1980s

80 A Kindness          

Each month, founding Angels, Maritza Poza-Grise and Rob Peters distribute a reminder about our monthly Virtual Prayer Network typically held on the first Sunday of the month. Last month’s intentions mentioned that Rosemary Mills Russell had lost her mom. She sent me a copy of the kindest, handwritten letter she received in response. The writer reflected on the loss of his parents and offered special thanks to Rosemary for the many letters of kindness she has written to our class at times of their losses. We are grateful indeed. Your secretary’s update: during quarantine, I applied and was accepted to ND’s Inspired Leadership Initiative. I’ll be returning to campus in the fall for the school year as I discern what I will be working on next. We are hosting an informal minireunion and game watch for the Cincinnati game on campus. Check email and our Facebook page for details. From Mary Ryan Amato: Mark and Layne Salazar Roetzel welcomed a grandson to the family in December. Ethan Michael joins his sister Reagan and was born exactly 99 years after Mark’s father. Beth LaRocca retired as a teacher but serves on her local school board. Kevin Gallagher’s daughter Colleen graduated from law school at UVA. Elaine Glaid Buddie and Jim ’81 welcomed their first grandchild, Joseph Andre Veres. Joe’s proud parents are Melissa Buddie ’12 and Denes Veres ’11.  Avery Scott ’10 and brother, Ian ’05 sent the sad news that their mother, Mary Ellen (Foley) Scott passed away on Feb. 3 after a five-year battle with cancer. In Avery’s words, her mother was grateful for the love and support of her fellow Badin Hall alumni and other ND classmates during these past few years. Michael Brooker would like to thank all members of the Class of 1980 who supported his candidacy for the Notre Dame Alumni Association Board as regional director of the Mid-Atlantic Region. He represents and serves 17 ND Clubs in western and central Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and DC. He also received an appointment from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to serve as an at-large member on the Pennsylvania Veterans Commission. Michael hopes to see everyone on campus this fall. Ed Zier will be published. Koehler Books of Virginia will publish his book, Undaunted! Ed has written about his experiences on and around 9/11 when he was COO of Baseline and working in NYC. An ad hoc group comprised of Mary Ryan Amato, Dom Yocius, Jim Lukeman, Leo Latz, Beth LaRocca, Rosemary Mills Russell, Mike O’Reilly, Chris Fenoglio, Mary Dobbertien, Phil Jarigue, Will Fessler and I collaborated to create guidelines for our class community on our Facebook page. In short, it is a place to celebrate our class and our friends. There are other places to explore the University and other topics. Join us there. It is a thriving community with lots of great memories. Bill Vita joined the law firm of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP as one of the founding partners in its New York office. Shook is a national law firm with offices in 15 American cities and London. Our hearts go out to Mark Dobbertien who lost his mother; Norm Mueller who lost his wife, Jane; and the families of Dave Persing, John Ferroli, Christopher Wuertz, Norman Perino and Mary Ellen Scott Foley. 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/; my.nd.edu/page/classnotes

 

80MBA Making a Big Difference

One of the best parts of being a class secretary is connecting with friends from years ago. Another good thing is to see how so many of our classmates are making a difference in their communities. Two such people came to me by way of Mike Colbert who sent in a couple of links regarding Henry Fetta and Sister Corinne Florek. After retiring from Kraft Foods Group, Henry became the director of the Hunger Resource Network as a member of an all-volunteer board of directors who are passionate about helping to alleviate hunger in the Chicago area. They serve food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters by making connections between those who have surplus food and those who are in need. Sister Corinne Florek is a Dominican sister from Adrian MI who graduated with our class in 1980. Since then, she was instrumental in helping to create Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI’s). She served as director of economic development at the anti-poverty Catholic Campaign for Human Development in Washington DC, managing a low-interest loan program, and ran a microenterprise loan fund for women in San Francisco. For many years, she managed community investment funds for the Sisters of Mercy. If that was not enough, Sister Florek helped found the Religious Communities Impact Fund (RCIF), which today pools and invests the community development funds of 35 congregations of women religious. She served as RCIF’s director until last year. For his part, Mike Colbert writes that he is finishing his second year with Opportunities for Youth via the AmeriCorps senior program. He says this has been a welcome transition since retiring from his regular career a few years ago. They pay a small living stipend and offer a modest educational allowance, transferable to a child or grandchild. Mike adds that anyone interested can take a look at AmeriCorps.gov, as it is a great way to do structured volunteer service and give back to your community. Checking in from Lakeland FL, Doug Cooper and his wife, Judy, are the proud grandparents of Leo and Audrey, courtesy of son Joe and his wife, Beth. Doug was asked to lead his parish AV ministry which broadcasts live stream Masses and other services to those shut in, which today is just about everybody due to COVID restrictions. Several classmates have written to say that they have been vaccinated, including Pat Ward and Paul Katilas. Pat unfortunately contracted COVID but kept his sense of humor by adding that while it was great for losing weight, he recommends the old-fashioned way of diet and exercise. Paul finds a good balance between golf during the day and work for clients at night, at least until they fully develop nighttime golf. Rich Walker, our fearless traveler, recently took his Toyota Tacoma on a journey from Texas to California. On the way there, he stopped at the Grand Canyon but was stuck in a snowstorm for seven hours on Highway 40 along with thousands of other stranded motorists. Nevertheless, he was grateful to be able to get away after being cooped up all year and even had a chance to stop by Joshua Tree National park before returning. After being fully vaccinated myself, I am planning on at least one trip to South Bend: the weekend of Sept. 18. If there is enough interest, I would gladly come up again for a reunion game if it is feasible this year. Hopefully by the time this column runs, we will have some good news on that front. Keep me posted on any news. Go Irish. — Joe Kearney; 203-364-0346; jos.w.kearney@gmail.com

