1990s

90 The Morning After
I’m still in Atlanta nursing my hangover with coffee after a whirlwind 48 hours. Although we’re all disappointed the boys couldn’t pull out one more victory, it was a tremendous season and our Fighting Irish fought hard all year. Despite the frigid temperatures and the game’s outcome, the trip to Atlanta could not have been better. With about a week’s lead time, we were able to find a bar for a Sunday gathering of about 200, and Monday’s tailgater was epic. Scott Nearing, Eric Vorst, Tom Eck, Marty Hull, Mike Hough, Scott Henson, Rich Shank, John Kennedy ’91, Doug Giorgio ’89 and Mike Murdock ’87 joined me in hosting an incredible gathering of friends and family who braved the weather to spend time together, see old friends and make new friends. Rich Shank was the MVP as he hosted 12 classmates at his house in Roswell GA, packed his truck with the tailgating essentials, made two Costco runs, worked the grill for eight straight hours and deejayed the party simultaneously. As I type these notes, Rich is saying his last goodbyes to his house guests as he waits for his sales team from Intuit to fly in to gather for meetings and a team dinner tonight. That’s dedication — to both the tailgater and his sales team! Other good news is we have the championship game tailgate template down for next year in Miami. Shawn Carlow lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Yuki, and their cat, and he is rededicating himself (again) to learning his wife’s native tongue, Japanese, for about the 20th time (it’s very difficult). He is a writer and comedian in LA and just pushed out his first book, called People of the Titanic. It’s 30 comic portraits of fictional people who sailed on board the mighty leviathan. For instance, did you know a well-known mime sailed aboard the ship and also kept performing as the ship went down? Now you do. He’s on a lot of the social media sites (FB, X/Twitter, Bluesky) at @ShawnCarlow and will shortly be found at his own website, ShawnCarlowWrites.com, which will have more information about the book. Our 35th reunion will be taking place May 29 - June 1, so please join our classmates back on campus for fun and camaraderie. Visit reunion.nd.edu to register and view the attendee list. Once again, our Class will be hosting a tent with music, food and beverages. If you’d like to help on-site at Reunion 2025, please reach out to Chris Paul at chris.paul@nokia.com. Additionally, we will be starting the 1990 Classmate Fund to assist our classmates who are in need of financial assistance in attending Reunion. If you are interested in learning more about the fund or making a donation, please reach out to Class President Patrick Olmstead at polmstead@patrickolmsteadlaw.com. 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 No News Is Good News?
MBA Class of 1990, we need some updates! I’m running out of contacts and updates so — if you’re reading this — take a few minutes and email me at the address below giving an update on what you’ve been up to so we can include it in the next issue. Thanks! Congratulations to our Fighting Irish football team for a fantastic season and playoff run. While I’m sure we all hoped this fact would change this year, we remain the last ND MBA class to experience a national championship. I can’t wait to see what Coach Freeman, his players and staff can do next year and I hope that the current MBA class gets to see a Natty soon. There are some reunions coming up for our Class. First, the Class is celebrating our 35th Reunion May 29 - June 1. Visit reunion.nd.edu to register and view the attendee list. Also, a number of us discussed having another mini-reunion at a football game during the 2025 season. A group of us will start planning this soon and send information to Class members through the Mendoza class email list if we are able to pull it off. If you’re not sure whether you’re on that email list, contact me at the email below and I will forward your information to the Mendoza team. I hope everyone is having a safe and healthy 2025. — Jim Rogers; 1825 SouthPointe Dr., Morganton NC 28655; 336-413-2569; domer8490@gmail.com

 

90JD Friends and Football
It was fun following the Irish this past season and even better having the opportunity to see many of you. Rick and I took in the Navy game on a beautiful day in NJ with Nancy and Jim Sticker. Cherry and Pat Fay graciously hosted a bunch of us at their home in NYC before the Army game — it was great to see Rich Beck, Mike Roberts, Laura and John Watkins, Christine and Tom Falkenberg, and the Strickers. Some of us made it back to ND for the first playoff game; others reunited in Miami for the Orange Bowl and then the National Championship in Atlanta — Rick Beck, Tom Falkenberg, Peter Fruin, Scott Hardek, Jen (Hirschfeld) Ryan and the Strickers. It was not the ending we hoped for, but was a great experience and wonderful to be with some of the old gang. I loved the holiday cards this year — seeing the trips you’ve taken, milestones you’ve celebrated and how your families have grown. I heard from Knell Bumbalo — she and Lou Grimmelbein are living in VA; Knell is doing insurance coverage work and Lou recently made a change to do affordable housing work. Their four kids are doing great stuff — the oldest son is a geologist with the US Forest Service in AR after graduating from U of FL grad school; their second son works in renewable energy after graduating from UVA; their youngest son is teaching civics after graduating from UVA; and their “baby” girl is at UVA living her best life traveling the world, currently in Thailand on her way to a semester in Italy. Ahh, to be young again! It was also great to hear from Karen and Brad Grundy who are in Tulsa OK. Karen is the associate dean for academic affairs and professor of legal writing at the U of Tulsa College of Law. Brad is a partner in the Tulsa firm of Doerner, Saunders, Daniel and Anderson where he specializes in family law. I hope you all had a chance to read the pieces about Joanne Chavez and Cynthia Hardy in the recent edition of Notre Dame Lawyer. Joanne has been with DTE Energy in Detroit for over 18 years, currently serving as senior vice president and chief legal officer. She has been honored many times over for both her professional and philanthropic work, including spearheading programs that provide career assistance to underserved students. Cynthia moved up the corporate ladder in various roles, including becoming global head of agency for AIG, then founded her own management consulting firm (Pivot Global Partners) in Atlanta. In 2021, Cynthia published a book, Crossing Meridians: Engineering Disruption to Become a More Effective Leader, and she also finds time to serve in several leadership roles for philanthropic organizations. Truly amazing — I really enjoyed reading about both of you. The Notre Dame Lawyer also featured a nice tribute to Dean Link which brought back many memories from our days on campus. This year marks 35 since graduation. I just learned that Law School Homecoming has been scheduled for the Purdue game weekend — Sept. 19 - 21. The homecoming tailgate opens around three hours before the game. Look out for more details from the Law School and let’s see if we can get a big group to meet up that weekend. Be well and please drop a note to let me know how you’re doing! — Cathy (Pollock) Gregory; cagregory.home@gmail.com

