1980s

80 Class Tailgate

Welcome to new Angels — Paddy Mullen and Phil Russo, who join the Angels team. Thanks to Paddy and Phil who have agreed to write to members of our Class family who have experienced loss. We are very thankful to Rosemary Mills Russell who has written innumerable letters quietly for so long. Thanks to Dr. Mark Dobbertien who has agreed to serve as class treasurer. Thanks to all who helped organize and participated in our very successful Class tailgate. It was a great day except for that last second of the game. The Lyons Ladies resurrected their first mini-reunion post-pandemic in Santa Fe NM. A group of six met first in Durango and traveled to Mesa Verde: Jamie Goodrich Ziegler, Ann McRedmond Waddey, Maritza Poza-Griese, Molly McLaughlin Rhine, Janet Wolff and Beth Larocca. Lyons Ladies showed up in full force including Mary Blachowicz Lewis, Terry Halliwell Wollman, Cindy Casper Durley, Cindy Cronin Cahill, Jo Lucey, Mary Gebhardt Hausman, Patti O’Neill Smith, Ellen Gearin Sebasky, Rae Anne Shamp Mense, Laura Flaherty Palmer, Julie Bartley Davidson, Michele Williams Abbott, Michelle Ferguson and first-time attenders Tara Begley Wegener, Maribeth Horne Hanzlik and Diane Williams Reardon. Ellen Binkowski Versen and Colleen Bronder were scheduled to join the group, but had to cancel when Colleen fell at Ellen’s home and fractured her hip, which required surgery. A great time was had by all! If there are any other Lyons Ladies who want to join in future gatherings, please email Beth at blarocca753@comcast.net. Cindy Lupica retired after practicing law for 39 years, the last 17 as general counsel of a $3 billion, national transportation brokerage. Cindy’s daughter Annelise ’10 gave birth to her first child and the Lupicas’ first grandchild. Cindy’s brother, Rev. Matt Elshoff OFM Cap., will be ordained a bishop in the LA Archdiocese. Dr. Michele (Kelly) and Andy Herring hosted a Farley Hall reunion at their lake house in MN. The days were packed with activities, friendship and laughter. Meghan Herring and Maureen Loughney were crowned cornhole champions and pickleball was greatly contested. Barb (DiGangi) Sisson played the fight/victory song on her bassoon to the amusement of husband Kurt. Attendees came from both coasts: Mary Jean Schmidt, Jane (Pascuzzo) Michalek, Michon (Althoff) and Scott Dowling, Rosemary (Mills) and Jeff Russell, Katie Ninneman, Beth (Jones) and Steve Raseman, Jane (Knight) and Patrick Yella, and Debbie Bieber. Meghan organized the festivities for the friends. Debbie ended the weekend with a relaxing chair yoga session on the dock. Later in the summer, Jane and Tom Michalek and MaryJean Schmidt joined Carol McKenna and others for a month-long tour of 10 national parks and forests. In UT they were joined by Michon and Scott Dowling. Your humble secretary was thrilled to join the second annual “Joe Fest” — a celebration of Joe Carey and his group of friends. Joining us at Terri Wareham’s lovely home were Rosemary and Jim Wylie, Steve Wrappe, Ellen and Pat Henahan, Maura and John Abernethy, Lesley and Dave Osborn, Janine and Dr. Greg Rosenthal, Kathy and Carl Cullotta and Joe’s family including his wife, Nancy, and sons, Ryan and his wife, Jillian, and Kyle and his girlfriend, Megan. Ryan and Jillian welcomed son Theo who joins his sister Beckett. Our hearts go out to Lucy (Maloney) and Bob Jones on the loss of Bob’s mother. Ken Kadleck also lost his mother. We mourn the loss of classmate Winthrop “Win” Palmer. May all the families find peace. — Mary Ellen Woods; mew.1980@alumni.nd.edu; facebook.com/groups/notredame80/

 

80MBA Days and Knights

Congratulations to Leonore and Rick Abordo who recently celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary in Amsterdam. They especially enjoyed the architecture and, of course, the chocolate. Rick attended both the OSU and USC games with his former undergraduate roommates, one whom he hadn’t seen in 30 years. Joe Bowers recently sent me a picture of himself and his brother Jim Bowers ’79 along with special guest Paul Katilas on Paul’s trip to DE from his FL home. Upon seeing Paul, Joe remarked that he was surprised that Paul’s hair was completely gray. Without missing a beat Paul replied that he was glad to still have it, no matter the color. Joe mentioned that he and wife Lane’s youngest daughter, Ashley, is getting married next August, but before then they will be taking a trip to London and Ireland this fall and a cruise to South America in the spring. Speaking of travel, our six-day trip in August to Ireland was fantastic. The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed catching up with John Hurley ’79MBA and Len Morris ’79MBA. Besides the game, we all attended both the Guinness event and the Notre Dame night at the 3Arena in Dublin. While at the Guinness event we bumped into Mike Traeger and his wife, Michelle, and the next day we joined up with Anne and Pat Ward at several pubs including Kearney’s Pub on Dame Street and, just a few yards away, Brogan’s Pub where we all stopped in for a pint and some swag to send to our friend Tom Brogan ’79MBA. After visiting Dublin, we took the train to Galway City with the Hurleys, and hundreds of the Irish and Navy faithful had the same idea as the streets were packed. John and his wife, June, along with my wife, Azian, took the ferry to Inishmore and to the Cliffs of Moher, but yours truly apparently caught a 24-hour bug, which required close proximity to a bathroom. No need to elaborate. I recovered in time to take a trip to Doolin where I did get to see the cliffs from a distance, and we spent the night at the Ballinalacken Castle Hotel, which had a lovely view of the cliffs and the Aran Islands. Life’s a daily beach for Victor Yeandel who answered my call while lounging on a FL beach near his home in Englewood while relatives were visiting him and wife Laurie. Fortunately, they avoided this year’s Hurricane Emily, but are just getting back to normal from last year’s Hurricane Ian. Mike Colbert attended the game in Louisville and while in KY visited fellow West Point graduate Hal Moore’s Military Museum in Bardstown. Moore was the legendary officer who led his troops in the battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War. Doug Cooper wrote to say that he is going back to his pre-MBA roots and teaching English language to their newest priest in his local parish. The priest comes from Haiti with a background only in French and Creole. With the shortage of priests these days, Doug says they are happy to have him. Doug is happy to report that he has taken a fourth-degree knighthood in the Knights of Columbus and invites any classmates who might wish to know more or have an interest in the Knights to contact him. Finally, I have heard from several classmates, and there seems to be some interest in a reunion next fall. I will try to gather information regarding the best dates for most folks and will go from there, so stay tuned and Go Irish. — Joe Kearney; 475-225-1421; jos.w.kearney@gmail.com