 

80JD Clover Award 

I hope everyone is safe and sound. Congratulations to Nancy Walsh, wife of classmate Wendell Walsh, on receiving the Irish Clover Award from the Notre Dame student body for outstanding service. More importantly, congratulations to Nancy on having the Clover Award renamed the Nancy Walsh Clover Award. Nancy worked with the Notre Dame Student Government for many years and recently retired. This award is a huge honor. Congrats to retired Judge Sue Zwick who is enjoying her life as a mediator at JAMS, and as a grandmother. Same with Lucille Del Tufo Davy, whose two grandchildren live in Florida. Kudos to our own Judge Dan Buckley who helped mediate and settle the USC physician abuse case. Retired Judge Barb McDonald is busy as a fiction writer, her real love. Kathy Moriarty “Morales” is senior counsel at Chapman and Cutler New York, rockin’ it with securities and Bitcoin work. Kathy Deane enjoyed some restful time in Ireland. Rumor has it that there will be outside spectators at this fall’s football games, but in reduced numbers. Thank God for NBC. Be safe and healthy and please send your news. Love. — Sheila O’Brien; sobrien368@aol.com

 

81 40th Reunion 

Plans are set for our 40th reunion Oct. 29-31. Imagine being on campus for a colorful fall weekend and reconnecting with classmates. Some of the greatest gifts in my life have been the friendships I formed and conversations I had in Lyons and Farley, Innsbruck and the rest of Europe, classrooms and labs, around the lakes and at the Grotto, and in many beautiful corners of our beloved campus. Let’s continue the conversations and exaggerate stories from those years. We will have a Friday night dinner in the Downes Club in Corbett Family Hall, with views of the stadium and a live band that will play our favorite hits from our ND years. What was No. 1 on the Billboard charts when we graduated? “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes. Here’s hoping for a little Springsteen. The order of Saturday depends on the start of the Notre Dame-North Carolina game. You can count on a classic tailgater and seats together at the game with 299 of your favorite classmates. Sunday morning Rev. Mark Thesing, CSC, will celebrate a Mass of Remembrance as we pray for classmates and loved ones who have passed away. Then, breakfast in the South Dining Hall and a trip en masse to the Grotto before we head back home. We also have a couple of fun extras planned, including a little swag to remember the weekend. If you have not registered yet, you still can. Please write this URL into your browser and register now: my.nd.edu/events/9999. Finally, call your old roommates, email your lab partner and ping your teammate. Gentle peer pressure works. Let’s get as many ’81ers to join us as we can. Also, by the time you read this, our class page will be up and running on the NDAA website, so check there for reunion updates. Now, on to class news. Last July, Elaine Glaid Buddie ’80SMC and Jim Buddie welcomed their first grandchild, Joseph Andre Veres. Joe’s proud parents are Melissa Buddie ’12 and Denes Veres ’11. Sheila Liebscher Momont welcomed her first grandchild in May. Proud parents are her son Matt ’11 and daughter-in-law Jackie ’12SMC. Sheila and her husband, David, recently retired after 35 years of medical practice together at the Gundersen Health System in La Crosse WI. They were first-year residents in internal medicine when they met at a resident introduction picnic in 1985. Two years later, they had their first official date, and were married in late 1987. Throughout the decades, the Momonts taught incoming residents, says Dr. Greg Thompson, director of medical education at Gundersen. “The Momonts’ legacy of being excellent doctors for their patients speaks for itself. However, Sheila and David have impacted care across the country.” Janet Bergeron found Tim Coonan in Santa Barbara during her annual trip to the West Coast. Janet’s text and accompanying beer-focused photo confirmed their identities. Please join the Class of ’81 Facebook page where about 400 classmates reminisce, entertain, pray and opine. 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. Thanks to everyone who has already shared updates and those of you who are now inspired. — Mary Murphy; marymurphy81@alumni.nd.edu

 