 

91 Natty and the Long Road There
What a fun postseason for the Irish. We didn’t come home with the win, but there were lots of fun moments and memories along the way. To name a few, Paul Lavigne was in New Orleans with his large brood and in Atlanta with some fellow ND soccer players, Rob Little, Father Mike Cambi ’90, Steve Simonich, Mike Connell and Jerry Bodine. Also, Lynn Kadri, who runs ESPN events planning, was in attendance and at work. She spent some time with Rev. Edward “Monk” Malloy, CSC, ’63 president emeritus. John J. Bannan went to Natty with wife Maria Bilotti ’95JD and daughters Angela Bannan ’24 and Julia Bannan ’25. Angela held the world’s largest championship ring in 360 video booth with her parents at the CFP fan fest. Last year’s Leprechaun stopped and said hello at a pregame party. Eamon McEnaney attended the game with his wife, Brooke, and ran into fellow classmates: Ricardo Gonzalo, Suzie and Kevin Kettler, Beth (Weisenberger) and Dan Keegan, and Karen (Robinson) Keyes. Katie (O’Connell) Marsh and crew had some fun road tripping. Included for the Orange and Peach Bowl were Liz (Reilly) Masciopinto, Stacy Farrar, Karen (McIntire) Dougherty, Michelle (Richards) Braun, Elizabeth (Crisp) King and Jen Bonvechio. I’m sure there were a lot more fun sightings and attendees so please reach out and send info. On Facebook? Join our Class of 1991 page. We have 670 members. — Suzi (Criqui) Mueller; suzi@cbglobalsearch.com

 

91MBA Football Brings Us Together
What an exciting Notre Dame football season. Several Class of 1991 MBA graduates headed to the National Championship game in Atlanta. Fran and Terry LaBella, Andy McNeil, Bill Lynch, Tom Quinn, JP McDade, John Abbate, Ed Lang, Missy Sommer and John Rackers met up the night before the game with local resident Don Madda. Tom said, “It was like we had seen each other a week ago.” Bill commented that even though the football team did not win, it was wonderful to reconnect with so many classmates. Rosemary Conlan Braniff and her daughter were at the game and ran into several classmates mentioned above. Anne Heidt was at the game, as was Michael Britt. In non football news, Greg Jeffery is the founder of Catholic Development Group LLC (catholicdevelopment.com). He shared, “I’m sure a number of our classmates are involved in nonprofit volunteer work, which often includes fundraising. I’ve been doing a short-form podcast for nearly two years called Just Ask: Re-thinking Development. The podcast covers several fundraising topics, with an emphasis on fundraising for Catholic entities, especially Catholic schools.” When Greg graduated Notre Dame, he went to work for Tom Suddes ’71, an ND graduate and a former Development director for the University who taught him the “Notre Dame Model” of fundraising, which Greg has been using for the last 30-plus years. On Jan. 10, Glenn Jendrycki reported the horror of the LA fires, as part of his city of Santa Monica had to evacuate. Fortunately, Glenn’s neighborhood was spared and his family did not have to evacuate. Randy Boba said he was lucky to be far enough away from the LA fires and only had ash for a few days. On a happier note, Randy reports that his daughter Marlee graduated from high school as a 16-year-old sophomore by taking a test in CA that allows you to demonstrate a proficiency in high school senior-level subjects. She will get to walk with this year’s senior class. Marlee is the first in school history to attain this accomplishment. She will start at the local community college in February and plans to study to be a veterinarian. Randy works with Mike Keller at a private credit platform and is in his second season coaching the Redondo high school track team. He continues to run masters track and is ranked ninth in the country this year in his age group for the 400m, running his “age” of 57 seconds (and 59/100ths). Randy is only the 53rd guy in US history in his age group to accomplish that feat! Please keep sending updates. — Patty (Spiekermann) Lynch; pattylynch05@gmail.com

 