 

80JD News Begat More News

Retired Judge Bo Scott: “Finally retired last month. Then spend 11 days on Maui with Laura and son Jason’s family. In September, heading a landlord/tenant mediation program and maybe going back into voice/commercials work. Going to ND-Navy game in Dublin and meeting Tony and Cindy Kahn. Caught up with them in Vegas for the BYU game for the first time in 40 years! Let’s have a pint!” Carolyn Short: “I retired May 1. Having a blast! Have three grandsons: 5, 14 months and 5 months. The youngest from our son Travis (a school teacher in Stamford CT and his wife Camille an associate at Baker McKenzie) and the older two from our daughter Kelly in Philadelphia, who is with an international proprietary investment company, and her husband, Quinn, who is a financial officer at UPenn. Joey is a software engineer in Brooklyn and Grace is at U Penn’s development office. Joe is acting in community theater and I am writing the great American novel about women in law (errr I’m trying to) while I go to Bikram yoga every day and hike in the woods listening to books ‘on tape’ with my dog Charley. It is the best! It is so wonderful to hear what everyone is up to. The greatest part of retirement? No high heels. Definitely.” Nick DiGiovanni: “I am working on retiring but am failing miserably.” Mike Curreri: “Renée and I have fallen in love with travel adventures, having spent several months since COVID-19 living in Italy. We have worked hard on language skills and befriended my second cousins in Cefalú, Sicily. With our blessed health, we hope to keep very busy for a few more years. We love our neighbors and parish. Greetings to our wonderful classmates!” Retired Judge Max Griffin: “I retired this July 15 after 20 years on the bench in the Child Protection Division of the Cook County (Chicago) Juvenile Court. I served eight years on the Board of Directors and executive committee of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. In 2021, I became the first recipient of the Chicago Bar Association’s Kilbride Award for community service by the judiciary. We are moving to Texas — north of Houston. My wife, Linda, has family there and we both wanted to get away from Chicago winters. My son is still in Chicago so we will still spend a lot of time in Chicago — just not in the winter months.” Lynn Schubert: “I retired at the end of 2018, and am busier than ever — consulting, serving on two insurance (surety) company boards — one in NJ and one in Ireland, advisor to the group Women in Surety, Board of Global Rights for Women, Advisory Board for my undergrad College of Business, and for fun, teaching 13 group fitness classes a week. The highlight of last year had to be acting as an expert witness for Nick DiGiovanni on a surety case. While he may be failing miserably at retiring, he still is widely successful at practicing law. What an absolute blast. Travels have been put on hold. We lost my dad in 2018 and I have my amazing 98-year-old mother living with me, half the year in DC and half in FL. She is the star of most of my Facebook posts! So absolutely wonderful to hear about everyone’s lives. How blessed were we with this class?” — Sheila O’Brien; sobrien368@aol.com

 

81 They Did It Again!

Our ND-USC mini-reunion was a smashing success as classmates gathered Friday night at Dorothy Walker and Dave Pusateri’s house in South Bend to kick off the weekend. Thanks to parking passes from Keith Sherin, we had a primo spot for our Saturday tailgater (catered and all) and made our way to the game where we sat together to watch ND beat USC resoundingly, 48-20. Can you say “five turnovers”? Thanks again to Keith Melaragno and Janet Bergeron for being the brains (and heart) behind the reunion operation! Here are just a few of the classmates who joined: Mike Domagola, Anne Conradt Wilson, Nan Mullaney, Cathy Klee, Kevin Hawkins, Karen Marley Sture, Dan Gonzales, Donna Leary Smith, Barb Corbett Vogel, Diane DeBoer Salat, Sue O’Laughlin and Bob Kelly, Ralph Jaccodine, Mike “Pro” Burke, Tim Coonan, Ed Durbin, Tom Rumely, Kevin O’Brien, Dan Dutcher, Eileen Tarpey, Betsy Shadley, Anne Fink Roy, Brian Morris, Tim Twarzdik, Mary Beth Sterling, Dan Bruno, Shaun McCauley Corry, Chris and Steve Burgoon, Jane Stoffold, Kay Haubenreiser, Michael Ward, Beth Toomey, Duke Dwyer, Laura Leitzinger, Mike Goodwin, Steve and Kathleen McManus DeGroot, Courtney Shea, Tom Gibbons, Mike Ford, Steve Pasley, Mike Walsh, Brendan Foley, Dick Haynie, John Solari, Jim Veraldi, Sheila Webster and Jo Natale Cameron. The list goes on! Jane Nani rendezvoused with her three ND brothers — Dave ’78, Steve ’83 and Peter ’92 — at the Louisville game. Jane had to miss the USC game so she could attend her 50th grade school reunion in Los Angeles at St. Jerome’s. Jane’s St. Jerome’s classmate Paul Turgeon was in South Bend. Mark Schonoff enjoyed his own mini-reunion in St. Louis. The “Domer Open” has been going since 1985 and includes a day or two of golf and a game watch. Mark’s wife, Terry, is living with ALS, so he was happy to have Jim Buddie (Pittsburgh), John Horner (New York), Greg Ramah (Columbus), Jim Sebesta (Jacksonville) and Mark Fatum (Grand Rapids) travel his way. A few of these Holy Cross Hogs were in Mark and Terry’s wedding, so their presence was doubly appreciated. The lacrosse team enjoyed a mini-reunion, too: Bob Stewart, Chuck Neff, Jack Murphy, along with other Sorinites Steve Reifenberg, Dave Link, Rev. Charlie Brown, Morrie Conway and Dave Bernards. In other news, Steve, teaching professor of international development in ND’s Keough School of Global Affairs, has been awarded a Fulbright US Scholar Award to help create new experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago, Chile. Beginning in January, Steve will spend four months collaborating with faculty across disciplines at the pontifical university, one of the oldest and most widely recognized educational institutions in Latin America. Please join our Class Facebook group to keep the conversation going. You can find about 450 classmates there. And please email updates before our Jan. 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 Football, Fall Weather, Holidays 