81MBA Good to Hear from You

Well, it has certainly been an interesting and trying year due to COVID, but I’m happy to report that I did hear from a number of ’81MBAs. Spring has sprung and there seems to be a bit more optimism in the air. I am back on the road visiting clients and business partners, albeit fully masked, which does not make it a lot of fun. Sheila and I enjoyed a recent three-day staycation in Scottsdale with our three grandsons. Susan Leopold sent a nice update that she and husband Tim are healthy and roaming around the Texas Hill Country in their RV chasing bluebonnets. Susan also reports that they were blessed with a beautiful new granddaughter, Clara Catherine Kapnick, on Dec. 21. It is no surprise that Susan called baby Clara “the best Christmas gift ever.” Their son, Jonathan ’19MBA, was recently promoted to VP and GM, and is managing the Leopold business, Single Point Capital (SPC). Fortunately for Jonathan, he was able to enjoy the total MBA experience before COVID changed the world. Susan said that SPC participated in the ND effort to provide internships during the long 2020 winter break. SPC was the first to offer a paid internship, and it was a positive experience for SPC and the ND junior they worked with. Sue Sampson, Paul Sampson’s surviving spouse, wrote a nice note. Even with Paul gone for 11 years now, Sue has fond memories of the friends that she and Paul made at ND. Sue resides in Pennsylvania and keeps up on the class via these notes. Margie Ward Pettibone is glad we are keeping the class news going, and while she has not been back to campus in eight years or so, she enjoys reading about our classmates. Margie and husband Chip moved to Northern California after 21 years in Rhode Island. They are between Napa and the coast, so in wine country. Margie would like to extend an invitation to any classmate who comes to Napa or Sonoma. She and Chip can recommend a lot of wineries. Their four children have been moving around the country: Their former New Yorker is now in grad school at UCLA, their Alabama girl is now in med school at UC Davis, and their Chicago girl graduated from Northwestern and is now in San Francisco, but due to COVID she worked remotely and spent the winter in Vail. Their youngest was doing a semester in DC when COVID hit, stayed for a while, then decided to take a gap year and come back to Northern California. It was 27 years ago that Margie took a sabbatical from AT&T when they were expecting their third child. Margie never went back. Seven years ago, when they moved to Northern California, she was called back to work as the director of development for Catholic Charities. It’s been great fun and she enjoys working. Ironically, one of the few people she was in touch with was the late EJ Fleming. She and EJ were making plans to get together in Napa. Jay Milender was fortunate to be able to go to EJ’s memorial service. It was a sad day, but it made him remember why EJ was so special. The slide show was great with lots of pictures from our experience at ND. Jay said that this being our 40th anniversary, it seems a little empty without EJ’s presence. Jay just found out that his youngest, Kendall, a sophomore at Dartmouth, will be going on exchange to Queen’s College in September. She is excited and maybe there will be a chance for a reunion on Albemarle Street. Jay still works for Lighthouse Worldwide Solutions. They supply monitoring equipment for life science cleanrooms and have been busy during the pandemic. Like many of us, Jay has been thinking about retirement, but he loves his job. Jay would love to catch up with anyone who is coming to Boston. He lives close to Gillette Stadium if anyone is coming in for an event. Free parking is offered. Al Casazza sent an updated email address now that he is retired and enjoying life. Please let me know if you would like me to send the new email address to you. I’ll try to connect with Al and anyone else at an ND game this year. As always, we enjoy fond memories of our years together. Let’s keep the news and updates coming. Go Irish. — Steve Simmerman; 3126 E. Desert Broom Way, Phoenix AZ 85048; bus 602-524-7662; srsimmerman@gmail.com

 

81JD Class Secretary — Michael Palumbo;

3799 E. Peachtree Drive, Chandler AZ 85249; res 480-284-4004; bus 602-262-5931; mpalumbo@jsslaw.com

 

82 Growing Family

Jan Corey Hawk’s son Matt ’12, ’14MEd married Katie Miller ’12 last September. Her son Mark ’19, and wife Veronica are expecting a baby in May. Jan is excited to become a grandma. Congratulations on both accounts. A reminder that our class began funding an endowment as our 35th reunion class gift in memory of Jake Scanlan. Jake’s parents were our classmates: Jerry Scanlan, mechanical engineering, Grace Hall, and Janet Grawey Scanlan, accounting, Pasquerilla West. If you did not donate during ND Day 2021, please read more about ND student and Siegfried resident Jake Scanlan. Here is a correction on an item about Susan Hill Yokum: “The main correction is the names of our children who graduated from ND. They are in order: Karen ’12, Ellen ’15, Kevin ’18 and Logan ’20. You included my husband Brian as one of the graduates and left out our son Kevin. Although I am sure after paying four tuitions that my husband Brian does feel that he has graduated from ND.” I hope everyone is healthy during this pandemic and looks forward to catching up at a football game this fall. Keep in mind that we will have our 40th reunion in June 2022, so save the date. — Dave and Tess Lewis; 30 Battle Ridge Road, Morris Plains NJ 07950; cell 973-219-4050; tess@lewislegal.com; dave@lewislegal.com 

 

82MBA Class Secretary — Renée (Amirkanian) Sutherland;

mobile 630-846-2707; reneemsr@aol.com

 

82JD COVID Continues

More than a year after the onset of the pandemic, COVID-19 continues to limit our ability to travel and to visit in person with family and friends. Zoom calls and virtual meetings have become a new way of life. Bruce Baty, Liz Imhoff, Tim Nickels, John Smith and I attended the virtual NDLS board meeting in March. Tim Abeska, Tim Nickels and John Smith taught a virtual Trial Ad Class at the Law School in February. Carol and I were on campus in April where we saw Perry Vieth and his daughter Morgan ’11. Perry is CEO of Cares Partners LLC, which has an office in South Bend. This was the first time I have seen one of our classmates face-to-face in more than a year. I hope that you and your families have remained healthy and that, by the time you read this column, you have been fully vaccinated against COVID. Our 40-year class reunion will likely take place on campus in early June 2022. Please make plans to attend. Also, please send me news items. — Frank Julian; ndlaw82@gmail.com