91JD A Quick Update
Bernie Lau spent the holidays with his family in Vietnam sampling the cuisine and visiting the sites. Catherine (O’Hearn) and Mike O’Neill spent the holidays in HI relaxing. Aloysius Hogan enjoyed the holidays with his children and fiancée, Maria, in Washington DC. Mary (Pedulla) and John Lake cheered on the Irish at the Army game at Yankee Stadium. Todd Edwards attended a mini-reunion at the Virginia game with Mike Rotundo, Dave Reed, Morrison Warren, Shane Smithton and Bob Lennon. Tim DeMasi is doing well in NY and his boys are growing up. I am still in Des Moines IA, still working at the IA Attorney General’s Office, and enjoying being a first-time grandmother to the sweetest little girl who arrived in September. Life is good. Until next time, act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God. — Martha (Boesen) Trout; 12823 Clark St., Clive IA 50325; 515-249-9235; marthatrout@gmail.com

 

92 Chasing a Championship
Some classmates made the news during the CFP. Kristi Busack was spotted in the New York Times talking about her playoff tour. Barb “Pete” Pietraszewski made the South Bend Tribune with her “welcome home” sign for the team. Seen in ATL: Maureen (Nelligan) and Tom Fischer caught up with classmates at the alumni hotel including Carol Ruff, Kevin McGreevy, Doug Clarke, Lynne (Willett) Nowak, Meg Shuff, Tyler (Musleh) Minton, Victoria (Schneider) Temple, Mike Pearl, David McManus, John Coffey, Gina (DiRenzo) Coffey, Joseph Blanco and Mark Rahiya. Maureen and Tom’s offspring Patrick Fischer ’20, Anna Fischer ’22 and Mae Fischer ’25 were in ATL along with their youngest, Ellie, just accepted into the Class of ’29. That is four for four Fischers at ND. PE girls Kristi Busack, Julie Baron, Veronica Garza, Katie McMahon, Dana Babbin and Barb Razzino and a few of the Holy Cross Hogs, Todd Ham, Dan Kloud and Kevin Hartman, had a blast in the arctic ATL. They saw PE (now ATL) resident Catherine (Baytion) Zeliff. One of my fave globetrotters, Yolanda Carroll, met up with Michele Steele, Tish Powell and Martin Scruggs along with other ND grads for the big game. A few Cavanaugh crew reconnected at the championship game: Dustin Klinger and Scott Kluge secured game tickets and met up with Jim Marrone and Johnny DiBartolo. Farley girls Joan (Dimopoulos) Park (along with her son Lukas), Jen (Yost) Graber, Tara (McDonald) Morrison, Barat (Bagenski) Laporte, Madeleine (Castellini) Neuner, Heather (Burns) Martin and Kathy (Mines) Williams made it to the ATL along with Grace guys Mike Flecker, Gil Gomez and Mark Sloan. BP was in the house with Caroline Goles, Kristy (Alkidas) Jacoby, Cynthia Safford, Amy Stack, Gwen (Ward) Farishian and Amy (Adomonis) Bender. Mark Jordan saw Michael Stonebraker ’90 at Whitehall Tavern and was one of 2,500-plus attendees at the pre-game Mass with Rev. Bob Dowd, CSC, ’87. Colleen (Danaher) Contreras attended the CFP championship game with IU husband, Rob, their BC senior Anthony and their Stanford Hall sophomore Andrew. PE’s Lori (Brossard) Warda and Aimee (Grabowski) Frey, along with her husband, Brant Frey, and Siegfried’s Sheila (Dombal) Swartz shared stadium pics. Sorin’s Bill Nichols, Dan Reidy and Andy Cavallari also spent time with fellow alum at the ATL Marriott Marquis. In other news: Megan (Weyers) and Bob Scheibel had a mini-reunion at their daughter’s wedding in November. Emma Scheibel ’20 married her high school sweetheart, Ben Fox, in Leesburg VA with her Cavanaugh Hall rector (now president of ND) officiating. Megan’s PW crew included Sharon (Murphy) Shattuck, Leticia (Arambula) Pazouki, Michelle Chan and Kathleen (Hughes) Richard. Bob’s Grace guys Luke Shattuck and Mark Molloy attended. Daughters Maggie Scheibel ’24 and Abby were bridesmaids. Rev. Bob Dowd, CSC, ’87 also married Megan and Bob 27 years ago! Also in the fall, Joe Whalen, Jen (Finn) Whalen ’93, Kevin Bailie, George Dailey and Mark May met up at the Miami (OH) game with their ND offspring. Mark’s son Nick was accepted early into the Class of ’29 and will join his oldest sister on campus in the fall. Wendy (Shields) Freimuth is now the CFO of DeLuxe Stitcher Co. in Chicago. Her daughter Ariana is a junior at Vanderbilt and her son Zack is playing Canadian Junior A hockey in Ottawa. Tahira (Aslam) ’93 and Tim Probst celebrated their daughter Ginny’s confirmation in the United Church of Christ in January. Kimberly (Mitchell) Lutnesky celebrated two graduations in 2024. Her youngest daughter graduated from Baylor in August and her son graduated from UTSA in December. Check out my.nd.edu to update your contact info. Please send a scoop! — Jill-Beth “JB” Hayes; ndclassof92@gmail.com

 

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

 

