1990s
1990s
90 The Family You Choose
Patrick Perrella checked in, and he’s currently living his best life in Denver and let me know that our classmate Rick Meyer passed away suddenly on Jan. 24. A Requiem Mass and celebration of life was held in Reno NV on March 29, hosted by Rick’s wife, Maura, his father, Tom Meyer ’66, and his three sisters, Amy Winter ’91, Mindy Merchant and Heidi Fairchild. There was a huge turnout from our Class, including Mike Manning, Trip Tierney, Annette Quill, Chris Balint, Dave Prinzivalli, Dianne Lucian, Joe DeSalvo, Jeff Douglass, Kurt Heil, John McConville, Peter Mourani, Scott Nielson, Holly ’86 and Tom Shaw, Mark Silfies and Jim Terrell. Tom Shaw and Rick’s sister Amy were kind enough to share some memories of Rick. After ND, Rick earned a master’s degree in public and international affairs from the U of Pittsburgh in 1992. Rick was deeply dedicated to his family, friends, community and passions. He married the love of his life, Maura Lynn McDermott, on May 16, 1999, in Australia, and they shared an unbreakable bond. Together, they traveled the world, exploring far-flung places and making memories. Rick’s favorite places from his travels brought him back to Rome, Istanbul and Portugal many times. Rick’s connection with his parents and his sisters was a cornerstone of his life, providing a tight-knit and unwavering support system. Rick was also the proud “funcle” to his nieces and nephews, and he adored spending time with them — whether playing games, sharing stories or simply being present. His joy in their company was evident to all who saw them together. Rick often spoke about the family you’re born into and the family you choose. Thirty-nine years ago, the universe saw fit to bring together a group of friends in Keenan Hall who quickly became brothers for life in every sense of the word. Rick was at the core of that group. Rick’s legacy is one of laughter, heart, generosity and devotion. His humor was infectious — bringing joy to every room he entered — and his kindness and empathy touched everyone around him. His spirit of fun, paired with a depth of care for others, will continue to resonate with all who knew him. The stories of his laughter and the warmth he shared will live on, shaping and inspiring those fortunate enough to have called him family or friend. Rest in peace, Rick! Todd Tucker is appearing in the new History Channel show Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny. By the time this is printed all episodes will be available to stream. The show is like a real-life X Files, and Todd is appearing in four of the 10 episodes, talking about things from the history book he’s written, like a secret nuclear-powered base built beneath the ice in Greenland in the 1950s. 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 Class Secretary — Jim Rogers; 1825 SouthPointe Dr., Morganton NC 28655; 336-413-2569; domer8490@gmail.com
90JD Fado and Ginjinha
We have a short column this time as I am sliding it in under the wire after returning from a fabulous week in Portugal with a gang from NDLS90. Thanks to our extraordinary travel planner, Jim Stricker, 14 of us enjoyed a great week in Lisbon, Obidos, Aveiro, Porto, Fatima and the Douro Valley. In addition to Nancy and Jim Stricker, Rick and I joined Jen (Hirschfeld) and Bob Ryan, Christine and Tom Falkenberg, Laura and John Watkins, Carol (Reed) and Steve Chan, and Rachel Hill and Jon Skiles. Apart from a pending lawsuit against Waze for some allegedly suspect navigation, the four non-lawyers in the group managed to keep the rest in check for most of the trip. If this is what retirement looks like, bring it on! Obrigada! Be well and please drop a note to let me know how you’re doing! — Cathy (Pollock) Gregory; cagregory.home@gmail.com
91 Save the Date
Mark your calendar for our 35-year reunion June 4-7, 2026 and please email me if you are interested in joining the reunion planning committee. — Suzi (Criqui) Mueller; suzi@cbglobalsearch.com
91MBA ND Legacy Continues
Craig Morse shares that his son, Colin ’25, graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in finance and has accepted a position with William Blair in Chicago. Craig connected with Tom Quinn at graduation, as Tom’s daughter is also a member of the Class of 2025. Craig’s oldest son, Gavin, is currently serving as an Army intelligence officer stationed in Korea, and his daughter, Mikayla, just wrapped up her first year at Yale, where she’s playing soccer and loving life as a Bulldog. Keep those updates coming! — Patty (Spiekermann) Lynch; pattylynch05@gmail.com