Where does the time go? We are now halfway through the Irish football season. I don’t know about the rest of you, but it has been a wild season! I’ve been fortunate to attend every home game including the heartbreaker versus Ohio State, the shocker in Louisville and the fantastic and highly energetic win over USC!!! Go Irish! The fall colors with the changing colors of the leaves was very special for the USC game — many spots on campus were simply beautiful. I’m not able to attend the Pitt game as Sheila and I are in the final stages of our major home renovation that started Aug. 1! I will, however, be at the Wake Forest game with my daughter Stefanie and her husband and three boys. I’m just hoping for warmer-than-normal temperatures for that game — unlike the snowfest we had with Boston College last year! David Weitman chimed in from Dallas where he is with K&L Gate LLP. He asked if I was retired and if that is the reason I go to so many home games. I reminded him that I’m still slugging it out in the supply chain world and loving every minute of it. David offered his firm’s services in the event of an IPO for Locus Robotics — thanks for the offer, David, and thank you for your update! Susan Leopold provided a short update as she too was at the Ohio State game and reminded us all that “some losses are worse than others.” How true! Susan and her husband, Tim, will be going to the Clemson game where their son, Jonathan, did his undergrad work before completing his MBA at Notre Dame! Susan and Tim were also in Ireland for the Navy game. Susan said the game was good but the Alumni opening reception and the Le Chéile concert were fabulous. Even Notre Dame outdid itself with the festivities surrounding the game! Following the game, they toured Ireland and thoroughly enjoyed it . . . beautiful countryside, friendly and engaging people, incredible history, and many, many Irish pubs! So as the second half of the football season unfolds, we are quickly approaching the holiday season. I wish all of you a safe, happy, healthy holiday season filled with joy and love! If you are reading this column, please send me your current email address — several classmates have retired or simply changed their primary email address. If you are in touch with fellow MBA classmates, please ask them to send me their current email address. Thank you!! Go Irish!!— Steve Simmerman; 3126 E. Desert Broom Way, Phoenix AZ 85048; cell 602-524-7662; srsimmerman@gmail.com

 

81JD Class Secretary News

Dear classmates, I have had the privilege and mostly pleasure of serving as your editor for the Notre Dame Magazine Class Notes column for more than 10 years. You may have noticed that we have had no entries for at least three editions in a row, after a history of regular submissions. This has been the result of several factors that have negatively impacted my ability to perform the services needed to do the job. Thus, I hereby tender my resignation as Class Notes editor. Obviously, a replacement will be needed. Anyone interested in taking on the responsibility should contact Eleanor Hanson at ehanson3@nd.edu at the Alumni Association. I will happily offer any assistance in the transition. God bless you all. Go Irish! — Michael R. Palumbo; 4729 Casey Lane, Cave Creek AZ 85331; cell 602-703-0358; bus 602-262-5931; mpalumbo@jsslaw.com

 

82 Travels

Dr. Joe Dicara, a neonatology and perinatology specialist, and his daughter, Mia Dicara ’19 (a first-year pediatric resident), came to visit ND campus this fall to speak to more than 100 students in the Compassionate Care Medicine Club. Dr. Joe is a pediatrician at Northwest Memorial Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. He cares for newborns in their most critical conditions. Joe is also the founder of Chicago Youth Programs, a comprehensive community organization that works to break the cycle of poverty. He started it back in 1984 when he was still a med student at Northwestern. The programs heavily stress mentoring, leadership and education. The organization accepts children at birth and supports them through college or trade school, even offering need-based scholarships. Known as Dr. Joe, Dicara said the group’s long-term effect to help create a brighter future for at-risk youth directly complements his work as a physician. The Chicago Youth Programs is staffed by about 700 volunteers. They are currently trying to raise funds to open a fourth location on the city’s West Side. Please go to chicagoyouthprograms.org for more information. Way to go Joe!! Lee Williams, Fisher Reynolds, Mary Kay Beckman and Paul Pisarki are planning on attending the women’s basketball game in Paris. Former women’s basketball national champions South Carolina and Notre Dame will make history on Nov. 6, 2023, when the two teams launch the 2023-24 NCAA basketball season in Paris. It will mark the first time an NCAA regular-season basketball game has been played on Parisian soil. This crew, also known as the Varsity Crowd, have been loyal fans of the team. Lee is married to Wes Campney and lives in Orlando FL. Eileen Wirley is chief information officer at SUNY Monroe Community College in Rochester NY. Eileen and her husband, Paul, have been traveling a lot this year: Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, Canada (Ottawa, Quebec and Montreal), Acadia National Park, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Well done my friend; 2023 was a good year for the Husseys. Rose Carroll works for the Hillebrand Center at ND. She assists the director and the adjunct faculty who teach undergraduate courses in the science of compassion and clinical communication skills for those preparing for health professions. She loves her job, especially interacting with the students. The Compassionate Care in Medicine Minor is one of the most popular on campus. Rose visits her family in New Orleans as often as possible and her grandkids in TX. Rose and her husband live in South Bend, so please stop by when you visit campus. Tess Vizcarrondo Lewis and Dave Lewis celebrated 40 years of marriage in January: “Our goal for 2023 is to do 40 different things. We started the year by renewing our vows in Las Vegas with Elvis!!!! We are documenting our travels with an anniversary book. One of our favorites was going to Philadelphia to watch the Notre Dame lacrosse team win the NCAA championship for the first time in sports history. Looking forward to seeing many of you at a game this year. Go Irish!!!!” The three amigas look forward to seeing many of you this fall at the Pittsburgh game. Please keep us posted on your whereabouts. Your loyal class officers: Rose, Eileen and Tess. — 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 A Justice Among Us