92JD Greetings
As 2025 has started and excitement around Notre Dame has risen to a crescendo with the National Championship game, we start 2025 by again trying to reunite our Class, and I would ask that all Class members think about updating your classmates in regard to what is going on in your life. For this month, we congratulate our classmate Max Siegel, who serves as the attorney and CEO of USA Track and Field, as he was recognized as one of the Indiana Lawyer 2024 Diversity in Law honorees. Our law school’s dean, G. Marcus Cole, is one of the three IN law school deans who spoke on a panel at the event, which was held in Indianapolis. Max was also the keynote speaker for sports innovation summit where he gave his keynote address titled “Impacting Organizations, Industries and Culture through Sports.” Congratulations to Max in all of his accomplishments. 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 Hope in Action
Jim Sullivan has been teaching economics at Notre Dame since 2002. In addition to being a professor, Jim is the co-founder and director of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO). Congratulations are in order for Jim and LEO, which passed the 100-project threshold last summer, 100 projects dedicated to understanding and combating poverty. This isn’t just a number — it’s evidence of hope in action. Each project represents a collective impact and commitment to discovering effective solutions. Do you know of innovative nonprofits that are fighting to end poverty? Let LEO know by emailing Mara Trionfero Lucas at mtrionfe@nd.edu and hopefully you can be part of the next 100! Mara can send you the website hyperlink, which is too long to write out in this column. I saw on Facebook that a few of us were fortunate to attend the National Championship game in Atlanta. I’m not aware that what happens in Atlanta stays in Atlanta, so please send me your stories for our next Class Notes! Finally, just an annual reminder to update your contact info on my.nd.edu if you haven’t recently done so. — Anne Marie (Krauza) Yuhas; 623-606-7000; yuhas93@gmail.com

 

93MBA Spring Updates
Hello everyone! It is hard to believe that it has been 32 years since we graduated! Some of you have reached out to me to tell me that you are retiring and traveling. I would love to give updates to our locations (maybe regions) in case we have the opportunity to reconnect with each other. If you would like to participate, please email me and let me know where you are living. Jeff Stark sent me his first correspondence. He said he and his husband, Nick, just moved to LA from Chicago this fall. He retired from his job as a tax partner in the Chicago office of a CPA firm. His husband works in education and took a job in SoCal. Jeff is in the process of starting his own tax firm. He said, “I guess I actually do need something to do in ‘retirement!’” They love to travel and are planning a trip to Asia this summer! Jeff keeps in touch with Kellie (Hungerford) Lintner and Bob Silveri. Jeff is looking forward to connecting with some Domer friends in SoCal. Matthew Majikes shared that he and Linda celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2024. Matthew shared in his Christmas letter that he has been busy consulting, executive coaching and working with political campaigns. He had wonderful opportunities these last few months volunteering with the President Trump campaign and being a part of the inauguration events in January. I pray that you are all healthy and enjoying what you are doing! As I said, many of you are retiring and finding time to travel and visit fellow classmates. If you are interested in sharing the region where you live, I will put this information in my next newsletter, which is due on April 20. Go Irish! — Tricia Hug Schorr; 317-987-5000; thugschorr@yahoo.com

 

93JD Class Secretary — Joe DiRienzo; DiRienzo & DiRienzo, 116 Saint Paul St., Westfield NJ 07090; 908-812-2765; bus 908-233-6700; jd1@dirienzo-law.com

 

94 Looking Forward to Next Season
Almost 33 years after their first meeting at the ND Club of Philadelphia’s First Years’ Send-off in August 1990, Robert F. Donahue and Christina “Tina” A. McAdams MD re-met at an ND Club of Philadelphia volunteer event on July 29, 2023. Their paths rarely crossed on campus as Rob was a management major who lived in Morrissey Manor and Tina was a biology/theology major who lived in PE. After graduation, Rob served in the US Navy as a Supply Corps officer in Arlington VA. After graduation from Jefferson Medical College, Tina served in the US Navy as a medical officer in Jacksonville FL and Honolulu HI. Their lives continued in different directions and locations over the years. Eleven months after having re-met, they joyfully exchanged marriage vows in front of family and friends on June 29, 2024. ND friends celebrating with them included Elizabeth McAdams, ’99, ’01 (via FaceTime), Kathleen McAdams ’03, James Brightman ’01 (via FaceTime), Frank Cantero ’94, ’95, Mike Sullivan, Amy Stoeckl Ybarra, Dinamarie Garcia-Banigan MD, Brian Banigan and Xavia Banigan ’28. Rob’s Morrissey roommates, Frank and Mike, surprised the newlyweds with a “Marry Like a Champion Today” sign which they triumphantly slapped as they walked down the aisle as husband and wife. Mary Finnegan is a practicing dermatologist and owns Braddock Finnegan Helget Dermatology PC in Omaha and has two teenage sons. We had lots of great Class of ’94 representation in Miami to watch the Irish defeat Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9. Seen tailgating were Dave Reinke, Bryant Young, Adam Walsh, John Fiore, Dan Morrow, Greg Larsen, Nicole and Michael Quinn, Steve Campbell, Tracy and Sean Hyer, Sean O’Reilly, Chris Caracciolo, Denise and Mark Bangasser, Dave Dettore, Kevin Wehby, Tedd Smith, Jen and Paul Cifelli, Steve Manley, Terry Baker, Mark Zito, Tasha Strawbridge, Greg Grecefo and Bob Castelli, Sarah McMahon and Matt Cannizzo. Finally, based on Facebook posts and other intel, Kate Bambrick Richardson, Bonnie and Dan Morrow, Stephen Tankovich, Diane Overton, Michael Maier, Matt Cannizzo, James Ouelette, Kristina Crandall, Maura McHugh Starshak, Kevin Murphy, Matthew Metz, Kate Pastore Kayashta, Angeles Beltri, Kelly Dee and Katheriine Eichelberger Decker (who also hosted a pre-game party in her home) — all were in Atlanta to watch our team’s tough loss against OSU. (Apologies if we missed anyone who was there!) Thanks for sending updates to ndclass1994@yahoo.com! — Elizabeth Macor Groupp; elizabethgroupp@gmail.com; Matt Cannizzo; mcannizz@nd.edu