91JD Class Secretary — Martha (Boesen) Trout; 12823 Clark St., Clive IA 50325;
515-249-9235; marthatrout@gmail.com
92 Short Scoop
There’s lots going on in our lives, so I am sure there is great news to share. This is a short article, so please share future updates as you have them. Margaret Roper sent word that she along with Amy (Peterson) Wallace and Jill (Miller) Valbuena enjoyed another annual spring break reunion in Palm Springs this year. We are never too old for spring break! A few more Sesquicentennial offspring are attending ND. A few are joining the Class of 2029: Sarah (Esterline) and Jon Sampson ’91 will have their seventh kiddo, Caroline, join the class. Sarah also noted it is their 25th and final year of having a kid in elementary school! Maureen (Nelligan) Tom Fischer have their fourth (and last), Ellie, starting at ND in August. Seen on campus: Jen (Finn) ’93 and Joe Whelan enjoyed last year’s first home football game with their son John ’28, who lives in, in their words, “the fancy new” Graham Hall. Joe and Jen also have two daughters: Anne, who is a junior at the U of Kansas, and Jessica, who is in her first year of law school at Villanova. Kevin Bailie shared that his band, The Chase, has released an album called Range. He added piano, keyboards and some backup vocals. Spotify search for Range by The Chase. Also available on Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music. Check it out and share with friends! Marc Cerrone walked the red carpet with his brother Chris at the Grammy Awards in February. Wedding bells: Christine (Choquette) Ford sent word her daughter Molly ’21 married Shae Watkins ’20 on Sept. 1 last year. Lots of volleyball teammates, dormmates and friends were in attendance including Kristen (Orlando) Finn, Michelle (Kowalski) Burch, Katie (Kavanaugh) Clark, Diana (Bradley) Stapleton and Colleen (Wagner) Lambros ’91. Check out my.nd.edu to update your contact info. If you are ever in the Dallas area, please reach out. And don’t forget to share a scoop! I love to share trips, job changes, kiddo congrats and such. — Jill-Beth “JB” Hayes; ndclassof92@gmail.com
92MBA Class Secretary — Julie Pendell; pendell.julie@gmail.com
92JD Class Secretary — Paul A. Drey; 6701 Westown Parkway, Suite 100, West Des Moines IA 50266;
515-271-1765; paul.drey@brickgentrylaw.com
93 Rosalia Makes Eight
Frank “Bag o’ Doughnuts” Carrizo wrote that he was long overdue for an update. He and wife, Amy, welcomed their eighth child, Rosalía Thérèse, on Jan. 28. All of their children are in hybrid homeschooling and doing great. Frank has been leading a team of epic analysts at the hospital in Monterey CA since 2019. Busy wife Amy, married 2009, leads the homeschooling efforts and is CFO of house of Carrizo. Frank would love to connect with any classmates who also have eight kids (or more!). He says that large families are awesome … and not for the faint of heart! I couldn’t agree more, being one of six myself. Environmental litigator Agnes Antonian joined Fox Rothschild in Morristown NJ as a partner in the environmental department. Ranked by Chambers USA as one of NJ’s leading environmental law attorneys, Agnes advises clients on complex litigation, corporate governance, transactions, regulatory compliance and land use challenges. Her environmental litigation work spans the full spectrum of federal and state environmental law. Agnes earned her JD from Seton Hall U School of Law. Prior to joining Fox, she was chair of the environmental law group at Connell Foley. Matt Cenedella shared that after an incredible chapter in FL, he relocated to Chicago at the end of April. He took on the role of chief financial officer at the National Association of Realtors, and the move brings him closer to their headquarters and new opportunities for impact. He’s incredibly grateful for the journey so far and excited for this next adventure. To fellow Domers in the Windy City, he’d love to connect! I’m so proud of my dear friend, Sonia Miller-Van Oort, who is president and chief manager of Sapientia Law Group. Her firm was recently recognized as one of the top women-led law firms in MN. As one of the few minority- and women-owned firms in the Midwest, Sapientia Law Group’s founders sought to upend the old model and develop a new one that, among other goals, would celebrate diversity. More than half the attorneys are women. Operations, management and financial matters are handled by women. With annual revenue growing and added staff, the firm has expanded to include a second office location. Sonia’s law firm provides business litigation, bankruptcy and