1980s
1980s
80 A Pulitzer Winner
We have a Pulitzer Prize winner among us. After being recognized three times as a finalist, our own Melinda Henneberger was honored for “persuasive columns demanding justice for alleged victims of a retired police detective accused of being a sexual predator.” She wrote these pieces while working as vice president and editorial page editor for The Kansas City Star. Melinda has recently joined the Sacramento Bee as a local columnist. A reminder to everyone: Keep sending me news for future issues of the Class Notes. Email is always best. If you are in need of a prayer, please email our Angels team at 80AngelsonCall@gmail.com. Maritza Pose-Grise and Rob Peters will collect your requests and include them in our monthly virtual prayer network. As a reminder, that is a virtual prayer meeting that takes place the first Sunday of every month at 8 p.m. ET. Maritza and Rob have arranged to have these prayers said at the Grotto regularly. Finally, if we lose a member of our Class Family (a classmate, a spouse, a parent or a child), we will have our Class Chaplain, Padre Joe Uhen say Mass and Rosemary Mills Russell will send a note on behalf of the class. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. We offer all of these to every member of our Class Family. Elaine (Glaid) and Jim Buddie ’81 renewed their wedding vows after 40 years of wedded bliss. The ceremony was held at the Log Chapel on campus during Reunion Weekend. Rev. Paul V. Kollman, CSC, ’84, officiated. Among the witnesses to this blessed event were their daughters, Allison (Buddie) McDonald ’09SMC, Melissa Buddie ’12, their son-in-law Denes Veres ’11, Holy Cross Hog Mark Fatum ’82, Travelin’ Irish friends Marilyn and Mike Sammarco ’77, Ryan Grzyb ’16, Megan and Eric Leis ’11, and Mary and Josh Flynt ’11. In February, Ed Darr joined the Board of the Notre Dame Club of Greater Seattle as the representative of the Alumni Rainbow Community of Notre Dame (ARC-ND), the new Alumni Affinity group for LGBTQ+ alumni. His first contribution was coordinating the club’s participation in Seattle’s Pride Parade on June 26. Ed made a trip back to campus in April for the Kick-off of ARC-ND. Nick Zagotta graciously hosted the lads of Bookstore Banter for their 3rd annual Sausage Fest, essentially OTAs in preparation for tailgating season. In attendance were Class of ’80 mates: Michael Cusick, Edmund Featherstone, Leo Latz, and Mike O’Reilly. David Welsh was elected Chair Elect for the Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) at the AMA meeting in Chicago. Dave says that it has been great to see and work with fellow classmate Mark Alan Dobbertien! Mara Quinn Devitt shares the great news that Carolyn (Carrie) Seringer, Vice President of Nelson Engineering Co., was honored by The National Space Club Florida Committee (NSCFL) as a Hall of Fame honoree in the category of Space Flight Support. Carrie’s name will be permanently inscribed in granite on the NSCFL pylon on display at the U.S. Space Walk of Fame in Titusville FL. Also of note: Shawn Collins is the founder and managing partner of The Collins Law Firm and is on the plaintiff’s executive committee for the Sterigenics lawsuits in Cook County IL. Our hearts go out to Tom Nilsson, Michele Kelly, Erin Burns Schneeman and Shawn Collins who lost their fathers, Brian Eidt who lost his mother, and the families of John Doheny, Jorge Peirats and Tom Masterson. — Mary Ellen Woods; mew.1980@alumni.nd.edu; facebook.com/groups/notredame80/
80MBA Anniversary, Derby, and the Gipper
Mary Beth ’80SMC and Bill Homer were treated to an evening at Harrah’s in Atlantic City by their children to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. I remember that day well as fellow classmates Joe Bowers, Rich Walker and I attended the wedding. Bill just completed his 12th semester of teaching at Temple Law School. He jokingly told them to give him a low rating so he would not be asked to return. He adds that unfortunately this tactic has yet to be successful. I’m sure Temple and their law students are fortunate to have him. Congratulations on both fronts Bill. Mike Colbert had a busy summer. He writes that in between his AmeriCorps volunteer work he attended a USMA golf tournament followed by a trip to the Kentucky Derby. His bets didn’t pay off and he was not a fan of the mint juleps, but added that the “people watching” was amazing. Not long afterwards, he attended the US open in Brookline MA where he caddied as a kid. He and some friends were Course Marshals on the 2nd hole for a week and had a great time with essentially front row seats. After that, it was on to Maine to visit his brother and then back to scorching hot Phoenix where he and Kathleen reside. My wife, Azian, and I visited our son, Torin, whose summer assignment from the US Coast Guard Academy was at USCG Station Portage on the upper peninsula of Michigan on Lake Superior. I had seen all the Great Lakes except Superior, so it was a bucket list item. We drove up route 41 to Copper Harbor and as we passed through Calumet, my wife noticed a sign that said George Gipp Memorial, so I did an abrupt U-turn, and we spent a few minutes at a very nice memorial to the Gipper who was from that town. There is a beautiful stone wall and patio in a park-like setting with an engraved biography of him. The flagpole had the American flag proudly waving on top and the Notre Dame flag underneath. The marker on the site said that he was buried a mile or so away, so we ventured to Lake View Cemetery and saw the Gipp family plot in a very beautiful setting. It’s hard to believe it has been 102 years since his passing, but he was a major part of a magnificent history that extends to the present. Notre Dame has been winning one for him every day since. Go Irish. — Joe Kearney; 475-225-1421; jos.w.kearney@gmail.com
80JD Celebrating Women
Many of our classmates were seen at the 50th Anniversary of women undergraduate students at Notre Dame this past June. Darlene Palma Connelly, Vice President of the ND undergrad class of 1977, spoke at a seminar while helping to organize her undergrad class Reunion. Darlene – you rock, as always. Darlene and her husband, TJ, are enjoying retirement and grandchildren. Diane Wolf Bender was seen at the celebration as was her daughter, who looks just like Diane and is just as nice. Congrats Diane on a wonderful daughter. Carolyn Short and her sisters arrived ready for fun with others, including Kathy Gallogly Cox ’76 ’79JD and our classmate Jamee Decio, who has been instrumental in highlighting women students. Thank you, Jamee, for all you do. Come back for the Law School Reunion in September. It is the Saturday morning of the Cal game, October 17. And, don’t forget to contribute to the Thomas More Society for the Law School. It helps many efforts for ND Law students. Please reach out with your news. Love to all. — Sheila O’Brien; sobrien368@aol.com