 

83 Thoughts and Prayers

Please remember Dave Dahlstrom and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Dave passed away on Feb. 10, survived by his wife, Lori; his children, Mike and Nicole, and many extended family members. Peter Dawes, John Greer and Clare Padgett provided the sad news. Several of Dave’s Zahm Hall roommates gathered virtually to celebrate Dave’s life, including Peter, Jim Malkus, Paul Hairsine, Dan Peterka ’81, Brian Levey ’84, Bill Phelan ’85, Dan Rauch (’81), Dick Larkin ’85 and Rian Gorey ’82. Please keep Tom Coker and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Tom’s father, James ’60BA, ’61JD, passed away on Feb. 10. He was buried in St. Joseph Cemetery near campus in uniform with military honors. His resting place is with Tom’s mother and older sister. Brian Murray reported that he spoke with Brad Knopp, who is retiring after more than 20 years as a private school teacher, most recently with Ensworth in Nashville. Also retiring is Mark Zapf, who Brian says has had enough of litigating in Chicago. Brian noted that he has a child who is a college freshman, so he will not retire for a while. Brian reported that Mike Bruzzese is a lawyer in Pittsburgh who just enjoyed the best year of his professional life because he did not have to interact with opposing counsel in person. Brian noted that Tom Melsheimer’s latest book, On the Jury Trial: Principles and Practices for Effective Advocacy, is flying off the shelves. Theresa DiPasquale is the Gregory M. Cowan Professor in English Language and Literature at Whitman College in Walla Walla WA. Theresa and her husband, Lee, have lived there since 1998. Their son, Dominic, started as a freshman at the University last fall and is pursuing a five-year arts and letters and engineering dual degree in film, television and theatre and electrical engineering. Theresa has been on sabbatical and her husband has been working from home. Russ Wyborski has announced that he accepted a position in the innovations group at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. His job is helping move technologies (specifically small molecules) from the research labs into development for disease treatments. Russ states that there is no need for him to be in the office in Cincinnati, so he and Diane will stay in Cleveland. He says it has been a long year since his position with his prior employer was eliminated, but he has learned a lot about himself, what it is like to be involuntarily unemployed and how faith and life intersect. Russ also says that Diane never lost faith in him and that she is the “best of wives and best of women.” Gregory Larkin reports that he used to live in New York City when he was a professor at Yale and NYU, but that he moved away for a sabbatical. However, he returned when he answered the call from the governor for volunteers trained in emergency and critical care to come to New York to assist with fighting the pandemic. Greg ended up working in the NYC hot zone. He reminds us to keep our guard up until the vaccines have been widely administered and that we must keep masked and vigilant. He also reminds us that our medical professionals are happy and proud to do their jobs and that if you are sick or injured, do not hesitate to seek medical assistance. — 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 Class Secretary — Ann E. Merchlewitz;

cell 507-450-6609; bus 507-457-1587; amerchle@smumn.edu 

 

84 Here’s to a Great 2021

Chris Romo, a four-year St. Ed’s man, sent me my first MLB update. He and his wife, Laura, and three sons live in The Woodlands TX. Their son, Drew, was drafted in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft by the Colorado Rockies and went to Spring Training in Scottsdale AZ. Caroline (Biagi) and Joe Chan welcomed grandchild No. 5. In addition to keeping up with the grandkids, Caroline works for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and whips up some tasty cooking and baking projects, while Joe is teaching part-time at the U of Louisville, capturing awesome nature and sky photos (check them out on the class Facebook page) and running to balance out Caroline’s culinary delights. Proving you can be Irish anywhere, Susan Freeman McCortney and her husband, Ryan, celebrated St. Pat’s Day in Hawaii, complete with very stylish shamrock masks. Congratulations to Rev. David Guffey, CSC, ’84, ’90MDiv, for his recent Christopher Award for his film Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton. The film tells the story of Rev. Patrick Peyton, CSC, ’37, whose gratitude for a miraculous healing led him to create a media ministry that popularized the life-changing idea, “The family that prays together stays together.” Father Guffey is the National Director of Family Theater Productions in Hollywood CA. Please keep the family of Penny Epps McIntosh in your prayers. Penny passed away in March. Also keep the family of Matt Moughamian in your prayers. He lost his daughter in the avalanches in Utah. — Martha (Burns) Avery; mayoravery@comcast.net

 

84MBA Class Secretary Wanted

The Alumni Association is in search of a class secretary for the MBA Class of 1984. Interested parties should email Alumni Editor Joanne Norell at jnorell@nd.edu using the subject line “Class Secretary 1984MBA.”

