1990s

90 35th Reunion in the Books

It was great seeing so many of you back on campus for our Reunion in May. Our class representative from the Alumni Office mentioned that it was one of the best turnouts for a 35th reunion in years. Thank you to everyone who made the trip back to South Bend — we hope it was a memorable weekend. A special shout-out to our class leadership and reunion committee for their thoughtful planning and attention to every detail. Additionally, we’d like to thank Joe Fredrick, Scott Paddock and Mike Sullivan for the fireside chat during our class dinner and Mishelle and Dave Westendorf for sharing an assortment of spirits from their Jettywave Distillery for sampling. We look forward to our 40th Reunion in 2030 (yikes!). We will get those dates out as soon as they are confirmed by the University. Lee Whitman checked in and writes that after graduating from ND, he put the fighting spirit that he obtained from Bengal Bouts to work at UNC law school and has been a commercial trial attorney with the same law firm that hired him out of school for 32 years now. Lee and his wife, Amy, live in Raleigh NC and have three children: Hutch (25), Wells (23) and Finn (6). Lee was able to attend ND’s Orange Bowl win over Penn State and also went to the Natty in Atlanta to cheer on the Irish. He is still close with Mike Park, as well as his Stanford Hall brothers Ben Mascarello and Greg Devine ’91. Dave Hemler recently completed a year with Notre Dame’s Inspired Leadership Initiative, which coincided with his daughter’s senior year at ND. They even took a class together — although it was pass/fail so they will never know who was the better student. Dave and wife Laura (Richelsen) have officially relocated to the South Bend area and are both working for the University. Laura in Utilities & Maintenance and Dave at INDustry Labs. Their daughter graduated from ND in May, so they are officially empty nesters. Kristin Komyatte Sheehan received the 2024 Harvey G. Foster ND Alumni Association Award, which honors former athletes for their contributions to the community. Sheehan was selected for her work with the Play Like a Champion Today Educational Series whose mission is to elevate the culture of youth sport for all children regardless of their family’s income or athletic ability. Congratulations, Kristin! You can read more about this at weare.nd.edu/stories/inspiring-through-sport. Please keep track of us on Facebook at Notre Dame Irish Class of 1990 and at 1990.undclass.org. Go Irish! — Marty Falkenberg; 23 Casselton Road, Raymond ME 04071; 847-323-4717; martin.falkenberg@yahoo.com

 

90MBA Keep Those Updates Coming

Summer has been hot so I’m looking forward to another beautiful mountain fall, taking the new convertible out on the Blue Ridge Parkway and watching our Irish football team take care of business and make another deep run in the playoffs. Thanks to those who sent updates, great to hear from all of you! Colleen O’Grady Hanushewsky has been a TA at her sons’ former middle school for five years. Her oldest son, Matt (24), played varsity basketball at Augustana College all 4 years … not bad for being 5 feet, 9 inches. Guess he got his height from Colleen (sorry). Now that he graduated, Colleen’s closet is filled with his school colors, and she laments they are the same colors as Michigan. Colleen says that when her 21-year-old son moved out, they downsized and moved closer to their boat in the chain of lakes outside of Chicago. It’s always good to have priorities. Michael Acho is in his 30th year in the financial services industry, identifying and solving issues for investors, pre-retirees, retirees, business owners and such. He lives in the metro Detroit area and is divorced with three kids — two recent Michigan grads and one still at Indiana U in Bloomington. Michael says the kids are all good and that out-of-state tuition rivals ND — hopefully he had someone good helping him with financial planning. He notes he hasn’t been back to South Bend in a while but did attend the recent Detroit Alumni Club ND Night where he had a book autographed by Rev. Monk Malloy, CSC, ’63, ’67MA, ’69MA. Michael plans to give it as a graduation gift to a friend’s son who plays on the ND lacrosse team — winning two consecutive national championships. Oops — I hope that wasn’t a surprise, Michael. He keeps in touch with a few fellow Domers including Chas Jerich, Mike Buenzow and Chris Craft, and would enjoy hearing from others (as would I so I can keep on writing Class updates!). Craig Thompson joined the board of directors for Esperion (ESPR) and continues leading important work developing treatments for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s as CEO at Cerevance. Congratulations, Craig, on moving to a Phase 3 clinical study on Cerevance’s Parkinson’s drug. Craig and Gina’s youngest, Sarah, is soon to be a Hoya as she starts classes at Georgetown, and their eldest, Kaitlyn, is in Denver doing an emergency medicine nursing residency program. After a couple of years of strong updates, things have been quiet on the update front so far in 2025. Don’t be shy! Please email me updates on work/personal news, kids, ND football game meet-ups, travel adventures, retirement plans or anything else you want so we can stay connected. — Jim Rogers; 1825 SouthPointe Dr., Morganton NC 28655; 336-413-2569; domer8490@gmail.com