81 Celebration and Connection
Depending on when this issue of Notre Dame Magazine gets to your mailbox, we’ve either just gathered over 100 classmates at the Stanford game, or that is happening any minute! Rita and Paul Schubert recently moved into their new house which they had been designing and building over the past three years. They also traveled the Camino Walk starting in St Jean Pied de Port, France which ended 136 kilometers away in Los Arcos, Spain. Gilbert Salinas left the 110-degree Arizona heat for a week on Martha’s Vineyard with Ralph Jaccodine. Ralph brought a photo album full of ND photos and amazing memories to help Gil celebrate his birthday week. Erin O’Connor French met up with Jean Menoni Reidy last summer. Jean and her husband moved from Denver to Chicago and live not far from Erin’s son and his family. Elaine (Glaid) and Jim Buddie ’80 renewed their vows after 40 years of wedded bliss. The ceremony was held at the Log Chapel during Reunion Weekend. Rev. Paul Kollman, CSC, ’84 officiated. Among the witnesses were their daughters Allison Buddie McDonald ’09SMC, Melissa Buddie ’12, their son-in-law Denes Veres ’11, Mark Fatum ’82, Marilyn and Mike Sammarco ’77, Ryan Grzyb ’16, Megan and Eric Leis ’11, and Mary and Josh Flynt ’11. Mike Sexton’s daughter, Maggie, graduated from SMC last spring and his son, Jack, finished his first year at West Point. Jane Nani, Nanette Rees Mullaney, Mary Beth Sterling, Treci Keating Dimas, Karen Rensberger Weiland and Maureen Finnegan O’Brien represented the Class of ’81 at the Golden is Thy Fame Reunion. Treci is retired from her second career at General Dynamics Information Technology and she retired from the Navy in 2011. Maureen retired earlier this year from Western Governors U, where she was serving as VP of Evaluation Operations. Eva Stuber Selep and Kathleen Ward are still at Western Governors U. Annette Lang, retired from DOJ and Michelle Fey Pullano retired from teaching French and coaching cheerleading. Danny Tarullo had a short essay in the most recent issue of Notre Dame Magazine, reliving the Morrissey dining hall experience. Amanda (Bernheim) and Kevin Buckley ’79, have a daughter, Erin, who is a frequent contributor to this magazine. Michael Molinelli has published the last Molarity cartoons as a graphic novel: MOLARITY ODYSSEY, available through Amazon. After 45 years, Michael felt it was time to retire the characters. The story starts with a Notre Dame football victory over USC and follows the adventures of Jim Mole, Chuck, and Mitch as they lead a busload of football players across the USA and home to South Bend. Jeanne LaBoe Berton has retired from a career in oncology nursing and enjoys traveling with her husband. Janie Revord Calabrese retired from teaching; she and her husband, Peter Calabrese ’79 moved from Gainesville to Clearwater FL, closer to their sons and grandchildren. Janie leaves her daily running partner of 30 years, Kate Niland Huber. Kate and her husband Tom continue to work and teach at the U of Florida Medical School. Kevin “Hawk” Hawkins is continuing as a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Social Concerns, working on issues related to labor and what makes a just wage. Please join the Class of ’81 Facebook page where 442 classmates reminisce, entertain, pray, and opine. 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 Class Secretary — Steve Simmerman;
3126 E. Desert Broom Way, Phoenix AZ 85048; cell 602-524-7662; srsimmerman@gmail.com
81JD Class Secretary — Michael R. Palumbo;
4729 Casey Lane, Cave Creek AZ 85331; cell 602-703-0358; bus 602-262-5931; mpalumbo@jsslaw.com
82 Reunion and More
Thank you to all who attended our reunion this past June. 40 years! Where has the time gone? The reunion also marked the 50th anniversary of women at ND. Thank you, Fr. Ted, for your vision. The highlight of the reunion was the tent outside of our assigned dorm, Dunne Hall. Lots of laughs, hugs, and reminiscing. Our speaker Friday night was Stephanie Miley, the recipient of the Rev. John J. Cavanagh, CSC, Award for her outstanding service in the field of government and public service. Stephanie has worked on a range of economic and political issues and has spent almost a decade overseas and in Washington working on post-conflict stabilization efforts as well as civil-military and political-military affairs. Her assignments include National Security Council and staff of Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. Her accomplishments are so many to include here, but have culminated in her current appointment as Deputy Chief of Mission and acting as Chargé d’Affaires in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her speech was funny, enlightening, and above all else, showed how hard she worked as a woman in the armed forces in a man filled world of government in the late ’80s and ’90s. We are so proud to be your classmate and to have highlighted your achievements in the year celebrating 50 years of women at ND. George Petras closed his law firm, the Petras Law Firm, PLLC, at the end of February in Austin TX. George retired from the practice of law after 36 plus years. He worked Front of House at Jester King Brewery; the world class craft brewery was founded in Austin by Jeff Stuffins ’02. Kimberly and George have relocated to Maui and have plans to stay in the craft beer industry. Wishing you all the best. Steve Bruemmer narrowly escaped death when he went for a swim off the central California coast and was attacked by a great white shark this past June. He said it was a beautiful sunny day, the water was perfectly flat. He was on his way to shore when a great white shark came out of nowhere and bit him in the thighs and stomach. He cannot thank enough the good Samaritans who responded so quickly to save his life. He was lucky to have an off-duty nurse and a doctor at the beach and they quickly applied first aid. Steve cannot emphasize enough the importance of donating blood as he received more than 28 pints of blood that day. He promises to work hard and will get back on his feet very soon. Steve, we are praying for you and sending our hopes for a speedy recovery. The above story was related to me by our classmate, Kirby Muldoon, who considers Steve a close friend. Kirby, who had struggled with math during his former years, tells a story of how he needed to pass math at ND. Kirby asked Steve for help in order to pass his math final. Steve tutored Kirby patiently and without judgment. Kirby aced his exam due to Steve’s help and lots of evenings spent at the grotto. Kirby is currently an attorney in Chicago. We look forward to seeing everyone at a football game this year, where we will play Stanford on October 15. Don’t forget our Class Tailgate! — 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 — Renne (Amirkanian) Sutherland;
