1980s
1980s
80 To the Galapagos
A trip to the Galapagos might not be on everyone’s bucket list, but when Barb (DiGangi) and Kurt Sisson proposed the weeklong cruise to the archipelago, eight women from Farley jumped on the idea and they quickly had a group large enough to fill the Quasar Expeditions M/Y Grace. Two Class of 1980 couples, Jane (Pascuzzo) and Tom Michelak and Michele (Kelly) and Andy Herring, joined Barb and Kurt, along with Rosemary Mills Russell (and Jeffrey), Michon (Althoff) and Scott Dowling, Beth (Jones) and Steve Raseman, Carol McKenna, Mary Jean Schmitt and Jane Knight. The days were filled with hiking, kayaking and snorkeling, during which they saw giant tortoises, blue-footed and red-footed boobies, frigate birds, Nazca gulls, marine and land iguanas, lava lizards, sea lions, penguins, sharks, sea turtles and a wide variety of colored fish. They were all struck by the variety of the terrain on the different islands. Some are green and lush, others reminiscent of the moon landscape or filled with black lava rocks. It was a wonderful adventure made more enjoyable by sharing it with dear friends. There wasn’t an hour untouched by warmth and laughter, except for some tears when they parted ways. In a nice coincidence, Quasar Expeditions is owned by ND alumni, so of course they made the incredibly knowledgeable and fantastic tour guides honorary Irish. Your loyal secretary notes that she was invited but had to choose between this trip and the Inspired Leadership Initiative (ILI) at ND. It was a tough decision. Dr. George Quill writes that they welcomed their third grandchild (first boy) into the world at Thanksgiving. His big sister and out-of-town cousin spent time with him at Christmas and think he is pretty cute. Deb Bieber just got her master’s degree in public health from U of Arizona. She notes that going to school was fun and I agree. Erin and Bill Kresse traveled to Arizona to ring in the new year with Erin’s mom and Bill’s brother Jim ’76 BS, ’77MS and sister-in-law Kate ’76SMC. They attended the Fiesta Bowl and then drowned their sorrows with tequila sunrises at the ND alumni hotel, the Arizona Biltmore. In March, Bill was sworn in to his third full three-year term as commissioner on the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. He was elected to the position by the judges of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Bill is also a faculty member at Governors State U, an advisor to the Uniform Law Commission’s Study Committee on Election Law and a member of the American Bar Association Advisory Committee on Election Law. Bob Gibson’s daughter, Kelly Gibson Miller ’12, did Teach for America in the Mississippi Delta right out of Notre Dame and then taught in charter schools in Lawndale CA and Tacoma WA. She went back to school after seven years as a teacher and graduates from SMU law school in May. Kelly will join a small intellectual property law firm in Dallas this summer. We were well represented at the funeral for Dom Yocius. Class president Mary Ryan Amato was joined by Beth Laracca and Leo Latz. Our hearts go out to MaryClare Heraty, Ann Titus and Mark Norman, who lost their fathers; Don Condit, Ellen Sebasky and Keith Connor, who lost their mothers; and the family of Mike Trausch. Please remember and thank our Class Angels at 80AngelsonCall@gmail.com if you need a prayer. — Mary Ellen Woods; mew.1980@alumni.nd.edu; facebook.com/groups/notredame80
80MBA Deny, Delay and Don’t Pay
As I write this column, it is day two after the elimination of masks at airports and airlines, so hopefully this will mean that those who were skeptical about traveling can add a trip to see a game this fall. Several classmates have indicated that they will be attending, including Dave Kavanagh, Larry Sellars, Vic Yaendel and Mike Maloney. I will be at the California game and look forward to meeting up with them and others. Everyone is welcome to stop by our tailgater, so just call my cell phone number below and I will let you know where we will be located before the game. Paul Katilas writes that he is still going through a mold mitigation project at his home because of last November’s Hurricane Eta that dropped over 20 inches of rain in his area and caused severe water damage to his family room. He says dealing with the insurance companies has been a dreadful experience as their motto is deny, delay and don’t pay. On the plus side, he adds that the housing market in South Florida has nearly doubled, and with the departure of the snowbirds from up north, he can golf anytime without crowds. Rick Abordo writes that son Anthony ’13 has moved from Shenzhen in mainland China to Hong Kong. He will continue to work as an administrator for the graduate school of Tsinghua U with primary responsibility as a liaison for international students as the university develops a presence in Hong Kong. Rick and wife Leonore are especially excited to see Anthony for the first time since October 2020 when he comes home for an extended visit from May through mid-June. Also, Rick and Leonore have become the proud owners of — you guessed it — five more Borzoi dogs, bringing their new total to 21. I am going to go out on a limb and say that, by far, the Abordos have the most animals in the class, not counting the insects that may or may not reside in one of Rich Walker’s Texas rental storage units. Mike Colbert gave a nice summary of the Fiesta Bowl since he lives in the Phoenix area and said it was great to see the team so fired up before the game with new coach Marcus Freeman shaking hands with every single player and getting them pumped up. Despite the final score, Mike said that we dominated in the first half and hopes that energy is a preview for the upcoming season. Mike will be at the California game on Sept. 17 and by the time this column is printed, he and wife Kathleen will have attended their first Kentucky Derby as guests of his son Andrew and wife Flannery. I hope everyone had a happy Easter and are keeping the Ukrainian people in their prayers and giving. Go Irish. — Joe Kearney; 475-225-1421; jos.w.kearney@gmail.com
80JD Sympathies and Prayers
