Published in Kalamazoo Gazette on Apr. 21, 2019

Submitted by: Yvonne Nicklaus

Madison – On April 14, 2019, Nathan F. Brand passed away quietly, surrounded by the love of his family after bravely battling cancer for nine months. He asked us to thank the many family members and friends whose messages and visits were so important to him as he dealt with his illness. Nate especially wanted to thank his son, Nate; his daughter, Dorothea; and his long-time partner, Regina for their loving support.

Nate was born on October 24, 1935. Raised in Green County, he lived with his parents above a cheese factory and attended a one-room schoolhouse until 1945, when his family moved to the city of Monroe. In Monroe, he earned money for college mowing lawns and delivering papers. Nate attended UW Madison and graduated from Ripon College in 1959. In 1960, he and his wife, Dora Schindler Brand, moved to Madison where they raised their family and he built his businesses.

The most important thing in Nate’s life was his family – immediate and extended. His love of family and of his Swiss heritage was the impetus for many, many trips to Switzerland. Each child and grandchild had a chance to travel with Nate to meet their Swiss relatives and many Swiss friends. These trips provided the grandchildren with an understanding of their own Swiss heritage. Better still, they gained an understanding of Grandpa Nate. Switzerland wasn’t Grandpa’s only treat for them – closer to home were the Bucks, Brewers, Packers, and of course, the Badgers.

Badger football, hockey, volleyball, but especially Badger basketball – Nate was a devoted fan. His tickets for basketball and football span more than 50 years, so obviously not a “fair-weather fan.” Nate’s commitment to UW Madison and the Badgers wasn’t limited to sports. It carried over to academics with generous support of student scholarships.

Although Nate is remembered for a variety of business and real estate interests, most important to him was that his financial knowledge and attention to detail provided security for his many employees and helped create success for his business and investment partners. Just as family was important, so were his business partners. Fred Mohs and Nate have a partnership that spans almost 60 years and is based only on a handshake. Partners John Petersen and John Tye shared office space with Nate for more than 30 years.

In the past two decades, Nate has given generously to the Madison community. Not surprisingly, his pattern of generosity tracks his approach to family and business – thoughtful, pragmatic and targeted to young persons. Examples include the Overture’s Endowment Fund, Madison Children’s Museum, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and UW Madison athletic scholarships. However, Nate’s primary interest has been to Rotary Club of Madison’s scholarship fund. He was the first living donor to that fund and his “first” set a trend that others have followed. Over the past 15 years, many young persons have received generous four-year scholarships.

Nate was preceded in death by his father Franz Brand; his mother, Catharina Baumann Brand; his brother, Franz W. Brand; and his nephew, John Schindler Brand.

Nate is survived by Regina Millner, who has been a loving partner for 20 years; son, Nathan Schindler Brand (Ana Brand, Josie and Dottie); daughter, Dorothea Brand Kennedy (Robert Kennedy, Elena, Peter and Neeve); daughter, Barbara; sister, Edith Smith Leuenberger; and many nieces and nephews. Nate is also survived by wife Dora Schindler Brand. Dora was a support to Nate and a dedicated mother and grandmother, particularly to daughter, Barbara.

The family would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Joshua Lang of the Carbone Cancer Center and caregivers, Edith and Ben Rama.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers please make donations to the Rotary Club of Madison Scholarship Fund or to a charity of your choice.

Visitation will be on April 26, 2019, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Cress Funeral Home, 3610 Speedway Rd., Madison. Funeral services will be at 11:30 a.m., on Saturday, April 27, 2019 at Covenant Presbyterian Church 326 S. Segoe Rd., Madison. Nathan will be laid to rest at the Greenwood Cemetery in Monroe.

Submitted by: Yvonne Nicklaus

Scott Durnford Barnes, 74, of Auburn, passed away on February 11, 2019 due to complications associated with Parkinson’s disease.

Scott was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. His mother, Doris, and his father, Bill, pushed him to go to college. At Ripon College he fell in love with economics…and with Sherie Kirshner. After getting married and obtaining his bachelor of arts in economics in that order, he continued his education, receiving a masters degree in economics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Scott was a respected professor at Cayuga Community College in Auburn, where he taught economics and business for thirty years. Generations of students knew him as a teacher who held them to high standards and who cared deeply about their growth. He also served as President of the College Faculty Association for seventeen years. During this time, he was admired throughout the New York State higher education system as a skilled and tenacious negotiator, and the contracts he helped to forge became models for other agreements.

Scott was happy being outdoors – whether in solitude or with family and friends. He was an avid camper, canoeist, snowshoer, hunter, and fly fisherman. He shot skeet weekly for decades.

Scott also loved to collect. He assembled a collection of rare 18th Century New Jersey Copper pennies that became known as the “Scott Barnes Collection.” His son Bill fully endorsed Scott’s addiction to buying boots, as he was the recipient of the generous overflow. Not to be outdone, daughter Carol provided a home for many pieces of furniture her parents acquired as part of their spirited antique business. Antiquing kept Scott and Sherie busy for years in retirement as they happily hunted the next great deal.

Scott will be remembered for the playful twinkle in his eye and his sense of humor, his intellect and his fierce curiosity, and his genuine interest in other people.

He is survived by Sherie, his loving wife of 54 years; his son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Julie Barnes; daughter and son-in-law, Carol and Mark Johnson; and his grandchildren Henry and Frannie Johnson and Scott and Tessa Barnes.

A gathering in his honor will be held at the Springside Inn on Saturday, February 16th, from 11:00-1:30 pm. Please come and share your remembrances of Scott with his family.

In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions to the Cayuga County Community College Foundation, or to the Cayuga County Sportsman’s Association.

Submitted by: Yvonne Nicklaus

Submitted by: Yvonne Nicklaus

Donald was born on April 25, 1936 and passed away on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. Donald was a resident of La Jolla, California.

Submitted by: Yvonne Nicklaus

Class Agents

Katlyn Lee Schumacher

608.558.9073 / [email protected]

Erin Schaick

920.312.3825 / [email protected]

Brandon Taylor

406.274.4708 / [email protected]

Spring 2019

Greetings, Class of 2012!

We hope you are all doing well! Based on the updates we received, it sounds like many of you are up to all kinds of fun things and fulfilling jobs. We always love reading your comments! Like these updates, it seems that our lovely Alma Mater has many updates and happenings going on, including important discussions on student mental health, politics, snow days (?!) and numerous exciting stories of graduates! Be sure to check out ripon.edu/news to see what else is new.

Here is what you shared with us:

SHARON KLAPPERICH DOLL ’12 of Oconto, Wisconsin is doing her second year of long-term subbing at Preble High School in Green Bay, and is now the Youth Leader at her church.

AMY SONIER FOELSKE ’12 of Green Lake, Wisconsin, is teaching at Sabish Middle School in the Fond du Lac school district. She gave birth to her first child (photo below), Leah Marie Foelske, on December 18, 2018 who was born premature at 35.5 weeks, weighing 5 lbs 15 oz. and was 18 inches. They are all doing very well!

STACEY HAMILTON ’12 of Groton, New York, writes, “In February, I started my new position as a Financial Aid Associate at Cornell University. My husband and I also just moved into a home we purchased in Groton, New York with our two rescue pups.”

MARY “KATE” HAMM ’12 of West Allis, Wisconsin got engaged and will be married 8/21/2020. She just started a new job as a business systems analyst with Bostik Inc.

KURTIS HARDY ’12 of Minneapolis, Minnesota was promoted to Manager of Project Management at Ackmann & Dickenson, specializing in website and mobile application development.

ANDREA ZAK KAMIN ’12 of Ripon, Wisconsin got married to Brian Kamin in October 2018. She also has a new role at Princeton Public School, where she teaches a little and is now the athletic director for the middle and high schools.

JESSICA BRUNGARDT LARSON ’12 of Peyton, Colorado and her husband will be welcoming their first child in August. They already have three spoiled fur babies running around the house. She still works at the County Attorney’s office in Colorado Springs doing child advocacy and delinquency cases. She loves her job and hopes it’s making a difference in at least one child’s life.

MATT MAGINNIS ’12 of Polo, Illinois says, “Since graduation I have done my fair share of odd jobs, starting as a substitute teacher then working as a manager of the local Culvers. After getting married and my first child I found a position with a local manufacturing facility. I am proud to say I just had my five-year anniversary with E.D. Etnyre Co where I work as a product Engineer. While working full time I have also started my own business as a wedding DJ. Perhaps the most exciting news is that my wife and I will be expecting our fourth child later this year!”

KRISTIN MERKER ’12 of Chicago, Illinois started a new teaching position in Glenview District 34 and will be getting married to Matthew Greenberg in April.

MEGAN MCGEE NORRIS ’12 of Kenosha, Wisconsin had a baby with Adam Norris 10/8/18. Colton is now 4 months old (photo below) and our little munchkin; his dog brothers and sister love him so much. She is still running her own law practice in Kenosha, and is still on the board of STEPHANIE JENISCH RHEINGRUBER’S ’12 animal rescue, Wish Upon A Rescue.

GISELA ORTEGA ’12 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin got married to Zach Vornholt ’12 in July of 2018 after 7 years together. She is currently at the City of Milwaukee Department of City Development working on addressing housing issues and getting to help shape future development. Zack has been working at G-Strategies for the past 5 years doing political and nonprofit consulting nationwide. They love living in Milwaukee and giving back to their City!

MATT SEITZ-PAQUETTE ’12 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the quality assurance supervisor at Fagron, a world-leader in compounding, which creates custom medicine. He married Kevin Seitz-Paquette on September 2, 2017 in St. Paul, Minnesota. They now live in Minneapolis with their dog, Angel.

BRANDON TAYLOR ’12 from Arlee, Montana recently moved to San Francisco, a block from the beach and Golden Gate Park. He will be celebrating his six-year anniversary with Accenture in June 2019.