mobile 630-846-2707; reneemsr@aol.com
82JD 40 Short Years Ago
14 members of our class returned to campus in early June for our 40 Year Class Reunion. It was great fun reliving so many fond memories that truly do not seem like that long ago. Cele (Glacy) and Bruce Baty are living in Kansas City. Cele is retired from Butler Manufacturing and Bruce heads the insurance practice group at Bryan Cave. Kathy and Tom Brickley live in South Bend. Kathy retired from the ND General Counsel’s office and spends time spoiling her two grandchildren. Ophelia Camina is a commercial litigator with Susman Godfrey in Dallas. Joe Cosgrove retired as an appellate court judge on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and is now practicing with Sellingo Guagliardo in Wilkes Barre PA. Mac Elliott is a solo practitioner in Niles MI. Gina Giovannini is a commercial arbitrator in Houston. Carol and I are still living in Cincinnati. I retired in 2017 after spending 30 years as in-house counsel with Federated Department Stores/Macy’s. Sr. Rita Murillo is a juvenile public defender in Pittsburgh. Rob Neate is in-house counsel with Puget Sound Energy in Bellevue WA. Tim Nickels is a medical malpractice defense litigator with Martin, Swanson & Bell in Chicago. Tim was celebrating the birth of his second grandchild, Amelia Freedman, who was born in May. Bill Raby practices international tax law in Tempe AZ and is an adjunct professor at the U of Arizona. Jeff Stuckey is with Dickinson Wright in Lansing MI. Jeff is probably one of the few members of our class who has not changed firms during his entire career. Anita and Tom Veldman live in South Bend. Tom recently retired as CEO of Tire Rack and now is the CEO of his family foundation. Cele Baty brought a copy of our Law School Yearbook to the class picnic on Saturday. A few of us actually look a bit different now than when those photos were taken! Anita and Tom hosted the entire group at their home for dessert and wine after our class dinner on Saturday evening. Tim Nickels, who is an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church, delivered a very thoughtful invocation at the class dinner at which he paid tribute to the deceased members of our class: David Wint, Brooke Hayward, Jo Ellen O’Connor, Joe Gilligan, Dick Goehler, Paul Heltzel, Greg Moore, Diana Lewis, and Larry Sanders. A few classmates who were unable to attend the reunion sent me emails with some updates. Ray Dunn was on campus the weekend before the reunion to celebrate his son’s graduation as a member of the Class of 2020 — a commencement ceremony that was twice delayed due to COVID. Fred Isaacs has been living in Central Asia the past three years serving as the Dean of the School of Law at KIMEP U in Almaty. Fred said that between the two-year COVID lockdown and an insurrection in Almaty in January, “it’s been a hoot.” Teri (Ludwig) and Steve Kruk were unable to attend the reunion because it coincided with the marriage of their youngest daughter. After spending 40 years with the Pretzel & Stouffer firm, John Smith moved his medical malpractice defense group to Foran Glennon in Chicago last spring. John tells me that he still stays in touch with Jane Lynch. Therese (Noonan) and Mark Tallmadge are still in New Jersey and now have three grandchildren. — Frank Julian; ndlaw82@gmail.com
83 Catching Up
Marie and Dave Caulfield recently traveled to Portugal and Spain. They planned to walk from Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain – a distance of close to 140 miles along the Camino Portugues. Delia Thomas has asked for the Class’s continued thoughts and prayers for her brother, Roland ’85, who underwent open heart surgery in May. Best wishes to him for a full and speedy recovery. Michele Dietz Chynoweth attended a gathering of the Greater Tampa Bay Club where Coach Marcus Freeman was a speaker. She was also able to spend time with Jean Gartland ’82 and Jean’s daughter, Megan, while at the event. Sheila Roesler posted a tribute to the late Roger Valdiserri, the former University Sports Information Director, and asked that the Class include the entire Valdiserri family in their thoughts and prayers. Mary Malone earned bragging rights by having her picture displayed on the large video screen in the Football Stadium on campus for a customer conference at which she was a presenter. Russ Wyborski is starting a new job. He thinks that’s somewhat funny since some of our classmates are starting the retirement phase of life. He will be the Director of IBD Ventures at Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. The job will be totally remote and he’ll head to New York City once a quarter. Russ’s wife, Diane, is excited about joining those trips so they can see the sights in New York and some Broadway shows. Russ was planning to attend the Blue-Gold game where Kevin Simpson was providing housing and a party site for alumni. As for trips to New York, I do recommend taking in some shows on Broadway, the current season’s slate of available shows is amazing (although, I am a bit biased and think most of the shows are amazing!) I also recommend that you partake of Mike O’Brien’s insightful and inspiring posts on our Class Facebook page. They provide wonderful life thoughts and lessons for personal reflection. Speaking of Facebook, if you aren’t a member of the Class Facebook page, you may be wondering how to join. It’s simple! On Facebook, search for “Notre Dame Class of 1983” and select join. That’s all there is to it. The page is limited to members of the Class of ’83. We currently have over 530 members and would be very happy to add many more. You’ll be able to reconnect with classmates without waiting for reunion, see pictures, and get news of who will be attending various Notre Dame and non-Notre Dame events. If you have any news you’d like to share with the class, send me a note or email and I’ll be happy to include it in the next column. — Louis J. (“Chip”) Denkovic; 520 West 43 St., No. 32G, New York NY 10036; res 917-399-8784; bus 212-537-1781; ldenkovic@gmail.com
83MBA 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 Reunions in So Many Places!