 

90JD Short Update

I hope you all enjoyed the summer and are ready for some football! Not too much to report this time around. I really enjoyed hearing from Theresa (Peck) Legault, who shared that she retired last fall after working 23 years for LexisNexis, but will likely keep herself busy with some part-time remote work. Theresa still lives in South FL and is enjoying spending more time with her husband, kids and grandkids. Three of her four children still live in FL, and her oldest son lives in NC. She is also lucky enough to have her two grandsons nearby. Theresa asked that we keep her 3-year-old grandson, Mason, in our prayers. Mason has epilepsy and had been having more frequent seizures this past summer. Due to the developmental delays caused by his condition and the medication he takes to control his seizures, he is not quite walking on his own yet and does not talk. Mason is in our prayers, Theresa. Hopefully, with football upon us, I will see or hear from more of you! Be well and please drop a note to let me know how you’re doing! — Cathy (Pollock) Gregory; cagregory.home@gmail.com

 

91 35-Year Reunion: Save the Date

Start your planning for our big 3-5 next summer. You can visit reunion.nd.edu to learn more about the Reunion June 4 - 7, 2026 (registration opens in January). Maria Jukic and Lisa M. Mruz have both kindly offered to chair the festivities. If you are interested in helping, please reach out to me and I will get you in touch with them. Trisha (Gibbons) and Patrick Marty pop down to DC occasionally from their home in Williamsport PA for government relations work; the couple successfully summited Mount Kilimanjaro last fall. Saint Joseph’s U Vice President and Director of Athletics Jill Bodensteiner has been named to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, organization officials have announced. Bodensteiner joins Kevin Blue, Bob Bowlsby and Kirk Schulz as new members selected to the Knight Commission. “The Knight Commission’s legacy of impact is due to the participation of exceptional thought leaders like Kevin, Jill, Bob and Kirk,” said Knight Foundation president and CEO Maribel Pérez Wadsworth. “At Knight Foundation, we are proud to support the Commission’s independent efforts during this dynamic time of change in college sports.” Matthew Gries reports that he is halfway through the diaconate formation program for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, with two and a half years to go. He will be ordained a permanent deacon in February 2028. Keara (Irvine) Meyercord reports that ND hosted an awesome grad weekend for the Class of 2024! It was very special to celebrate alongside our good friends Beverly (Pert) and Dave Shaw. The last four years have been a blast, meeting up with our families to visit our daughters. For our students that started in the throes of the pandemic, they ended on a high note, highlighted with a special performance by The High Kings. You will still find us tailgating with the Shaws at many games behind Legends — we hope to see more of you, Class of ’91! On Facebook? Join our Class of 1991 page. We have 730 members. — Suzi (Criqui) Mueller; suzi@cbglobalsearch.com

 

91MBA This and That

Greg Jeffery continues to lean into his musical side, playing bass with his band Stella. Check out recent Stella events on YouTube: youtube.com/@StellaBandFargo — don’t miss the excellent sax solo on the first video. Daniel Maus has completed the requirements for an MA in theology from Notre Dame and received his diploma in August. His capstone project and presentation, titled Beatitudes for Secular Leaders, documents and contemporarily applies the leadership lessons found in Catholic social teaching from Pope Leo XIII in 1891 to Pope Leo XIV in 2025. This project relies on a plurality of references to Pope Francis and is a deeply reflective project on his pontificate. Daniel’s presentation can be delivered to parishes, diocesan events, service organizations, educational institutions and business groups who are seeking engagement on what the Church teaches concerning leadership and the treatment of workers. Reach him at dm67@me.com to schedule a talk. Vance Clipson continues to bob and weave, staying ahead of the layoff game as a marketer at Microsoft. He and his wife are now permanent empty-nesters in Seattle, with daughters on the East Coast: Grace is a Ph.D. student at Yale, and Sophie works in admissions at Dartmouth. That means more trips to the Boston area. For any of you that may want to meet up while Vance visits the Boston area, please reach out at clipsons@comcast.net! Vance also hopes to make it to an ND game this year and is looking forward to getting together with Mike Brothers in South Bend or the Carolinas. Keep those updates coming! — Patty (Spiekermann) Lynch; pattylynch05@gmail.com