Our hearts and sympathies go to Fred Kopko on the passing of his wife, Mary Beth ’80SMC. Mary Beth was in practice with Fred and dedicated her law practice to helping those in need. Fred, we are thinking of you and your family. Mary Beth was too young, too soon. The Law School Homecoming is Sept. 16-17, the weekend of the Cal game. Come one, come all. Make your plans to be there. The weather promises to cooperate. Each of you is important and your contact information is needed. Please go to the Alumni Association website at my.nd.edu and update your information. It just takes a moment. Thanks so much. Love to all. Go Irish. — Sheila O’Brien; sobrien368@aol.com
81 Our Next Minireunion
More than 100 classmates will cheer on the Fighting Irish together at the ND-Stanford game on Oct. 15. Friday night of that weekend, Dave and Dorothy Walker Pusateri will host classmates at their home in South Bend. And there will be a tailgater near the stadium on game day. Reach out to Keith Melaragno at kmelaragno81@gmail.com with questions. Kerry and Theresa Simmens Furlong’s son, Jim ’07, ’11MBA, is engaged to Julie Mulhendorf, an Alabama alumna. They will be married this summer in Killen AL. Theresa and Kerry celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in June. Congrats to the Furlong family. Bob Van Hoomissen reports that he wore a one-of-a-kind Mary Beth Sterling creation to last fall’s class reunion: a shirt that featured a wrap-around photo collage of classmates and memories. It started some great conversations. Bob, Frank Aucremanne and Mike Ruwe toasted their missing Alumni Hall third-floor buddies while standing outside a local dive in the cold rain. (The actual name of their Alumni Hall section is not mentioned here due to my sensitive nature.) Bob is helping his son refurbish his 120-year-old house while playing with grandkids. That is not a bad way to spend a day, a month, a year. Jim Ringlein, Tom Hostetler and their families (including Veronica Ringlein ’23) met up in London for dinner. Keith Melaragno got together with Bob Dawson, his Grace Hall roomie, last spring in San Diego. Both are retired and happy to re-connect. Karen Rensberger Weiland recently retired from the NASA Glenn Research Center after 33 years as a scientist, systems engineer and innovation change leader. She worked on projects in combustion science that flew on the Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Cygnus modules. She also did experiments in the drop tower and on reduced-gravity aircraft. The last part of her career was as a leader to increase the use of model-based systems engineering at all the NASA centers. She is looking forward to the next chapter with her husband, Ken, and daughter, Angela. Deacon Bill Eckert retired last year after 40 years of teaching high school religion. He has been a deacon in the Catholic Church since 2003. He recently graduated from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis with a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching and hopes to help improve preaching in his deacon community in the Archdiocese of Seattle. In January, Kathy Corcoran had a compelling opinion piece published in the Washington Post on the role of journalists in a free society. Patti Trozzolo works for a design-build firm in Granger IN and has many clients associated with Notre Dame: faculty, staff and alumni. Patti loves her job, her co-workers and her clients and says retirement is not in her near future. Please join the Class of ’81 Facebook page where 435 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 Just Around the Corner
As I write this on April 2, many are enjoying the spring season or are anxiously awaiting spring. It was fun to watch the ND women’s and men’s basketball teams during March Madness. I’m still doing a ton of travel for work, but Sheila and I had the opportunity to take our three grandsons to Disneyland and the beach in Carlsbad CA during the boys’ spring break. There’s nothing like a road trip with a seven-year-old and his twin five-year-old brothers. We had a fantastic time; there was no shortage of laughs. It is hard to believe that the Blue-Gold Game will be held in a few weeks, and it is probably time to think about meeting classmates at home football games this fall. I plan on going to as many games as I can. Let the Freeman Era begin. Ron Vieth checked in and said he still does a little consulting part time to keep out of trouble, splitting time between Charlotte NC and Kiawah Island SC. He looked at the game schedule and he, his daughter Darah ’14 and I are planning to go to Las Vegas for the BYU game. Ron is also planning to go to the UNC game in Chapel Hill. His son will be a third-year law student at UNC next fall. Ron says to let him know if you are traveling in the southeast and look him up. Please send me your email address. Several classmates have retired or changed their primary email addresses. If you are in touch with MBA classmates, please ask them to send me their addresses. I look forward to sharing more news from our ’81 classmates. Go Irish. — Steve Simmerman; 3126 E. Desert Broom Way, Phoenix AZ 85048; cell 602-524-7662; srsimmerman@gmail.com
81JD Summer Notes
I had the pleasure of an extended text exchange with William Rohn in April. Bill filled me in on the significant events of the 40 years of his life since we graduated from law school. Bill and his wife, Wendy, were vacationing in Clearwater Beach FL, enjoying the sun and the oysters. They have three children: a doctor who went to ND and then graduated from LSU med school, a teacher who also graduated from ND, and an epidemiologist who graduated from U of Michigan. Bill spent his legal career practicing with the Varnum LLP law firm in Grand Rapids MI. His practice focused on commercial, construction and employment litigation. He spent the last 14 years in management at the firm, serving as practice group manager and practice management leader. Bill says he tried his last case in December. On the side, Bill was color commentator for football and basketball games streaming on the internet for Davenport U, a Division II school that plays in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. My solicitation to our class for something to include in these notes prompted Peg Hanley Warner to send along an article from the Catholic News about Joe Donnelly being named as the Biden administration’s Ambassador to the Holy See. The article featured pictures of Joe presenting his credentials to