Bob Simoni reported on a fabulous Angers, France reunion! Fish Brown, Suzanne Bodevin-Cushing and Bob organized the reunion for their Sophomore Year abroad program. Of the 37 surviving members of that group, 18 participated in the festivities during the last weekend in June, with some spouses and adult children for a total of 41 people. Activities included a University tour, river cruise, troglodyte caves visit, sparkling wine-tasting, and multi-course dinners. Attendees included Amy Stone-Facinelli, Chris Renner, George Vogrin, Julie Montgomery-Heinz, Kevin Finney, Bill Hannigan, Maria Mone, Mary Monson, Mary Sue Callan-Farley, Paul Rodes, and Sarah Newman-Murphy. They had so much fun that they are planning another reunion in five years. Also getting together were a group of Breen-Phillips women who took South Dakota by storm! Dolly Duffy, Jamie Kimmel Eifert, Dawn Hennessy, Margaret Lochary, Mar Beth Connell, Teagan O’Forbes, Susan Malmquist, and Tonya Forbes visited Mt. Rushmore, climbed the Crazy Horse Memorial, hiked to Black Elk Peak (the highest point between the Rockies and Pyrenees), toured the Corn Palace, and visited Dolly’s hometown of Fort Pierre. Continuing the get-togethers, I joined Anne Wernimont Kritzmire, Ellen Banovetz Kaiser, Marie Delvin, Maureen Canavan, Sheila Dresser Novak, and Mary Jo Conradt Francis in Monterey CA for a lovely weekend of laughs, e-biking and hiking. Several of our classmates were on campus for the 50-year celebration of women at ND. Mindy Fey Kaiser reports that it was a wonderful event. Mollie Malone Sund, Bonnie Wolfe Vasilion, Katie McDonnell Bredemann, Maureen Ninneman, Anne Wernimont Kritzmire, Diane Dirkers Jones, Lianne Gleixner Sundberg, Paula Toohey Smith, and Laura Bach Koch enjoyed the beautiful weather, a “Taste of South Bend’’ food fest, an aerial “50” photo, sunrise yoga and the gala evening event. Mindy said it was definitely a humbling experience to be among so many dynamic and impressive women and that they loved hearing stories from the first few classes who attended ND in the 1970s. Denise and Peter Staubach took part in the Pan Mass Challenge to support the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s commitment to finding a cure for cancer. This was Denise’s 14th and Peter’s 10th PMC ride. Please keep the family of Tim Willis in your prayers. Tim passed away in May. Tim was part of the ND Development Office and on the Andean Health Board. — Martha (Burns) Avery; mayoravery@comcast.net
84MBA Class Secretary — Dhanraj Bhagat;
dbhagat1960@gmail.com
84JD Send Updates
I received no updates for this issue. Please send any updates to Matthew Dunn. — Matthew Dunn;
773-294-6851; mdunn19834@gmail.com
85 Creative Approaches
Paul Acampora’s middle-grade novel, In Honor of Broken Things, was recently published. It is a story about three students who become unlikely friends in art class. Paul writes, “[t]he book is largely inspired by my old Carroll Hall roommate, John McLaughlin. John is an amazing art teacher and he’s kept me laughing with stories about his adventures teaching young people about art and clay.” Early reviews of Paul’s novel (his 7th!) suggest that John is a very good storyteller! Find out more at www.paulacampora.com. During the fall, Paul and John attended the USC game and cheered for Paul’s daughter (and John’s Goddaughter), Gabrielle Acampora ’22, who was in the marching band. They also spent time at the BACT and met up with a bunch of Carroll Hall Vermin, including Joe Cleary, Marc Seguin, Ron Hutter, Tony Barr, Mike Schunk, and Pat Flood ’86. Paul and John also spent time with Paul’s son, Nicholas Acampora ’16 and Nicholas’s fiancée, Savannah Schmidt ’16. Between books, graduations, and weddings, Paul and his wife Debbie Adamczyk Acampora ’86 will have a busy year! Actor Javi Mulero has a role in the fourth episode of the new “Bosch: Legacy.” He plays a detective in two scenes and is interrogated by actress Mimi Rogers. Javi is also in the Spanish-language movie Calle de la Resistencia, which played in theaters in Puerto Rico and at about 13 film festivals over the past year. Javi writes, “This one is . . . a musical! And I sing in it! Something I never thought I could pull off. Ever.” Winne and Danny Maier are working with an Ann Arbor charity to help resettle refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine, an experience that Danny calls “very humbling.” Danny’s former roommate during his time working on Capitol Hill, Brian McKeon, has been serving as Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources since March 19, 2021. Coming full circle, Danny’s daughter, Isa, is now a foreign service officer in the diplomatic corps, technically working under the direction of Brian. Class president Dean Christy was back on campus in June to attend the Billy Joel concert in Notre Dame Stadium. Dean writes that the stadium was a great place for a concert, and he was happy to be back on campus listening to the music we used to listen to in our dorms! This year’s BACT will be held at the October 15 Stanford game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., so there will be party time galore! Please email soon! — Kathleen Doyle Yaninek; yanzlaw@comcast.net
85JD Travels and Retirement