corporate transactional services. In March my husband, Jim, and I had a blast vacationing in Cabo with Sonia, her husband, Mark; Sonia’s sisters and their hubbies, Maria and Joe, and Natalie and Ryan; plus, Mark’s sister, Kim, and her hubby, Tim. We had a fantastic time lazing in the sun, enjoying cocktails, playing pickleball and board games Hitster and Carcassonne, and laughing so hard that my abs are still recovering months later. Muchas gracias to Sonia, on whom we relied heavily to habla español for the group. Justin Fortier has been married for 16 years to Mariana, his beautiful wife from Venezuela. They have two beautiful children, girl/boy twins age 13, in seventh grade. The Fortiers live outside Boston. Justin works as a principal data scientist at Kargo, an advertising technology firm based in NYC. For the last eight years, Justin has also been teaching a graduate-level data science course at Harvard which he developed from scratch! Justin attends both home and away ND football games on average one per year. He and his dad went to see ND at Clemson last year, and his family has plans for a game in South Bend this fall. Justin is active in his local church, including serving as a lector, which he has done since high school. — Anne Marie (Krauza) Yuhas; 623-606-7000; yuhas93@gmail.com
93MBA A New Home
Hello everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful spring. I heard from Corky Vickers. He shared that after losing their home seven years ago to a wildfire, the construction of their home is nearly complete! Hopefully, by the time you are reading this update, his family will be in their new home. They built it out of environmentally friendly straw bales, providing superior insulation qualities and fire resistance. This is a green building. Very interesting, I think. I hope you all have a fun summer full of family, friends and wonderful memories. Please let me know if you are heading to South Bend for a football game. My goal is to attend many more since we have a place to stay with our daughter who works for ND. — Tricia Hug Schorr; 317-987-5000; thugschorr@yahoo.com
93JD Sorry I’m Late
My apologies for missing January, but my father-in-law suffered a head injury and an associated subdural hematoma that led to neurosurgery the day after the CFP championship game and has brought about significant cognitive issues. Please keep him in your prayers. In happier news, many classmates were observed tracking the Irish march to the championship game. Jen (Laughlin) and Ed Yevoli and Tim Rhatigan attended the home playoff victory against Indiana, and Kate Smith, Rosary (Cuello) Hernandez and Ann Schlaffman reunited in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl (and thankfully stayed safe from the chaos). In non-football-related news, congratulations to Ron Ratton who received the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award for his long-term accomplishments and exceptional service to the American people. After 29 years of service on active duty in the Air Force, Ron served as command counsel in the Air Force Materiel Command Legal Office beginning in February 2014. We thank him for his service and congratulate him on his honor. Congratulations to Wendell Davis for his appointment as the US Small Business Administration’s general counsel. Congratulations also to Jim Zendejas for founding Zendejas Law, a practice devoted to representing individuals, families, small businesses and large companies in a wide range of legal arenas from a home base in Colorado Springs. That’s all I have for now. Please supply your updates, as we want to know what you’re up to, and 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 Summer Updates
Kenya (Johnson) Young was appointed president and CEO of Louisville Public Media in May. Kenya joined LPM after serving as senior vice president at New York Public Radio for the last three years, where she oversaw national radio shows like Radiolab and On The Media, podcasts, broadcast operations and audience development. Kenya is a veteran award-winning journalist. Prior to NYPR, she had a 15-year career at NPR in various news and leadership roles. The Young family will fully relocate from the DC area to Louisville in August. Kenya is married to Everett Young, a lead character artist for an animation company in Baltimore, and they have three sons — a rising senior in college, a rising sophomore in college, and the youngest entering fourth grade this fall. Kenya looks forward to connecting with fellow ND alumni in the Louisville area and road-tripping to more home games now! Sean Burke