, which provides medical care to the poor in rural Ecuador. One ride from Bozeman MT to Santa Fe NM was over 600 miles, going through Yellowstone National Park and over several Colorado peaks with more than 40,000 feet of climbing. John Owens helped launch a Fintech Industry Sandbox in the Philippines and is working on a couple of publications. Scott Cessar stayed up well past his bedtime one Friday night in June when he and wife Joyce came to northern Virginia for a family wedding and broke bread with me, Greg Shumaker and our respective wives, Dianne and Clare. Coincidentally, by the end of the evening, Scott had made himself comfortable on the very couch from which I comfortably watched the Washington Nationals win the 2019 World Series. Please send me news to share in this column or in our class email loop. — Mike Gurdak; 202-879-3939; mpgurdak@jonesday.com

 

88 New Normal

I am still plugging away with news that classmates sent when silver linings updates were requested in January. Here’s hoping that some of the positives from the last year and a half have become our new normal, particularly the opportunities for quality family time that many ’88ers highlighted. Andy Barlow has cherished the chance to work from home and the increased time that it has given him to spend with Trina ’89Marquette, his business partner and wife of 33 years. He mentioned the Tiger King TV show as a silver lining. As a result of quarantine, Michelle Witt, the executive and artistic director of the Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the U of Washington, discovered “that the performing arts can continue in a digital space and that creativity is catalyzed through limitations and challenges.” We will likely be the benefactors of creativity born of COVID for years to come. After 30 years abroad, Jill (Johnson) Boutros temporarily moved back to the US to support her parents in Minnesota during the pandemic. Then, in early July, 18 months later, she headed back to Zurich to rejoin her husband. She shared that the “unexpected time with my parents was precious and unforgettable, especially under the circumstances.” Mary (Williams) Backer’s husband Dave usually travels 80-90 percent of the time, so she and their girls, Grace, Kate and Claire, have enjoyed the blessing of having him home. Mary and Dave, a Michigan grad, have been married for 26 years. Living in Carlsbad CA, Mary is president of Beacons Inc., a nonprofit that provides vocational training and social outlets for young adults with disabilities. She founded Beacons in 2018, along with three other moms of disabled adults. From Albuquerque NM, Ken Levandoski and his family took advantage of the forced break from their extensive soccer commitments to spend more time talking and playing games. Ken ordinarily coaches college soccer, while his two children devote five to six nights a week to competitive soccer team practices and games. In today’s usually fast-paced world, he appreciated the gift of uninterrupted time with his family, “moments that you can never get back,” so they best be savored. John Adams continues to do well in Kenmare, Ireland, where he and his family spent a good deal of time together when the country went into lockdown. While disappointed not to meet up with ’88 classmates at the canceled Navy vs. ND game in Dublin in August 2020, he remains optimistic that Ireland will host our Irish during another football season soon. Two years ago, John Deegan and I reconnected when we discovered that our eldest children would be classmates at Providence College, along with the daughter of Diane (Magill) Trammell. In December, John was pleased when his son was accepted into ND’s Class of 2025. While it does not happen often, the Irish and the Friars sometimes wind up on the same playing field. From South Bend, Jack Benchik ’59 shared news involving his son and our class member, Ted Benchik. It turns out there have been three generations of tuba players in the ND marching band from the Benchik family: Jack, Ted and Ted’s niece and nephew. An old normal that I will savor this football season is hearing our country’s oldest university band in person at ND Stadium. Please note that Class of ’88 communications are now coming and going from a new email address. — Laurine Megna; PO Box 6847, Avon CO 81620; 970-390-9742; classof1988@alumni.nd.edu

 

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 Classmate Remembered Fondly

It is with great sadness that I report the death of our classmate, Eydie Meyers (Edith Rob). True to form (and just as I remember her), Eydie was very active in her community and was a respected member of the school board. Please keep the Rob family in your thoughts and prayers. Jim Ganther’s grandson, Cam William, was born 10 months ago. Cam’s claim to fame is he watched the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup twice. Cathie Jones Rikkers was recently elected president of the Great Lakes Academy of Legal Studies in Business. Cathie has been a professor at Grand Valley State U since 1989. Her title is associate professor and director of the Legal Environment of Business Studies in the Seidman College of Business at GVSU. Cathie would love any academics in the group to submit research for the upcoming Great Lakes conference. They can email her at jones-rc@gvsu.edu or check out their website at greatlakesalsb.org. Dan Lynch’s son, James Lynch, graduated from Notre Dame in May. Jill Jones joined the grandmother club. Her daughter, Maggie, and husband had a daughter, Nora Grace, on March 6. Nora is understandably the light of Jill’s life. Tom Dixon is the co-author of a book, Undue Influence and Vulnerable Adults. It was published by the ABA. It is an excellent resource for litigating estate issues and for estate planners who may need to defend their work product. Lien Galloway’s daughter, Lani, graduated from Georgetown School of Medicine in May and is a urology resident at Vanderbilt. Lien’s younger daughter, Christine, remains in San Francisco working in commercial real estate project finance and loving it. Lien is still lawyering at the Peace Corps, going into her 20th year of public service, and working on getting Peace Corps volunteers back to service overseas after the global evacuation last March of all 7,000 volunteers due to COVID-19. Brian English was sworn in as a judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey. Brian’s eldest son, Drew, graduated from Norwich U and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. Finally, it was great to hear from Sheri Schrock. She says hello to everyone. Keep the news coming. — Lori Merlo Coticchia; lcoticchia@aol.com; lcoticchia@ruffingmontessori.org