Frank Tantone was appointed to serve as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, where he will continue to preside over child abuse and neglect cases. On the family front, Frank is expecting his first grandchild in August. His son Nick ’13 and his wife Marra are expecting a boy. Kim Kirn is TikTok famous. Her son, Seth George, posted a funny video of Kim jumping into Michigan’s Traverse Bay. The video went viral, with more than six million views and over one million likes. Michon Hinz enjoyed her first family vacation since COVID, visiting Miami and then sailing to the Southern Caribbean, including Grand Cayman, Curacao and Aruba. The trip’s highlights included swimming with and feeding stingrays in Grand Cayman (where a stingray kissed Michon’s daughter) and exploring a World War II German shipwreck in Aruba. Michon’s daughter, Alanna, is a pre-med junior at ND and will spend a semester abroad at National U of Ireland. Michon’s mom is from Ireland, so Michon will explore her roots when she visits Alanna. Ted Eichelberger was elected to the ND Law Association Board for Region 15 (Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina). Ted is with Alston & Bird in Atlanta. John Roda shared this epic update: “I retired from Burnham Holdings, Inc. after nearly 10 years as VP, GC and Secretary. It was a diverse role involving managing asbestos litigation, union negotiations, contracts and regulatory compliance. I previously spent 13 years in-house at Auntie Anne’s and nine years at Tyco International. I’ve enjoyed staying in shape (spiritually and physically), managing a small rental property portfolio, piano lessons, and sailing on the Chesapeake. My wife, Ann, manages the household and enjoys leisurely meals with me after the on-the-go stuff of yesteryear. Our three sons are busy with their post-college lives. John graduated from Ursinus College and works with a Baltimore-based home improvement company. Brian graduated from Penn State Engineering School and works in electrical engineering/security systems in the Northern Virginia/DC area. He recently got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Natalie. Matt graduated from Penn State Honors College-Science and runs a start-up company focused on neural conditioning, Reflexions, which now has ND football as a client. Our daughter, Mary Katharine, lives at home and works in food services at Franklin and Marshall College. Mary has Down Syndrome, and recently obtained her green belt in karate (which requires a board-breaking back kick). She will participate in gymnastics in PA’s Special Olympics. Looking forward to making it back to campus.” Todd Kingma’s update is also great: “After 19 years as EVP/GC at Perrigo Company plc I retired in August! My job presented amazing challenges, including managing a diverse, global Legal and Compliance team, extensive interactions with governmental agencies (FTC, FDA, SEC, DOJ, DEA, the EC and the Irish Takeover Panel), leading/managing over 40 acquisitions and divestitures, including several multi-billion dollar deals, transitioning four CEOs, responding to shareholder activists that led to board refreshment without a proxy fight, successfully defeating a hostile take-over attempt – the largest hostile takeover in history to proceed to the final tender deadline, favorably resolving a $2B Irish tax assessment, and securing an international arbitration award of over $400 million. I am grateful for the great work of Perrigo’s incredible global Legal and Compliance team and many trusted outside advisors and counsel. I could not have done any of this without the love and support of my lovely wife of over 40 years, Betsy, who retired two years ago and has been anxiously awaiting the next phase of our journey together. That will include spending more time with our kids, their spouses, and our two grandchildren. We have been blessed and I am thankful for all that has happened since our wonderful days at Notre Dame! I hope that we will connect in the days ahead and wish our class family all the very best.” Send your updates, long or short. — Kelly Kiernan Largey; kellyjd1985@alumni.nd.edu
86 Golden is Thy Fame
ND celebrated 50 years of undergraduate women on June 1-2 in conjunction with the Reunion weekend and a number of exclusive events were held to mark this special occasion. Jackie (Gibbons) Byers updates us on this celebration: Terry Kirchmier flew in from Fort Lauderdale to Indianapolis to join Jackie for the trip to ND. On the first evening, they attended “A Taste of South Bend” on the library quad and watched a performance of “Sorin: A Notre Dame Story” in Washington Hall. Jackie and Terry would highly recommend this one person play about the founding of ND. They ran into some other ’86 alumnae at the 50th events, including Marla (Naito) Boley, Joanie Cahill, and Kathleen Burke. They also connected with several friends from Lewis Hall from other classes. The highlights of the second day were Mass in the Basilica with University President Rev. John Jenkins, CSC, ’76, ’78MA and Rev. Monk Malloy, CSC, ’63, the Golden Gala dinner/program, and a candlelight walk to the Grotto from the JACC to culminate the event. Terry and Jackie attended sessions during the day with distinguished faculty and alumni, and particularly enjoyed a panel hosted by Muffet McGraw on women leadership in sports. They also enjoyed walking through the tunnel after the Welcome Breakfast in the Duncan Student Center (great views of the football field). After breakfast, a photo was taken on the football field in the formation of the number “50.” Amy Grant performed at the gala as she is a close friend of Cindy Parseghian and a big supporter of the Parseghian Medical Research Foundation. At the end of the program, Rev. John Jenkins, CSC, announced the permanent change of the lyrics to the fight song to say, “loyal sons and daughters march on to victory,” which most of us have been singing for the past 40 years since we stepped on campus. While most would agree that making this lyric change official is long overdue, and there is no excuse for it taking a half century, it is wonderful for ND to acknowledge the presence and impact of the exceptionally talented and accomplished women who began attending our fine university back in 1972. Thanks, Jackie, for sharing about the weekend with us! After a 34-year career with Marriott International, Jill (Baugher) Baldwin retired in November 2020. Her last role was as VP, Finance Business Partnership supporting Marriott’s Digital, Distribution and Customer Experience teams. She and her husband Bruce live in Rockville MD with their son Jack, who graduated from Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in May and started his freshman year at the U of Vermont. In