and his wife, Julia, live in New York City with their three daughters. Alexia and Lauren were recently accepted to the Class of 2029, and the family marked the occasion with an Easter trip to Ireland — because what better way to welcome two future members of the Fighting Irish family than a pilgrimage to the motherland? Sadly, we again share the passing of two classmates far too soon. Bob Sayles, proud former resident of Morrissey Manor, passed away in March and is survived by his wife, Angie, and three sons. Carolyn Tobolski Handrock ’95 passed last November and is survived by her son. Their obituaries capture the great effect they both made in the world; please take some time to find and read them. Thanks for sending future updates to ndclass1994@yahoo.com! — Elizabeth Macor Groupp; elizabethgroupp@gmail.com; Matt Cannizzo; mcannizz@nd.edu
94MBA Almost Time for Football Again
I’ll start this column by apologizing to Jenner Davis for inadvertently omitting her from the last column. She, too, was at the Navy game in October of last year. I have been thoroughly reprimanded, and it won’t happen again. As the new season approaches, we are looking toward the Purdue game as our annual get-together with the crew, including Angela (Stavropoulos) Laurite and me, Jenner and Papa, Elizabeth and Tom Buccellato, Scott Steiger, Mark Mildenberger, J. Matt Carr, Megan (Lee) and Dave Hilal, Diana (Stratbucker) and Jeff Cook and potentially others. We should have a good crew at various other games, including A&M, Boise State and Syracuse. Expect to see Dan “Peanut” Pezolt, Pierre Nona, David Pasquale, Kathy (Hardiek) and Kevin Dook Dougherty, Katherine (Lafkas) and Michael D. Mulligan, Julie (Snook) and Chris Ohlmeyer, as well Tom and Elizabeth. Many of these same people will also be gathering this summer in Hilton Head for a week. We are all wondering if M. Scott Aubry will show up? I also expect to see Jon Langenfeld and Dan Renouard at most if not all of these games. Tommy Reyes too. There are rumors floating around that Shannon (Davis) Pezolt will also make an appearance or two on ND’s campus this fall. We shall see. Thanks to Jenner for passing along some classmate news. Congratulations are to Michal Fandel, who was named Coach of the Year for the East Zone USArtistic Swim, coaching the Lyons Artistic Swim Team in Attleboro MA. Amazing stuff. I’m still highly recommending the Fur Bus for anybody looking for cool transportation in Atlanta. I’m hoping to see Charles Oliva, Brian Carroll, Craig Hartman, Phil Neri, Jon Sharkey, Mark Murphy, Cam Johnson, Molly Hoyt, Danielle (Sabin) Rushing, Julie (Ying) Sheng and Mark Lambert too. And everybody else in our Class. Go Irish. Please let Angela and me know how you’re doing, especially if you didn’t attend the reunion. — Rodger Laurite; 678-644-0422; rodgerlaurite@hotmail.com
94JD Reunions
Sheila and Ashok Tripathi were able to meet up with Paul Eaton at the national championship game in Atlanta in January. A few months prior to that we had our annual unofficial reunion game vs. Florida State. Kathleen (Rice) and John Mosier graciously hosted the tailgate. They live in Granger and Kathleen remains on the adjunct faculty at the Law School. Sue Tran and Jim Frasher attended with their daughter Abby. Jim is at Northwestern Mutual and Sue retired from S.C. Johnson & Son. Scott Arakaki won the prize (no cash value) for farthest attendee (HI!), as he made his first trip back to campus since graduation. Zhidong Wang was in from Chicago. Cathy (Quinlan) and Colm Heaney were there to help spot their two football manager sons on the big screen during the game. Michelle and Dan Mancias were there from Springfield IL; Ricardo King and family were in from Toledo OH. Aldous McCrory and his son attended. Vicki and Stuart Parsell were there together with kids and two grandkids. The Parsell grandkids received accolades for sleeping in the stadium despite the constant barrage of noise from Lord Jumbotron. Seja and Mike Bosnic attended — the first meet-up between Mike and Jim Frasher, who lived together for two years during law school, since graduation. Bosnic’s son, a law student at MSU, was also at the game. Gretchen and Frank Pimentel and three of their five kids were there, including newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Thomas Pimentel, US Army, grad of Texas A&M. Frank’s sons at Alabama and West Point were the “missing” Pimentels. Loretta and Paul Fulkerson were there from Indianapolis. Stacey and Rick Alvarez were in from FL. Bob Pomper attended from Kalamazoo MI. Our annual unofficial reunion this year will be the USC game Oct. 18. Please contact Jim Carrig or myself for meetup information, and as always, send any Class news or updates. — Doug Duncan; pdouglasduncanjr@yahoo.com
