1973 – Spring ’22 Class Letters
Dear Classmates,
The countdown to our 50th Class Reunion has begun! Alumni Weekend 2023 will be June 22nd to the 25th. Please put it on your calendars now. It would be wonderful to have lots of you turn up for the event! I will be keeping you posted on plans. Right now STEVE ILLICH ’73, [email protected], is working on a slide show and would like pictures of couples who met at Ripon and are still together. He would like “then” and “now” photos if you have them. Also, it is traditional to put a memory book together for 50th reunions. If you would like to work on that, please let me know. Again, remember the dates June 22-25, 2023!!!
This year’s Alumni Weekend is June 23rd to the 26th, 2022. GARY LEDERER ’72 and I will be attending as it is his 50th Class Reunion! We are looking forward to it, and hope to see many of you there. In the meantime, we have had some little reunions of our own. Recently we had dinner with Dr. Zach Messitte, RANDY ROEPER ’88/P’24 and SHAWN KARSTEN ’09 on Zach’s farewell tour. Always so good to learn firsthand what is happening on campus. We also got together with alums LYNNE HORNE GASIOREK ’72 and her husband AL GASIOREK ’73, LINDA BRASSINGTON DANIELS ’72, and husband, Dave.
A few days later we met up with SUDY REIGLE ALTHOLZ ’73 and husband TOM ALTHOLZ ’72 who have recently purchased a winter home in nearby Naples.
It is always so much fun to catch up with Ripon friends. If you have any pictures of your own mini-reunions, put them online at alumni.ripon.edu/rconnections/ or you can send the photos to me and I will get them to the College. Be sure to check in on Ripon’s news site and R Connections where you can read other Classes’ Letters, catch up on alumni postings, and learn what is going on on campus!
Thank you to the 51 of you who gave to Ripon College this past fiscal year. As you know, Ripon relies on its alumni for support and appreciates each dollar it receives. 51 donors represent 32.08% of us in the Class of 1973 who are available to give. That ranks us seventh in Class giving among all the classes. It’s now a new year and time to think again about giving. The Ripon Fund drive for your fiscal year gift goes until the end of the College’s fiscal year: June 30. Please give generously! And, thanks again to those who have given, and to those of you who will give in the future.
My appeal for news from Classmates as always seems to take at least two asks and a plea! Here is what I heard from Classmates for this Class Letter:
HILDE BORMANN HENKEL ’73 and husband MARK HENKEL ’70 are happy and healthy in Rudolph, Wisconsin, where they are semi-retired, still practicing law, teaching Tae Kwon Do, and hobby farming.
BILL BRUCATO ’73 of Sterling, Virginia, writes, “Swimmers MARK WRIGHT ’75 and KIM KOBRIGER ’74 flew in to see me December 8, 2021, here in Sterling. It was an outstanding visit! I credit MARK and KIM for starting the initiative to raise at least $125,000 to support Ripon swimming (The real goal is much higher – $175,000). Obviously, I am working on it, too, as I was a swimmer during our Ripon years.”
KEN ELLIOT ’73 and MARCIA FRUHMAN ELLIOT ’75 of Malta, Illinois, write, “Our son, Benjamin, has been named the Engineering and Operations Manager at Genova Technologies in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has worked there for nearly 20 years. His wife, Amanda, is a pediatric psychiatrist at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and she is on the faculty there. Ben’s children, Carolyn, (age ten) has been competing at level four in gymnastics and his son, DJ, (age eight) is on an ice hockey team. Our daughter, Christina, has four kids (three girls and a boy). Her daughter, Brooklyn, (age 12) is competing in the Excel Silver program in gymnastics while the other three also take classes. All three girls are in dance classes and two of them are in swimming classes. One is a Brownie and another is a Cadette Girl Scout. It sure keeps us grandparents busy, since we are their major mode of transportation for school and after-school activities. We still have our store in downtown Sycamore. MARCIA makes things for the store and does the ordering while KEN has taken over most of the actual clerking in the store. We are still trying to find that elusive thing called retirement.”
CHRISTINE WOLK ’73 of Green Lake, Wisconsin, writes, “I am still not retired as a practicing lawyer but I am slowing down. I joined the firm of Krekeler & Strother SC in Madison as part of the departure plan. My sister and I were able to visit Paris in September for a river cruise. I felt safe from COVID-19. There were sani-pass demonstrations in Paris and police in abundance, but Paris is still the City of Light. I do not need to travel again soon. Leaving Paris Charles de Gaul was no picnic. I have never been so glad to go through customs in Chicago. I love my expedited entry card.”
MARILYN BAXTER CARVER ’73 of Wadena, Minnesota, and her husband, Johnny, are back in Arizona this winter, away from their summers in Minnesota. They were thrilled to host their children and grandchildren over the holidays, for a week of touring, bike riding, cookouts, and more. Now that the younger generations have gone home, MARILYN and Johnny are spending their time hiking and playing music.