January 2022, Jill became President of the Board of Directors of Food & Friends, a Washington DC based non-profit that provides nutritious, medically-tailored home-delivered meals to neighbors in need facing life challenging illnesses. In 2022, they’ll deliver over 1.4 million meals. Doug Young is a friend of Jill’s and has volunteered at Food & Friends with her several times. We want to send a warm thank you to Aimee and Dave Tracy who surprised our class with a generous donation to the Class of 1986 Operating Fund through their Donor-Advised Fund. Werner “Rip” Graf will have an article on the Notre Dame Magazine website during the holiday season featuring the movie A Christmas Story as a testament to fatherhood. Check it out in December at magazine.nd.edu! Thanks to all who requested to be added to the ’86 class group email. Let’s get everyone onboard so you can be up on future events and happenings. Email me to be added. Take care and God Bless! — John Spatz; 201-264-2459; john@jjscb.com
86MBA Short/Sweet
Congratulations to Erica and J.R. Reid, who were married on April 4. They enjoyed an Italian honeymoon in June, visiting Rome, Tuscany, Monaco, Lake Como and Venice. They visited with their newest grandson, Oliver, during a recent trip to Chicago. Karen and Andy King became the proud grandparents to Carter, born in March. Jorge Valencia gave a great review of Billy Joel’s June performance at Notre Dame Stadium, which included the Victory March. Carolyn (Anderson) Wells and I had a blast at the Blues Traveler/Jewel/Train concert. We are planning a trip to Amsterdam for the tulip festival in April 2023. Who wants to join us? Thank you to the folks who sent condolences after the passing of my husband, Matt. — Maureen (Mullan) Decker; 21855 Town Gate, Macomb MI 48044; bus 586-741-4305; mobile 586-817-1317; maureen.decker@mclaren.org
86JD Summer News
From St. Louis, Kim Reid, reported that she has been in phone contact in the last several months with Ernesto Dominguez. Ernesto is still in practice in McAllen TX, while Kim retired last year. Kim attended the ND Club Dinner in early summer where Coach Marcus Freeman was the principal speaker. There she met another law alum, LaDawn Barnett ’12, and was happy to make the ND law connection. Kim will attend the USC game in LA for any of you going. After five years with a large firm, five years with a small firm, 20 years on the bench, two years with the City of Grand Rapids, five years at Howard Law Group, Don Passenger launched his solo practice at Passenger Law PLLC. Don reports that “life is good” – five kids, four in law (the fifth is a veterinary nurse) and eight grandkids. Patti ’86 and Tom Hinchey bought a place in Ocean City NJ and have been working “remotely” from the Jersey Shore. Their older daughter, Madeline, just got her MEd in Special Education from St. Joseph’s U in Philadelphia and will be teaching at the U of Arizona in Tucson this fall. Their younger daughter and recent Tulane graduate, Audrey, spent eight months working at wineries in Sonoma, but is now enrolled in the accelerated nursing program at Drexel in Philly. Patti and Tom will be at both the Cal and Stanford games. Last year was a big transition year for Felecia Rotellini: 15 months ago, her dad passed away, 11 days shy of 106, so Felecia spent the summer in Wyoming helping work through estate matters. Then, as reported in the last column, after nearly 20 years in various legal positions with the Arizona state government, Felecia headed to DC where she is Chief of Staff to the president of Ginnie Mae. As an added bonus, she has reconnected with Glenn Schmitt. AUSA Bob Cessar sent me a short note that he had a recent trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, as part of a federal law enforcement initiative to improve ties and coordination with the Vietnamese National Police Service, the Hanoi Police and Vietnam Cyber Security. During two days of meetings, Bob’s team provided cyber training and discussed four matters in which the US needed Vietnam’s assistance (funny, Bob did not detail those matters to me in his note). Charles Ashdown checked in, reporting that he and Philomena (Saldanha) are both well, still working at the same firm (Cincinnati’s Strauss Troy) and “still in love!” Last year, Charles was appointed as part-time Magistrate of the Fairfield Municipal Court, Butler County, OH, handling both civil and criminal matters. Philomena leads the Strauss Troy bankruptcy practice. Their daughter, Marygrace, is engaged to be married next year. While probably a matter of res ipsa, Charles writes that Philomena is a saint in how she manages (or ignores) Charles’ “myriad idiosyncrasies.” Tony Monaco reported that AUSA John Gurganus made another Rochester visit. They caught some amazing acts at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, FaceTimed with Bob Comfort in Chicago, got in a round of golf, and had dinner with Pete Lutz. Pete, who may be at the Stanford game with Wayne Malecha, sent a picture from the dinner and I can report that all three remain handsome lads. At this column’s deadline time, I’m headed to Northern Michigan for a golf and fishing expedition with four of our classmates. Full details in the next column. And I’ll be in Vegas for the BYU game. Let me know if you will be there and, regardless, please send me your notes. — Brian Bates; bbates@abblaw.com
87 Fun at Reunion