the Holy Father. Congratulations to Joe. Peg shared her article to the class listserv, which resulted in an extensive interchange among many of our classmates. Responding to Peg’s email were Nancy Helling Gargula, Brian McDonough, John Fitzpatrick, Ted Forrence, Ed Bliesner, Mark Williams, Lorne Liechty, Tim Kapshandy, Jim Blasé, Jack Sawyer and Steve Cordill. The interchange emanated from Fitz asking Joe to inquire of the Pope, is it “kosher” for a Catholic, who purports (pourports?) to give up alcohol for Lent, to imbibe on Sundays, or is the vow a total abstention? Fitz’s viewpoint was, “Sundays were free because Lent is 40 days and the actual time from Ash Wednesday to Easter is 46 days, so six are free Sundays.” As you can imagine, the debate, ranging from “we are all over 65 and thus exempted from Lenten fasting” to “free Sundays are ‘wimpy’” was colorful with many points of view. Jim Blasé reported that he and his wife, Donna, will be taking a Teddy Roosevelt adventure along the Colorado River. Jim and Donna will sleep in the same hotel room on the same night (May 6) that TR stayed there in 1905. You will remember that as previously reported, Jim has written a three-volume treatise on Teddy Roosevelt’s domestic explorations. Doriana Fontonella and her sister will accompany Jim and Donna. Lorne Liechty has written a book titled Defining Moments: Making Decisions That Will Redefine Your Life. The book focuses on strategies for making good decisions at critical times in your life. The book is available on Amazon. I hope all is well. Go Irish. — Michael R. Palumbo; 4729 Casey Lane, Cave Creek AZ 85331; cell 602-703-0358; bus 602-262-5931; mpalumbo@jsslaw.com
82 Olympic Flag Bearer
Edward Carter’s son, Tyler Carter, was selected as the US flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. Carter made his debut at the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, where he had the 19th-best finish in the men’s slalom standing class. He returned to the world’s biggest stage in PyeongChang in 2018 with a 27th-place finish in the giant slalom. Carter served as the Team USA athlete service coordinator for the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020 and currently works for the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum. Linda Horning Pitt, a Badin alumnus, is the mayor of Crestline OH. She is doing amazing things in the town. And, by the way, she hasn’t aged at all. I would like to acknowledge 50 years of women at Notre Dame. Thank you, Rev. Ted Hesburgh, CSC, for making such a great addition to an already incredible school. It was just a few of us in the early years, but I am happy to say that we are about 50-50 right now. We look forward to seeing everyone at a football game this year. We will play Stanford on Oct. 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
82 MBA Class Secretary — Renee (Amirkanian) Sutherland;
mobile 630-846-2707; reneemsr@aol.com
82JD Welcome to the Retired Side
Congratulations to Ginny Boyle, who retired after a 28-year career as in-house counsel with Liberty Mutual. Welcome to the ranks of the retired, Ginny. Tom Veldman sold his family company, Tire Rack, to Discount Tire of Scottsdale AZ in December. Tire Rack traces its roots to Tom’s father, Peter, who opened a gas station in South Bend shortly after emigrating from The Netherlands. Peter, Tom and other members of the Veldman family grew the business into one of the largest online tire stores in the country. Tim Abeska, Tim Nickels and John Smith taught a Trial Ad class at the Law School in March. I saw Cele (Glacy) and Bruce Baty, Liz Imhoff and Tim Nickels on campus in March for the Notre Dame Law Association Board of Directors meeting. Please send me news items. — Frank Julian; ndlaw82@gmail.com
83 Outstanding Service
Congratulations to John Gallo on receiving the 2021 Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, CSC, Award that celebrates an alumnus or alumna who performed outstanding service in the field of government or public service. John serves as CEO and executive director of Legal Aid Chicago after a career as a partner at Sidley Austin. He also served for several years as trial counsel to the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board, the body responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by Illinois judges. He also co-founded Sidley’s Capital Litigation Project, which is designed to ensure that inmates on Alabama’s death row had effective legal representation. Congratulations also to Mark Novitzki, who retired from Premier Banks of Minnesota after 38 years. The Premier Banks are a Regan family bank with deep Notre Dame ties. Theresa DiPasquale planned to be on campus in May for the graduation of her niece, Lulu Phifer ’22, who is receiving degrees in philosophy and film, television and theatre. She also planned to visit with her sister Maria ’90 and brother-in-law, Arnie Phifer ’90. Theresa’s son, Dominic Keene ’24, was preparing to leave for his COVID-delayed study abroad trip to Notre Dame’s London program for engineers. Please keep Sondi and Bill Mateja and their family in your thoughts and prayers. Bill’s mother-in-law, Sondi’s mother, passed away on March 19. Mike Sullivan is living in Phoenix and serves as a community ambassador at the Welcome to America Project. WTAP assists refugees recently resettled to Arizona by providing personal welcomes and resourcing families with critical household items such as computers, bikes and household items that help them to get traction in their new land. WTAP is mostly a volunteer organization and expects to assist nearly 5,000 refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine and the world’s other conflict areas in 2022. Mike says that it never feels like work, and it allows faith in action by focusing on our common humanity in times of crisis. WTAP was recently part of a collaborative effort with Intel, Arizona State U and others to resettle and resource 64 Afghan women scholars who were airlifted from their home university and, after a six-month journey, were welcomed to Tempe AZ to continue their education. Mike says that Tony DiSpigno has also volunteered with WTAP and that a “whole bunch” of Zahm classmates share financial support. Mike invites Class of ’83 members to volunteer if they live in the Phoenix area or are in town for a visit. We have 536 class members who have joined the Facebook page. It is the quickest and easiest way to stay up to date with what our classmates are doing. As a member of the class Facebook page, you’ll also get an advance look at this column. The class Facebook page is restricted to members of the Class of ’83. To join, search for “Notre Dame Class of 1983” on Facebook and click “join.” If you have any news you’d like to share with the class, send 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 Short Email Brings Lots of News