95 A Lotta Cannata
Thank you to all who reached out with updates. It is so much fun to hear from everyone. David Mahoney married a pharmacist from VA in October 2024, his first marriage at 51! He moved to the Central Coast of CA (San Luis Obispo) in 2024 to accept a position as family medicine residency program director at a local hospital. Shannon Dunn continues to live and work in her hometown of McMinnville OR. She works at Linfield U in both international programs and the exercise science department. Her husband, Casey Rich, a middle school teacher, and kids Adeline (19) and Griffin (15) embrace the Pacific Northwest life. Shannon and her bestie, Cheryl Healy, are headed to Kauai soon to live it up for a week. Angie Roby Maersch checked in. She lives in Denver and is head of marketing at RiseWell. Jeanne-Marie McElroy Buccellato and Scott Buccellato live in Garden City NY and opened Chick-fil-A Westbury and are opening a second restaurant in East Meadow, Chick-fil-A Eisenhower Park. Their daughter, Colleen, graduated from Villanova, son Ryan is a junior at SMU and son Will is a freshman at Garden City High School. They see Christina Glorioso, as she lives 20 minutes away, and Shelly and Brendan Gaffey in TX when visiting Ryan. Kelly O’Neill Moller was re-elected to her fourth term in the MN House of Representatives, where she co-chairs the Public Safety and Ethics Committees. Kevin Moller is a project manager at Boston Scientific. They have two sons; one graduated from ND in 2023. Aimee Terry Bergan and Joe Bergan’s oldest son, Tripp, is a freshman in the Gateway program. They have loved football season, tailgating and catching up with many friends. The highlight was the Orange Bowl, where they reconnected with Brooke Brandes Warren, Matt Wood, Greg Nordhoff, Mike Robson and Sarah Badger Cullinan. Michelle Dolan Blair lives in Manhattan with husband Jaison Blair and three children, Jackson (19), Madeline (17) and Jordan (12). Jackson will be attending Notre Dame in the Class of ’29. Michelle returned to campus for the admitted students rally and was amazed at all the changes. Anthony “Esse” Arellanes has successfully survived prostate cancer and 50 radiation treatments with cancer undetectable in his PSA. We are so glad you are well. Stacey and Brad Hunter live in Vienna, Austria, where Brad serves as pastor of an international church. They have three adult children: Luke (26), Abigail (24) and Levi (21). Their son Luke and his wife, Anna, welcomed their first child — Brad’s first grandchild — Siegfried “Ziggy” Hunter on Oct. 23, 2024. Dejka Arujo wrote that this past summer Jane Oesterle Werling and Chris Werling’s oldest daughter, Grace Werling ’25, worked with her as a research intern. It was the first time she met Grace and she reminded her of her mom and herself, and she shared how beautiful it is to be part of the Notre Dame family. Greg Cannata served the country and Army for 25 years, retiring as a colonel. He is now the director of family life and faith formation at St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church in Jensen Beach FL. With his lifetime of service to God, Country, Notre Dame, he remains equally devoted to his wife of 29 years, Natalie Cannata, and their three sons — two are in the Army and the third, Justin Cannata ’27, is in Dillon Hall. He attended our delayed 25th Reunion in 2022, which coincided with the 50th Reunion for his father, Greg Cannata ’72; the 50th Golden Anniversary of Women at Notre Dame for his mother, Lucy Eberhardt Cannata ’82; the delayed 25th Reunion for his sister Rachel Cannata ’96; and the 25th Reunion for sister Rebecca Cannata ’97. It was an amazing weekend for the Cannata family. Now that’s a lotta Cannata! — 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 Campus Returns
Leslee Lewis is deeply involved at ND these days; she’s co-chairing the ND Club of Grand Rapids and her younger son is at ND in the mechanical and aeronautical engineering Ph.D. program. Kara Murphy Richards is running to maintain her judicial position in WA State, for one more term before retirement for the winters at her family’s Port Charlotte FL home. Bob Boldt is also connected to campus; he and his wife, Laura, drove back to ND from CA for the FSU game to visit their son Peter (an ND undergrad) with their 160-pound bloodhound, Maggie, along for the ride. The Boldts met up at ND with John Dakoske and his wife, Amy, and son Michael. Editor (Julia Meister)’s note: My husband, Mike, and I have visited campus from KY with our two standard goldendoodles who, like the Boldt bloodhound, really enjoyed their time exploring near the Dome! Have a wonderful summer and please pass along news to meister@taftlaw.com. — Julia (Schroeder) Meister; meister@taftlaw.com