 

84JD Keeping in Touch

I received the following update from Dallas. Ken Plifka and Augie Valdez have worked at the same firm for 37 years: Stutzman, Bromberg, Esserman & Plifka PC. Both have national commercial real estate practices. Ken specializes in representing pension fund advisory clients who buy, develop, lease and sell commercial properties and Augie specializes in representing life companies making loans on commercial properties. Ken has been married to Deborah for 36 years and they have two daughters who live in Austin. Ken is a recent grandfather to his first grandson and is expecting the arrival of his first granddaughter. Augie has two sons, one attending Texas A&M Commerce and the other attending Georgetown U. Ken and Augie keep in touch with Tom Schroeder and Randy Curato. All four get together annually to see an ND football game. Tom Schroeder is a federal district court judge in Winston-Salem NC, and Randy Curato is a vice president, senior loss prevention counsel for ALAS. Please send me updates. — Matthew Dunn; 773-294-6851; mdunn19834@gnail.com

 

85 Class of 2025

I am happy and proud to write that my son, Zachary, was admitted to Notre Dame’s Class of 2025, a legacy realized. I cannot describe the overwhelming emotion I experienced as he logged onto the admissions portal, clicked on the status update and announced that he had been accepted. He achieved this in a year when the admissions process was especially challenging and difficult due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to The Observer, Notre Dame admitted a total of 3,446 students out of 23,639 applicants for a record-low acceptance rate of 14.6 percent. It is still to be determined if Zachary will attend my alma mater; he has two Ivy League options, as well. In other news, Dave Wood retired from the military as a brigadier general in March after 35 years of service in the Army and Pennsylvania National Guard. Before retiring, he spent a year supporting pandemic and civil unrest operations across Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. Dave now works as a physical security advisor with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for central Pennsylvania. In this role, he works with public and private critical infrastructure to ensure continuity of operations. Dave writes that his father, Ernie Wood ’59, and his mother, Jean, passed this year due to COVID and Alzheimer’s, respectively. Dave continues to participate in “Roomie Zooms” with the St. Ed’s gang of Bill Weiler, Bill Stuhldreher, Scott Hobar, Joe Bongiovi, Ben Suplick and Tom Limaneck. Dave writes, “It is great to get together, and we have learned that we still can’t stop talking over each other. We are planning a football reunion in 2021.” And, regarding football, please note that plans are under way for BACT 2021. The class event is likely to be held with the Purdue or USC game. More details soon. Please send updates. — Kathleen Doyle Yaninek; yanzlaw@comcast.net

 

85MBA Class Secretary — Dom Yocius;

dyocius@ameritech.net

 

85JD Coach

Readers of the publication Blue & Gold Illustrated will have seen a terrific article about Tim Koegel, our classmate who played football at ND and in the USFL before law school. Tim is a renowned presentation coach and consultant to corporate executives, politicians, athletes, coaches and authors. Tim has written two best-selling books on presentation skills: The Exceptional Presenter and The Exceptional Presenter Goes Virtual. Presentation skills are critical for all of us, and you can find resources from Tim’s training programs at his website presentationacademy.com. Dave Scheper has merged his 15-lawyer Los Angeles white collar and complex litigation boutique, Scheper Kim & Harris, with Winston & Strawn. Becoming a partner at Winston is a bit of a homecoming for Dave. He helped open Winston’s LA office in 1999 and Dave and Barb’s son Tom will join Winston in Chicago when he graduates from ND Law this year. I’m looking forward to seeing Laura Hanson in Boston soon. Her youngest daughter, Elsa, will be a student at Northeastern U this fall. Laura’s eldest, Will, is graduating from the U of Southern California this year and her middle daughter, Sonja, is sophomore at Lewis & Clark College in Portland. Laura is a partner and chair of the insurance coverage practice group at Meagher & Geer in Minneapolis. Michelle Garcia Gilbert is happily anticipating the arrival of her third grandchild, the third child of her eldest daughter, Andrea. Michelle has five other children. Her youngest, Daniel, is graduating from the U of South Florida, in the Tampa Bay area, this May with a mechanical engineering degree. Michelle and her husband will then be empty-nesters and looking forward to an exciting new chapter. In other graduation news, Joseph Shannon’s daughter Evangeline graduates from ND this year. That makes four ND graduates for Joseph: Katherine ’13, Joseph ’14, Margaret ’19 and now Evangeline ’21. I am looking forward to my own tuition dividend when my twins graduate from college this spring. All three of my boys attended Jesuit schools: Tommy ’18 Boston College; Aidan ’21 College of the Holy Cross; Bobby ’21 Fordham U, ad majorem Dei gloriam. As we approach herd immunity and emerge from the pandemic, I look forward to hearing news that makes you hopeful. — Kelly Kiernan Largey; kellyjd1985@alumni.nd.edu

 