 

94MBA What a Season
It’s been a pretty wild and busy three months since my last column. The Irish gave us an exciting and fun three-plus months of football, and that meant more time to hang out with friends and family. It started with the Navy game at MetLife in NJ in October. Our early morning tailgate for the noon game included my siblings, children, Angela’s brother and kids, and parents, plus Dave Pasquale and his family (including the famous Soprano, Artie), Elizabeth and Tom Buccellato, Scott Steiger, and others. We then had a fun weekend in South Bend for the UVA game with Dan “Zolt” Pezolt, Pierre Nona, Pasqualooch, Kevin Patrick Dougherty and Matt Kavanaugh, along with Tom and Elizabeth. We were also parked next to and tailgated with Jon Langenfeld and Dan Renouard. As the Irish kept winning, we realized a home game in December was a possibility. Fortunately it happened, and we had a great crew in town for the Indiana game: Pezolt, Pasquale, Nona, Kavanaugh, Scott Woody Frigon, Julie (Snook) and Chris Ohlmeyer, Tom and Elizabeth, Papa and Jenner Davis, Kathy (Hardiek) Dougherty, and Katherine (Lafkas) and Mike Mulster Mulligan. It was cold and while we had a couple heaters thanks to Mike, we were forced to take them down and freeze. The game and tailgate were the ultimate success, despite our running out of chicken and hot chocolate. Also, thanks to Bucce for the egg and Spam sandwiches on gameday! The next day was rough for a couple of us. Following victories over UGA and Penn State — and thank you to Shannon (Davis) Pezolt and Dan for hosting us and keeping our winning streak intact — we hosted a plethora of people for the National Championship game in Atlanta. While the outcome was not what any of us had hoped for, we enjoyed the company and camaraderie of Nona, Pezolt, Pasquale, Mulster and Ohlmeyers, as well as a stop by of our tailgate from J. Matt Carr. Megan (Lee) and Dave Hilal were at the game but we unfortunately did not see them. Dr. Spyros “Bill” Stavropoulos ’90 was there too. I highly recommend the Fur Bus for anybody looking for cool transportation. Go Irish. Please let Angela and me know how you’re doing please, especially if you didn’t attend the reunion. — Rodger Laurite; 678-644-0422; rodgerlaurite@hotmail.com

 

94JD Class Secretary — Doug Duncan; pdouglasduncanjr@yahoo.com

 

95 Forever Irish
Our 30th Reunion is May 29 - June 1! It would be wonderful to have as many classmates there as possible. It will be a great weekend to reconnect with old friends, relive great memories and make new ones. You can even stay in an air-conditioned dorm! Please visit the website reunion.nd.edu to view the attendee list and register. I am saddened to share that Carolyn Tobolski Handrock passed away in November after a sudden illness. Carolyn played the French horn and the trumpet in the band and orchestra during her time at Notre Dame. Please keep her son Jonathan and parents Francis and Callie Tobolski in your prayers. The football postseason created an opportunity for classmates to connect and to get a taste of the old days! I was thrilled to head to campus to pick up our sophomore son, John Boscarino ’27, and stay for the first-ever home playoff game. I ran into John “Babe” Ruskusky picking up his son Bennett Ruskusky ’27. Both Bennett and John live in Alumni Hall. Chris Murphy and Jack Minson hosted a tailgate outside the stadium. It was complete with a full wooden bar that Murph manned. It was great to see Tom Hoben, Mike McEvilly, Mark Rygiel and their families at the tailgate. Campus celebrities Brad McPeek and Matt Reh were also in attendance. Meghan Kelley MacKinnon shared that a group from Walsh met at her home in SC for the 25th anniversary of their annual reunion. Emily Linklater Thomas, Jill Matesic, Pam Ryan, Megan Allen Kennedy, Carlyn Gaul Jefford, Colleen Quinn Harron and Terri Castellucci Welter ’94 were all in attendance. The group headed down to Atlanta to Colleen and Brian Harron’s home where they were joined by Maureen Riggs and Shaheen Goldrick ’94 to cheer on the Irish. Becky Hellmann, Kate Comer Helm and Liane Dietrich Paulsen ’94 were missed, but they were all on Good Morning America in the fall for a story about Megan Allen Kennedy and other cancer survivors. Megan was interviewed about friends holding each other accountable for health screenings — which we remind each other about each year over MLK weekend. Our Class was well represented at the National Championship game, and our Atlanta classmates showed their southern hospitality. Brian McCarthy opened his home to Bill Cooney’s son, Rylan Cooney ’29, and eight of his freshman buddies from St. Ed’s and let them take over the basement for the weekend. Brian was joined by a crew from Alumni including Mike Hanley, Patrick Blum, Patrick Sackley, Tom War and Brian Flanagan. Atlanta local Duffy Jones coordinated a pregame party at Fado. It was fun to see Kevin Jandora, Brendan Gaffey and Duffy together — it was like Turtle Creek 2.0. Kevin “Rizzo” Manning made the trip from Denver and Marty Boscarino and I came in with our daughter Anne from Buffalo. Katie Dunn, Joy Hechimovich Donohoe, Angie Gutermuth and Amy Betham War all looked amazing in their green and definitely brought their A game. Amy Shaw Palumbo and Christina Glorioso were spotted chatting it up with Lou Holtz. You may have seen Susan Wassil McDonald on game day. She made the trip from Pittsburgh with her son Michael and met up with her brother Jim Wassil ’91. Jen Andre Bader attended with her daughter Samantha Bader ’22, and Keary Hussain was there with son Danny. It was energizing to see so many classmates! See you at Forever Irish. Go Irish! — Molly Donius Boscarino; 745 LeBrun Road, Amherst NY 14226; 412-304-8469; mdboscarino@alumni.nd.edu