Thanks to all of you who responded to my short email requesting updates on your careers, families, etc. It was so much fun to reconnect with so many of you. My favorite response thus far came from Kip Petroff who wrote, “I think my life is too boring for an update, but thanks for thinking of me. I’ll keep working on it.” Bob Casey is retired from the Eisenhower Carlson law firms in Tacoma WA. He and his wife spend their time between Priest Lake ID, Surprise AZ, Tacoma and Germany, visiting their daughter and her family. Matt Feeney and Michelle (Wendling) Feeney are busy in Phoenix. Matt recently announced that he will be stepping down as Snell &Wilmer’s chair in April 2023 after eight years. He is staying on as a partner but is “repurposing” his life to focus on other things that are important to him, like family and music. Michele has a thriving ADR practice, heads up the Trial Advocacy Program at Arizona State U’s Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law, and is getting her master’s degree in fine arts in writing at a low-residency program at Bennington College in Vermont. Tim Healy continues to work full time representing injured workers in worker’s compensation claims. Hank Koegel is living in Anchorage AK. He is twice retired, once from a utility company and once from a renewable energy company. He is now involved in establishing an electric reliability council in the area of Alaska called the Railbelt. Hank has two grandchildren, with another on the way. His children and grandchildren live in what Hank calls the Lower 48. Jim Lynch continues to lead his law firm of Lynch Daskal Emery, which serves clients in high-stakes litigation and trials. His daughter, Mary, graduated from ND Law School in 2010. Jim and Kathleen split their time between Florida and New York. Jim passed the Florida bar exam last year. Shawn Newman works primarily as an online cyber professor at four higher education institutions in Washington state. He also works as a state court-appointed arbitrator and mediator. Ruthanne Okun is retired from her position as director of the Bureau of Employment Relations/MERC for Michigan. She was elected and is competing her term as president of Temple Emanu-El, Oak Park MI. Phyllis Provost McNeil is retired and living in Connecticut. Her career highlights include service as US Navy officer, assistant general counsel with the CIA, director of Federal and International Executive Programs at the Harvard U Kennedy School of Government, and member of the Aspin Brown Presidential Commission, which reassessed the US intelligence apparatus following the end of the Cold War. Susan Hawks McClintic is the managing shareholder at the Epsten firm, which represents community associations. Her eldest son is a 2L at the U of Oregon. Steve Miller leads his law firm, Miller Schirger LLC, which he co-founded 14 years ago with John Schirger ’88. The firm specializes in high stakes business litigation. Steve returned to Notre Dame in 1987 to obtain a graduate degree in theology. That ultimately led to an invitation in 2012 to join the board of the National Catholic Reporter. In November 2021, he was named chairman. In 2019, Steve ran for mayor of Kansas City. Although not elected, he continues to be deeply involved in the life of the city and is involved in a variety of civic and charitable endeavors. Mike Pietrykowski has been with his firm, Gordon Rees, since 1985, living in the San Francisco Bay area. He has been the chair of its national environmental and toxic tort area since 2000. On the personal side, they have three kids with their eldest starting his medical residency program at Northwestern U this summer. They will have two kids living in Chicago and Mike hopes this will allow some side trips back to Notre Dame for games. Ken Poirer just completed 23 years as an administrative law judge for the state of Michigan. He and his wife expected their ninth grandchild in April. Deborah Schumacher is a senior state court judge assigned to various criminal specialty courts in northern Nevada. Kirk is retired and pursing a single-digit gold handicap. Marianne (Lafferty) Voorhees will retire from the Indiana bench this year. She was named the Indiana Trial Judge of the Year by the American Board of Trial Advocates, Indiana Chapter, for 2021. I love all this news. Please send me an email with an update on you or a classmate for this column. — Ann E. Merchlewitz; cell 507-450-6609; bus 507-457-1587; amerchle@smumn.edu
84 Happy Spring
Admiral Chris Grady is vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the second highest-ranking military officer in the US. Dan Walsh leads the Civil Air Patrol STEM Programs at Madison STEAM Academy and John Adams High School in South Bend and Elkhart (IN) Community Schools. Under his guidance, Madison was selected as a National Blue Ribbon School in 2021 and Adams was given a 2021 Indiana Department of Education “A” rating for the fifth year in a row. Dan was awarded the Indiana U-South Bend Student Community Outreach Award. It’s always fun to randomly run into classmates as I did with Colleen Kenney Roach at U of Dayton, where we were attending the moms’ weekend for our sons. Please keep Liz (Ellory) and Eldred MacDonnell in your prayers. They lost their son in an accident in January. — Martha (Burns) Avery; mayoravery@comcast.net
84MBA Class Secretary — Dhanraj Bhagat;
dbhagat1960@gmail.com
84JD Sport Law
In February, my wife, Jackie, and I enjoyed visiting with Michelle and Ed Ristaino in Fort Lauderdale FL. Ed continues his work with Akerman LLP, where he is chair, sports practice. Ed’s sports law practice has included numerous matters for the Miami Dolphins, Florida Panthers and Miami Marlins. In news from campus, my daughter Brigid, ND freshman, enjoyed travelling with the ND women’s basketball team to the ACC tournament in North Carolina as a member of the pep band. Please send updates. — Matthew Dunn; 773-294-6851; mdunn19834@gmail.com