 

91JD New Book

John Fisher published his third book, titled Win Today, in 2024 and expanded his firm, The New York Injury & Malpractice Law Firm PC, by opening an office in the Bronx NY. John’s wife, the Honorable Lisa M. Fisher, is an appellate justice with NY’s Appellate Division and recently served as a visiting judge on NY’s highest court, the Court of Appeals in Albany NY. Send me your updates, friends. I would love to hear from you. Until then, act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God. — Martha (Boesen) Trout; 12823 Clark St., Clive IA 50325; marthatrout@gmail.com

 

92 Football Season Is Back

As I write this with summer in full swing and prep for return to school, I have a few nuggets of news to share. Laura LaVelle shared a football weekend scoop: Dennis Wolfe and his old college band, The Generics, will gather for a reunion performance at Legends the weekend of the Boise State game on Friday, Oct. 3, likely around 6:30 p.m. They are celebrating the 35th anniversary of their first gig at Senior Bar. The other band members from that era who are performing: David Geist, Jim Siwek, Brian Grunert, Damian Shiner ’91, Jeff Burgis, Anne Heaton ’94 (a maybe) and Tom Huber ’90. Carin (Uhlir) ’96 and Mark Jordan’s oldest son, Jack, is a junior at ND and completed the Entrepreneurship and Empowerment South Africa (EESA) summer program in Cape Town, South Africa, where he spent six weeks working with historically disadvantaged entrepreneurs by providing consulting services and developing business plans. Last October, Scott Fraser and Patrick Klein visited the Jordan family in Atlanta to cheer the Irish onto victory during the Georgia Tech game. The conclave election watch was witnessed by some classmates in Rome during the May transition to Pope Leo. Matt Kavanaugh was in town to pick up his daughter Avery from a semester in Rome and wound up in St. Peter’s Square. Gina (Pribaz) Vozenilek is studying in Rome and provided day-by-day updates from St. Peter’s Square on our Class FB page. Retirement congrats: Cristina (Ortiz) Equivel retired after 31 yrs of public school teaching in South TX. She was awarded Teacher of the Year twice during her tenure. She is now focusing on her aging parents. Check out my.nd.edu to update your contact info. If ever in the Dallas area, please reach out. And don’t forget to share scoop! Love to share trips, job changes, kiddo congrats, etc. — Jill-Beth “JB” Hayes; ndclassof92@gmail.com

 

92MBA Class Secretary — Julie Pendell; pendell.julie@gmail.com

 

92JD Greetings from the Heartland

Congratulations go to Barry F. Irwin of Irwin IP, LLP, now part of Miller Johnson, who has been recognized by Managing IP as a 2025 Trademark Star. Managing IP’s IP Stars is a leading annual guide that highlights the top intellectual property law firms and practitioners around the world. Special congratulations also goes out to John F. Crowley, who is the current president and CEO of BioTechnology Innovation Organization, on becoming one of the Trustees of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees. And finally, special congratulations also goes out to Max Siegel, who serves as the attorney and CEO of USA Track and Field, on his recognition for 2025 IBJ Media Indiana 250, which is a list of most influential leaders in IN. Congratulations to Barry, John and Max. To our fellow classmates, please let me know of any accomplishments or life events going on in your life. We would love to highlight them here. Until next time, Go Irish! — Paul A. Drey; 6701 Westown Parkway, Suite 100, West Des Moines IA 50266; bus 515-271-1765; paul.drey@brickgentrylaw.com

 

93 Class Secretary — Anne Marie (Krauza) Yuhas; 623-606-7000; yuhas93@gmail.com

 