96 Save the Date
Mark your calendar for our 30-year reunion June 4 - 7, 2026 and please email me if you are interested in joining the reunion planning committee. — Kate Crisham; catherine.crisham@usdoj.gov
96MBA Class Secretary — Maureen Maher; ndmba96news@hotmail.com
96JD One Outta Three Ain’t Bad
Meighan (Templin) Harmon continues to practice family law in Chicago. She and Frank are enjoying their empty nest. They were unable to convince their daughter of the appeal of South Bend, so she is breaking her mother’s heart at Boston College (Please let Meighan know if you plan to make the ND/BC game this fall). She made it back for her first post-Covid football game in October and had a lot of fun connecting with several NDLS96 friends. She was also able to have dinner with the Hieatts before their second “London Era” began in February. Dave Nozick is still at the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of IN, prosecuting large gang RICO cases. He is cautiously optimistic that he will be able to continue to fight crime, because that’s all he really knows how to do. At the risk of sounding snarky or political, he is wondering if he should include writing this email in his five-bullet-point email next Monday to DOGE about what he did this week. He is open to advice from any fellow fed classmates out there. Last week, Dave went to Boston, where he went on consecutive nights to Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics games. Chris Bruno, Chris Bartoli, Chris Spataro, Gary Anderson and Ed Perdue will all likely be happy to hear that the Red Sox lost in extra innings. Maureen and Jill may also gloat that their lowly Blackhawks crushed Dave’s lowly Bruins. Celtics won, though! Dave reports that he isn’t too salty about the losses and is kind of enjoying writing about himself in the third person. Jodi and Chris Spataro were presented with the Blue Heart Award for the Boys & Girls Club of Elkhart County. The award is presented to community citizens who support the children and programming of the local club. If you are interested in ND vs. Navy football tickets in our “Class block” this fall, please let me know ASAP. If you have any personal or professional updates, please be sure to send them to me. — Christopher J. Spataro; 57027 Wedgefield Court, Elkhart IN 46516; chrisjspataro@gmail.com
97 JPW Memories
I was lucky enough to be back on campus this past winter for JPW and it really brought back so many great memories with friends and their parents from our very own 27 years ago. We are not getting older but aging gracefully. Frigid temperatures and snow did not deter anyone from heading to the bars with their son or daughter. It was a nice touch that parents did not have to pay the covers at the bar. So kind of them to give the parents a break! Colleen (Duffy) and Brian Klausner live in Raleigh NC where Brian works as a public health physician. He just released a book, In the Gaps: Better Understanding the Expensive Human Suffering of Chronic Homelessness, that became an Amazon top new release in medicine. Make sure to check it out and use your Prime Delivery so you can start it as quickly as possible. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer months and taking a chance to relax and enjoy those around you. Please send all updates to — Kate (Fisher) Murray; 1840 Huntingdon Road, Huntingdon Valley PA 19006; kmurraynd@yahoo.com
97MBA Updates on Some of You
Tim Coff went to the championship game in Atlanta with Mary Beth Pinard. Mary Beth also saw Mary Hyder in ATL while there. At the game they met up with Stu Fortener. In January Tim and family traveled to NH and visited with Heather Drinan. Tim also made it to the Orange Bowl in Miami with Katie Wolsfeld as well as Jen and Stu Fortener. Tim and son Charlie went to the ND vs. Wake Forest basketball game and attended the Masters too! Anthony Jowid checked in. He’s doing great living back in CO. J.J. Evans is up in beautiful Poughkeepsie NY practicing law as a public defender. It was so great receiving an update from Kellyanne Keeley Bezjak. Kellyanne is back living in MI after two great years in England. She reports that she enjoyed every moment of the home playoff game in December, and being back on campus. It was her