 

95MBA 30 Years
I hope this finds you all happy and healthy. Can you believe it’s been 30 years? Reunion 2025 is May 29 - June 1. If you haven’t already, you can register and view the attendee list at reunion.nd.edu. I hope to see many of you there. What a football season we had; it reminded me of our time on campus during the 1993 - 94 season. I saw Liz and Steve Wilkes at the Stanford game. As president of the San Francisco Alumni Club he was there to present the Legends Trophy in the locker room to the winner after the game. What an amazing experience to share with the players and coaches. They are doing well and he is keeping busy as the CEO at Hutchinson Capital Management in SF. I popped on his Zoom call with Jerold Chagas Pereira and Scott Jackson. Jerry and his family are still in India where he is managing director at the Nudge Forum. Lisa and Scott are in the Philadelphia area and he keeps busy serving on several health care/pharmaceutical boards. I saw Chris DuMont at the Indiana playoff game. He was there with Steve Piron and Clark Darrah. They also enjoyed time together at the Army game at Yankee Stadium together. Chris and his family are now in MD and he is working at Invesco. Chris went to the Navy game in NJ with his son Austin who is an avid ND fan. Clark is in VA and Steve is in the DC area. Happy 30th to the MBA Class of 1995! Please send updates so I can add to upcoming Class Notes. Blessings and Go Irish. — Renee Werner; 134 Willow Blvd., Willow Springs IL 60480; 773-528-3929; renee.werner@alumni.nd.edu

 

95JD Class Secretary — Julia (Schroeder) Meister; meister@taftlaw.com

 

96 Undefeated at Tailgating
The Class of ’96 once again put all others to shame with its fabulous attendance and support of the Irish football team during its epic playoff run. Thank you so much to Larissa Herczeg for the following excellent sideline report: Countless ’96ers were on hand for the first-ever playoff game at ND Stadium to cheer on the Irish against Indiana. A solid crew of about 30 of our classmates made it to New Orleans, along with many of their ND student children in tow. Notably, Karen (Mackenzie) and Nate Ebeling, Mike Hoody, Chris O’Brien, Larissa Herczeg and Matt Jennings, among others, made it to all the playoff games. Joe VanHecke, Matt Duchemin, Eric Schultenover, Chris Cooper, Therese (Deveyra) Edwards, Carrie (Kienstra) O’Brien, Dorie Hoody, and Gia (Giannicco) and Jamey Haigh also joined for the game, and Matt Urbanksi saved the day by showing up with ample Coors Light. Fortunately, no one was directly impacted by the horrific terrorist events in the city. An even larger crew of about 70 classmates ventured to Miami for the Sugar Bowl. Megan Quigley threw one heck of a tailgate, and appearances were made by Melanie (Sissel) Trainer, Tim Regan, Jeremy Akers, Mike O’Malley, Jennifer (George) and Ken Heckel, Tricia (Fanone) and Brian Matzek, Kelly Cornelis, Mike Chiavriolloti, John Giovacco, Rob Leary, Jeff Wigfield, Greg Sinnott, Jacob Bump, Marcus McLean and countless others. From there, we moved on to Atlanta for the Natty. Our classmates threw some fantastic pregame parties and tailgates, including a Sunday night party co-hosted by classmates Mark Counselman, Dennis McCarthy, Jonathan Patrick, Kelly Cornelis and Ryan Smolek ’03, Dennis McCarthy ’67, Robert Patrick ’65, and Colleen McCarthy ’24SMC. It was an unbelievable weekend despite the disappointing result, and there were far too many ’96ers to mention. Apologies to anyone we forgot to list — it was truly an epic showing. Now that we’ve had a year of playoff practice under our belts, we look forward to even better results on and off the field for next year. Thank you to all our classmates who recently sent in updates. Chris Pelic and his wife, Christine (Curtis) Pelic ’97, are both physicians practicing psychiatry in SC. Chris recently became executive director of psychiatry, counseling, and well-being services at Clemson U this past year. Christine is a consultation-liaison psychiatrist at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. Their son Justin, who played linebacker at the U of Florida, will follow in their footsteps and start medical school next fall at the Medical U of South Carolina. Yes, they now root for the Irish and the Gators! They have two other children, Jennie and Jake, both high school students in Charleston SC. Congratulations to Christi Hancock, whose book Unmentionable Madness: Gender, Disability, and Shame in the Malaria Treatment of Neurosyphilis, was published by the U of Illinois Press on Jan. 7. Christi has been a history professor at the U of Portland for the past 20 years and just recently started a new role as academic associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. She and her husband, Tom Rinehart ’97, are living in Portland, with two of their three kids all grown up — one recently graduated from college, one in college and the youngest ready to start high school next year. Finally, if you’re on the hunt for a new podcast, be sure to check out Alex Montoya’s new podcast, What’s Good, which is now launched and available on Spotify! Alex invites our classmates to subscribe and share. Thank you and please continue to keep in touch. — Kate Crisham; catherine.crisham@usdoj.gov