Congratulations to Fred Isaacs, who has been appointed as a justice on the Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau. Prior to being appointed to the court, Fred was the dean of the Law School at KIMEP University in Kazakhstan from 2019 to 2022. Tim Abeska, Cele (Glacy) and Bruce Baty, Melanie and Kevin Brown, Patti and John Smith, and Carol and I were all in Dublin for the Navy game. We met for a mini-reunion prior to the game, and then joined the other 40,000 ND fans in attendance for the game and other festivities, or “razzmatazz” as the Irish call it. Cele, Bruce, Carol and I spent 10 days traveling in Scotland prior to going to Dublin. Highlights of that trip included tasting some amazing Scotch whisky and attending the Royal Military Tattoo in Edinburgh. Congratulations to Kim (Ptak) and Tim Rooney who welcomed their third grandchild, Luke Timothy, in October. I saw Sheila and Perry Vieth at the Law School Advisory Council meeting over the Central Michigan weekend, and saw Tim Nickels and Tom Veldman at the NDLA Board meeting, which was on the Ohio State weekend. (I’m still in shock over that very disappointing loss!) I am saddened to report that our friend and classmate Pam Mills passed away on Sept. 8 from complications from a stroke. Pam is survived by her husband of 23 years, David Dye. Requiesce in pace. — Frank Julian; ndlaw82@gmail.com

 

83 Good Causes

Please remember Dana Stalcup, his wife, Cynthia, and their family in your thoughts and prayers. Dana passed away suddenly on July 18. Jan Poczobutt has informed us that an endowment is being set up in memory of Amy (Hirsh) Guarino by Amy’s husband, Matt, and the Notre Dame Club of Silicon Valley. Donations may be made at https://fundraise.givesmart.com/vf/AmyGuarino. Albert Gnoza has indicated that Neil Maune ’84 passed away on July 16. Neil started at Notre Dame with our class and graduated in 1984. Chris Davis is traveling to Bogotá, Colombia, with his nonprofit, Building Trust Americas, in November to build a cancha (a soccer field that will also be used for community events). Chris sends his thanks to our classmates who have previously donated toward other projects, such as the building of a stairway used by the community in Bogotá to get through a dangerous ravine. Donations to Building Trust Americas may be made by sending a check to Building Trust Americas, 428 Newton Ave. South, Minneapolis MN 55405. There are numerous posts of pictures from this year’s football season festivities posted by a number of our classmates on the Class Facebook page. Thanks to all who have posted, including Bill Mateja, Margaret (Greene) and Ed Ryan, Mary O’Connor, Patty (Cooney) and John Sweeney, Pete Lawson, Maureen Burns Zappala, Alex Severino, Michael Murphy, Mary Malone, Keith Kriegshauer, Michelle (Schneider) and Art Tiller, and Eduardo Magallanez. Brian Murray has shared that Matt Stolwyk and his wife, Doris, were married in 2022 in a beautiful ceremony in the Philippines. Brian also reports that his daughters, Alex and Kate, have proposed that their dog, Chief, replace Jack the Bulldog as the Georgetown mascot. Brian’s son, Liam, plays hockey for Columbia where he is a team leader in Gordie Howe hat tricks. For those who aren’t familiar with a Gordie Howe hat trick, this is when a player scores a goal, an assist and has a fight all in the same game. 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 570 members and would be very happy to add many more. You’ll be able to reconnect with classmates, 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; 111 Centre Ave., Unit 523, New Rochelle NY 10801; res 917-399-8784; bus 212-537-1781; ldenkovic@gmail.com

 

83MBA Class Secretary — John Hilbrich;

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

 