 

89 Excellent Updates

When you receive your ND Magazine in the mail, is the first thing you turn to “The Classes” section, and our class specifically? If so, you are not alone. Updates are appreciated so please keep them coming. Navy Capt. Randy Gallagher reported his recent retirement from the military after 30 years, four active, one mobilized, and 25 as a reservist. Randy is helping fellow Domer Capt. Butch Peterson with retirement preparations as he exits his service this August. Gallagher and Peterson served together on a mobilization to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. Randy’s eldest son, Patrick, is an ND junior English and economics major, which in 2020 provided him the opportunity to be featured on XM Radio’s Campus College Showdown, where he defended rushing the field after the victory over Clemson as “once in a lifetime.” He will be joined this fall on campus by his younger brother Kevin, who is majoring in engineering. Kevin’s twin, Colin, will be a freshman at Worcester Polytechnic Institute majoring in computer science. He is looking forward to avoiding the humanities. Randy noted also running into fellow former Holy Cross Hog, David Carey, in the drive through line at Chick-Fil-A. One of David’s sons is headed to Virginia Tech to follow in his father’s footsteps as an engineer. Sean Toomey wrote in to keep our class update momentum going. Sean is an orthopedic surgeon in Seattle specializing in robotic assisted hip and knee replacement surgery. In addition to private practice and clinical research, Sean trains surgeons throughout the US and internationally on robotic assisted surgery. He performed the first robotic assisted minimally invasive direct anterior hip replacement in Shanghai, China, in 2019. He has also given clinical presentations in Hong Kong; Seoul; Beijing and Nanjing, China; Kobe and Tokyo, Japan; and Exeter, England, and has performed live surgeries to train and educate surgeons in many countries. A bunch of our classmates have current Domer kids and recent grads. I spoke with Erin (Daly) Krestinski, whose son is a sophomore. Theresa (Harrington) and Craig Merrigan of Chapel Hill NC reunited with their family at Craig’s mother’s house in Rochester NY after 18 months apart due to COVID. Four daughters came from North Carolina, Oregon, New York and one as a surprise from Medellin, Colombia. The group included Craig’s sister and ND 2020 grads Lily Merrigan and Ryan Bigej, who look forward to returning to campus for delayed graduation next year. Please keep the updates coming. God bless. Go Irish. — Kerrie (Wagner) Debbs; kwagsnd89@gmail.com

 

89MBA Class Secretary — Margaret DeVoe;

612-845-9662; maggiedevoe@yahoo.com

 

89JD The Sands of Time

It seems that most of the news I receive from classmates these days is about children going off to college or getting married. We can now count retirement and grandparenthood as milestones for some of our classmates. Yvette Flores provided updates on several classmates. She reports that Ray Miller has retired from Harter, Secrest & Emery in Rochester NY. Ray and wife Susan have retired to Arizona. Congratulations, Ray; enjoy your retirement. Dot and Kevin Judiscak also live in Arizona with their four children. Kevin is a shareholder with Engelman Berger in Phoenix, where he practices in the commercial litigation area. Amy and Tom Merry live in the Columbus OH area where Tom has his own commercial practice. Amy and Tom have joined the ranks of proud grandparents. Congratulations to Amy and Tom. Yvette had a Zoom call during the pandemic with Alan Bell, Jeannine Cordero and Sue Schierl, all of whom work and live in Chicago. She reports that all are doing well. As for Yvette, she continues to practice law and raise her son, Isaiah, in the suburbs of Chicago. Rumor has it that Yvette is particularly enjoying the White Sox season this year. Cindy (Constantino) and Sean Gleason enjoyed a special trip to Wimbledon this summer; their daughter, Quinn Gleason ’16, is a professional tennis player and played in her first Wimbledon match. David and Bonnie (Austin) Cluxton happily announced the engagement of their daughter, Katherine. She and her fiancé, Paul, will marry in October 2022. Paula and Matt Haney shared the happy news that their daughter, Claire Haney ’16, also is engaged. Claire is following in her dad’s footsteps, earning her JD at U of Iowa College of Law. Best wishes to Katherine, Claire and their fiancés. Finally, Monica (Harder) ’90JD and Ed Gibbons hosted the wedding of their daughter Caitlin ’16SMC to Zach Smitson in Indianapolis. Please send news. I love hearing from all of you. — Jenny O’Leary Smith; jennyoleary@comcast.net