 

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

 

96JD Working Hard, Playing Hard
Phil Mohr reports that he is living down in NC where he has been representing public and privately held companies in commercial disputes in courtrooms and arbitrations up and down the East Coast with Womble Bond Dickinson (US), LLP, pretty much since graduation (28 years). Phil and his wife, Tracy, have three daughters and one granddaughter, and a “welcome mat” at their front door for any Domers who find themselves traveling through the Tar Heel state (especially from the ND Law Class of ’96). Steve Hieatt has been appointed vice president and regional general counsel for International Paper’s EMEA business in connection with the company’s $10 billion acquisition of UK-based DS Smith. Steve and his wife, Jennifer Hieatt, are relocating to England, returning to live in London 30 years after having attended Notre Dame’s London Law Programme in 1994 - 95. Tammy Ramos is connecting with several Domers along her month-long backpacking journey through Central America. Chris Spataro is a proud grandfather of three grandkids under 4 years of age. He loves his “Papa Duty” and can’t wait for T-ball season! If you have any personal or professional updates, please be sure to send them to me. — Christopher J. Spataro; 57027 Wedgefield Ct., Elkhart IN 46516; chrisjspataro@gmail.com

 

97 Champions in Our Hearts
Wow! What an amazing ride this football season was for the Irish. From the lows of the NIU game to the thrill of the CFP, it was truly a time to remember. It seemed like Atlanta was a small reunion of sorts for our class. It has been fun to look at everyone’s pictures on Facebook that was able to meet up and celebrate Notre Dame and friendship. I have a feeling our team with Marcus Freeman at the helm will be in the mix for years to come and we can continue to cheer for old Notre Dame. With such joy, sometimes comes sorrow. In November, we sadly lost a classmate, Alex Saksen. Alex passed away after a long illness. His bright mind, smart wit and fun-loving smile that took up his whole face will be missed by many. Alex had a collection of rather flashy ties that became a signature of his and these were on full display during his celebration of life. Many of his guests put one on in his honor and some took a tie or two home to keep a little reminder of Alex. The celebration brought out several classmates from Sorin: DJ Belock, Chris Gehrlein, Dan Koth, Joe Mulligan, Rich Murphy, Jeff Racz, Mike Ryan, Mike Sweeney, Matt Thornton and Greg Zarzaur. Please keep Alex and his family in your prayers. — Kate (Fisher) Murray; 1840 Huntingdon Road, Huntingdon Valley PA 19006; kmurraynd@yahoo.com

 

97MBA Whew! I Made the Print Deadline
Tim Coff and family are doing well. Tim had a busy schedule attending as many ND games as possible during the incredible football season. Tim also informed me that both Elena and Mike Dion as well as Jennifer and Stu Fortener attended the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 2. They’re all doing well. I’m hoping to connect with Stu some time this year during one of his trips to NY. Anthony Jowid checked in from his new home in CO. AntMan has also been busy attending several ND games and keeping up with alumni friends. Christopher Lundquist contacted me via LinkedIn and promises to be sending a detailed update this year. Thanks for reconnecting with me, Chris. Vanessa Hobbs is now the head of clinical research collaborations for immunology, cardiovascular, neuroscience and neuropsychology at BMS. She loves her job even though her job title cannot fit on a business card. Vanessa has been enjoying some domestic and global travel for work. Her daughter graduated from UCLA and is working in public health in LA, and her son is a freshman at Villanova. Vanessa hopes to connect with classmates this year. Weigang Bo reached out during the holidays. Weigang was one of my roommates during our first year at Notre Dame. He’s doing great, and I hope to meet up with him soon in NYC. JJ Evans and I keep in touch and usually speak every month or so. JJ is a criminal defense attorney up in Poughkeepsie NY and is doing great in his new role with the Dutchess County Public Defender’s Office. Congrats, Double-J! Shout-outs and thanks for all the great Christmas cards Kathy and I received this year. Heather Drinan’s card informed us she’s in VT and her daughter Jess is in Boston. Congrats, Heather! Jenn and Stu Fortener’s card updated us that their son Luke is in his final year of ND’s architecture program, and son Kyle is a sophomore at IU studying sports management. That’s awesome! The Dions’ Christmas card had a very clear message: Merry Christmas … Go Irish, and the card from Katie and Tim Coff had photos of their family skiing and whitewater rafting as well as pictures of some other dangerous and challenging adventures. Kathy and I sent out our own Christmas card with photos of all the exciting places we traveled to during the year … our outing to Costco … our journey through IKEA … and of course our pilgrimage to Total Wine. Things here on Long Island are very good. New projects continue to develop, and we’re anticipating another busy year. Our performance schedules are gaining traction again and we hope to be back to where we were pre-pandemic soon. In early January we had the opportunity to hit the slopes in MA with amazing conditions. Unfortunately I did not run into the Coffs on the mountain. Special thanks to all the MBAs who continue to help make this Class Notes column possible. Text, email or dial me up. Find me on LinkedIn as Paul Anthony or use the cell phone number or email address below. It is always great to hear from you all. Thank you also for all the positive feedback on the column. It’s been a privilege editing the Class Notes, and it has helped me stay in touch with so many of our classmates over the years. Stay well and let’s keep in touch! Go Irish! Your faithful Class Secretary, — Paul Anthony Mongelluzzo; 646-584-7340; paulanthonymba@gmail.com