83JD Wonderful 40th Reunion

Thanks to everyone who attended our 40th Law School Class Reunion during the ND vs. Ohio State weekend. It was so wonderful to reconnect with each other. It felt like only minutes had passed since we left NDLS. We held a Mass in the Law School Chapel on Saturday morning in memory of our deceased classmates: John Ferroli, Dave Halpin, Charlie Keck, Mark Maloof, Jay Moses, Becky Fox Power, Rod Reimer, Mike Ripp, Tony Roth and Michele Zeitler. We had attendees from far and wide. Cheryl DiMeo Lovely came from Rhode Island. Cindy Konczalski Hargitay came from MI where she is leading the life of a retiree. Bill Vertes has tried retirement three times and it has not taken. He is working for a law firm in FL on a part-time basis. He remains very fun. The Pep Boys were all in attendance: Bill Hittler, Mike Kenney and Jim Croke. Bill is an attorney with Nilan, Johnson and Lewis in Minneapolis working in business litigation. Jim is general counsel at Quadrant Biosciences after also failing at this first retirement. Mike is the president of Pro-Life Partner Foundation. Donna Watz Hittler remains busy with work, family and Bill in Minneapolis. I didn’t realize how much I had missed her until I saw her. Mary Beth Beazley continues her work as a professor of law at the William Boyd School of Law at UNLV. Dave Knight is an attorney with Crary Buchanan in FL doing personal injury litigation. Jim Niehaus is a partner and chair of the litigation group at Frantz Ward in Cleveland. Tim Healy continues with this private practice in VA. Rebecca Fisher is a named partner with Laderer & Fischer in South Bend where she specializes in bankruptcy and commercial banking. Thanks for the help with tickets, Tim! Jack Greiner is a partner with Faruki in Cincinnati where he is recognized as a leading authority on media law and First Amendment matters. Steve Miller wins the award for most reunions in one weekend: ND Class of 1980, ND men’s soccer and NDLS Class of 1983. Steve remains with Miller|Schirger in Kansas City where he has a litigation practice. Paul Lewis stopped by for a few moments at the tailgate but was also busy with his daughter, who is a current ND student. Susan Cisle Goodman and Mark Goodman came over from Chicago with Leslie Allerd Donahue and Rick Donahue who came up from Kansas City. Mark is deputy general counsel, property and casualty, at HUB International. Leslie and Rick are both retired. Other retirees include Jay Coleman, Ellen and Rob La Berge, Judge Marianne Lafferty Vorhees and John Sullivan (although Marianne seems to be doing quite a bit of trial work with the courts in IN still). The highlight of our reunion was a class picture with US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, who spoke on campus Friday afternoon and came to the Law School homecoming tent before the game. It was so much fun to see everyone. Thanks for all your support as we planned our time together. Please send me an email with an update on you or a fellow classmate for this column. — Ann E. Merchlewitz; cell 507-450-6609; bus 507-457-1587; amerchle@smumn.edu

 

84 40th Reunion in 2024

Our 40th Reunion will be May 30 to June 2. Mark your calendars now! If you’ve never attended a Reunion, the 40th is certainly the time to do so!! Professor Dan Flannery, one of the country’s foremost experts on youth violence prevention, was named a Distinguished University Professor at Case Western Reserve U. The award is the highest honor the university gives to its professors. Water for South Sudan was appointed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to develop water resources at a Sudanese refugee camp. Lynne Malooly’s team is responsible for water access and sanitation services. They jumped into action and built a well in two days! To follow their progress or to donate, go to www.waterforsouthsudan.org. It’s great when longtime friends can get together at fun events! Jojo (Bautista) Palutsis, Christine (Callahan) McCabe, Laurie McKeon, Amy Stone and Jenny (Grantham) Stein all looked fabulous as they enjoyed the lovely wedding of Rachel (Allen) English’s son. Paula (Ruffin) and Jonathan Autry, Annette (Morrow) Johnson and Rick Naylor reconnected in Willamette Valley with family and friends. — Martha (Burns) Avery; mayoravery@comcast.net

 

84MBA Class Secretary — Dhanraj Bhagat;

dbhagat1960@gmail.com

 

84JD 40th Reunion Countdown

I was surprised as a hearty “Hey Matt” rang across the Aer Lingus boarding area at O’Hare airport in late August as my wife, Jackie, and I waited to board our flight to Dublin for the Notre Dame-Navy football game. The voice belonged to Tom Marek, who with his wife, Senior Judge Lezlie Ott Marek ’83JD, was also awaiting that flight. It was great to have a quick visit with them both. In Dublin, I enjoyed seeing Ann and John Firth, as well as Peter Reilly, his father and his son, Patrick. Peter and his father extended their trip to visit Irish cousins and the Reilly ancestral land. Jackie and I made the trip to watch our daughter Brigid, a junior trumpeter in the Marching Band. Most memorable (and available on YouTube) is the ND Mass of Thanksgiving hosted in the courtyard of Dublin Castle for several thousand Notre Dame attendees. In his homily, Father Jenkins gave a moving reflection on the long-standing connections between Notre Dame and Ireland, while the Dublin archbishop explained how fitting it was that so many Irish Americans returned to their homeland and were celebrating Mass in the courtyard once used to hang Catholic bishops, priests and lay people who fought for basic human rights and independence for the Irish people. Ed Ristaino and his daughter Renata (a high school junior) were on campus to visit Mendoza business school and attend the Central Michigan football game. Ed recently retired from the Akerman law firm in Fort Lauderdale. I visited with Ed and Ann and John Firth after the game. I also met Dan McCurrie and his wife, Donna, at the Ohio State game. They now live in Pittsburgh, Dan’s hometown. Condolences to Dan on the recent passing of his dear mother, Mary Lou. Jackie and I enjoyed seeing Judy Murtagh Schulz ’81,’84JD after the exhilarating victory over USC. — Matthew Dunn; 773-294-6851; mdunn19834@gmail.com

 

85 “Sexy at Sixty” Class Tailgater Report

Many thanks to Nancy Walsh who submitted the following report on our class tailgater: “The 9th Unofficial Unsanctioned Untamed Bad Ass Class Tailgater (our group ‘Sexy at Sixty’ birthday party) on Sept. 23 was fantastic — an eight-hour festival of happy revelry and regression. (The BACT preceded the OSU game, and we see no point in talking about the end of the game.) Thanks to our generous and wonderful hosts Bob and Anne (Parigi) Michels, Casey and Julie Newell, Jerry and Erika Judd, Brian Milligan, Meghan (Flattery) and Jim Allen, Joanne (Madden) and Kevin Finger, Alison Yurko, Nancy Walsh, Kay (Wigton) McBrearty, Connie O’Brien and Clarke Keough. It was one of the most festive and crowded games in recent memory. The weather was perfect. There was a huge turnout of classmates from all over the country. We welcomed quite a few classmates who’d never experienced the magnificence of a BACT before, and they all caught BACT fever and will be back. There was abundant food and drink, much laughter, birthday cake, great music and cardboard celebrities: Elvis (middle-aged bedazzled white jumpsuit version) and the late Queen Elizabeth. We also had cardboard cutouts of a ridiculously fit and muscular man and woman that classmates could pose their heads on for a photo op showcasing their sexagenarian sexiness! Next year is our 10th BACT, and we’re planning an equally special and amazing celebration of ‘bad ass’ excellence. . . . We’d like to see an even bigger BACT turnout next year — all classmates are welcome. We’ll post on the unofficial Class of ’85 Facebook group page as soon as we decide on next year’s BACT game. If you’re on Facebook, please consider joining — the group is Notre Dame Class of 1985. Almost 700 classmates are on there. It’s a great place for classmate news, events info, sharing photos, wide-ranging discussions and fun.” You can also send your information to me and see your update published here in Notre Dame Magazine! Looking forward to hearing from you! — Kathleen Doyle Yaninek; yanzlaw@comcast.net