Thank you to all the people who sent us their life updates on Facebook or via email! Feel free to contact the college (or us) throughout the year and we will be sure to include them in our class updates.

Cheers!

Brandon, Erin and Katlyn

Submitted by: Erin Schaick

Class Agents:

Lauren Hince ’18

763.706.7473/ [email protected]

Holly Erickson ’18

262.497.7796 / [email protected]

Eleanore Mueller ’18

920.539.2935 / [email protected]

Spring 2019

Hey, Class of 2018!

It is hard to believe that almost a year has passed since we received our diplomas on graduation day! Since then Millers has closed, new stores have opened up on Watson Street, and unfamiliar faces now cover the campus. As cliche as it sounds, the first year out of school truly goes by fast.

Right now a lot of our lives are filled with exciting, and terrifying, firsts. For many of us life post-college means the first time renting our own place, the first time cooking a meal, and the first time not returning to Ripon College in August.

Life after Ripon has meant finding new ways to fill our days. For those of us not continuing our education it may mean we’re adjusting to a 9 to 5 work schedule. I still hear my professors lecturing about the importance of 8:00 AM classes: “the real world starts at eight and so should you.” Now I know what they meant.  Those still in school are learning a new way to study and are adjusting to life probably at a much bigger campus.

Life is only going to continue to go faster and faster the longer we are away from Ripon. So make time to see the people or visit the places that keep you connected to your time at Ripon. Also, make sure to mark Alumni Weekend 2019 (June 27-30) on your calendars!

Holly, Lauren and Eleanore

Class of 2018 life updates:

DANIEL ZIPPERER ’18 has obtained his real estate license and is now a licensed realtor in Wausau, WI. He is currently working for a company called Amaximmo.

JACOB BAUS ’18 is currently attending graduate school at UW-Madison in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

CARYSSA WAITE ’18 works as the Website & Marketing Manager at Gysbers Jewelry.

COLLEEN ELZINGA ’18 has started school at the University of Illinois in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program. In her very limited free time, she volunteers at the Wildlife Medical Clinic.

DAVID DAUGHERTY ’18 ran the Chicago marathon in October to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society charity. In the following month he was hired as an Analyst Programmer at Mayo Clinic.

HAILEY MATTHEISEN ‘18 participated in a summer research internship at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, where she was one of only ten students chosen out of the entire country to conduct scientific research. She will be presenting her findings at the American Chemical Society Conference this March. During her internship she was offered a research associate position at the Center of Musculoskeletal Health. Currently, she is working on multiple research projects that look to identify preventions for cancer induced cachexia. Overall, she is making major steps to turn her dream of becoming a surgeon into a reality.

KATHERINE KULAS ’18 is attending Elmhurst College and is working towards a Masters Entry in Nursing degree with a Clinical Nurse Leader certificate.

MEGAN RINGO ’18 currently is a Master’s student at the University of Nebraska in the Leadership Education program. She is doing data collection and research about the two leadership minors and their effectiveness (which is the first of its kind in her department!) She also is a teaching assistant for a PhD candidate in the program for Dynamics of Leadership in Groups and Teams. Megan lives in Lincoln with her senior chihuahua and hamster.

MOLLY CARLSON ’18 has been working for CDK Global as an Implementation Consultant which has given her the opportunity to travel across North America every week on new projects. She has also rescued a adorable goldendoodle named Bentley.

MICHAEL BAUMHARDT ’18  was accepted into a Masters program at Cardinal Stritch University for Clinical Psychology. He is currently in his second semester.

TENE ROBINSON ’18 is enrolled in a Masters Program at the University of St. Francis. She is actively pursuing a Masters of Social Work degree. Along with fellow alumni JESSICA KOBELT ’18, Tene is coaching a youth traveling softball team. Additionally, she juggles two part-time jobs. “Busy, but worth it!” she says.

HARRISON HILLMAN ’18 moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and is now an Ordained Minister.

EMILY STANCZAK ’18 currently is a little more than halfway through her first year of her Ph.D. program! Emily is at Indiana University School of Medicine. So far she has studied Coxsackievirus, and Toxoplasma gondii. Her next rotation will be studying Chlamydia trachomatis. Emily also has recently adopted a loving eight year old dog.

JESICA LATTIMER ’18 since graduating has started her career as an Accountant for Columbia County, bought a house, adopted a dog, as well as gotten engaged. She certainly has this whole adulting thing down!

COREY BEECHER ’18 is currently working at Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin as their athletic department intern; he recently accepted a position as their assistant director of athletics and student activities which he will begin this Spring.

AVERY HERBON ’18 is working as a complaint coordinator at Medline. She is currently hoping to move to a Chicago suburb.

BRADLEY DREW ’18 has been studying for the MCAT, which he hopes to take in the spring.

DREW HETZ ’18 over the summer of 2018, married his now wife surrounded by friends and family. Drew and his wife are currently living in Milwaukee with their elderly cat. He is also enrolled in the Physician Assistant program at Marquette University, working towards his Masters degree.

ANDREA WINTERS ’18 is working at Divine Rehabilitation and Nursing in Lodi, Wisconsin. In August, she will be moving to Miami, Florida to begin the Physician Assistant Program at Barry University.

TAYLOR CORKRAN ’18 is currently being deployed to Afghanistan with the 2-127 IN. Once he returns to the United States he will work as a deputy for the Dane County Sheriff’s Department.

RACHEL KOLODZIEJ ’18 has been working as a Chef for Sodexo at Ripon College. She really loves what she cooks and is learning a lot through the leadership of the Executive Chef.

ADRIANNE ANDING ’18 is currently working at Planet Fitness in Madison, Wisconsin and has recently been promoted to Assistant Manager. He will be attending Manchester University of Indiana where he will pursue his Masters in Athletic Training.

ERIKA ISAACSON ’18 worked another summer at Wisconsin Badger Camp in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Now, she is back in Eau Claire, Wisconsin working in a hospital as an anesthesia technician and is absolutely loving it.

TENZIN TSEPHEL ’18 has been working as a Social Media Marketing Coordinator at Beacon Technologies; she also is involved with 360 Magazine.

JONALEE ELLIOTT ABEL ’18 moved to Norfolk, Virginia with her husband Tony and is currently working as a Mental Health Technician. The couple is heading back to Wisconsin in June, 2019.

CLAIRE SCHAIBLE ’18 is attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School with an emphasis in public interest.

ELLIOT HOERDEMANN ’18 recently moved to New Orleans, Louisiana and started a new position with MillerCoors as a Sales Representative.

DAVID KNAPP ’18 is currently attending Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., with an emphasis in international law.

ZACHARY BART ’18 moved back to the Chicagoland area and is currently working as a Field Sales Representative at Burndy LLC.

EMMA MCDONALD ’18 moved to Madison, Wisconsin and is attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison in pursuit of a degree as a doctor of physical therapy.

CORDELL WALKER ’18 started a position with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, as a Graphic Designer in the publications department.

LAUREN HINCE ’18 moved to Chicago in May to start work in sales at Groupon. Since working there she has been promoted to a new position in Groupon’s live events division. She also coaches debate on the side for New Trier High School.

AUSTIN BORCHARDT ’18 is working as a Night Shift Production Supervisor at Menasha Packaging in Hartford, Wisconsin.

JOSHUA SCHUBRING ’18 is working as a Development Manager for the Green Lake Association. In addition, he has teamed up with alumni JORGE GUTIERREZ ’17 to reboot the Green Lake Area Young Professionals.

SAMANTHA RAYGO ’18 is pursing her Juris Doctorate at Marquette University alongside fellow classmate RANDAL FINGER ’18.

LEAH BLAZKOVEC ’18 is currently working at Door County Medical Center as a rehabilitation assistant. She is also working on applying to graduate programs for occupational therapy.

JOSHUA OSWALD ’18 works at Geneva Laboratories. He plans to pursue his masters in business administration.

ROSE HOGMIRE ’18 is a market researcher for early-stage startups at StageThree in Green Bay, Wisconsin. She also adopted a cat who she lovingly calls, “Lunchbox.”

JAMES “JIMMY” AMEDEO ’18 is pursuing his masters at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.

SOPHIE WIDMAN ’18 moved to Minneapolis where she is pursuing a career in theater. She is also working as a school communications representative at the National Theatre for Children.

EMMA ALLEN ’18 is attending Yale University where she is half way done with her masters in public health.

KATELYN VAN SWOL ’18 is working as a customer service representative at Uline.

NICHOLS HENNING ’18 bought a house and moved to Washington state where he is an engineer officer with the United States army. He is currently serving as a medical officer.

Submitted by: Lauren Hince

Class Agents:

KONNER FELDHUS ’17

303-280-5835 / [email protected]

WINONA HOLMES ROBBINS ’17

650-274-9231 / [email protected]

ERIN CANON ’17

414-469-5945 / [email protected]

Spring 2019

Class Letter:

It’s that time of year again that everyone hates winter (unless they live in a warm place…). It feels as though winter will never be over and the snow will never stop falling. But, spring will be here soon and then before you know it, Alumni Weekend 2019! It’s now been several years since we’ve graduated so it’s about time the Class of 2017 starts partying together once again as Alumni. Maybe play a game of Slip and Slide in the quad like we did during graduation week before we get too old and stiff…

We also wanted to congratulate and wish those luck that are finishing up their Master’s Programs and preparing for their final exams to get their second degree!

Konner, Erin and Winona

Class Notes:

KONNER FELDHUS ’17 of Des Moines, Iowa is somehow surviving medical school and recently joined the Advisory Council for the Iowa Chapter of The American College of Physicians.

SYDNEY RADANDT ’17 has been working as a secondary math educator for Peace Corps. She will be in Africa until 2020!

WINONA HOLMES ROBBINS ’17 of Conway, Arkansas, is learning what it takes to be a cat mother and is loving every second of being an aunt! She is continuing to personal train and coach at Hendrix College. Winona rang in 2019 as the Maid of Honor for HANNAH MACKENZIE GALLIMORE ’17!