85 Cyber Superhero
As the world faces an increasing threat from bad cyber-enabled actors (nation states, criminals, terrorists), Lucian Niemeyer ’87, who matriculated with our class, is taking on the challenge. He is CEO and chairman of the board of directors of Building Cyber Security (BCS), a global non-profit dedicated to helping organizations incorporate cyber security and safety engineering into their systems. BCS is translating existing cyber security technology standards into a framework and certification program for industry. Lucian is an Air Force veteran, former US Senate committee staffer, and, most recently, an assistant secretary of defense with the Trump administration, working at the Pentagon and the White House on a variety of issues, including cyber risk to critical infrastructure and facilities. In his current role, he applies this expertise and experience in the development of facilities, real estate, and technology to promote innovation in mitigating cyber risk. Visual artist Kathleen Keifer showcased her Notre Dame-inspired work at a fundraising event held in conjunction with the University. “Art and Wine” was held on campus in April before the Blue-Gold Game. Kathleen donated a portion of the proceeds from her art sales to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Michiana. View some of Kathleen’s work at kathleenkeifer.com. I would love to hear about your business or charitable ventures. Please email soon. — Kathleen Doyle Yaninek; yanzlaw@comcast.net
85JD New Agenda
Prof. Matt Barrett is starting a new chapter after 32 years on the faculty at the Law School. Although he is leaving teaching, Matt has a busy post-professorship agenda planned between several writing projects, volunteering at the Notre Dame Tax Clinic and other organizations, and a few consulting projects. He still will be connected to the ND community. Matt’s wife, Kate, is associate director of liturgy for Campus Ministry, and their youngest, Maggie, will be a senior at ND in the fall. The Barretts’ other three are close by: Kevin ’17 is with Fighting Irish Media; Wilson ’18 is an entrepreneur in South Bend; and Luke ’21 works in Chicago. Deb Hennigan Knapp has taken a new role as legal specialist for the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris Plains NJ. Greystone was founded in 1876 and is a 552-bed state-of-the-art psychiatric hospital run by the New Jersey Department of Health that provides a broad range of mental health services. You never know when you are going to run into a classmate. Joe Harraka and Laura Hanson were co-panelists at a March ABA Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Seminar titled “Oh You’re So Reserved,” held in Tucson AZ. Joe and Laura discussed trends and topics regarding reservation of rights letters. They had partnered on some projects during law school and enjoyed the chance to work together again. And, they have something else in common: Laura’s son and two of Joe’s kids graduated from USC. Please send news, or your Wordle, Heardle or Nerdle score. It would be great to hear from you. — Kelly Kiernan Largey; kellyjd1985@alumni.nd.edu
86 We Are in Great Hands
We all heard the incredible news in April and there is a lot of excitement, pride and great feelings among our class for our very own John McGreevy. On behalf of the Class of 1986, we congratulate you on becoming our provost. Our University and its future is indeed in great and caring hands. We hope that you and Jean will be able to come by our class tailgate on Oct. 15 so that more than 300 of us can raise our glasses to toast and congratulate you in proper fashion. Pete Pranica wrapped up his 18th season with the Memphis Grizzlies and in March did his first-ever NBA on TNT telecast with Stan Van Gundy (Clippers at Denver). He is also on the NBA’s Officiating Advisory Council that is headed by fellow alum Byron Spruell. Pete also got to the Toledo game to see classmates Eric Parzianello and Joanne Chavez. David Finn has son Liam ’20, daughter Rory ’22 and youngest daughter, Remy, starting at ND this fall. Nice work Finn family. Martha Sommers was injured two years ago when she was driving a dogsled in the Colorado mountains, flew off into the snow and shattered her left-side limbs. She underwent surgeries with lots of hardware, had a five-week stay in a nursing home and around-the-clock care. What happened while under this care by her niece, who is also an artist, is an incredible story about art as a tool to manage pain. Many of us have experienced pain or have loved ones and friends that are afflicted. Please read about Martha’s journey at https://tinyurl.com/art-as-a-tool. Martha is now part of the Marshall Herd and will be attending the Sept. 10 game and would love to meet up with classmates. Those on our class email list know that we will be rocking our 37th annual minireunion class tailgate at the Stanford game and that we were allocated a large block of football tickets for the class to sit together. (This is the perfect spot for me to ask those not receiving our class emails to email me. I’ll put you on the list if you would like to be kept up on all things ’86. We have 1,496 out of 1,816 classmates getting our emails and we don’t want you to be missed.) OK, here are details on our upcoming bash: It’s going to be big again. We have 223 football tickets assigned to classmates and those 223 get the tailgate included. We are working on catering details and firming up our location with the Alumni Association and University Parking. We hope to be flying our class flag in the same location as last year. All those with their own football tickets will join the tailgate by paying like last year. We will be asking if you would like to attend so we can get an accurate count in advance. We should be at least 300 strong. Given the huge success we had with the last year’s UNC reunion weekend format, we are going to roll with Friday and Sunday events for those able to join. A warm thank you to Nick and Susie Schilling, who will again host the class for a casual Friday evening gathering at their home. Kathleen Burke is working on a class Mass for Sunday morning, likely at Alumni Hall. We are thrilled that Rev. Dan Groody, CSC, will be celebrating Mass with us again. All details on the weekend will be coming via email. Take care and God bless. — John Spatz; 201-264-2459; john@jjscb.com