86 Italian Connection

Mike Mazza is happy to report the Mileski twins (now Mary Ellen Mazza and Patti Bryck, both ’87) hang out with their husbands (Mike and Steve) in New London NH, with homes a few miles apart. Their nine children (seven are Domers) visit often. Mike also relayed that there is a hilarious email chain going on for months among Tara Donavan Shea (TDS), “Curious George” Dillon, the Mileski Twins, Linda (Ryndak) Turner and Pat Sullivan. For more than a decade Steve Varni has been living with wife Jen and son Alessandro in Venice, Italy. In June, Abrams published a wonderful children’s picture book Steve wrote titled Ciao, Sandro! It is illustrated beautifully by Luciano Lozano and inspired by a real-life gondolier’s dog who knew how to take the Vaporetto around the lagoon by himself. (The little dog died last year at the age of 16 after a life of adventure.) The book originated in one post and one short video Steve did on the real dog Sandro on the blog he has been writing there for 10 years called Venezia Blog. (It is recommended by BBC.com, Die Zeit, Smithsonian Magazine, The Rough Guide to Venice & the Veneto). For those interested, the video, narrated by Sandro’s gondolier best friend, can be watched on the blog. Speaking of Italy, after leaving ND, Alan Perry spent five years with the Army, with over three years in Vicenza. He double majored in American Studies and Italian and this background allowed him to acquire the language. After the Gulf War, he went to Middlebury U for a master’s and then to U of Wisconsin for a PhD in Italian Literature. He has been in academia since 1998 and is a full professor of Italian at Gettysburg College. Alan keeps in close contact with former Flanner roommates, most of whom were class of ’85: Paul Montgomery, Mike McCaughey and David Martin. They attended his 2003 wedding to Catherine Quinn ’97. Alan met Catherine at Middlebury in ’98 while teaching undergraduates in the Italian School and she was starting her master’s. In 2008, Olivia was born, followed by Anna and Nora. Last fall, a group of bikers rode 50 miles from Paw Paw Lake MI, where Jeff Shupe and Dave Tracy have places, to the Clemson game. Riders included Jeff, his wife Sue, Dave, Dan Murphy (Yellow Jersey Winner), Ted Rolfs, Tom and Luisa Hoch, Bobby Fielding and non-Domer friends, including Tim Brankin. They held a low-key tailgater in the loading dock of a campus building whose location could not be revealed to protect the identity of their generous host. Paul Mazelin had been working for a family business that was sold to a multinational. His position was eliminated so he got together with a couple of former colleagues and started SiMEDEx. They make silicone tubing for various medical device applications like for drug delivery systems and catheters, as well as electrical insulation for cardiac pacemakers and neurostimulation devices. They are in Paso Robles so they do a bit of wine tasting from time to time. Paul is in regular contact with Pete Bowen, Pete Piche, Mike Speranza and Bill Donnelley. I sadly report the passing of Tim Schafhauser last November. Please keep his wife, Matilda, and family in your prayers. 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; cell 586-817-1317; maureen.decker@mclaren.org

 

86JD Outstanding Attorneys

Last March Bryan Wilson became acting US Attorney for the District of Alaska. Bryan started as an AUSA in the District of Northern Florida in 1991 and transferred to Alaska in 2010, where he had been first assistant since 2017. Bob Cessar started his 32nd year with the Office of the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, where he has held virtually every position. For the second time, Bob is serving as the first assistant. Roberto Orellana reports that, after 30 years as an assistant county counsel in Ventura County CA, he retired in 2020. He still manages several trust companies based in Orange County and serves as president of the board of St. Augustine Academy. Earlier this year he joined Skeels, Araiza, Lemmon & Orellana PC, as “of counsel.” Robert and Mary’s son, Rafael, a UVA Law graduate, received the 2020 Outstanding Deputy DA Award from the Ventura County DA. Most of Robert’s eight children and 16 grandchildren live in California, but daughter Helena lives in Virginia, where she teaches psychology at Divine Mercy U, and daughter Regina lives in Massachusetts, where she and her husband are raising their three children. Robert and Mary recently added a large swimming pool to their backyard to attract their children and grandchildren for regular visits. Kathy and Tom Evans (executive VP and general counsel of the Kemper Corporation in Chicago) are a few years behind the Orellanos in the progeny department: daughter Kelly is 9, son Tripp is 6. Lori Lopez Guzo writes that she lives an easy walking distance from Seattle’s Capitol Hill Occupied Protest and Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHOP/CHAZ) which made for an “interesting” summer. Lori writes, “There were weeks that felt like we were living in a war zone, mostly because of the helicopters at night. But for the most part, the problems were sensationalized by the media, although the homelessness situation remains substantial.” She will become an empty-nester later this summer when her son starts medical school. If anyone has loved ones at U of Washington School of Medicine, give Lori a shout. Jock Scharfen checked in and reported that after retiring from the Marine Corps and a serving a few stints in government (first on Capitol Hill and then as a senior appointee in the Department of Homeland Security), Jock started at Cargill Inc., where David Link was senior tax counsel before his retirement. Jock joined Cargill as VP for government relations, North America, but now is VP, global government relations, where he leads a team across four continents. Jock was recently named one of the 250 Most Influential People by Washingtonian Magazine. He and Diane will have celebrated the arrival of their first grandchild by the time you read this. My wife, Sherry, and I visited Mary and Bert Sugayan in Palm Desert CA in March. We appreciated their generous hospitality and warm, sunny weather. On campus, Jerry Powers is the director of Catholic Peacebuilding Studies at ND’s Kroc Institute/Keough School of Global Affairs. Jerry recently contributed to the Vatican’s COVID-19 Commission, discussing issues of pandemic and peace. Jerry and Therese have been married 36 years and have five children. I hope by the time you read this there has been a decision on NDLS homecoming weekend. If it is on, we will celebrate 35 years since graduation the weekend of Oct. 2 on campus, and perhaps at the Powers house. John Duggan, for one, hopes so. Again, he exhorts us to “ride safely” and send updates. — Brian Bates; bbates@abblaw.com 