AMY FELS ’17 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin writes,  “I am in year two of three of my History and Library and Information Studies graduate program at UW-Milwaukee. I have a wonderfully fun and challenging job working as a research assistant for a digital humanities project called the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. I’m looking forward to the summer because I’ll get to spend more time in Ripon completing a fieldwork experience in the college archives.”

ANGELA PAMPERIN ’17 of Ripon, Wisconsin recently began a journey as a worship leader at Immanuel Methodist Church in Ripon. They will be starting a new contemporary service that she will help lead. She also launched a blog in early January “kind of telling my story in a way” the blog is called “Heartbeat’s Echo.” She writes, “[It is] all fun stuff that is challenging me as a person to be who I am.”

ALLISON MACKNICK ’17 of Chicago, Illinois continues to work as a professional actress in Chicago, appearing most recently in Empire (Fox), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (St. Sebastian Players), and MADELINE ’17 and BRENDAN MCCOY’S ’17 wedding. She will be touring this summer with AlphaBet Soup Production, Chicagoland’s Premiere Professional Children’s Theatre. Find her searching for great tacos with ANTHONY TAUSIG ‘15 or taking too many photos of her dog, Tula.

HANNAH MACKENZIE GALLIMORE ’17 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin is wrapping up her second year as an Internal Auditor for Oshkosh Corporation. She also recently got married and held her wedding reception at Great Hall!

DANAE TESCH ’17 bought a house in Covington, Washington, and is expecting a baby boy in April!

HANNAH METZ ’17 of Naperville, Illinois will be a School Psychology Intern for the 2019-2020 school year in the Valley View District in Romeoville, Illinois. She is done with her graduate school classes in June 2019! Hannah and FRANK STELTER-HOGH ’16 got engaged and set the wedding date for June 13, 2020!

HANNAH DAVIDSON ’17 of Madison, Wisconsin, recently moved to Madison and is now working as a baker and cake/pie decorator at Hubbard Avenue Diner in Middleton, Wisconsin. She is the proud new cat owner to Kitkat! She is looking forward to taking culinary/hospitality classes at Madison Area Technical College!

NOELLE KORZENIEWSKI ’17 of St Paul, Minnesota says she is “Graduating from Luther Seminary in May with a Master of Arts in Bible (literally I’ll be a master of the Bible ha). I have been working on my two theses for my degree. One is called “Who Do You Say That I Am?” And it looks at how the character of Jesus is depicted in each of the gospels (I lectured on this in Brian Smith’s Christian Scripture class last spring) and the other is “Joseph and Judah: Two Brothers, Two Stories, One Faith” and it is about the Joseph Narrative in Genesis as well as Judah’s narrative within it- looking the themes of each brother’s transformative story in their own light. Moving back to Ripon actually in June! – I can’t say yet what for but good things! Still working with dogs- my absolute passion. I have been a Team Lead and Dog Handler at Dog Days in St Paul, Minnesota for a year now and still aspire to open my own dog daycare/hotel business…. That’s kinda it. I’m just really looking forward to being back in WI soon. ❤️ Grace, our dog, and Marcus, my S/O, are just trying to bury ourselves out of the snow here in Minnesota.”

EMMA BRONSON ’17 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, says she is, “killing it at work, moving to the third ward in April, and still enjoys beer.”

Submitted by: Konner Feldhus

Class Agents:

Sara Driebel ’16

[email protected] / (262) 439-8124

Zach Peterson ’16

[email protected]

Elizabeth Yamat ’16

[email protected]

Hey Class of 2016! With the new year comes a new letter full of fresh updates, and of course, dogs (my favorite kind of update). Each time the class letter rolls around, I am so grateful to reconnect with everyone and get a perspective on what all of my classmates are doing!

When we reach out to our classmates to see if they have anything to add to the letter, one of the most common answers we see is “nothing important.” It is easy to see our classmates’ updates and think that what we are experiencing is not significant enough to share, but your experiences and growth right now are substantial. Maybe you just finished a book that made an impact on you, or ventured into a new part of town, or started hanging out with your friends more. Whatever you are doing is making you, you – and can be celebrated! Everyone is on a different timeline, and that is totally and 100% cool. I want to hear it all!

We hope to see all of your experiences for the next class letter – no matter how grand! Be sure to let me, ELIZABETH YAMAT ’16 and ZACH PETERSON ’16 know your updates!

Sincerely,

SARA DRIEBEL ’16

ALEX MORIARTY ’16 recently adopted a dog named Jill! She is a 7-year-old rescue from Tennessee and is a terrier supermutt. She gets to go with Alex to work sometimes, enjoys walks through the neighborhood, and has a matching red coat with her owner! With permanent Sara McLachlan shelter dog eyes, Jill is spoiled silly.

ALI LEAVER ’16 is getting her white coat at the end of April and is starting her clinical rotations in the spring! After that she will be graduating from OSU College veterinary medicine in May of 2020.

ALYSSA KENNEDY ’16 is in her third year medical school rotations at Advocate Bromenn Hospital.

COURTNEY BLOOMER ’16 is kicking ass in nursing school one day at a time!

ELIZABETH PETERS ’16 has accepted a part-time 3rd grade teaching position at St. Edward School in Mackville for the 2018-2019 school year. She also teaches Adaptive Aquatics at Neenah High School and is loving both teaching positions! She is currently looking for full time teaching positions for the 2019-2020 school year. Lizzie will be teaching summer school again this year, and is anticipating finding out the subject that she will teach. She stays busy by lifeguarding a few nights a week and teaching swim lessons as well. Lizzie hopes to have more time to teach private swim lessons for students of any age, which she has started herself!

EMILY GARY ’16 is now a service member at the bank where she works! At the end of December, Emily purchased a house and is now taking her time to fix it up and decorate.

ENYA NETT ’16 got a job working as an assistant stage manager for Forward Theater Company at the Overture Center for the Arts. It is the only professional theater in Madison! She also got a second cat, Vivi.  

ERIKA NELL ’16 is living in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her dog still runs her household and she has started watching Dexter on Netflix (#creepydude). She has enjoyed connecting with other Ripon alumni in the Twin Cities!

FRANK STELTER-HOGH ’16 is working for his old elementary school and is coaching.

HOPE BELL ’16 is living in Daegu, South Korea. At the end of March, Hope is going to start at a kindergarten/elementary immersion school. She now has an apartment in Korea, adopted a dog, and is attempting to learn Korean. With the Daegu theater troupe, Hope will be a part of “the Vagina Monologues” at the end of February. Occasionally Hope can be found hanging out with fellow Ripon College Alum NICO PRICE ’16 and enjoying hiking the three mountain ranges that surround her beautiful town.

CAMERON CASS ’16 and his wife Stacey are expecting the arrival of their first baby girl early this summer.

GARRISON ANDERSON ’16 started working as a Management and Program Analyst at the U.S. Small Business Administration and moved to Washington D.C.

JADEE KELLOG ’16 is in the midst of planning her wedding this August with AKASH SEN ’16.

JAMES MARK OOKO OOMBAKA ’16 is a programme assistant at Code for Africa and is based in Kenya. CFA is the continent’s largest network of open data and civic technology labs and has a diversely talented and multicultural team that helps to enact change through providing digital tools that allow fellow citizens to engage with those in positions of power. As the programme assistant, James is part of a team that ultimately helps to create more open data and a more open government in Africa.

JEN KELLER ’16 is lucky to live close to so many of her near and dear Ripon College friends! Things have been great for Jen living in Mequon and working for the Village of Richfield. This year, she is looking forward to some fun trips to North Carolina and California!

JEN NIGGEMEIER ’16 was young, cool, and broke (college was costly!) one minute, and the next is all excited about her new furniture set! She is finally adulting with a new job as a 4K Coordinator and is moving in with SARA DRIEBEL ’16. Also, Jen hopes to buy her own place, so if you know anyone selling a condo in the Waukesha area, willing to give the Ripon alumni discount, hit her up!

JORDAN POLK ’16 is working with Contemporary Services Corporation in Indianapolis.

JOSH LUNA ’16 is finishing up his clinical work.

KARI BROWN ’16 is living with her life partner and they are pursuing real estate together! He and Kari have already invested in one rental property and have many more to come – especially now that Kari has her Real Estate license and is working as a buyer’s agent with Landro Fox Cities Realty, LLC.

KATIE TREDINNICK ’16 was recently accepted to vet school at UW-Madison!!

LANI WINGER ’16 was married in December.

MADESON WALGENBACH ’16 is getting married in April!

MCKALA KIESSLING ’16 has started a new job as the Lab Manager for the City of Oconomowoc Wastewater Treatment Plant!

MINH DO ’16 recently started doing Human Resources for a Vietnamese company.

NICK LUEDTKE ’16 is currently three years into his doctorate degree in chemistry and is working full time at Integrated DNA Technologies as a Research Scientist Intern in molecular genetics studying CRISPR.

NICK MASTERSON ’16 has been busy finding new adventures! He is currently reigning as Mr. Madison Gay Pride, which he is proud to have won in July 2018. Recently he competed in the Northern Star All American Gent pageant and won First Alternate. He is heading to Daytona Florida at the end of March to compete for the National All American Gent title. According to Nick, “Being a male performer and becoming a face in the LGBT community has been beyond rewarding. It’s rewarding when kids come up and say you’re like a ‘hero’ to them. In today’s world kids are scared to express themselves and be who they really are. It’s rewarding to be someone they can look up to.”

RACHEL ROKUSEK ’16 has recently left her employment as a legal assistant to move to Chesapeake, Virginia, and has found employment as a legal assistant at a law firm in downtown Norfolk. She has also earned her Paralegal Certificate in December 2018.