Hello Class of ’87. I hope that as you’re reading this, the Irish are off to a winning start to the ’22 season. I also hope the attendees enjoyed our 35th reunion in June. It’s much harder for me to get to campus from Switzerland, and this is the first reunion that I’ve missed, so you were all very much in my thoughts that weekend. Looking forward to seeing you at our (gulp) 40th. Chris Niezgodzki wrote to let us know that he and his wife of 30-plus years have two children at ND – one heading into senior year as a Computer Science major and living in PE, and the other heading into sophomore year in the Mendoza School of Business and “lucky enough to be living in Hotel Baumer.” I confess that I didn’t know what “Hotel Baumer” was, so I googled it. My gosh, that is lucky indeed. I’m now trying to figure out how Jeff and I can retire there. He and his wife went to three games last fall – Purdue, USC, and Navy, and they enjoyed hanging out with friends and family they have in the area, especially Bob Davis ’85. Zahm Hall, which in the ’80s was a ton of fun, but let’s face it, aesthetically very unlike the current Baumer Hall, had a great turnout at the reunion. If you’d like to see a photo of the Zahmbies, head to Facebook and join The Very Unofficial ND/SMC Class of ’87 Reunion page. Dave Zoretic was kind to label all the guys for me, and in the picture are: John Kenneth, Tom Tierney, Steve Dombrowski, Dan O’Brien, Roger Diegel, Jay Sullivan, Dan Bender, Fran O’Malley, Mike Melia, and Dave himself. Not to be outdone, Bill Kelly sent a great photo of a couple dozen Alumni guys, gathered for their 28th annual golf trip, this year in South Bend, all in matching red blazers. I also heard from Paula (Miranda) McKeever. Paula is married to Dan McKeever and they have one son, Bryan, who graduated from RPI in May with a degree in mechanical engineering and a 4.0 GPA. It was the first in-person graduation since before the pandemic, so she and Dan were very grateful to be there for Bryan’s big day. He’ll return to RPI in the fall for a Masters’ degree. Meanwhile, Dan and Paula continue on with their careers: he’s a freelance editor and she’s a software programmer. To close, I am deeply saddened to write of the death of our classmate John Wallace, who passed away on campus during our reunion. He is survived by his wife, Lydia; his mother, Jackie; and his brother, Michael, along with many friends and extended family members. His family would like the class to know that they take comfort in the fact that John died in a place he loved. Enjoy all that fall has to offer – football, Thanksgiving, crisp air, and pumpkin spice. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you. Please stay in touch; I love to hear from you. — Meg Brennan Hamilton; meghamilton@yahoo.com
87MBA 35 Year Class Reunion
Hello everyone and Go Irish! In this column, we are going to highlight our 35 Year Class Reunion. Attending the Reunion from June 2-5 were the following: Bill McGillicuddy, Kevin “Wally” Bridges, Jake Frego, Ken Kavanagh, Doug Thatcher, Ron Bigler, Jay Jhaveri, Rick Hans, Chris Murphy, Dave Schneider, Kathy and Bob Krohn, John VanRenterghem, Mayling Clements, and yours truly. Needless to say, it was a weekend full of nostalgia and memories. I would say Ron has aged the best physically and Doug is still as “young at heart” as he always was. It was great to see everyone and to celebrate our class together. Best effort awards go to Jay and Mayling for traveling from Singapore and Japan respectively to be with us. There are many great stories from the Reunion Weekend, but it would be difficult to describe in writing. The weekend was filled with great fun, plenty of laughs and colorful conversations. Please mark the first weekend of June 2027 for our 40th Class Reunion. Based on the great time we enjoyed this past year, I promise you that all of those listed above will be in attendance! Special thanks to Chris Murphy for organizing and arranging the weekend for all of us on campus. Outside of the Reunion, we received one update from Richard Stefan. Richard’s update is as follows:“My wife, Missy, accepted a promotional opportunity at her company and we’ve moved out to the Seattle area. I am working for Tegria Consulting, specializing in the healthcare revenue cycle. All three sons are out of college now. Our youngest competed in the shot put for Notre Dame and qualified for D1 Nationals in Eugene OR, placing 20th in the country and earning Honorable Mention All-American. He set this as his goal more than four years ago and he got there. It was very exciting, and we were very proud of him.” Congratulations to Richard and Missy on all of their family’s success! As noted in the previous class update, we are attempting to form an MBA Class of ’87 group chat and an email distribution list. Please send me your number to my email (perry@wildlaw.ca) and I’ll get you on the chat. We also need your current email address so we can include you in our class email distribution list. Finally, there will be the traditional Canadian Tailgate at each of the home games. I will attend the Marshall, Stanford, UNLV, Clemson, and Boston College games. Look for the Canadian flag directly east of Legends in the Stadium Parking Lot. All are welcome! Please continue to send your updates to me. Go Irish and Happy 35 Years! — 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 35 is in the Books
A good number of us were able to come home in June to catch up and reminisce over drinks and dinner. Joining me were Mike Richardson, Mike Gotsch, Nancy Burke, Jay Brinker, Chuck Shreffler, John Farnan, Tim Ryan, Todd Gale, Jim Farinaro, Jeff Hahn, Kristin (Tomonto) Jaros, Andy Varga, Paul Castiglione, Christina Smith, Tom Cushing, Liz and Tim VerHey, Dave Moorman, and Greg Shumaker, as well as a handful of spouses. Chip Lewis, Ed Kelly, and Steve Ryan also made cameo appearances. Digger Phelps stopped by and gave an impassioned talk about using the power of Notre Dame to improve our local communities. John Magnuson missed the reunion – he was in Normandy with his wife, Holly, to commemorate D-Day and follow the footsteps of Holly’s father in the area on and after D-Day. Several others of us had family weddings, graduations, and other activities conflicting with this reunion. Mike Richardson’s wife, Ruth, was honored by the Red Cross as a 2022 Disaster Relief Hero. Last year, Ruth volunteered more than 2,000 hours as a first responder providing immediate care to those impacted by fires, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and other disasters. Amidst all of the terrible things that happen in our world, Ruth is a perfect example that there are many people doing much good that goes unnoticed to most. Please send me news to share in this column or in our class email loop. — Mike Gurdak; 202-879-3939; mpgurdak@jonesday.com