 

87 Opening Up

Hello, Class of 1987. I hope everyone is having a good summer. I’ve seen a few graduations, kids’ weddings, and some travel photos on social media, so I sense that the world is opening back up for many. It is wonderful to reconnect after this long year. This quarter, I heard from Meg Payne Nelson. She has been with Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota for five years, and was promoted to vice president of impact, overseeing CCF’s grant making strategy, including charity screening, impact goal setting and grant program design. Her husband is a high school social studies teacher, and she has two daughters. One has just decided on Macalester College in St. Paul and will start as a freshman there this fall, and the other is a sophomore in high school. They also have a Bernese mountain dog, a breed close to my heart since I see them often here in Switzerland. Meg also wrote about her passion for her volunteer work with Women of the Church, a Catholic Leadership Forum. That’s all our news for now, but I expect things will pick up this fall, as a normal football season begins. Again, have a wonderful summer. — Meg Hamilton ’87, ’93MBA; meghamilton@yahoo.com

 

87MBA Hello Everyone

I hope everyone is well and staying healthy. Bernardo Noreña is a partner at Axia IB, a member of Oaklins, an international network of M&A investment banks. He is back to his investment banking roots. His daughter Catalina is a lawyer in a large law firm in Colombia after spending time in New York. Mariana, an artist and designer, is soon to go to Parsons in New York for her master’s in fine arts, and his son, Santiago, is finishing at U of British Columbia and enjoying Vancouver and Canada. Once the pandemic is over, Catalina is set to marry her long-time boyfriend. Christopher Murphy reported that his daughter, Caitlin ’17, recently joined the University’s Investment Office after working for nearly four years at GCM Grosvenor Capital Management in Chicago. Caitlin is a 2017 graduate of ND’s Mendoza College of Business with a major in finance. She began working on March 1 as an investment associate where she is working on the private equity and venture capital team. Congratulations to Caitlin and to Chris and Kathy. My daughter, Taylor, was accepted as an undergraduate at Notre Dame, Class of 2025. My wife, Sue, and I are proud of her and her accomplishments. Hopefully, by next column, I will report that she has accepted. She is considering a few other options and she is making her parents wait until the May 1 deadline. We are still holding hopes for attending football games in 2021. As always, when we are fortunate enough to have football games, you are invited to our Canadian tailgate party. Look for the Canadian flag, east of Legends in the Stadium Parking Lot. 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 St., Toronto, Ontario M5H 2V1; 416-361-5899; fax 416-361-1790; perry@wildlaw.ca

 

87JD New Chapters

Lee Cameron has retired from Wilson Elser, continuing in a more limited capacity as a senior consultant. Lee and his wife, Pat, have booked some trips around the United States this year, and Lee has several home improvement projects to keep him busy. Lee and Pat are looking for a church ministry that they can do together. Ed Kelly has retired from government service as an appellate immigration judge and has moved to Winchester VA. No doubt there will be some interesting bicycle trips in Ed’s future. Theresa Hursh and her husband, Ken, celebrated 33 years of marriage and, by the time this is published, she will be a new grandma. Theresa enjoyed the challenge of seeing Catholic Charities of Kansas City St. Joseph through the pandemic year as its general counsel and would love to see anyone who comes through Kansas City. Tony Foley is still at Wolters Kluwer working on cybersecurity and privacy issues. Tony proudly reports that his eldest, Bridget, after five years of teaching music in an elementary school serving at-risk and military kids in Killeen TX, is going to grad school in August to get her master’s in musicology at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana U. Madge (Beckmeyer) Rentz has been appointed as a magistrate for the Hamilton County OH Common Pleas Court. Madge presides over a variety of civil cases, including foreclosures and civil protection orders. Joe Falvey’s eldest child, Joseph ’09, joined Jones Day’s Washington office after completing his clerkship at the Supreme Court with Chief Justice Roberts. Joe still has three of his nine children at home: one in high school and two in grade school. Shauna Brennan and her husband, Randy Prince, were married in October. After three cancelled wedding ceremonies due to COVID, they eloped from Las Vegas to Albuquerque where they chased some hot air balloons in lieu of attending the International Balloon Fiesta, which also was cancelled. On the work front, among other endeavors, Shauna is launching The Vision Center, a faith-based social enterprise vocation training and wellness program for survivors of human trafficking. Shauna would love assistance from ND alumni on this initiative. In addition to the monthly Zoom calls for the women in our class that Shauna, Mary (Ambrose) Gerak and others have organized, they are also organizing a 1987 Notre Dame Law Ladies Retreat Oct. 8-11 in Las Vegas. Base operations are at the Green Valley Ranch Hotel & Casino. Make your own travel plans and reservations and contact Shauna at shaunablcg@gmail.com to RSVP and for additional information on activities. Chip Lewis’ son, Tommy ’21MBA, graduated from the one-year Mendoza program in May and will be working for United Airlines in Chicago. Chip is trying to come to grips with his Cubs letting Kyle Schwarber sign this season with the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals. Please send me news to share in this column or in our email loop. — Mike Gurdak; 202-879-3939; mpgurdak@jonesday.com