first time back since 2021. Ram Lakshi Lakshmanan responded to my email informing me he had no key updates to report. Ram is a managing partner and CEO at Lending Advisory Solutions in St. Louis where he advises large, medium and boutique banks, cards and consumer lending clients on all business aspects. Ram has a 100% client retention rate. Joy Gaffud-Vaze is in Cincinnati OH and is the consumer and regional commercial credit and operations director for The Huntington National Bank. Over spring break Joy visited her brother in Paris where they visited the Catacombs, and she described it as creepy, with millions of skeletons and skulls in underground Paris. Joy also enjoyed a few days in Berlin and Hamburg, Germany, describing the food in Europe as unbeatable. Any Domers visiting Cincy, Joy wants to meet up! 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. It would be great to hear from more of our classmates such as Ryan Baker, John Dombrosky, Joe Foppiano, Charlie James, Grant Greig, Audrius Balaisis, Leisl and Chris Ludwig, Julie (Meadows) Visconsi, Joe Fanning, Maria Kicheeva, Tenque Shahrudding, Qun Cao, Jimmy Whited, Shawn Beals, Kerry McInerney, Thomas Howard, Tom Traynor, Larry Aleman, Marileen Koppenberg, Ed Midden, Paul Pertusi, Guido Gerstl, Kathleen Noble, Bill Asch, Tim Gleeson and Brad Carraway. Just reach out to 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. 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 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 Sroka on the Move
Scott Sroka has joined Phillips Lytle LLP in Buffalo, NY, as Special Counsel in the firm’s litigation practice group. In April, Scott brought 15 pre-law students from Canisius U to Washington DC, where they attended an oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court and had the opportunity to meet with classmate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Please check in with our class Facebook page and send me any news. — Julie Vales; cell 973-727-5767; juliemvales@gmail.com; john.vales@dentons.com
98 Class Secretary — Bob Flannery; rflannery98@gmail.com
98MBA Class Secretary — Mark Holloway; mholloway@alumni.nd.edu
98JD Class Secretary — Chris Putt; mobile 574-514-3703; crputt@gmail.com
99 Remembering Lee
Unfortunately, I have sad news to share. Lee (Gill) Eberlein passed away in January. In addition to being a PW “Purple Weasel,” Lee also competed as a high jumper on the track and field team. Her many ND friends fondly remember their time spent with Lee, laughing together in the dorm, dressing up in silly outfits, studying in the study lounge (some more than others) and having late-night talks while listening to Tracy Chapman. After graduation, Lee earned her master’s degree from Indiana U and dedicated her career to helping others as a school social worker for the Edwardsburg MI public school system. Without a doubt, her greatest and most cherished role was being a loving mother to her five beautiful children (Aubrey, Owen, Mya, Anna and Morgan). Lee’s kindness and unwavering generosity left a lasting impact on everyone she met, and she will be deeply missed. May her memory be a blessing — Lee will always be a member of the Class of 1999. On a happier note, I am pleased to report that Brandon Roach will become the University’s vice president and Robert K. Johnson General Counsel, effective June 1. Brandon joined the University’s Office of General Counsel in 2010, and prior to that, served as senior adviser to the University’s provost after earning his law degree from Yale Law School, clerking a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals judge, and practicing law in Houston. Congratulations, Brandon! Keeping with the legal career advancement theme, I am also pleased to report that Michael Green has joined the Fort Myers FL office of Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A., as a senior associate in the Workers’ Compensation Department. Michael has been in practice for over 15 years and focuses his practice on defending employers, insurance carriers and self-insured entities against workers’ compensation claims throughout FL. Congratulations, Michael! — Ryan D. Costantini; 414 S. Notre Dame Ave., South Bend IN 46617; mobile: 574-339-8050; ryan.costantini@gmail.com
99MBA Visits Galore
Valerie Woolsey wrote in to say she, Monty James and Yumiko Yao recently got together in Carlsbad CA. Let me know if there are more classmates meeting up during the upcoming football season. — Christy (Hayes) King; christyking@alumni.nd.edu
99JD Class Secretary — Steve Boettinger; boettinger@alumni.nd.edu