RACHELLA BENNETT ’16 just took a management position for her company running an entire remote team on the east coast. This new position works under the CEO in the company after the restructure. She is graduating in December with her MBA with a Human Resources emphasis!

RAE BRIXIUS-FAHNRICH ’16 moved to Arlington, Virginia with Nick Fahnrich. They hiked a mountain there and got married at the summit! Rae spent last fall at Army Basic Training and then started Army Officer School in Georgia during December. In March, Rae will commission as a US Army Military Intelligence Officer. She is headed to Fort Huachuca, Arizona sometime in the coming year for more training!

SAM CARES ’16 got engaged to GABRIELLE HORSTMEIER ’17!

SARA DRIEBEL ’16 has been promoted to the role of Human Resources Generalist with the City of New Berlin and works at the Milwaukee County Zoo on the weekends teaching kiddos about creatures! She gets to play with all sorts of odd animals, including chickens, snakes, turtles, bugs, and even a really rad groundhog! She just adopted a new lizard named Boris and purchased a condo in Pewaukee where she will be living with the amazing JENNIFER NIGGEMEIER ’16.

STEPHANIE ROSENOW ’16 is keeping busy with plenty of work and coaching!

TY KETZ ’16 is teaching and coaching at St. Croix Central High School. He is the Head Girls Basketball Coach and teaches high school physical education and health!

ZACHARY PETERSON ’16 has been accepted into East Carolina University’s PHD Program in Rhetoric, Writing and Professional Communication in Greenville, North Carolina. He will be moving there after completing his Master of Arts in English at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in Eau Claire, Wisconsin in May.

SAM CANNING ’16 ran her first marathon in Disney to celebrate her birthday.

KATLYN TROISI ’16 graduated from Boston University School of Social Work in May 2018 and began working as an Integrated Team Clinician through Advocates, a non profit agency. She also became professionally licensed as a Licensed Certified Social Worker.

ELIZABETH YAMAT ’16 recently purchased a house in Glendale with her husband, Brady.

Submitted by: Sara Driebel

Class Agents:

Samantha Kay ’15

[email protected]

Kaylie Longley ’15
[email protected]

Spring 2019

Your best friend from high school gets engaged. In a place so far away, it can’t be real. You debate writing, “congratulations” because then you’ll get all the other notifications from every other commenter, but then you’d also see your former classmates. Think of the creeping potential. Instead… “Love.”

Your colleague shares another political meme. During work hours. For the third time this week. You debate between “Angry” and “Wow” and ultimately, choose neither. You consider a gif, but you know that will fuel their fire. Don’t stoop to their level. Ignore.

Whether it’s videos of fur children peeing in the snow or snapshots of your early AM overnight oats (whatever those are), we’re conditioned to think these are Life Events.

But what happens in between the filters? Have we forgotten about the moments that don’t make Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat (does anybody use that anyway?).

Life is seasonal, and it’s a changing, breathing thing. Because of that, it’s exciting, terrifying. Yet, with so much stimulation, we forget these online moments are probably better (or stranger) in Real Life anyway.

Have we forgotten about the pivoters? Or the quiet ones making change? Instead, the only time we see “before” pictures is when there’s an “after” to go with it. We only see the clickbait, and we can’t help but click. Hook, line, sinker.

Instead of scrolling before bedtime, recognize life is so much more than the pixels. Our classmates, for one, are living their dreams, so go live yours. And then share it with us. We’ll be sure to Like it.

Kaylie and Sam

Classmate News:

MICHEAL ANDERSON ’15 is finalizing his commission with the United States Air Force JAG Corps and will be reporting to his first duty station in May.

BROOKE BEHNKE ’15 of Brillion, Wisconsin got engaged and will be getting married in the fall.

KATIE BIEDLER ’15 of Saint Cloud, Minnesota has enjoyed working as a design graduate assistant for Saint Cloud State University’s College of Liberal Arts & School of the Arts, making their college banners, event ads, etc. She expects to graduate with an MS in Strategic Media Communications in December 2019.

CATHERINE CARBAJAL ’15 just landed her dream career in Hawaii.

ZACHARY CONNERS ’15 and his boyfriend Weston Dixon sold their home in Rockford and moved to  Freeport, Illinois. Zach started a new job at CorTech International Staffing as the branch manager of the Rockford office and recently took over as their account manager for their onsite office in Freeport and Galena Honeywell factories. Planning for the future, he just took his oversized dog, Baron to the veterinarian to be neutered. Baron is expected to make a full recovery, though he laments the loss of his fertility.

EMILY CONNOVICH ’15 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin has started a family, with twins with her husband! Emily and her husband Elias have identical twin boys.

ELEANOR DAVIS ’15 moved to Madison, Wisconsin and joined Caravel Autism Health as a Human Resources Recruiter. Her family also grew by 4 paws. She and her boyfriend Trevor adopted a kitten from the DCHS named Jax.

EMELIA ERICKSON ’15 has recently made the decision to donate a kidney to someone in need. The surgery will be on April 9 in St. Louis, Missouri. Emelia has also been promoted to run her department at The Lodge Retirement Community. She continues to bike commute through the (mild) Ohio winter and will be glad to get back on her bike a few weeks after surgery. She hopes that others who have the resources to do so will consider saving a life by donating an organ or bone marrow.

PETER HAYES ’15 of Chicago, Illinois is still with Envestnet on the Portfolio Management Consultant team as a Investment Product management specialist. Peter’s high rise apartment offers him a great view of the Chicago skyline. Having a 19th view really helps with his phobia of heights.

JULIA HASHEIDER ’15 is living the beautiful tropical life in Miami with her husband, Victor.

HAYDEN HOERDEMANN ’15 of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, has made his way back to Ripon. He just completed his first year as an assistant coach at Ripon College for basketball. He couldn’t be more excited for another year! He is also a special education aide at Berlin High School. Last year, Hayden graduated with his Masters in Sports Management from Illinois State. He had a graduate assistant basketball coaching position with Illinois Wesleyan University. Personally, he can’t wait for Game of Thrones Season 8 to begin in April, and he’s ready to watch the Chicago Cubs attempt to win the World Series Title more than once in his lifetime.

SAMANTHA KAY ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is working as a Program Manager for the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy. She manages educational programming for gene and cell therapy professionals. Right now, she is managing one thousand abstract submissions and presentations for the upcoming Annual Meeting in May. She is also planning four full-day workshops on topics such as gene editing and commercialization of novel therapies. Sam spent the fall campaigning for Governor Tony Evers and Senator Tammy Baldwin who both won, giving her hope for humanity. She plans to visit Portland this summer to see if it’s anything like the show Portlandia.

SAMANTHA KLEIN ’15 is massaging in Denver.

SERGE FEDOROWSKY ’15 is graduating next month (woot woot).

CHRISTIAN KRUEGER ’15 is finishing up the second year of her Ph.D. in Early American History at Marquette University, and she plans to take my Doctoral Qualifying Exams in August. In September, she presented her paper “No Hoof, No Horse: Virtue and the Horseshoe in America’s Early Republic” at the Horses, Moving conference at the Arkeologisk Museum in Stavanger, Norway. She will be presenting additional research at Eastern Kentucky University’s Living with Animals conference at the end of March.

CAROLINE KORDES ’15 began attending Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas.

HOLLY KORTEMEIER ’15 of Edgerton, Wisconsin is working as a school counselor at Community Elementary School in Edgerton.

ALISON LAPIDUS ’15 graduated with a Master’s degree in public health from Boston University. She started working full time as a research coordinator for a research core at The Program on Regulation, Therapeutics, and Law at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

MICHAEL LANPHIER ’15 now lives in Lincoln, Nebraska where JOHANNA BURTON LANPHIER ’13 is a zookeeper, and he is a traveling engineer.

EMILY FISCHER LENSMIRE ’15 of Reedsville, Wisconsin, has been promoted to Assistant Director of Admission and Head Women’s Volleyball Coach. Her daughter Charlotte is also getting a promotion to big sister. Charlotte appears to be preparing for a career in MMA fighting by practicing on her older cousin. Charlotte loves the snow, especially sledding and gets very concerned about their dairy cows and would like to bring them into the house.  

MARK LISOWKSI ’15 is studying hard for his final months of grad school at Marquette. Mark has been reporting on water quality issues in Milwaukee and loves his work. Sometimes, he dreams of rolling down Sadoff Field and wishes he was back at Ripon. He is planning to come back this year for alumni weekend.

KAYLIE LONGLEY ’15 of Milwaukee, WI was recently promoted to manage the content strategy and brand reputation of Bardon Bowling Centers. She markets their fresh eats, events, and entertainment, such as local concerts and comedy shows (with help from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). She’s also coding and finally published her own website. Inspired by launching a digital space of her own, she is on a mission to help 19 fellow creatives take next steps in their work so they can pitch, publish, and/or produce. If you’re interested in this free 19 for 2019 project, email her. This is one of her admittedly ambitious 19 goals for the year, including mastering her pullup game, reading daily, and exploring downtown every week.

RAQUEL MACSWAIN ’15 of Stillwater, Minnesota is settling into Portland, Oregon. She survived her first year of graduate school at Lewis & Clark ands expects to graduate in May of 2020.

NICOLE MALLI ’15 of Washington, DC is still working for the Slave Wrecks Project. She bought a new couch that is worth a month’s rent. Nicole will be solo backpacking through South America at the end of May through the beginning of June. In July, she will be in St. Croix and Mozambique for work. Her cats have started a cult and now have more Insta followers than she does, and it’s honestly so millenial of them.

KATIE MCGEE ’15  became an ESL Teacher in Nanjing, China, where she now lives. She works for a company called First Leap.

CODY MESSERSCHMIDT ’15 of Madison, Wisconsin has been working as a Project Manager at Epic since summer of 2015.

BRIANNE MILROY ’15 of Shorewood, Wisconsin is graduating from Marquette University with her masters in School Counseling in May. She is planning to work in the Greater Milwaukee Area. After watching some terrifying documentaries about meat, Bri is now a vegetarian.