93MBA Hello Everyone

I have not received any updates. I love hearing your latest news about your professional and personal achievements. So, please send me news about you or your classmates! My husband and I built a house and closed in July near campus. I plan on being at most home games. Please let me know if you are going to be at ND. I would love to connect with you!! Go Irish!! — Tricia Hug Schorr; 317-987-5000; thugschorr@yahoo.com

 

93JD More Sad News

It is with great sadness that I report that Lynne (Pregenzer) Hook passed away suddenly on May 11 (Mother’s Day) while vacationing with her family in Italy. As Lynne and Pat (McManmon) Carlson were the closest of friends, I felt inadequate to write the tribute that follows, so I ceded my pen to Pat — what follows is from her altered by me only to refer to Pat in the third person for consistency. I add only that I thank Lynne for all of her efforts in keeping our class together (she was always there to volunteer for reunion planning), and to ask you to keep her and her family (husband Jack, son Liam, daughter Emily, mother Doris and brother Mark) in your prayers. After graduation, Lynne practiced employment law with several well-known firms in Los Angeles, held an in-house position at Hilton and managed her own legal practice for nearly 15 years before joining SpaceX as senior employment counsel in 2024. Lynne truly lived her Catholic faith and served in leadership roles in numerous charitable organizations. She loved skiing, finished the LA Marathon and loved to travel, living with her family in Switzerland for a time, which is where Emily was born. Lynne’s marriage had Notre Dame ties, as she was introduced to Jack, the absolute love of her life, by Jack’s longtime friend Tom Londrigan ’92JD at a Valentine’s Day 1993 dinner in Chicago arranged by Pam (Lyons) McLean ’92JD. Her most cherished role was as a tremendously proud mother of both Liam, a Michigan graduate working in investment banking in NYC, and Emily, a rising senior at Indiana U who embodies Lynne’s beautiful spirit in every way. Lynne’s funeral was celebrated in a standing-room-only service at her home parish in Manhattan Beach CA on May 23, her home parish for decades and where she served on the parish council in leadership roles for many years. Pat Carlson, Debbie (Dufault) Denhart ’93MA and Pam McLean read the prayers of the faithful, Lynne was eulogized by Liam and Mother Gloria Therese (superior general of the Carmelite Sisters) and the entire congregation joined in singing Notre Dame’s alma mater, demonstrating the special place Notre Dame held in Lynne’s heart despite her split loyalties during the annual USC matchup. Lynne will be missed terribly by all who knew and loved her. Her striking red hair, beautiful smile and sincere faith will be remembered forever. In happier news, John Garda was appointed to a two-year term on the Notre Dame Alumni Board that began in July. John is working as a managing director of Longford Capital (a litigation funding firm) and heads its Dallas office. Bill Farrell is also a managing director of Longford and serves as its general counsel operating out of its Chicago office. Mary Yu was also honored with a doctor of humane letters, honoris causa by her alma mater, Dominican U (Rosary College). Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to those who learned of and reached out on the sudden passing of my mother in late June, and to ask you to keep her and my family in your prayers. Please continue to supply your updates — happy or sad — as full columns are good columns. Stay well, God bless and Go Irish! — Joe DiRienzo; DiRienzo & DiRienzo, 116 Saint Paul St., Westfield NJ 07090; res 908-812-2765; bus 908-233-6700; jd1@dirienzo-law.com

 