JOE SANDRIN ’73/P’99 of Bayside, Wisconsin, writes, “Things continue to improve following a rough medical year in 2021. I am still seeing many doctors and doing physical therapy. I’m back to work starting this week with real plans to cut hours and ease into retirement by late spring or early summer. Of course, retirement will still include part-time work and consulting on my old projects a few hours here and there. Janice P’99 and I are planning a few road trips this year in our recently acquired RoadTrek Agile SS Class B motorhome and are practicing with day trips around Wisconsin. Longer trips are expected by summer. Things have been quiet as I have focused on recovery and stabilizing my Myasthenia Gravis impacts and treatments after a rough 2021. I am looking forward to a better 2022.”
KATE PARISH MILLER ’73 of Richland, Michigan, writes, “In my little COVID-19 world my family is vaxxed – adults and grands. Adults are also boosted. We are so fortunate. Some (adults and grands) have caught COVID-19 anyway but have gotten through it pretty easily! I am still building a house – COVID-19 has slowed it to a crawl but I am enjoying the journey, in slow motion. It is easier to understand the passive house, net-zero build.
“On another front, I continue to work for the planet. The latest effort on the oil side (think 350.org) is to encourage our senators and local leaders, school boards, local privately-owned stores, Federal Post Office… to implement ‘no idle.’ I have an assistant who keeps me organized and accesses the internet much quicker than I. In addition, 350.org ran a campaign to encourage people who hold credit cards that belong to banks who lead money to oil companies (primarily to explore and continue drilling, etc) to cancel their credit cards with those banks. There are twelve. I have been babysitting a new granddaughter once a week and doing playground duty with her brothers at school. I go to Duluth to see my daughter and family not often enough! I hope everyone is healthy and vaxxed and boosted! 2022 which will close with our 50th wedding anniversary on December 23 of this year.”
CHRISTOPHER CARR ’73 of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, is a consumer bankruptcy practitioner with over 35 years of experience. He and his wife, combined, have raised eight children. They have two spoiled Golden Retrievers. CHRISTOPHER expects his first grandchild soon.
MARTY MORRIS ’73 of Portland, Oregon, writes, “My spouse and I continue improving our little place on the coast. I might give up the city life? I am getting ready for another summer of camping around Oregon. Rain and snow levels are up so maybe there will be fewer wildfires. I have been going through old hard drives and DVDs and I hope I find some Ripon pictures for STEPHEN ILLICH ’73.”
DAVID GROSSMAN ’73 of Centerville, Massachusetts, writes, “While traveling out west this winter, my wife, Robin, and I stopped by San Antonio. We visited with BECKY HADLEY ’75 and her husband, Peter. BECKY showed us a giant tree made by the “Arbol” public art project she had worked on a couple of years ago. Here is a link for more: https://tinyurl.com/sanantonioarbol. Peter is displaying his photography at a local coffee shop. DAVID and Robin have been on the road since mid-December, traveling by car from Cape Cod to the Bay Area, California. We will be in Naples, Florida for all of February before returning to the Cape.
From left to right in the picture: Peter Szarmach and REBECCA HADLEY ’75, and Robin and DAVID GROSSMAN ’73 (taken January 17, 2022).
MICHAEL MIZEN JR. ’73 of Lakewood, Ohio, writes, “In March 2021, PEGGI SEELBACH MIZEN ’73 blew her left ACL while skiing. Replaced and with diligent exercise, she is back…February 2022…Snowmass…
KRIS DAVIS ’73 of Appleton, Wisconsin, writes “Hello everyone! Hope you are all doing well. Jim and I are fine; a few more aches and pains and sleeping at night is always a new adventure. Chocolate helps!!! We continue to stay active with family, friends, church, and now more outings (Earth, Wind & Fire comes to Appleton in May). We will go dancing at Northstar casino again soon. We hope to visit my parents in New York in April. I recently visited BEAMING, a program that uses horses to help veterans, youth, and seniors with various physical and emotional challenges to improve their well-being. I will be offering a class on self-esteem and one on how to reduce feelings of anxiety at the equine program BEAMING’s summer camp for teens in June. I will be sharing and teaching materials from a group for at-risk teens I created and led for Waupaca County with BEAMING’s director to use throughout her program. God bless.”
KATE LUHMAN WILLIAMS ’73 of Fox Point, Wisconsin, writes “I was going through some old boxes and found these two faded photos from the winter of 1970. Were we ever that young?! I sold my house and downsized to a luxury apartment a couple of years ago, but I still had some boxes to go through, which is a great mid-winter task. Hence the old pictures and other fun things I’m finding…”
KATHY SPANGARD PLAUSHINES ’73, JEAN KIRKPATRICK LEDERER ’73, KATY LUHMAN WILLIAMS ’73, KAREN JENNEKE ’73, DOREEN CONFORTI CHEMEROW ’73 circa 1970 in front of Evans Hall.
“Tide Charts: Ebb and Flow,” a posthumous exhibit of mixed-media artworks by JAMES THOMPSON ’73 was on view in Western Oregon University’s Cannon Gallery of Art earlier this year.
In other news, I am sad to report the deaths of CATHY MASSON LEWIS ’73 in October and SAM WELLER ’73 in September.
It is always good to hear from you. Keep sending me your updates and news.
All the Best,
JEAN KIRKPATRICK LEDERER ’73
(630) 987-9388
Your 1973 Class Agent