 

85JD All Good News

This good news column starts with Michon Hinz, writing from San Diego. Both of Michon’s daughters have matriculated at Notre Dame, where both are majoring in neuroscience and behavior. Michon’s oldest, Alana ’24, spent her junior year abroad in Galway, Ireland, giving Michon and her husband, Steve, a great excuse for a family trip to Ireland. Michon’s younger daughter, Michaela ’27, graduated as the valedictorian of her all-girls high school, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace, where she was involved in link crew, cross country, track and choir; established Mu Alpha Theta, a math honors society; and was an officer in the National Honors Society. Wishing both of these wonderful young women a great year at ND! Joseph Shannon has had an extremely eventful year. Joseph recently remarried, and between his children and his wife Lisa’s children, the Shannons have five children getting married within 10 months. Wedding bells will ring for Joseph’s daughters Margaret ’20 and Kate ’13 as well as his son Joseph IV ’14 and his stepchildren Lindsey ’19SMC and Trent. Congratulations and best wishes to all! Speaking of joyous occasions, Deb Hennigan Knapp and her husband, Jeff, celebrated the wedding of the youngest of their four sons, Eric, to his college sweetheart, Alex Krala, on Long Island. Deb is the legal specialist at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, one of five state-run psychiatric facilities in NJ. Tom Lupo is a proud grandpa! Tom’s daughter Claire ’15 welcomed a baby girl — Margaret “Maggie” Grace King. Tom enjoys seeing Paul Coletti at ND games each year, often with their ND alumni kids. I’m looking forward to catching up with John Roda now that his son Brian and daughter-in-law Natalie have moved to the Boston area. As for me, I recently started volunteering with Refugee and Immigrant Services of Catholic Charities in Boston. The professionals who do this difficult work to welcome the stranger are truly living the gospel. Their commitment is inspiring and I am learning so much about this very complicated area of the law. Tell me about the new things you are learning. I would love to hear from you. — Kelly Kiernan Largey; kellyjd1985@alumni.nd.edu

 

86 Gatherings Abound!

St. Louis was the meeting place for an incredible weekend gathering of old friends. Dean Sullivan, Dave Stumpf, Dan McMahon, Dave Tracy, Tom McCarthy, Rob Kill and Andre Hutchinson, along with their wives, came out to visit with Lynne and John Husmann. They took in a Cards game, which Rob did an incredible job organizing. Rob actually got stuck on the tarmac coming in and barely made the game, but made everybody’s night with the set-up at the game. They also had a great post-game evening hanging at a local watering hole. Further east, Holy Cross Hall friends gathered in Pensacola Beach FL for a long weekend, including Darren Aitken (Santa Ana CA), Ted Bennett (DC), Pete Bowen (Orange CA), Nate Culp (LA), Jeff Jackson (Pittsburgh) and Tom Haidinger (CT). Interestingly, all are practicing law except Tom, a career marketing executive. Hosting at his beach house was Michael Ferachi (also an attorney!) who only spent freshman year at ND, but made lasting friendships. Many tall tales, photos and beverages were shared! And one might say the mother of all gatherings took place Oct. 14 at our mini-reunion. Pam, Lori, Chris and I want to thank everyone who came (somewhere around 300) for making this such an incredible success! It just doesn’t happen without you all! Robert Zielinski had a last-minute save by bringing the big boom box and ripping some great music for us. Thank you! Patrick Conboy posted pictures on our FB page. The Class picture was a nice addition at the event. Trivia: Whose face was blocked in the picture? A special thank-you to the one and only Kathleen Burke for organizing our beautiful Class Mass. Several classmates were gracious in volunteering their time to do the readings. Reading the names and remembering each classmate we have lost is always a very special part of our Reunion Weekend. And, of course, a very warm thank-you to Rev. Dan Groody, CSC, for celebrating our Mass! On the Friday of that same weekend, the second annual Jeanie Poole O’Shaughnessy Memorial Lecture took place with Michael Pompeo, the 70th US secretary of state. Lucy O’Shaughnessy, brother Patrick ’87, sister Brigid ’90, sister Roe and husband Steve (both ’90) were joined by ’86ers Meg (Greif) Newell, Kathy Murdock, Caroline Hogan and Molly (Kinnucan) Hoerster. Connie Natvig celebrated 30 years of being a practicing clinical psychologist, and feels honored to have been discussing meaning and growth with so many lovely patients through the years. She is a professor at Midwestern U’s clinical psychology doctoral program and loves training the next generation of clinical psychologists. She said it has been one of life’s greatest joys to go through life with her husband, Ignasi (U of Wisconsin grad), and kids, Lily, 22, and Elisenda, 19. She continues to be very connected to her sister, Renee Natvig ’84, a social worker in Orlando FL. Her greatest surprise is that she continues to be a musician, playing jazz with local Chicago buddies. In June, Niles Bolton Associates, a leading architecture, planning and design firm, named Jeffrey Smith AIA president. Jeffrey has been at the firm for over 30 years, and served on the Board of Directors since 2017. Congratulations! Those on the group ’86 email will know the sad news that our classmate Gary Flanagan passed on Sept. 17 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. We had a candle lit at the Grotto on behalf of all of us in the ’86 family for Gary and his family. Take care and God Bless! — John Spatz; 201-264-2459; john@jjscb.com