94 Fast Forward to Fall

The start of the 2025 football season will mark 35 years from our first season as freshmen at Notre Dame. Spoiler alert: We didn’t win the national championship that year. Meanwhile, ’94 Morrissey alums — Dan Aguilar-Ortiz of Tucson AZ, Anthony Garces-Foley of Annandale VA, Ken Gee of San Francisco, Greg Graceffo of Seattle, Pete Kuzmich of Chicago, Karl Mejia of Seattle and Jaime Rincon of Oakland CA (OK, Jaime was technically Grace Hall) — enjoyed two epic get-togethers in South Bend in 2024. Pete won the second Wo Cao Cup in June, dethroning Karl to everyone’s delight, after three days of serious events including three-point shooting, penalty kicks, bowling, trivia, corn hole and more. Plans are in development for the third edition of the cup to be held in 2026. The group got together again in October for the Louisville game. Also in attendance were Anthony’s wife, Kathleen Garces-Foley; their daughter Evie Garces-Foley ’25; Ken’s son, Eric Gee ’28; Ken’s niece, Paige Luong ’23; Carlo Amorado ’24; Greg’s wife, Elisa (Klosterman) Graceffo; and Greg’s daughter, Juliana Graceffo ’26. The group underestimated the Raising Cane’s order … a mistake that will not be made when this group reconvenes for the Boise State game this October. In other classmate news, we’re proud to share that Danielle Walker Merfeld was elected to the Notre Dame Board of Trustees, joining Stephanie Gallo who has been on the board since 2002. In addition to her board position, Stephanie was elected as a member of Notre Dame’s Board of Fellows last year, July 1, 2024. Thanks for sending future updates to ndclass1994@yahoo.com! — Elizabeth Macor Groupp; elizabethgroupp@gmail.com; Matt Cannizzo; mcannizz@nd.edu

 

94MBA Class Secretary — Rodger Laurite; 678-644-0422; rodgerlaurite@hotmail.com

 

94JD Reunions

Mary and Eric Ruona’s daughter Tess and her husband had a daughter in January, so they are grandparents now. Mary and Eric as well as Pat Nagle were at Jane and Jim Carrig’s daughter’s wedding in Milwaukee last summer. The reception was at the Wisconsin Club, which was where Jim and Jane had their reception 30 years ago! The Ruonas and Pat were at that event as well. Our annual unofficial class reunion game will be Oct. 18 against USC. Hopefully this reaches you before kickoff as a reminder of the game. Email me or Jim Carrig for more information. Send any class news. — Doug Duncan; pdouglasduncanjr@yahoo.com

 

95 30th Reunion in the Books

It was wonderful being on campus for our 30th reunion in June. Over 100 classmates came out to celebrate and everyone brought their A game. A huge thank-you to the planning team, especially Steve Cieckiewicz, Alex Welsko and Laura Sterba, who made the weekend so special. Alex did a beautiful job planning the Class Mass. During the Prayers of the Faithful we honored members of our class who have passed away by reading each person’s name. It was incredibly moving to remember and celebrate the 28 members of our class that we have lost. Our class dinner was a great time to catch up. We welcomed Gregg Behr as our keynote speaker. Gregg shared the tenets of his book, When You Wonder, You’re Learning: Mister Rogers’ Enduring Lessons for Raising Creative, Curious and Caring Kids. Gregg was dynamic, insightful and left us all thinking! Gregg was joined by his wife, Yu Ling, and daughters Caroline and Catheryn. Thank you, Gregg. The Linebacker did not disappoint — I have to say we still have it. It was great to see so many on the dance floor including Howard alumni Susan Wassil McDonald, Christine Shafer Hamilton, Jennifer Andre Bader and Bert Bader, Maria Austria Fox and Mike Fox, Katie Gorman Duffy and John Duffy, and Jen Cleary Dewing. Equally impressive were the men of Cavanaugh and Turtle Creek including Marty Attea, Mike Bartish, Sean Bard, Kirk Cunningham ’96, Josh Hartman, Keith Kooman, Joel Link, Brian Mika, John (Babe) Ruskusky, Chris Poe and Scott Schellhammer. Saturday started with a Class cornhole tournament on the lawn behind the bookstore. A shout-out to Steve and family for coordinating. Hats off to Tony Leonardo for winning it all. The guys from Dillon had a great showing. It was fun to catch up with Janet Hathaway Bocan and Jeff Bocan, Ed Dunigan, Mike Kersey, Jeff Lungren, Jeff Goddard, J.R. Meloro, Michael Sofield, Kevin Schmitt and Mike Weeldryer. It was great to see Susanne Cassidy, Bridget Loop Voight, Elizabeth Solomon and Margaret Laboe Cosgrove. A special thank-you to the members of our class who stuck it out for the formal picture — we appreciate you representing. Brian Klem, Peter Larkin, Dan Hilson, Bill Flannery and Bert Bader from Zahm added to the festivities. Saturday afternoon Edward Hahneneberg was a featured speaker during the Fr. Ted Said Lecture. Edward is the author of a biography, Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, Bridge Builder. Saturday evening began with a Mass with Rev. Robert Dowd, CSC, ’87 and followed by a lovely dinner. Go Irish! — Molly Donius Boscarino; 745 LeBrun Road, Amherst NY 14226; 412-304-8469; mdboscarino@alumni.nd.edu