86MBA Class Secretary — Maureen (Mullan) Decker;
21855 Town Gate, Macomb MI 48044; bus 586-741-4305; mobile 586-817-1317; maureen.decker@mclaren.org
86JD Weddings and Grandchildren
I had some business in Los Angeles in February and weaseled my way in for dinner at the home in Manhattan Beach of Amy ’86 and Lincoln Stone. Amy retired from ER doctor work over 10 years ago and since then has been active in medical mission work in local and faraway locales, Uganda mostly. Their youngest, Austin, a ’21UW grad, works in sales development for PitchBook Data in Seattle. Middle child, Madeline ’13, is a writer for Business Insider in NYC and married Andrew Nevins in September. Eldest child, Amanda, is director of e-commerce at Olly in San Francisco and married Alex Bon in April. When the Stones aren’t in LA, they can be found at their getaway place in Sandpoint ID. Maureen Madion ’86 and Tim Tompkins’ daughter, Nonnie, married Sean LeBlanc last October in Traverse City MI and their son, Teague, was due to graduate with a philosophy degree from Kalamazoo College in May. Julie and Kevin Griffith’s youngest, Molly, will matriculate to ND as a freshman this fall. Their eldest daughter, Kelly (Griffith) Bell ’16, ’18ACE, a Catholic grade school principal in Philadelphia, is expecting the Griffiths’ first grandchild in June. Sharon Christie sold her law practice and recently launched “Bold Women Lawyers,” online coaching for women attorneys in solo and small firm practices. Sharon and her husband have six grandchildren. Jeffre Lowe left the LA firm he founded after 20 years to move to Bangkok, Thailand, where he was a co-owner of a couple popular live music clubs. COVID forced the closure of the clubs and Jeffre returned to LA, where he is GC of Sunset Equity Group. While living in Thailand, Jeffre reconnected with Nick Simeonidis, who lives with wife Tara in Tapei. Nick wrote separately to say his and Tara’s two sons (including Stephen ’09) are engaged to wonderful women. Jeffre also told me that Karen Sterchi is back in Indiana working in financial services in the Indianapolis area. Felecia Rotellini has relocated from Phoenix to DC, where she is chief of staff and senior advisor to the president of Ginnie Mae. Joan (Flood) Mauel reports that husband, John, was one of a few attorneys included in The Responsible Energy Forum at Waddesdon (UK), hosted by the Rothschild Foundation in connection with the COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow. Liz ’79 and Paul Peralta joined the grandparent ranks. Their daughter Katie ’10 and husband Jesse welcomed Talia Jane in April. The Peraltas will have another Montana wedding in 2023 when middle daughter, Ellen ’12, will be tying the knot. Paul also told me that Eileen (Beadling) and Pat Doran have a new grandchild, their second. After 33 years at Barris, Sott in Detroit, Denny Barnes as formed Dennis M. Barnes, PLLC, to emphasize mediation, arbitration and special master work. John Glowacki is still with R&Q Solutions in Philadelphia. John tells me he sees retired professor Barbara Fick at ND Club of Philadelphia happy hours. Tom Lange wrote to remind us that he and several classmates started the Class of 1986 McCafferty Fund to honor Rev. Mike McCafferty, CSC, ’69, ’73JD, ’74MA by providing tuition assistance to NDLS students. Today our class fund (which Tom believes is the only class fund named for Father Mike) is over $500,000. With broader participation among our class, and the continued success of the Notre Dame Endowment, the McCafferty Fund will help the ever-increasing tuition burden these law students face. Please consider contributing and simply designate “The Class of 1986 McCafferty Fund” with your gift to Notre Dame to continue this legacy in memory of Father Mike. And from the rumor mill: several classmates will gather this summer in northern Michigan for golf and hijinks. — Brian Bates; bbates@abblaw.com
87 Catching Up with Classmates
Hello everyone, I hope summer is treating you well, and that those who made it to our 35th reunion had a wonderful time. My apologies for the missing column in last quarter’s magazine. I thought I uploaded it correctly, but clearly something went wrong. So, if you’ve been waiting since December for your news to appear, I’m sorry about that. Valerie Waller is one of those patient people. She wrote me after Christmas to let us know that she had the chance to catch up with several classmates before Thanksgiving. Bryan Mattox, from Grace Hall, hosted a group of friends across several classes over the Georgia Tech weekend in Chicago. In addition to Valerie and Bryan, Wallace Harris was there (he lives in Chicago), and so was Kim Adams of Gaithersburg MD. All have children in college or finished, except for Valerie, who has two daughters in high school. The classmates did lots of reminiscing over the weekend about SYRs, Bookstore Basketball, Emil and road trips. I had a great update from Robert DeBroux. He’s in Madison WI and has performed the National Anthem for the Milwaukee Brewers, Marquette U and U of Wisconsin sporting events since 2016. He’s also been a bass singer for Madison Symphony Chorus since 2021. He’s hoping to finally perform at a Notre Dame hockey game after having to reschedule twice due to COVID. He movingly writes, “I found a way, in adult life, to turn around a lifelong regret (not being more involved in music and voice) through avocations like these. Sometimes we do get second chances. I credit my late father, Francis, a career church choir soloist who modeled the wonder of choral music and the fun of singing in public. His example took a long time to translate into action for me, and I’m glad it finally did. Once in a while, we surprise ourselves with what we can accomplish with perseverance.” Robert is married to Kimberly Moucha and is just as supportive of her interests as she presumably is of his. She is a superintendent of the World Dairy Expo, and he serves as dairy cattle show announcer for the event. Sean Murphy, from Morrissey Hall, lives in Atlanta with his wife, Linda. He