 

88 Our Cups Runneth Over

When the call went out for silver linings/updates in January, our ’88 Gmail inbox spilled over with responses of overwhelming gratitude for unexpected blessings. The abundance of replies means that more classmates than ever will be featured in upcoming columns. Picking up on the positive notes that packed the spring column, we’ll go to DC where Michelle Pfeifer enjoyed the extra time when her daughters were home from college over holiday break: her youngest, a freshman home from ND, and her eldest, a senior home from Pitt. She has also delighted in weekly Zoom calls with her ND roommates, Michele Spring (in Thailand), Ann (Seifert) McMonagle (in Minnesota), Carol Spils (in Alaska and DC) and Molly Reuscher (in Portland at first and now Pennsylvania). It turns out that once-a-week Zooms really are a thing, with Pat Charlebois writing that she and her ND roomies regularly gather this way as well. She hopes it will continue. Paul Reuvers took pleasure in having a full house again. Riley ’17, Jonathan ’20 and Nate ’20, ’21U of Wisconsin, all moved back home. Another classmate who savored having adult children at home is Thomas Olsen. Tom and wife Theresa ’87SMC welcomed back Catherine, who’s usually in Chicago with Deloitte, and Tommy, who finished a master’s in accounting and then started a job with PricewaterhouseCoopers. While not under the most desirable of circumstances, Catherine Reidy celebrated the ND graduation of daughter Caroline ’20 and watched daughter Sarah finish her ND freshman year from home. Paul Pahorsky reported that he has connected at a deeper level with his immediate family and has taken a journey of self-exploration to determine what is important to him and his family, saying, “2020 was not ideal, but I would not consider it a wasted year either.” From Ohio, John Zurovchak made the most of being able to work from home for nine months, which allowed him to relish time with his wife, adult children and extended family. He noted that, in the past, “family time often felt rushed and subject to external influences,” and that, from March to December, quality time spent together was “truly a blessing.” Heather (Koch) Loisel loved not traveling every week for work and now has a better day-to-day relationship with her husband and her dog. She seized on the opportunity to read and cook more. Amidst the suffering and anguish of these times, she expressed gratitude that she learned to stress less about small things and to try to approach everything with more empathy. The slower pace of life that resulted from ditching the car and working at home appealed to Dave Duncan. What’s more, doing Zoom wine tastings allowed him to interact with many more people than usual. Colleen Donohue experienced vicarious pleasure through her daughter, an ND student who was eager to return to campus in February for the second semester. Up in Michigan, Mary Marley found peace through lane reservations for lap swimming and summer evenings under her patio lights. Nancy (Horas) Robinson reached out to report that her son Andrew ’17 married Kathleen on Nov. 21. Elizabeth (Kennedy), Andrew’s godmother, and Mike McCarthy were able to join the beautiful celebration. COVID was not invited. Shannon (Walsh) Rivers shared that son Sebastian has realized his dream of coaching college football. He moved from Alfred U in New York, where he was a graduate assistant coach, to take a defensive graduate assistant position at Colorado State U. Next stop, Notre Dame? — 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 Updates

Hello, friends. I hope you are enjoying a fresh and hopeful spring. I heard from several of our classmates after my call for updates. Megan Bovee is staying busy practicing Social Security disability law in her little corner of a vibrant legal association in Toledo. All Social Security district offices and hearing offices remain closed to the public so, like everyone, she keeps learning new ways of doing things. In other pandemic news, this past August during a little outdoor socially distanced church service, her significant other, Andy, stood up and invited everyone to their wedding which they proceeded to have right then on the spot. Wow, how exciting and best of luck, Megan and Andy. Jim Lowry is pleased to report the birth of his first grandchild, Kai James Lowery who was born on Jan. 22. Of course, Jim calculated it will cost $775,000 to send him to ND. Lien Galloway is proud to announce her eldest daughter graduated from Georgetown Medical School. Keep the news coming. — Lori Coticchia; lcoticchia@aol.com; lcoticchia@ruffingmontessori.org

 

89 Class Secretary — Kerrie (Wagner) Debbs;

kwagsnd89@gmail.com

 

89MBA Staying Connected

Hello, readers. Please send me a note. I have been delinquent in posting class updates, and I have lost touch with many of you. I would love to hear from you and pass along your news. With many social media options these days, it should be easier to stay connected, but I would still like to bring class news together here. I don’t know about you, but when I get ND Magazine, this is the first section I turn to, even though I know I didn’t write anything. I look forward to hearing from you. — Margaret DeVoe; 612-845-9662; maggiedevoe@yahoo.com

 

89JD Class Secretary — Jenny O’Leary Smith;

jennyoleary@comcast.net