JESSICA SKIBA MORGAN ’15 of Cedarburg, Wisconsin in enjoying married life with LUKE MORGAN ’14. Jessica is now working with Gorman Co. as their digital marketing manager for the Brewhouse Inn and Suites in Milwaukee and the Stella Ballroom/The 1844 restaurant in Kenosha. She’s excited for this new opportunity because it allows her to continue to do what she loves while adding more stability to her life.

JONATHAN NEWBERY ’15 of Oak Park, Illinois recently completed a cross country move to California. He graduated from flight school and selected F/A-18 super hornets.

ZACHARY NELL ’15 has enjoyed a very snowy winter in Saint Paul with his wife, ERIKA RIEBE NELL ’16. Currently, Zac is looking for a new job.

ALYSSA NYCZ ’15 recently finished a stretch of interviews with a dozen pediatric residency programs across the country. She now considers herself a pro at navigating airports and power walking, thanks to many short layovers. Highlights from her travels include  explaining the concept of ice fishing to fellow applicants and being teased about her pronunciation of the word ‘bagel’.

JONATHAN PETTENGILL ’15 of Medicine Lake, Minnesota will be marrying his girlfriend, Taylor Rush this June.

CHLOE PIEPHO ’15 of Rochester, Minnesota is living in Los Angeles, California. In December, she completed her Master’s in Strategic Public Relations at USC. She works for the LA Galaxy as a Digital Media Associate. Over the holidays, Chloe got engaged to Luke Corey.

MADELINE POULLETTE ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is working in human resources at a PEO organization, EmPowerHR.

ABIGAIL QUACKENBOSS ’15 continues to serve active duty in the US Navy.

MEGAN RAY ’15 of Delafield, Wisconsin recently accepted a position as Marketing Communication and Events Manager at Habitat for Humanity Waukesha County.

BRISTOLE RYFF ’15 was recently accepted to Purdue University in Indiana’s Master of Special Education program and will be obtaining her teaching license! She is very excited for this new adventure.

LAURA SAVALL ’15 of Ridgeland, Wisconsin has taken up residence in Vermont and is now a Staff Attorney with Have Justice —Will Travel, a nonprofit focused on helping survivors of domestic and sexual violence with various legal issues that may arise while escaping abuse. She is enjoying the mild winter in southern Vermont but is excited to tackle some of the Adirondack 46ers this summer.

KARENA SCHROEDER ’15 of Lakeville, Minnesota is loving life as a new mom. Aiden is almost a year old now, and he is her absolute world. Karena is working in the metro area as a manager at Sam’s Club. It has been challenging but incredibly rewarding to see their metrics improve immensely, at a location that was struggling for a very long time. Karena’s cat Bambi has been great with Aiden, even when he pulls her tail, grabs bunches of fur out, and pushes her face just a little too hard. Bambi puts up with it like a champ, although she still hates every other person.

BRIAN SCHUMACHER ’15 purchased a home in Milwaukee a few months ago with his wife, KATIE DREW SCHUMACHER ’14. They love their new space, and they hosted a housewarming/friendsgiving party with all of his Ripon friends. Brian is working as an R&D Associate Scientist in the materials science group at Millipore Sigma. He is studying emerging technologies and 2-D materials.

ELIZABETH SILVA ’15 of Catalina Island, California is now living in San Francisco, California. She recently started an exciting journey as a loan consultant with Better. Better is a direct lender that provides a fast, transparent digital mortgage experience.

SAMANTHA SEILER ’15 will be doing an ortho rotation in New York and then her final rotation before graduation. She’s planning a well-deserved staycation in NYC.

LAURA SHIVELY ’15 continues to work for Pre/3 Real Estate, a national leader in commercial investment, development, and management. Employed at their corporate headquarters in Brookfield, Laura has most recently succeeded in spearheading the RentCafe initiative, incorporating the nationwide listing service into the company’s now online portfolio. Laura is proud to have been part of an experience that has streamlined the property management process for both management and consumers, along with forging connections between onsite managers and offsite corporate employees. In her personal time, she has enjoyed  reading on the cities of her next travel plans and cooking new dishes. She most recently returned from New Orleans, Louisiana where she enjoyed the history of one of the oldest cities in the United States and all of the local cuisine.

ZACH SPACIEL ’15 moved to Milwaukee after completing law school in December 2017. Zach doesn’t particularly enjoy city life, and he dreams of moving out to the suburbs, where he can have a nice home in Franklin with a white picket fence.

JOHN SPADONI ’15 and KRISTINA OGLESBY SPADONI ’15 were married on November 10, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin surrounded by all of their friends and family. They honeymooned in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They both continue to make strides in their careers and enjoy their current positions. In 2019, they are hoping to travel more. Kristy dreams of going to Italy, and John dreams of becoming a lobster on a beach somewhere.

ANTHONY TAUSIG ’15 of Chicago, Illinois has been working at Broadspire for little over a year now. His pup Tula is growing up enjoying the lakefront. Anthony and his girlfriend, ALLISON MACKNICK ’17 have been together for 4 years now and are loving life in Chicago.

ALEX THILLMAN ’15 of Minneapolis, Minnesota successfully passed the bar exam and is now a licensed attorney in Minnesota, where he works in civil litigation in the Twin Cities area. Recently, Alex traveled to Iceland and has already planned his next trip to Costa Rica in the fall.

SYDNEY CHURCH VAN TREECK ’15 married AUSTIN VAN TREECK ’14 in October in Kohler, Wisconsin. They spent their honeymoon in Anguilla in November. She will graduate from Marquette University in May with her MBA and will continue to work for Johnsonville on the MIS team.

CASEY VERCAUTEREN ’15 of Chicago, Illinois is working as a management consulting analyst at Accelerated Growth Advisors. Casey’s life is abound with stability, nothing has changed, and he likes it that way.

ROB ’15 and KAMELLE VAN DER LEEST WATERS ’15 are living in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. Rob started a new job as a Sales Consultant at Smart Motors Toyota in Madison this past January. Kamelle is still at Dean Health Plan and in November started a new role as a Grievance & Appeals Quality Specialist. They had a great time at the Red Hawks Alumni Track & Field Meet in January! They are enjoying spending their time with their weimaraner Jake who is full of energy.

KAITLYN WELZEN ’15 has a pupdate! Sirius all 95+ pounds of him, can reach her shoulders on his front paws  As you’ll see, Sirius loves the snow!

KEVIN WHITENEIR ’15 will be presenting his performance art and art history research at the UK Art History Association’s annual conference in Brighton. He’ll also be presenting his work on decolonizing academic institutions at the 47th annual conference of the Art Libraries Society of North America. He was awarded their presenters of color award. He’ll be performing a solo piece at Roman Susan Gallery on August 9th. He’s working on a second masters in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign starting this Fall.

LOGAN SOICH ’15 and Rachel Soich married on June 10, 2017 in Milwaukee Wisconsin. BRIAN SCHUMACHER ’15 and MATTHEW ROHRBECK ’13 were groomsmen. Logan and Rachel currently live in Chicago with their pet, Koko, a Pomeranian mix. They both are active with careers as actuarial analysts and are associates of casualty actuarial society.

Submitted by: Samantha Kay

Class Agent: Bob Martin [email protected]

Spring 2019

Dear Classmates:

I hope this letter finds you luxuriating in a sunlit den where the aromas of spring waft through an open window. As I write this in February, it’s easy for the mind to wander to such pleasantries.

With that in mind, I ask you to imagine this: a weekday in the school year of Ripon College when classes are canceled, where lunch is served in your residence hall and where buses transport the guys from the Quads for dinner at the Commons.

This actually happened at Ripon on Wednesday, Jan. 30. Before you start bellyaching that “We never got a day off from scheduled classes,” consider the weather in Ripon on that day: a low of minus 11, with a wind chill of minus 24. Just imagine how a walk from the Quad to the Commons would have felt.

I can’t say that our winters were gentle, but, hey, we never had it this bad.

This letter marks some significant changes that I hope you will take advantage of. The old deal of the individual class letter being snail-mailed (on request) to classmates remains, but now it will also be emailed to alumni (spring only) and posted on the R Connections class pages website (https://www.ripon.edu/rconnections/) every spring and fall. Every fall we will still receive the hard copy R Connections book in the mail. The best innovation of these class pages is that you will be able to post news and pictures of yourself and classmates on our class page. Stay tuned for the launch of these pages in the coming weeks.

1968 Classmate News:

JOHN HERMES of Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, writes, “1968 doesn’t seem so long ago. After graduating from Ripon, I worked for six months at General Electric in Milwaukee and my wife, SUSAN ROBINSON HERMES, started teaching in Oak Park, Illinois. In November 1968, I reported for duty in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant at Ft. Benning, Georgia, then to Ft. Holabird, Maryland, then to Vietnam, back to the United States for more training (again with Susan) and finally to the Third Armored Division, Germany (with Susan) I was discharged from the Army in the summer of 1972 and entered law school at the University of Oklahoma. Our two sons, Nick and Peter, are 45 and 42. After law school in 1975, I went to work for McAfee & Taft, an Oklahoma City law firm where I’ve been ever since. Susan, who died in 2016, was active with the Oklahoma City Board of Education, where she served for eight years, including a year as board president. She was a volunteer in countless organizations and active in our church, St. Stephen’s Presbyterian.

BONNIE MACDOUGALL BECK is a retired teacher, librarian, and campground owner. She  lives in Cameron, Missouri, near her daughter, Jennifer, and her granddaughter, Elizabeth.

SCOTT MATHOT of Loudon, Tennessee, writes, “Happily retired since 2000. Wife Karen and I travel often (grandkids, Cabo, Packers, cruises). Enjoying boating on Tellico Lake! Anxious to see everyone.”