 

86MBA Good Times

We have another Domer in the family . . . Dave Sobek’s son David graduated from the U of South Carolina this past spring and began the one-year MSBA program for business/sports analytics. Tom Hicks recently landed at Boise’s Northwest Bank as SVP in its commercial banking division. Erica and J.R. Reid relocated to San Diego. He was sporting some wild ND pants during a September golf outing with Dan Kerrigan. Dan and Tuyet are empty nesters as of September. Carolyn (Anderson) Wells and I enjoyed a magnificent April vacation to Amsterdam. We visited the beautiful Keukenhof Garden, which plants 7 million spring flower bulbs. The garden surpassed our expectations; the foliage was gorgeous and the flowers smelled wonderful. We had a fantastic time and we’re looking forward to another adventure! Let me know if you’re up for a European journey in the coming year. Jorge Valencia and his family celebrated the Irish victory over USC. I’m not quite sure if the team inspires his son Aidan, or if Aidan inspires the team . . . but I’d be willing to bet on the latter. I’m issuing a challenge to those of you who live on the East Coast. Send me a quick update. Midwest, West Coast and international classmates will be challenged next. It’ll only take two minutes to tell me what you’re up to — so do it now. We all want to hear from you. — Maureen (Mullan) Decker; 21231 Lilac Lane, Clinton Twp., MI 48036; bus 586-741-4305; mobile 586-817-1317; maureen.decker@mclaren.org

 

86JD Football Game Attendees

NDLS’s homecoming weekend brought out a few classmates for the OSU (sigh) game. I flew into Chicago on Thursday and shared a Guinness (or a few) with Mike Mulhern, Tom Evans and Tim Tompkins. Mike is retired as a lawyer but is now doing part-time employment consulting and running his nonprofit. Tom and Tim remain in the insurance industry — Tom as executive VP and GC at Kemper and Tim as managing executive at Markel. Both Tom and Tim have had some serious health issues over the last few years but are doing awesomely, frankly looking younger than they did 40 years ago. Thursday evening, I dined with South Bender Ed Murphy at Sunny Italy. Ed continues as CEO of General Machine–Indiana. Friday was the meeting of the NDLA Board, on which Maureen (Watz) Gornik, Beth (Schneider) Naylor, Dave Link and I all serve. Maureen’s and husband Tom’s daughter, Mia, is a senior accounting major at ND, and daughter Lily is a sophomore ND transfer in from U of Wisconsin, majoring in finance. Maureen said she had a wonderful trip visiting Mia last semester in Dublin. Beth and husband Rick Naylor ’85, having finished with college tuition, are now part-owners of a house in Steamboat Springs CO. Steamboat remains the real West, spectacular in all seasons (except “mud”). If you are lucky enough to get an invitation, go! Dave remains retired from Cargill (former chief of tax) and reports that Susan (Lindbloom) Link is beginning the process of (slowly) figuring out how to transition from her estate planning practice. On Friday afternoon, Maureen, Beth, Dave and I all attended Dean Cole’s “Fireside Chat” with US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. Beth was to meet Beth (Spencer) Meyer for the event before heading up to the Meyers’ Lake Michigan home for the balance of the weekend. On Saturday before the game, I ran into Dallas real estate attorney Wayne Malecha and Rochester NY real estate attorney Peter Lutz for an adult beverage at the Morris Inn. Both retain their respective youthful good looks. For ND indoctrination purposes, Peter brought along son Will, a high school junior, and daughter Maura, a seventh grader. Over at the Bates family tailgate, hosted by my OSU alum niece, Marie, and husband D.J. DeLeo, the ND grads outnumbered OSU folks, and included my brother, Chris Bates ’72, and his daughter, triple Domer Sarah (Bates) Grey, ’05, ’07, ’18. Showing up for a pre-game libation were previously mentioned Ed Murphy, Tom Evans and Mike Mulhern, along with Jim Landenberger and Matt Steinmetz ’87. Matt is in M&A in the Kirkland (law firm, not the Costco brand) Chicago office. Jim had the most interesting news of the weekend: he will retire as president of Chicago’s Amalgamated Bank on March 1 and then, in early June, begin an epic, coast-to-coast bike journey, starting in Astoria OR east to Missoula MT, and then across the continental divide and south to Pueblo CO (where I hope to catch up with him) then across KS, MO, KY and TN to end at Richmond VA, from which he will then bike down to see his daughter, son-in-law and new grandson at Camp Lejeune NC. “Pedal, Forest, errr Jim, pedal!” Also reportedly at the game were Rob Kurnick and John Glowacki. Attending the great victory over USC: Kim Reid, whose family had a mini-reunion at the game (Kim’s niece plays tenor sax in the USC band), Tom Lange (he and Tami will welcome their seventh grandchild in January) and Jim Cline, whose daughter started grad school at ND this fall. Like me, Jim is still practicing (in Seattle). Cheers to those of us still recording billable time! — Brian Bates; bbates@abblaw.com

 

87 Class Secretary — Meg Brennan Hamilton; 

meghamilton@yahoo.com

 

87MBA Class Secretary — Perry N. Dellelce;

Wildeboer Dellelce LLP, Suite 800, Wildeboer Dellelce Place, 365 Bay St., Toronto, Ontario M5H 2V1; 416-361-5899; fax 416-361-1790; perry@wildlaw.ca

 

87JD The Grandkids Keep Coming!