 

95MBA Class Secretary — Renee Werner; 134 Willow Blvd., Willow Springs IL 60480; 773-528-3929; renee.werner@alumni.nd.edu

 

95JD Fall Updates

Dolly Garcia has a new position and writes: “After serving as an associate general counsel at UNT System for 16 years, I [am] vice president, general counsel and secretary of the board at Marymount U in Arlington VA … I feel blessed to have this opportunity for my faith and service as a higher education lawyer to align. If anyone would like to visit this beautiful campus, please contact me.” Kara Murphy Richards updates us that she is running opposed for her judicial position in Renton WA (Seattle area). She says: “I have two kids graduating from college this year and one planning a January 2026 wedding.” Please send your news and enjoy the rest of the summer and early fall. — Julia (Schroeder) Meister; meister@taftlaw.com

 

96 Accomplishments and Reunion Update

Forde Fairchild is an assistant US attorney in the Northern District of IA (which includes his current duty station of Sioux City IA) where he has investigated and prosecuted everything from murder and robbery to violations of the Clean Water Act and farm fraud. Prior to that, Forde served as a trial lawyer in Washington DC, a special deputy marshal and deputy justice attaché in Baghdad and Mosul, Iraq, and a special deputy marshal and justice attaché in Kabul, Afghanistan. He also reports that he finally entered the 1,000-pound weight lifting club with a 385 squat, a 305 bench press and a 380 deadlift, for a total of 1,070, all within a single workout. Impressive! Forde’s wife, Kathryn ’96SMC, and he look forward to taking Frances (age 15) and Patrick (age 12) to visit Marygrace (a rising sophomore at SMC) for the USC game in October. Go Irish! Congratulations to Ryan O’Leary, who was just named the new sports information director of Franklin College. Ryan began his journalism career as the sports editor for the Berkshire Record in MA. He continued his career in and around Boston and Chicago, then returned to IN to work at Blue & Gold Illustrated and the Lafayette Journal & Courier before coming to Franklin. He has also worked in the sports information offices at both Notre Dame and Boston College. He lives in Bargersville IN with his wife, Lindsay, and their two sons, Braylon and Landon. Save the date for our 30-year Reunion June 4 - 7, 2026. Visit reunion.nd.edu for more information. Thanks to those who sent updates — I look forward to hearing from more of you soon! — Kate Crisham; catherine.crisham@usdoj.gov

 

96MBA Class Secretary — Maureen Maher; ndmba96news@hotmail.com

 

96JD Masters in Teaching, Masters of Fun

Jenevieve Jetmore Murphy was awarded a Master of Arts in teaching from Benedictine College in May. Jennifer and Steve Hieatt have moved back to London. They have sold their house in Memphis … but they are keeping their South Bend place, i.e., The Legal Beagle! In fact, even if they are not back for the ND vs. Navy mini-reunion football game, they are making the Beagle available for a pregame tailgate. Feel free to reach out to me if you’re planning to be in town for the Navy game! If you have any personal or professional updates, please be sure to send them to — Christopher J. Spataro; 57027 Wedgefield Court, Elkhart IN 46516; chrisjspataro@gmail.com

 

97 50s the New 30s

This year has been a big year for a lot of us turning the big 5-0. Although I enjoy watching CBS Sunday Morning and going to bed at 9 p.m., does that really make me old? Of course not! We are all hitting our stride and looking better than ever. While perusing Facebook, I am seeing 50th birthday pictures and celebrations and everyone looks amazing and happy. The best has yet to come, ’97! Mike Irvine, G.R. Nelson, Dave Bucolo ’97, ’03MBA, Joe Riehle, Mike Zinser, Troy Phillips, Greg Emmel and Mike Shrekgast ’98 gathered at Chris Regan ’97, ’00JD and his wife Hilary’s Innisfree Farms in Triadelphia WV to celebrate their 50th birthdays over the Fourth of July weekend. In attendance were Megan Pater Phillips, Kathy Jackson Shrekgast ’98, Jessica Flynn Riehle ’97SMC and Becky Varnum Bucolo ’02. Nineteen of their 25 (!) children participated as well. Troy Phillips was the medalist in the golf tournament, and G.R. Nelson took first in the bowling competition. Good stories were told late into the night about Notre Dame, “the Loop,” and the young people were heavily exposed to the music of the 1990s, which can only serve them well. I would love to hear about more 50th celebrations. Please send all updates to — Kate (Fisher) Murray; 1840 Huntingdon Road, Huntingdon Valley PA 19006; kmurraynd@yahoo.com