PETER UHRIG of Austin, Texas, reports: “Several of us from the great class of ’68 had a mini-reunion in October in North Carolina. Thanks to the Ripon 50th Facebook page, I reconnected with STEVEN HENIG. Linda and I met up with Steven and his wife, Kathy, in Chicago during the summer and I let him know DOUG and DIANE THORSEN WHITELEY lived close to him in North Carolina. Later, they got together, and by email, we discussed a visit during the fall. Linda and I were going to be traveling to various historic places in the South on our way up to visit friends and family near Washington, D.C. and so thought we could all meet. We then thought of RICK KAMMEN and LINDA JONES KAMMEN ’69, who live nearby in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and a reunion was born. We had a great time during our our three days together.

PHOTO: Clockwise from bottom left; Steve Henig, Diane Whiteley, Rick Kammen, Kathy Henig, Peter Uhrig, Doug Whiteley and Linda Kammen. (Photo by Linda Uhrig)

Obituary

ROBERT BOGATIN JR. ’69 of Broomall, Pennsylvania, died on Nov. 28, 2018, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. After Ripon, he served in Vietnam and attained the rank of first lieutenant. He received the Bronze Star. Post-military, he held a variety of jobs, including insurance salesman, freelance photographer and chemical manufacturers representative. He is survived by his wife, the former Pamela M. Rowley, two sons and one grandson.

Best wishes,

Bob

Submitted by: Bob Martin

Class Agents:

Charlotte Lee Wahle

[email protected]

                                                            Lauren Ott

[email protected]

Alexandra Peltier

[email protected]

Spring 2019

Greetings from Minneapolis!

I am hoping that by the time this reaches you, the snow will have thawed here. However, if last year is any indication, that’s just wishful thinking.

With all this lovely subzero weather we have been having, I have found myself on social media more and more (looking at some of the cutest future Redhawks!). The memories section of my Facebook page has been chalk full- basketball games, spring break musings, comprehensive exams, counting down to graduation… things I don’t think about on a regular basis but am glad to be reminded of. One look at a photo of a “pub party” and I am suddenly transported to a time where the most stressful decision was which after party I would attend and at what point in the night would I end up at Millers.

When I am able to take a look back, the memories we made at Ripon and still being connected to you all keep me warm on these chilled days. It is lovely to celebrate homeownership, animal adoption, nuptials, babies and careers with you all. With that, here is my update: I am still living in Downtown Minneapolis (king sized guest bed FYI) with KYLE GREENE ’15 and our perfect dog, Theo. I recently accepted a position I have been working toward for what feels like my whole life- Program Director of YMCA Camp Icaghowan in Amery Wisconsin. I will be spending the next couple of years splitting my time between downtown and a beautiful island on Lake Wapogasset.

As always, it is lovely to hear from you all. Let’s continue to lift each other up while posting cute photos.

Lauren Ott

CHARLOTTE LEE WAHLE ’13 “My son Reece was born on January 10.  Turns out, sleep deprivation as an adult is MUCH harder than it was in College.”

AMY DOEFER ’13 has a new baby kitten named Banjo and she is the cutest thing in New Glarus.

BLAIR REITZNER ’13 is getting married in July!

EMILY KIJEK ’13 is getting married on May 25, 2019 at Ripon College to Zac Schwandt.

KAITIE JO STUMBRIS WEISS ’13 and NICK WEISS ’13 are extremely busy between chasing River Jo around who is almost 2 years old now and their full time job. “I became a Legionnaire Trainer through a company called 1st Phorm and do online personal training on the side. Nick is still coaching football and became head of the science dept at Sussex Hamilton. We also decided, for some reason, to train for a half marathon that will be taking place in April. So any free time we have, we can normally be found running/dying on a treadmill some place.”

ELIZABETH BROWN ’13 “I wrote a book, published some articles, and made Associate Professor. 2018 was a good year.”

ZACHARY WIELAND ’13 “My wife and I decided to play a little game of roulette. We planned a much needed camping trip at the end of July / beginning of August 2019. Then 3 months after booking said camping trip we found out we are expecting baby #2 the week after the camping trip. Should we place bets on whether we make the camping trip or not?”

ANDREA SLOSSER WORTH ’13 got married this past summer (June 23, 2018). I also graduated with my M.S. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wyoming this December.

ABBY MILBRATH DEBBINK ’13 Had her little guy, Miles in June.

AMY BROWENDER ’13 “In May I said goodbye to my Minneapolis apartment and bought a little house in Saint Paul. I started a three-year term on the Board of Directors at the Hennepin History Museum in June, serve as Chair of the Development Committee, and help out as friendly bartender at exhibition openings.”

RACHEL STAEDT ’13 “In November I was promoted to Project Specialist with the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College. I work primarily on our grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice, which provides training and technical assistance to Native American tribes across the country to develop and sustain victim service programs.”

TREVOR WARREN ’13 “I am teaching social studies (government and world history) and coaching volleyball at Adrian High School in Adrian, MO. I also finished my time in the Air Force back in December.”

MEGHAN RAEBEL ’13 “Michael and I moved to Appleton, and the kittens are now (mostly) fully grown and have a great fondness for forbidden strings.”

LINDSEY MAE WHITE ’13 “I am now a fully licensed counselor working for the State of Wisconsin helping people with disabilities find employment.”

ERIC SACKETT ’13 Still paying student loans, but should be done by the time my AARP card shows up in the mail.

SHAUNA BETH PICHETTE ’13 “Dan Miles and I are living in Bayview with our dog, Penny and loving it. I started a new position at Rogers Behavioral Health as a primary therapist in the Child and Adolescent residential center for OCD and anxiety.”

DAN MILES ’13 “Shauna Beth and I am working for a company called Right At School as a Program Manager at Eisenhower Elementary in Wauwatosa!”

DAVID FORSETH ’13 and BREANNA GRACZ FORSETH ’13 are expecting their second child, Noelle AnnMarie, any day now!”

BREANA BUTT FELLINGER ’13 Is a resident physician in family medicine in Appleton and she and her husband had their first little one in October!

WALESKA HERNANDEZ RUSS ’13 is still working as a High School Spanish teacher and I had her son in February!

Submitted by: Lauren Ott

Class Agent:

Kathryn Santimays Dunn

[email protected]

(704) 633-8999

Spring 2019

A woman asks her doctor, ‘I’ve got a bad back.  The doctor says, ‘It’s old age.’ The woman says, ‘I want a second opinion.’

The doctor says, ‘Okay – you’re ugly as well.’

                                                                                -Tommy Cooper

Dear Class of 1967,

How many times have you heard that phrase – it’s just old age? Baloney I say!!  I think in our heads we’re all still twenty-something. But twenty-something with a lot more knowledge and wisdom. Ripon planted those seeds of knowledge and continues to do so for today’s students. As I read the Ripon Magazine I’m blown away by the talents and intellect of the students.

Breaking news!!  Heidel House is closing its doors for good in May! Apparently they’ve been trying to sell it but have had no luck. I think they’ve been around as long as I have. I’m sure we all have lots of fond memories of times spent there.

Perhaps we could start a Go-Fund-Me page for the owners!

BILL ’67 and JUDY WILKINSON ’68 NEILL are continuing their tradition of spending the winter months on Anna Maria Island in Florida. SUE BOOTHROYD ’67 and Norm Loomer, JOHN ’67 and JILL WILLIAMS ’68 BISHOP and other Riponites also escape the Wisconsin winters to enjoy the Sunshine State.

PETER ENGELKING ’67 and his wife had a very busy travel year last year. Among the many highlights was a stay in an old farmhouse near Bordeaux followed by a lovely apartment in Paris. Though all the sites were beautiful, Peter said the food was amazing! California, Costa Rica and New Orleans rounded out the year. When not traveling, Peter volunteers for the local Land Trust, mainly keeping trails open and clearing brush.

COLLEEN DURKIN SMALL ’67 and TOPHER SMALL ’67 celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with an all family Alaskan cruise. Our kids and grandkids are fortunate they get to “tag” along on these big adventures.

MARYBETH O’BRIEN FORBESS ’67 & GARY FORBESS ’69

January- Met cousins I hadn’t seen since 1956.

June- Sold Marlatt Machine Shop and retired.

June- 50th wedding anniversary.

September- Gary and friend bought a Cherokee 140/160 (1974) to enjoy the open skies over Nebraska.”

ANNA (NAN) JONES HAINES ’67 of Front Royal, Virginia, writes, “In spite of all the hurricane threats to the VA. region this week, life goes on as usual. As I live close to the river I had to make special plans to evacuate. But it looks as if most of it will go around us. Praise God. To those impacted by Florence, our hearts go out to you for safety and a quick recovery from it. My God be with you, too. Other than this, life goes on as usual. Continue to take care of clients’ pets in Pampered Pet Sitting. Also church work, and am on the Board for our local Christian Women’s Connection. My kids live in Annapolis, MD. and unfortunately we don’t get together often enough. Most of the time make do with weekly phone calls (and of course, emails). So sorry I missed the Class reunion, but I think of you all often. Someone was kind enough to send me (50th Reunion Memories) Thanks so much!!!!!”

Looking forward to traveling with his grandparents is Samuel George Gitcho, the newest grandchild of Susan and GEORGE ’67 GITCHO. His nickname is “Sammy Ocho” as he was born on the 18th at 1:18 and weighed 8.1 lbs! George should definitely buy a lottery ticket with those numbers!

Put May 1 on your calendar. That’s when the College will hold One Day Rally, a focused 24 hours of giving. Thanks to your giving on this day and annually, students’ financial burdens are lessened.

Please keep me updated on all your adventures and activities.

Have a happy, healthy Spring!