88 Class Secretary — 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 Prayers
I am sad to report that our friend and classmate, Mark Adey, passed away on July 12. Mark is survived by his wife and two children. Mark was a partner in the Bankruptcy group at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, the law firm that he joined after graduating from law school. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his entire family. Robert Cianciulli and his daughter visited Jill and Rick Rice ’84JD, in Traverse City MI for the annual Cherry Festival. Robert and Jill had not seen each other for over 20 years but picked up right where they left off! Jill is a partner in a bankruptcy firm and Rick is a pastor. Robert started an in-house counsel position at Accenture barely a year ago. We hope you guys had fun! In May, Mary Ellen Schill was elected to another three-year term on her firm’s Board of Directors (Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C.). In October, Mary Ellen will begin another four-year term on the Board of Trustees of St. Norbert College. Congrats, Mary Ellen! Mary Ellen and Gail Glassmeyer Pryse were on campus for the recent Billy Joel Concert. They had a blast belting out some tunes from our law school days! Remember the Shady Rest, our law school snack bar? Well, one of the co-owners, Greg Abbott, started a tour operator company called “Travel with Greg.” He will be taking groups of 15-20 people to Europe (primarily Italy). His first trip to Italy is in April 2023. Greg is not exiting the law! He is just doing 2-3 trips a year. Wow, Greg, why don’t you plan a trip for 150 of your closest law school classmates? Lazar Raynal writes that he and his wife, Katherine (Michnay) Raynal (also a law school classmate) live in the Chicago suburbs and have been married for over 32 years. Lazar is currently a partner at King & Spalding in its new Chicago office. Katherine recently graduated from the LLM program at Pepperdine in dispute resolution, after working in-house and raising their 3 children. Their middle daughter will be starting ND law school in the fall. Great to hear from you, Lazar! Brian Pummill reports that he is living back in his original hometown of Perrysburg OH. He is retired from 30 years of uniformed service (three Navy and 27 Army). Brian is married to a nurse and wonderful woman, Tonya (O’Higgins), who stayed with Brian through two kidney transplants (eldest daughter) and 13 deployments. Brian and Tonya have four daughters: Riley ’12SMC, Kathleen ’14SMC, Molly ’14 and Maggie (’27SMC nursing school hopeful), and four grandchildren (and counting). Molly was one of the first 100 women to qualify for and serve as a nuclear submarine officer in the U.S. Navy. She represents the 5th consecutive generation in Brian’s family to serve in the U.S. military. Brian now works as a civilian Dept. of the Army attorney for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Detroit District. Brian wrote, “Attending NDLS with all of you was a privilege, and the quality of classmates was certainly an inspiration and a high standard to try to live up to. My email is: irish.pummill@gmail.com. Go Irish!” Thank you to Brian and his family for his many years of service to our country. Don’t forget to send news, big or small, for the next issue of the Notre Dame Magazine. — Lori Merlo Coticchia; lcoticchia@aol.com; lcoticchia@ruffingmontessori.org
89 Retirement Inspiration
In his first Class of ’89 update in over three decades, Rear Admiral Tim Weber shared his retirement from the US Navy after serving 33 years in uniform. His most recent position was as Navy Medicine’s regional commander covering the Pacific Rim and medical R&D labs around the globe. Between Tim and his wife, Beth, the Webers served a combined 53 years in the Navy uniform. Tim said it was great to have fellow Dillonites Tim Burke and Kathy ’89SMC and Kevin McDowell at the retirement ceremony in San Diego with many more present in spirit. The Webers’ next move is to South Bend as Tim will be attending ND’s Inspired Leadership Initiative during the 2022-2023 academic year. Tim wishes his best to all of us and commented on how time flies. Speaking of time flying, yours truly just finished a six week walk encompassing 484 miles across northern Spain on the French Route of the Camino de Santiago. Ample time for spiritual reflection, renewal of Catholic faith, history of the Catholic Church and faith in Spain and the mental and physical challenges of a lengthy pilgrimage. I highly recommend the experience and encourage anyone interested to reach out to me via email. Please keep the stories coming! God bless. Go Irish. — Kerrie (Wagner) Debbs; kwagsnd89@gmail.com
89MBA Class Secretary — Margaret DeVoe;
612-845-9662; maggiedevoe@yahoo.com
89JD News is Hard to Come By
I haven’t heard from many of you lately. Luckily, there is a bit of good news. Suzy and Brendan Mulshine ’90JD report that their youngest child, Grace, will be a freshman at Notre Dame this fall. Joe Connors’ nephew/godson, Reece, will be one of Grace’s classmates. Congratulations to the next generation! Peter Noone sent a link to a variety of pictures from our law school days and suggested I share the link. Multiple classmates, as well as a few celebrities, make appearances. I have included the link here: https://tinyurl.com/1989-law-pics. When he’s not curating law school memories, Peter works as a Financial Advisor with UBS. He also serves as the Regional Director for the Pacific Northwest on the Board of the Notre Dame Alumni Association. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to share the pictures with us, Peter! Please contact me with updates on your lives. — Jenny O’Leary Smith; 312-504-2298; jennyoleary@comcast.net