 

97MBA The One with Updates

Diego Moppett announced on LinkedIn his new position as interim manager at UK Infrastructure Bank! Congrats, Diego! Reactions came in from many of our classmates including Anthony Jowid, Larry Aleman, Bill Asch, Joe Foppiano and others. Tim Coff reports that he saw Heather Drinan in NH back in April, and he and the family visited Yosemite National Park in June. Tim will be heading to the Texas A&M game this September with Katie Wolsfeld-Moll. Anthony Jowid reports he has no real update. At the writing of this column, I’m hoping to meet up with Anthony in NYC when he’s here on business. Bill Asch celebrated his one-year anniversary at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits and continues to have a great experience. Bill’s enjoying the work trips to FL. He and wife Emily celebrated their oldest daughter graduating college with a degree in neuroscience, and their son just finished his first year of college studying music education. Congratulations, Bill! Most Sundays Bill and family have dinner with Jason Parker ’98MBA who lives in the Twin Cities area as well. Anthony Jowid traveled to Japan with Chuck O’Neal ’98MBA and Paul Silva ’98MBA. Ant-man was at the Navy game and got to see several ND MBA alums. I’ve been playing phone-tag with JJ Evans the past few weeks. I hope to connect with him soon. Joy Gaffud-Vaze headed to Madison WI to see the Coldplay concert, and visited Chicago. Joy says that “Chicago brings back memories of ND, especially during those years where South Bend had few options for us. Her 13-year-old son is entering his last year of middle school after summer and is busy with squash and tennis. Joy’s husband, Suhas ’96, is a senior engineer with GE Aviation. Joy will report back on the family’s summer trip to Vietnam in our next Class Notes. Rich Crandall writes that he sincerely appreciates the Class Notes. Rich sold Crandall Corporate Dietitians last fall and is now running his USDA audit firm. Congrats, Rich! Rich’s last two kids are planning their weddings. The Crandalls live in Lehi UT, aka “Silicon Slopes.” If anyone is looking for an inexpensive ski vacation, reach out to Rich and they will hook you up in anticipation of the 2034 Winter Olympics! Stu Fortener reports that he and a bunch of MBAs are planning to attend a game this fall. Stu and I will try to connect in NY on one of his trips to the Big Apple. Stu is an associate VP at Notre Dame. Here on Long Island, we’re making plans for next year’s 20th anniversary of the Comedy Festival. Hard to believe it’s been that long. We’ve been busy with several new projects and venues and brainstorming ideas to celebrate 20 years. Thank you to everyone that contributed to this column. It’s always so great to hear from so many of you. You can reach me via text, email or dial me up. Find me on LinkedIn as Paul Anthony; my cell: 646-584-7340, or email at paulanthonymba@gmail.com. Thank you also for all the positive feedback on the column. It’s been a privilege editing the Class Notes and has helped me stay in touch with so many of our classmates over the years. It’s always great to reminisce about our times on campus in South Bend. Go Irish! Your faithful class secretary, — Paul Anthony Mongelluzzo; 646-584-7340; paulanthonymba@gmail.com

 

97JD Class Secretary — Julie Vales; 973-727-5767; juliemvales@gmail.com; john.vales@dentons.com

 

98 The Next Golden Generation

Stan Evans was diagnosed with brain cancer in June of 2021 and continues to fight the fight. A Chicago-based charity called Brain Up is raising money for clinical trials and general brain tumor awareness. They have their annual 5K run/walk on Sept. 20, and Stan is being featured on their Wall of Courage. Betsy (Lazzara) McCaw reached out to me with a brilliant idea. “Hey Bob, you should ask our classmates if anyone has kids that are following their mom and/or dad’s footsteps and are attending or graduated from Notre Dame.” Despite this reminder that the years are flying by and many of us have children that are now young adults, thanks for the idea. So if any of you would like to share stories of our next generation under the Golden Dome, please do so and thank you in advance. As always, your own personal and professional anecdotes are always welcome. I hope your summers were relaxing and fun-filled and that you may have a chance to get back on campus for a game this fall. Go Irish! — Bob Flannery; rflannery98@gmail.com