 

97JD Mini Reunion
We had a mini Class reunion at the Florida State game this November. It was great to see Teresa and Mitch Silver, Melissa (O’Loughlin) and Richard White, Kim and Tom Tuttle, and Ray Tittman. We were able to hang out and catch up at the Rohr’s patio before the game. Brian Harr was nearby and managed to get a photo with my daughters by the stadium. Jack had a quick run-in with Chris Duba at the Orange Bowl. What a fun playoff season it was for Irish fans. We are excited that our daughter, Clara, will start at Notre Dame in the fall. Go Irish! — Julie Vales; cell 973-727-5767; juliemvales@gmail.com; john.vales@dentons.com

 

98 Love Thee
The last time the football team was ranked No. 2 in the AP poll to finish the season, we were all completing our applications praying that we would be accepted to the greatest university in the country. Congratulations to this year’s team and thank you for the joy and pride you brought to all of us and our families. Dean Roy is a commercial real estate attorney in the northern VA/Washington DC area and was promoted to partner at ArentFox Schiff law firm this year. Go Irish! — Bob Flannery; rflannery98@gmail.com

 

98MBA Some Nice Celebrations
With the excitement of the National Championship, I heard of a few folks going to the playoffs, including Tera and Tim Saur, Mike Blaes and a Chuck O’Neal crew at the Orange Bowl while most of us cheered back home. Word has it Jeff Bieber made it to the championship game. Leading up to all of that, Mark Lawrence’s fam and the O’Neals had a fun dinner in NYC over Navy weekend, and a gaggle with Kevin O’Connor leading the way enjoyed game day festivities. If you’re not connected to the class WhatsApp group to share in all of this planning and fun, get in touch with me and I’ll add you to it. It’s a great place to find out who might be going to a game you’re hitting next year. Off the field, I’ve learned that Paul Staun and Liz McCormick have both retired — an occurrence I’ll bet we begin to see more of in the coming years. Paul retired in mid-2023 and has not looked back: “40-plus years of design engineering was wonderful, and I ended with 43 design patents and three innovation awards.” So that’s a good run! He’s living in Cincinnati to be near family and his 4-year-old grandson, Oliver. He also has a 1-year-old granddaughter that lives in NJ, so he’ll be spending more time with them plus some golfing, volunteering and traveling. He kicked that fun off with nine trips last year, including one to the ND-Georgia Tech game in Atlanta, and has Ireland on the books for 2025. Liz retired from Priority Health in January. She is living on Long Lake in Traverse City MI and plans to spend more time on missions with Samaritan’s Purse, supporting local charities and spending winters in Gruene TX. A couple of nice kid milestones to celebrate too … Samantha and Dominic Marshall celebrated the marriage of their daughter Annika ’23 to Joshua Hernandez ’23 on a sunny September day at beautiful St. Mary’s McGowan on the mouth of the Columbia River, with reception across the bridge in Astoria OR. More Domers joined them: daughters Malia ’21 and Emilia, as well as Julie and Mark Turner. Speaking of more Domers, Dan Ferry’s daughter Brigit graduated in 2024. 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 Class Secretary
Thank you to Ryan Costantini for his years volunteering as the Class Notes author. If you would like to volunteer as our new author, please contact beth.thomas@nd.edu.

 

99MBA Visits Galore
I am very sorry to report that Scott Frush passed away unexpectedly Jan. 11 in Northville MI. Our prayers go out to his wife, Christina, and their family. Jason Pistulka has started his own company called StratTech Talent Consulting and Advisory. Brendan King and I were happy to catch up with Tim Kavanagh and his son James at a cross country meet in NJ in early November. Sean King saw Ardo Fuentes and Jeremy Fine at the 2024 Notre Dame-Army football game in NY. That same month, Sean saw Georgette Leonard in Rochester MI at an Oakland U Taiwan event. And, Sean also got together with Chris Schultz when Chris was in NY for legal work. Lastly, Sean and Svetlin Krastev have tickets to see Oasis at NJ’s MetLife Stadium in September. Marisa Fernandez and Michelle Hays had a quick visit in January while they were in Miami for the Orange Bowl. And, the National Championship game brought more reunions. Brendan and I were excited to see Marisa, Christine and Bill Avey, Caroline and Eric Moore, and Michael Swope in Atlanta. And, I heard there were other classmates in attendance at the game, as well. Go Irish! — Christy (Hayes) King; christyking@alumni.nd.edu

 

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