Submitted by: Kathy Santimays Dunn

Class Agent:
John Hyde
[email protected]

Spring 2019

Greetings ’65 Classmates,

Donna and I enjoy our days in Pensacola for a variety of reasons. Recently with all the news about the terrible storms, wind and snow/icy roads occurring across the country, our consistently mild weather here is wonderful. However, our lake house in Conover, Wisconsin is buried in snow and Donna’s mother, brother and son in Kansas City, Missouri just had a snow storm. We get together with my sister JEANNE HYDE HUMKE ’67 and her husband, my frat bro, RETT HUMKE ’65 either at their lake house just north of our Conover house across the Wisconsin border into Michigan or at our home in Pensacola a few times during the year.

It is almost time to put the boat in and also use the pool here. We enjoy the Pensacola Jazz Society events here and the relatively close locations for doing many things along the coast here. We drove to Tampa to see Michael Buble in February and spent an evening with one of Donna’s old friends and her significant other. This summer we will spend a month at our Conover home and organized maybe the last year of Cousin’s Camp which is week of activities with my five grandkids.

We saw Celine Dion and Beatles LOVE and others while in Vegas. We spent most of our time in various casinos. Every shop and restaurant you can think of is found in Las Vegas casinos.

John Hyde

Classmate News:

DICK BENNETT ’65 conveyed a pride regarding his son Tony who is currently have a great year as the basketball coach for the University of Virginia. We met Tony who attended one of reunion dinners about ten years ago. Dick spoke highly of the marvelous new Willmore Center at Ripon and how the athletic teams were doing. He commented on how he missed his departed Merriman friend and alumni trustee, MIKE REESE ’65. He says he enjoys reading, especially Faith based and nonfiction books.

In talking with CRAIG FERRIS ’65 his nature to understand the history of an issue became apparent. In describing how he and his wife, Nancy, took a cruise from Miami, Florida, to San Francisco through the Panama Canal, he described some of the history, with the failures in the building of the canal. In this class letter, Craig wrote a wonderful article about GREG THOMPSON ’65, a classmate of ours who passed away last November.

JOHN BURROWS ’65 of Jacksonville, Florida, writes, NANCY OSTERMEIER BURROWS ’66 and I remain in good health. I continue to be active during the day doing various chores around the house and then become a couch potato in the evening watching Netflix or Prime Video.

        We both do Pilates (different times) and know it has to be good for you. I also walk nearly every day and continue with my volunteer work: driver for meals on wheels, cooking at a large homeless shelter, donating blood, and volunteering at our church.

        We still enjoy traveling. We just returned from Oregon where our son lives with his wife and 2 year old son (our 3rd grandchild). You forget just how active a 2 year old child can be. Next trip will be to Disney World in Orlando. We have found it a great place to visit and enjoy the amazing restaurants. As a general rule, we do not go into the actual parks but try to walk everywhere. We will also be going to London in the early summer.

Spring cannot be far away. Our Azaleas are beginning to bloom and the temperature is in the upper 70’s. Our best to everyone.

BARBARA BRADFORD SEWALL ’65 and TED SEWALL ’66 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, took a delightful Holland America trip in the spring with friends of theirs. Both of their sons, TOM ’93 and GREG ’95, who also attended Ripon, are doing well. Ted often goes hunting with Greg who bought a small farm for bow hunting. They spend part of April every year, away from the snow in Wisconsin; at a place they rent in Venice, Florida where their children and grandchildren join them. 

DAVID MEISSNER ’65 is still enjoying life and gardening (and retirement from Alfred University) in Western New York with trips to the Caribbean Islands in winter, and our Family Home on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire in the summertime.

KEN MAHER ’65 writes, “Now retired after selling my pension administrative services business two years ago. I am spending January through March in my home in Queen Valle, Arizona, and the rest of the year in Coventry, Connecticut.” 

I am playing lots of golf with my significant other Dee, even though she usually out drives me. I have been taking courses at two state universities towards a Masters in Sociology and Data Science. I may use this combination to launch new career. When I’m not golfing or studying I enjoy working on the Connecticut house.

RICHARD MENSON ’65 of Dunwoody, Georgia, writes, “On January 6 of this year, it was 50 years since I landed in Vietnam to start 20 months of in country service as a JAG officer. I arrived later than a number of those in the class of 1965 since I went to Northwestern Law School in Chicago graduating in 1968. Since then I have participated in trying to help Veterans through the establishment of Veterans Legal Clinics at various law school in Georgia after I moved to Atlanta in June of 2007. All of us who were commissioned in the class of 1965 did their service proudly. In what is going on in my life, my wife and I are visiting Cuba in the fall with stops in Havana, Santiago and other places. While we are in Havana we are going to the Tropicana and in Santiago, visiting San Juan Hill. We are traveling to Tacoma, Washington to visit my daughter who took a position at Pacific Lutheran College along with following my grandchildren who swim with the Athens (Georgia) Bulldog Swim Club.  

CAROLE COOP ATHERATON ’65 of Redmond, Oregon, enjoys traveling and has done so in interesting locations in the world. She saw MARY SHIRER KROENING ’65 in Naperville, Illinois. She commented that her significant other, Malarkey, is recouping from a bad fall on the ice, resulting in a compound fracture near their home in Oregon. He is an interesting and bright person who I met at a past reunion. Coop is always full of energy when you engage her in conversation.

MARY SHIRER KROENING ’65 of Naperville, Illinois, writes, “John and I spent the month of January in Naples, Florida, and wish we were still there! Thankfully, we missed the really cold snap here in Naperville. Now that we’re home, I enjoy cuddling up with my books since I’m in 3 book clubs. I still serve as chair of the Worship Team at HOPE Church. It’s such a welcoming place – very diverse, very progressive. Over the years, I’ve met such interesting people and have learned a lot about people and their challenges as they search for love and acceptance. Our ukulele band has a number of gigs coming up, one of which is a fund-raiser for the families of victims and first responders in Aurora. When will these mass shootings stop? I’m glad that we can do at least a little something to help. I’m planning to finally get my right knee replaced in a couple of weeks. The recovery won’t be fun, but the expected results will motivate me to do the work. I passed my road test last week – yay! Haven’t had one of those for 60 years! That’s about it for me!

DAVID WORDEN ’65 of Scottsdale, Arizona, writes, “Terri and I have dividing our time between California and Arizona spending time with grandkids and the rest of our family.  We welcomed our 6th grandchild the end of September and are truly blessed to have such a big family.  Looking forward to our vacation to Victoria, BC, in May and short trips to the coast in between. Hope all our classmates are well and we look forward to hearing their news.

JIM THORSEN ’65 of Idaho Falls, Idaho, writes, “We are planning a trip to Normandy to observe the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Our grandkids are playing in one of 12 high school and college marching bands selected to represent the U.S. at the ceremonies. After the event, we are going to see our friends in Scotland. As an aside when I was the Manager of one of Louisville’s airports, the director had been on the meteorological staff on General Eisenhower, and was active in advising General Eisenhower to delay the invasion from the 5th to the 6th. Interesting fellow, to say the least!

CHAD NELSON ’65 of Plymouth, Minnesota, writes, “Not much has changed in our lives; just noticing that the time is going by faster and faster. We still make regular trips to Aspen, Colorado, to visit our son and his family. (I keep meaning to look up classmate TOM BUESCH ’65 when we are in town, but our son, his wife and our 3 granddaughters keep us busy — even though we frequently stay for 10-14 days at a time.)

We have tried to get away from the Minnesota winter, but, so far, our timing has been poor. We went to Las Vegas in January but got back in Minnesota just in time for a cold spell. We are getting ready to take a cruise to Cuba this week; looking forward to learning about the culture… and experiencing the warm weather!

Best to you and Donna, and our fellow classmates.

KARL BERES ’65 of Ripon, Wisconsin, writes, “Diane and I made our umpteenth trips to Costa Rica this past January. Two back-to-back trips: A cruise through the Panama Canal and up the Pacific coasts of both countries, followed by a birding trip through southern Costa Rica. Had a great time, and I didn’t even take my cane. Meanwhile, Diane is teaching three 6th-grade math classes as a long-term sub.

JUDY DU FRÊNE HALL ’65 writes, “I’m sitting here in a borrowed casita in San Miguel de Allende, GTO Mexico. It is 84 degrees out and clear blue skies.

We have been coming here for over 20 years, and now have even more reason as our daughter, Chandra and her husband and our grandson, Nicholas, moved here a year and a half ago to escape the corporate world of Seattle. Bill and I have really enjoyed being in the same town with them. In November, our other daughter, Allyson, and her family of husband and 3 teenage sons came from North Carolina for Thanksgiving and to celebrate my 75th birthday.  We had 5 lovely days and introduced them to San Miguel. When we are not here we are in California and/or Minnesota.

Last summer we spent 6 weeks in Europe with a cruise over, a cruise to St. Petersburg and a couple weeks around Hamburg and Berlin. How fortunate we are!!

JOHN NEWHARD ’65 writes, “Sharon and I are enjoying watching the University of Virginia basketball team coached by Tony Bennett—Dick Bennett’s son and I am recovering from a right knee replacement-slowly.”

JOHN WHEELER ’65:

My undying gratitude to Ripon for all that it has given to me.

I have been putting John H. off on his request that I provide him with a few lines for the class of ’65 newsletter. I figure that my personal news is always mundane and boring.  Finally, I decided to think about what Ripon has meant to me and to express the gratitude that I feel toward everyone that played a part in my time there, regardless of how small and inconsequential it seemed to them at that time; not just “what” happened, but more importantly, “why?”

I wanted to answer this question of “why” for myself. All this is driven by my positive feelings about my “Ripon Experience” and the impact that it has on my life. It includes people that I am still close to all the way to people that have no idea that they even left the minutest impression on my thinking.

There are very few decisions that I have made that I am sure were the best possible decisions that I could make at a critical point in my life. For me, the most consequential was choosing Ripon. When you take into account that I made that choice 58 years ago, long before I had the maturity and the intellect to comprehend how pivotal this choice would prove to be, it seems like a miracle.

I want to express my gratitude to everyone who helped make my journey from Scott Hall to retirement so rewarding.