retired from corporate life and owns a real estate business. His eldest son, Coleman, is about to graduate from the College of Charleston and will be in South Bend next year for a masters’ program at Notre Dame. Sean and Linda are looking forward to taking advantage of Coleman’s year on campus and will be making frequent trips back. Erik Janowsky is on the move again. You may recall from a previous column that Erik works as a foreign service officer with USAID. He wrote me in September that he was being promoted to the Senior Foreign Service. After being approved by the Senate and officially appointed by President Biden, he will take up his new post as the Mission Director in Morocco in 2022. He’s in an accelerated language program to learn French for this new position. I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing him a very safe and productive time there. Bonne chance, Erik. In closing, I’m deeply saddened to inform you of the death of our classmate Gregory Bakeis in January 2021. He is survived by his parents, Larry and Mary Bakeis, his wife, Angela, and his children Alexander, Benjamin and Elizabeth. Please keep him in your prayers, and if you’re visiting campus soon, perhaps light a candle at the Grotto for him. Again, enjoy the summer, and I look forward to catching up with you this fall. Go Irish. — Meg Brennan Hamilton; meghamilton@yahoo.com
87MBA Email Addresses Needed
Hello everyone. It has been a great yet quiet start to 2022. There is no real news but lots of interaction through social media. While we have almost the entire class connected by email, we are still missing a few. If you haven’t received an email from Chris Murphy or me urging you to attend our 35-year reunion, then we don’t have your email address. Please send it to me. In addition, there are at least four group chats by text that I know of. There may be more. Chris and I would like to set up a group chat for the MBA Class of 1987. If you would like to be included in this group chat, please send your cell phone number to me by email. If we didn’t see you at the class reunion in June, hopefully we will see you at the football home opener on Sept. 10. Look for the tailgate party east of Legends with the Canadian flag. Go Irish. As always, I am available by email. — 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 Years and Counting
Jay Brinker, during his snowbird term in Phoenix, had lunch with John Fitzpatrick, the first time they had seen each other since we graduated. Jay reports that John, a Phoenix native, does trust and estate litigation. (I can hear Professor Mooney telling us on the first day of Trusts and Estates class that the decedent is the person who dies; the descendants are those that are left behind.) John has a son at Arizona State U and a daughter who played golf at Xavier U and is now trying to play golf professionally. Amy (Ronayne) Krause just celebrated 19 years of being a judge and 22 years of marriage. On a sad note, Amy lost her mom last year but was able to hold her mom’s hand when she passed. Mary (Ambrose) Gerak continues to work on employment law matters. Mary and her Michigan grad husband, Justin, have a veteran Marine son, Joseph, who earned his BA in history while assisting veterans in Washington. Their daughter, Callista, earned her BS in biology from Penn and is headed to medical school. Our favorite mayor, Juan Bermudez, joined other leaders in the Miami-Dade County area to proclaim flan as the official dessert of the State of Florida and March 24 as Flan Day. Thank you, Juan. Todos Somos Flan. Finally, Kurt Weaver sent me an email in March, not to provide an update on what he’s been doing in Raleigh NC at Womble Bond Dickson, but rather to tell me that the 2019 World Champion Washington Nationals lost a spring training game. Please send me news to share in this column or in our class email loop. — Mike Gurdak; 202-879-3939; mpgurdak@jonesday.com
88 I Dos
First off, in answer to the question, “Do you intend to attend the 35th Reunion of the Class of ’88 scheduled for June 1-4, 2023?” we hope your reply will be “I do!” By the time you’re reading this column, our 35th Reunion will be under the one-year countdown mark. Now’s an ideal time to start rallying your ’88 friends! When it comes to “I do’s” of the matrimonial variety, Nancy (Horas) Robinson and husband Joe shared that their son, Andrew ’17, married an awesome young woman, Kathleen Golterman, in November of ’20, on Nancy and Joe’s 28th wedding anniversary. His godmother, Elizabeth (Kennedy) McCarthy, and husband Mike were able to attend the joyous celebration. After a long courtship, co-exchange classmate Celeste (Thompson) Hummel ’88SMC married Craig Thomas, a Michigan guy. So their newly united family is occasionally a house divided. They married on their 12th anniversary, leading some to note, “It’s about time!” The wedding took place in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the historic Hotel El Convento on March 6th. They chose Old San Juan because it was the location of Celeste’s birth and of her parents’ burials, so she was able to be close to her roots. The wedding was an intimate gathering attended by immediate family members and close friends — 25 guests in all. Her twin daughters were in the wedding party, with her oldest (by one whole minute), Jessica Hummel ’19, serving as maid of honor. Celeste is a realtor with eXp Realty/The Lash Group in Grand Rapids MI. On April 8, Lieutenant General Brian Kelly was joined by numerous classmates at his Air Force retirement ceremony in Washington DC. (A lieutenant general is also known as a three-star general.) On hand to celebrate with Brian and to thank him for 33 years of service were Tom Jennings, Craig Horvath, Jeff Craskey, Kevin Dolan, Dan Sacchini, Tom Torter and Monica (Imbriaco) Torter. Responsible for the Air Force’s 330,000 airmen and airwomen, Brian retired as deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services. He was the senior Air Force officer responsible for comprehensive plans and policies covering all life cycles of military and civilian personnel management. Throughout his career, he held several staff and command positions at the base, major command, air staff and joint staff levels. In addition to multiple stints at the Pentagon, Brian served all over the