 

98MBA The Kids Are Alright

Thanks to those who wrote in with news this quarter. It was great to hear about you and your families. Some of your kids are graduating from college and some just starting the search but, it seems, they’re all on the right path. In sad news, though, you may have seen my recent email about the passing of our classmate DeWayne A. Reed. He died June 25. Keep Dewayne, Veronica and their son Noah (22) in your prayers. Any donations in his memory can be made to his undergraduate alma mater, which DeWayne was very proud of, an HSBC school — Mississippi Valley State U in Itta Bena MS. Please designate the gift “In memory and honor of DeWayne A. Reed.” In June, Julie (Shinners) Smith and husband Tim’s girls (Emerson, 19, and Rylee, 17) performed at Carnegie Hall in NY! They reportedly enjoyed the concert, the sights and a couple of Broadway shows. Emerson continues to study music education at the U of Northern Colorado. Rylee, a high school senior, is beginning her college search with a focus on nursing while she and Tim feel blessed to enjoy their lives in CO. It has been 10 years since Julie’s ovarian cancer diagnosis — she’s still in remission after the initial treatments! That is certainly a blessing!! Krista Mayor’s eldest daughter graduated from high school and will be attending the U of Oregon (out here in my neck of the woods!). Mike Kroeger and his family spent a week at the ND Family Volunteer Camp on campus, what he describes as “the Alumni Association’s best-kept secret.” It’s a week for alumni family and friends to stay on campus (in dorms), eat at the dining hall and do service projects throughout the community during one of three weeks in July. “It was a great way to reconnect with the University, explore the campus and connect with new and old friends,” he said. After almost 27 years, Lloyd Adams left SAP and recently joined Microsoft as the chief operating officer of global enterprise sales. He and Chrissy are also excited to announce that their middle child, Audrey, will be joining the ND Class of 2029 this August! So be on the lookout for an Adams tailgate in the Stadium Lot many weekends in the next four years! Thanks for sharing the news. It’s nice to celebrate with you! — Mark Holloway; mholloway@alumni.nd.edu

 

98JD Class Secretary — Chris Putt; mobile 574-514-3703; crputt@gmail.com

 

99 New Secretary

Hello, Class of ’99! I’m thrilled to introduce myself as your new class secretary. I’m Meeghan Karle Mousaw, a phormer Pangborn Phox. These days, I stay busy with my husband, Patrick Mousaw, and our six children. I also help teach children to read and write online through my programs, Reading Patch and Handwriting Patch. I’ll be teaming up with Tim Ridder (Carroll Hall), who continues to claim Carroll as the best dorm on campus. Tim is the director of teaching and learning for the Steamboat Springs School District in CO. He and his wife have two wonderful children and are enjoying life in Steamboat Springs. We’ve already received some great updates! Jess Fries-Gaither just wrapped up a prestigious year as an Einstein Fellow in Washington DC. This program gave her a unique opportunity to lend her voice as an accomplished K-12 science educator to national education policy discussions. What an incredible experience! We also heard from Jerry Converse ’60, who shared an exciting update about his son, David Converse. David was recently sworn in as a judge in the Lodi CA Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board office, part of the CA Department of Industrial Relations. After earning his law degree from UC Davis, David built a successful career in workers’ compensation law. His early mentor and colleague was fellow ND grad James Cuneo. Congratulations to the Honorable David Converse on this well-deserved honor! Keep your updates coming — we’d love to hear from you! — Meeghan Karle Mousaw; mkarle@alumni.nd.edu; or Tim Ridder; tkridder@gmail.com

 

99MBA Seeking Updates

I would love to include any personal or professional updates for our class, so please send me any highlights for the next issue! Go Irish!— Christy (Hayes) King; christyking@alumni.nd.edu

 

99JD Class Secretary — Steve Boettinger; boettinger@alumni.nd.edu