Steve Ryan and his wife, Renae, are proud first-time grandparents of Juliet Alexandra Moreau. In a true circle of life, Juliet was born in September, shortly after Steve’s mom, Marilyn, passed. Please keep her and her loved ones in your prayers. Renee Lanam’s household is no doubt hectic with a 15-year-old and 14-year-old triplets. Renee retired from the for-profit world in 2008, where she had been the GC and CFO at Equinix. She now works with a nonprofit in Evanston IL providing permanent housing and supportive services to the homeless. We had some mini-reunions during football season. Tim VerHey, Kurt Weaver and Chip Lewis got together for the home opener against Tennessee State. Tim spent some time in October in GA at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center training ATF agents on how to write search warrants and testify in court. Lee Cameron, Paul Castiglione, Andy Varga and David Gilmartin ’88JD met to gleefully watch the Irish thoroughly dominate USC. Lee fully retired as of Jan. 1, 2023. He and his wife, Pat, have settled into their home in Pinehurst NC and welcome any and all classmates when in the area. Pat Corbett stopped for a visit on his way to a conference in SC. Lee reports that Paul has also retired but continues to practice on a part-time basis. Robin Heath and her husband attended the wedding of Suzette (Nanovic) Berrios’s daughter, Marisa ’17, in Savannah. In 2021, Linda Weaver undertook a significant nonviolence project in Vicariate III of Chicago with Bishop Robert Lombardo ’79. Linda is ready to start another project and asks anyone in Chicago passionate about peace/nonviolence and making Chicago safer to contact her at Lweaver@wcgrp.com. Todd Gale’s son, Brian, was married in 2023 and moved to Brisbane, Australia, with his wife, who is starting on a Ph.D. program there studying the effects of climate change on freshwater systems. Todd is looking forward to a visit down under once they get acclimated. Please send me news to share in this column or in our class email loop. — Mike Gurdak; 202-879-3939; mpgurdak@jonesday.com

 

88 Irish Represent!

Whether we’re taking on Navy abroad or OSU/USC/etc. on campus, our class shows up in force! Many classmates descended upon Ireland, not only to watch the Irish secure a victory over Navy, but also to see the beautiful country and to make the most of what it has to offer. Kym (Orsetti) Furney recounted that she, Jill (Kunath) Lies, Jeanne (Gorenz) Perozek, Tonya Grootendorst, Colleen (Kretz) Gallagher, Moira (Hogan) Mitchell and Kathleen Regilio spent the first half of the week trying not to ruin their rental cars while driving on the left side of the road, absorbing the magnificent beauty of the Cliffs of Moher, the Ring of Kerry and countless old castles and touring the Jameson Distillery. The next half of the week was spent in Dublin listening and singing to Irish tunes in all the pubs with countless other classmates including Carroll Hall guys Ernie Altbacker, Paul Kohl, Al Musgrove, Robb Bennett and Gerry Grealish, touring the Guinness Factory and, of course, cheering on the Irish in Aviva Stadium. Ireland resident John Adams traveled north five hours from where he lives in County Kerry to join with classmates, both mingling with a few familiar faces and making new connections. Both before and after the game, he joined some ‘88ers at the “The 51” near the stadium, where they enjoyed and contributed to an excellent atmosphere with plenty of “craic,” especially after the victory. He observed that Dublin rolled out the red carpet for both Notre Dame and Navy fans. On this side of the Atlantic, Peggy (FitzGerald) Wood kicked off the USC weekend a few days early by meeting Mary (Pedulla) ’91JD and John Lake in LaPorte along with Carol Spils, Missy Lahren, Michele Martin, Ann (Seifert) and Dave McMonagle. With two weddings plus one engagement in the family, the Lakes have had lots going on in 2023 and great friends who were happy to celebrate with them! Braving the wind and rain, the above crew reconvened at Amy Treder’s tailgater on game day, along with Bill Wood and Teresa (Sheppard) and Mike/Coma Meyer. The weekend was a much-needed break for Missy, who lost her home to a flood earlier this year. She lives and works in San Francisco. Carol came in from DC, and Michele had a much shorter trip from Niles, where she recently moved to take a job working with ND through Accenture on health equity initiatives to benefit surrounding communities. Mary is also now working at ND, in the development office after serving in the LaPorte County prosecutor’s office with John for the past four years. Rounding out her classmate-packed weekend, Peggy also saw Susie (Sullivan) ’88SMC and Tom Yemc, who live in Michigan City and serve with the volunteer fire department and sell real estate respectively, Mimi (Sullivan) ’88SMC and Greg/Nash Moore from outside of Chicago and Paul/Jammer Geary from Philly. Peggy is blissfully retired from tax work, and Bill still works for AT&T in Atlanta. Paul du Vair is a classmate who represents from home game to home game, often found under the big tree at the tailgater that honors the memory of Zahm. While he was a Flanner guy back in the day, his son Paul was a freshman in Zahm when the decision was made to turn it into a swing dorm. Paul and wife Deb (Argus) ’87 currently have all three of their sons at ND. Aforementioned Paul is a senior aerospace engineering major. Their twin sons are sophomore business majors, with Trevor as a Dillon Big Red resident and Tanner as a Stanford Griffin. Ugh, we’ve lost another good one. Kevin Kane passed away unexpectedly on May 29th. Born in Queens and transplanted to Kentucky, Kevin was part son, brother, father, husband and all-around great guy. After his time at ND where, fun fact, he competed on the gymnastics team, Kevin went on to earn his MBA from IU Bloomington. Along with being a third degree black belt and taekwondo instructor, he avidly collected comics and memorabilia. His kind ways and boisterous laugh are fondly remembered by his students, family members and friends. Condolences to wife Melanie, son Connor, parents Lorraine and Richard, along with his extended family and friends near and far. — 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 Got News?

Don’t forget to send me all of your news and updates. Don’t be shy! — Lori Merlo Coticchia;lcoticchia@aol.com; lcoticchia@ruffingmontessori.org

 

89 Class Secretary — Kerrie (Wagner) Debbs;

kwagsnd89@gmail.com

 

89MBA Class Secretary — Margaret DeVoe;

612-845-9662; maggiedevoe@yahoo.com

 

89JD Class Secretary — Jenny O’Leary Smith;

312-504-2298; jennyoleary@comcast.net