world, including assignments at Aviano Air Base in Italy and RAF Alconbury in the United Kingdom. Another classmate assembly occurred when the Carroll Vermin came out of hibernation to spend a week in Big Sky MT. The Vermin won a ski-in/ski-out chateau as part of a charity raffle to support Mark Napierkowski’s Mercy School for Special Learning. Big Sky local John Romney played host to Mark (Bethlehem PA), Rob Bennett (Houston), John Culligan (Chicago), Gerry Grealish (Oak Hill VA), Shawn Higgins (San Clemente CA), Paul Kohl (Leesburg VA), Andy Kraus (Columbus OH), Al Musgrove (Norfolk VA) and Cliff Stevens (Arlington VA). Highlights included skiing at Big Sky, snowmobiling in Yellowstone, watching bison and bighorn sheep and hanging out à la South Dining Hall style, as the Vermin are known to do. In order to then thaw out, seven of the crew participated in year No. 2 of “old guy spring break” at Ernie Altbacker’s place on Anna Maria Island FL in April. Watch your email for details regarding next year’s 35th Reunion, as well as this year’s annual football minireunion. — 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 Assistance for Refugees
Happy spring. I am happy to report that Jill Rice and her husband, Rick, have been working with Nazarene Missions International and their northern Michigan community in gathering clothing, coats, shoes, and blankets for Ukrainian refugees. They will be sending more than 1,000 boxes to Poland for the refugees. The loving support of their community for the people of Ukraine is amazing. Sheri Schrock and husband Jim are experimenting with the concept of becoming snowbirds. They left North Dakota on Feb. 12 and journeyed to Phoenix. They began their return trip home on April 1. After eight blizzards and many cold days in North Dakota, they truly enjoyed the sunshine. Sheri thinks they will repeat playing at snowbirds, especially since she can work anywhere in the country. You deserve it, Sheri. Todd Nelson happily reports that he is loving and serving Jesus and others and is busy with family and ministry. In his spare time, he serves as a professor, arbitrator and practices law. What a full and happy life, Todd. I am excited to travel to Sicily in July to celebrate my eldest daughter’s wedding. It will be a trip to remember filled with family and friends. Having studied in Italy for two years, it was a dream of Maddie’s to get married there. After July, I will have three of five children married, with two to go. Until next time, keep the news coming. — Lori Merlo Coticchia; lcoticchia@aol.com; lcoticchia@ruffingmontessori.org
89 Power of Friendship
Patty Dutile was kind enough to share a wonderful story of being on campus back in October to join family and friends in celebrating the memory of Susan (Pawlecki) Jarrell, who tragically passed away 10 years ago. Those gathered included Sue’s parents, Dennis and Linda Pawlecki, and brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Betsy Pawlecki, along with Sue’s Lyons Hall dormmates Theresa (Weithman) Blanchard, Cathy (Olson) Brown, Cathy (Condit) Cuckovich, Kelly (Johnson) Donohue, Cara (Auth) Galioto, MaryBeth (O’Brien) Jirgal, Susan (Bardi) Kleiser, Kerri (Hopper) Lockwood, Kristin Malaker, Jeanne (Hannahoe) Mason, Mary McGreevy, Stephanie (Johnson) Reymann, Beth (Rosa) Senecal, Kathy (Berry) Templin, and Nancy (Lauen) Thomas. Many others who could not attend in person were there in spirit. Not far from anyone’s thoughts was close friend Missy (Cahill) McKnight, who died in 2002. In a focal point of the weekend, Rev. Bob Dowd, CSC, ’87 celebrated an intimate Mass at the Log Chapel, after which friends and loved ones shared heartfelt remembrances of Sue. Other weekend activities included lunch at the Morris Inn, candle lighting at the Grotto and pictures under the Lyons Hall arch. Festivities continued long into the evening as the Lyonites pored over old scrapbooks, told and retold favorite “Sue stories” (never in short supply) and experienced laughter, tears and more than a few bad 1980s tunes. Don’t miss the article in this issue of ND Magazine that touches on the power of friendships, especially female friendships, in trying to process tragedy. Please keep these amazing stories coming. God bless. Go Irish. — Kerrie (Wagner) Debbs; kwagsnd89@gmail.com
89MBA Class Secretary — Margaret DeVoe;
612-845-9662; maggiedevoe@yahoo.com
89JD New Phase of Life
Retirement. That is what I am hearing from classmates. Jay Schlosser retired in June 2021 after 32 years at the same firm. His wife, Lisa, retired at the end of 2021. Now, the happily retired couple spends time traveling, golfing, attending live theater and sporting events, vacationing with their daughter, son and daughter-in-law, and even walking their son’s dog. They also are working to fulfill Lisa’s goal of visiting every state park in Minnesota. Jay hopes someday to return to coaching in some capacity, but for now, he is enjoying his leisure time. Not to be outdone, Tim Bolden retired in early April. Tim will have two kids in college next year and one in law school, so some of his time will be spent visiting college campuses. He and wife Diane will be headed to UC Irvine on occasion to watch their youngest child play volleyball. Other than that, he has no plans to fill up his free time too soon. Tim still sees Todd Sloan, Therese (McKeegan) and Jim McElwee, Kelly Daly and Joe Connors. He also talks with Paul Pasin often. Along with Todd Leeson, Joe Connors and Jim McElwee, both Tim and Jay have continued a tradition they began while we were in law school. In the late 1980s, these fine gentlemen started holding a draft for the NCAA tournament. My late husband Jim Smith also was one of the founding members of this group. They continue this tradition to this day, never having missed a year except for the COVID year of no tournament. For the past eight years, they have included our eldest, Luke, in Jim’s place. Of course, there is some fierce competition in this group, but they have embraced Luke and make him feel right at home. Of course, they don’t give him quite as much grief as they gave Jim. We truly have a special class. Please keep in touch and let me know your retirement plans, as well as any other information you would like to share. — Jenny O’Leary Smith; 312-504-2298; jennyoleary@comcast.net