I especially want to honor GREG THOMPSON ’65 who was there with me and for me every step of the way, until his passing on November 15, 2018.

CRAIG FERRIS ’65 writes reflections on GREG THOMPSON ’65 who passed away last November and had a passion for flying.

Most of the 14 freshmen members of Sigma Nu at tiny Ripon College in Wisconsin had one thing in common. They had no idea what they wanted to do with their lives.

The one exception was Greg. He just wanted to fly. And he did so at every opportunity.

As a freshman, Greg was a bit of a celebrity. As an Air Force brat, he joined flying clubs at bases where his father was stationed and had a private pilot’s license before he had a driver’s license.

One tradition of fraternities and sororities at Ripon and other colleges was so-called Hell Week which is a hazing of freshmen by the sophomores. It takes place at the end of the first semester when new pledges spent a long weekend engaged in bonding including never-ending all night treasure hunts that consisted of walking back and forth from one side of town to the other looking for clues.

Part of that tradition was to capture the chief “Heller,” usually a sophomore, and drive him as far away as possible and leave him with only enough money to make a phone call to arrange transportation back to campus. The goal was to try to make sure that he didn’t get back until the weekend was over so he could not make our lives miserable.

But we had a better idea—since we had Greg, our own pilot, we decided to fly the Heller as far away as possible. We each contributed $5-$10 apiece and Greg made arrangements to rent a 4-seat plane at the small airport 20 miles away in Fond du Lac. Some of us suggested that we fly the Heller across Lake Michigan to a city or town in Michigan and leave him, thus guaranteeing that he could not get back before the weekend was over.

But Greg, despite wanting to take every opportunity to fly, said “no.” There was too great a risk that the plane could be forced down into the icy waters of the lake. So we settled on flying the Heller to Freeport, Illinois, some 250 miles south and left him in the snow at the end of a desolate runway. Needless to say, he was back in about 8 hours.

As the semester went on, Greg would talk many of us into flying with him for an hour or two when we could scrape a few dollars together to rent a plane.

During that spring, Greg also became the official pilot of the college debate team. Speech Prof. Howard Hansen and two members of the team, VERN CRONEN ’63 and DICK JOHNSON ’62, were scheduled to go to a debate tournament in Iowa. Greg convinced them that he could rent the plane, fly them to the tournament and save money and hours that would be spent on the road.

Greg had elaborate maps and carefully charted his course. When he got close to the location of the tournament he couldn’t see the airport. Remember, in those days you flew by dead reckoning and followed a radio beam. The map showed a large water tower and the airport was supposed to be nearby, but he could not see the runway. He radioed the airport control tower which finally told him to fly around the water tower and see what name was on it. It turned out it was the wrong town. He was off course by a few miles. He corrected his position and landed at the airport. But Greg said later that Prof. Hansen looked at him as if he was having second thoughts having a debate team pilot even though the professor and the two members of the team introduced him to others at the tournament as “their pilot.”

Our sophomore year before so-called rush week when fraternities were trying to recruit new members, Greg convinced his fellow members to rent a plane so he could “bomb” the campus with hundreds of ping pong balls stamped “Sigma Nu Open House” to get as many frosh as possible to attend. Even though it was a windy day, Greg managed to dump the ping pong balls and get them to land close to Scott Hall, the freshman dorm.

I remember that my junior year when I was the editor of the college newspaper I told Greg that we had a decent budget both from the student activity fund and from advertising. His eyes lit up and he immediately suggested that we rent a plane to take aerial photos of the campus. That prompted an hour and a half of buzzing the college so the paper’s photographer, who had never been in a light plane before and had a queasy look on his face, could take wide shots of the campus. We printed the photo in the next edition with a line that credited the photographer and added: Aircraft by Greg Thompson. Greg had that photo pinned up on his bulletin board until we graduated.

You know the rest of the story—he earned an MBA from the University of Washington and worked for Boeing. Then he discovered that banks were looking for a way to move checks for millions of dollars from banks in wheat-growing areas in eastern Washington to the Federal Reserve in Seattle. That triggered a part-time job that involved his passion—flying—and eventually led to his founding and owning the very successful Seattle-based Airpac Airlines with a fleet of turboprops that forwarded to smaller airports everything from cargo from UPS and Fed Ex down to medical transplants.

We all have disappointments. Greg wanted to fly for the military and perhaps for a major passenger airline. But he prospered from what grads of most liberal arts colleges thrive on. Take what you have and build on it. Greg followed his bliss—flying—and truly found a life well lived!

Submitted by: John Hyde

Class Agent:

WAYNE WOLFGRAM ’63

313-882-1712

[email protected]

Spring 2019

Hi Classmates!

I hope you all are coping with the weather. Here in Michigan the winter started out almost pleasant and mild, but it has turned.

Class Notes:

VERNON CRONEN ’63 of Wilmington, North Carolina, ([email protected]) writes, “I have been teaching a class in Argumentation and Debate in addition to other courses — echoes of Ripon days. Debate is far from my academic specialty, but it is fun to teach and important in the age of Trump’s madness. If that is offensive to some readers, I make no apologies. I am continuing to work on further development of my theory of communication, “Coordinated Management of Meaning” and I am still working on focusing on how to teach systemic ways of asking questions for undergraduates.

Myrna and I have survived the Hurricane that hit Wilmington, North Carolina with relatively minor damage to our house. We had to leave town for two weeks. We are still working on some repairs. UNCW was harder hit. I am able to get back into my office and things are getting mostly back to normal.”

CATHELINE PETRUSCHKE KREFT ’63 of Duluth, Minnesota, ([email protected]) writes, “I just read the winter Ripon magazine. It was interesting to me to see the timeline of teacher education and then to see in the news about Larry Miller. Larry was my education professor. I was the first student teacher in elementary education (1963) and the first to graduate. I feel fortunate to have used this education successfully in Duluth. Greetings to all.”

SUSAN KELLER MATTHES ’63 of Carson City, Nevada, ([email protected]) writes, “Lots of snow here in Carson City – neighbors told us, when we first moved out here back in 2002, that “it melts by 10am” – they just didn’t say how many days it would last! We’ve even had to shovel the stuff!! It’s melting quickly now and the spring flowers are exploding out of the flower beds. The mountains and foothills to our west are still lovely and the ski resorts are jubilant.

It’s back to Utah again this spring – a state that has so much to offer in the way of geology, history, scenery and outdoor activity. We’ve explored most of the Escalante Staircase – now just a bit more time in the Canyonlands and Arches and then it’s on to Flaming Gorge National Park. Last year we drove across to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake – no antelope spotted but a number of buffalo. And the most spectacular sunset ever!

It’s always nice to keep up with the activities of classmates. We wish all good health and happy days.”

LYNN SIEBEL SUNDELIUS ’63 of Kalispell, Montana writes: “I wish I had been cognizant of the dates of the June 21-24 Alumni Weekend when I booked my 3 week trip to Northern Europe! I was looking forward to attending, as the 50th was such fun. Say hi to all for me.”

WAYNE WOLFGRAM ’63 of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, ([email protected]) writes, “My trip to Brisbane, Australia in July to attend my niece’s wedding and a family reunion (all seven Wolfgram siblings were able to attend) went great. I was impressed by the vibrancy and beauty of the city. It seemed that all the people walking around and enjoying the city’s ambiance were young people (of course most everyone else seems young these days).

Some of you may have read the disappointing article in the February 22, 2019 Wall Street Journal: “America’s Disappearing Private Colleges”. The plunging birthrate that occurred after the 2009 recession means there may not be enough students to keep small schools alive. The author predicts the hardest hit areas will be those most populated by private colleges, including those around the Great Lakes. So there may have to be mergers or, at worst, closings.

While donation of funds to the college is vitally important, just as important – maybe more so – is talking up the benefits of attending Ripon to grandchildren, great grandchildren, neighbor kids, etc.

Please inform me or the college of your email addresses and I sure hope to hear from more of you in the future.

A happy spring and summer to you all.

WAYNE WOLFGRAM ’63

Submitted by: Wayne Wolfgram

Class Agent:

Deborah Johnson Van Slyke ’60

480-284-5564 / 619-889-5061

[email protected]

Spring 2019

Class of 1960,

Here is some classmate news:

DEE GRAY HOLDEN ’60 and DANNY HOLDEN ’60 of Phoenix, Arizona, are our constant world travelers. Last summer there were to trips to Europe. Every grandchild takes one trip with them. This was the final one. Nick and his grandparents were in the northern Italian Alps. Later. Dee and Dan took a Danube cruise and spent 5 days in Vienna. Dan had 2 spine surgeries last year and is now back on the golf course. This summer they will again be at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

KARL PIOTROWSKI ’60 of Aiea Oahu, Hawaii, celebrated his 80th with the family at the Green Bay – Bears games in Green Bay.  Daughter Jay graduated from med school and is now engaged so Karl will soon be father of the bride. His son Brian is working with Karl on construction projects for banks while his wife E Long is active with music and dancing.

DEBORAH JOHNSON VAN SLYKE ’60

Submitted by: Deborah Johnson Van Slyke

Class Agents:

Stephanie Sommer Faulds

608-630-3369 / [email protected]

Leah Hover-Preiss

608-432-2399 / [email protected]

Zac Schwandt

920-291-5685 / [email protected]

Spring 2019

Greetings Class of 2008!

If you live in the Midwest, we hope you are surviving this intense winter weather we have been experiencing. If you live somewhere else and have not had the joys of living in a real life frozen, ice covered snow globe, we are very jealous! Even though it may be hard to believe, in just a few short months the weather will be beautiful and another class of students will be graduating from Ripon. Even though it is not a reunion year for our class, you may still want to mark your calendars for Alumni Weekend and start making plans for visiting campus this summer. Alumni Weekend will be held June 27-30, 2019. Keep an eye out for more information. If you can’t make it for Alumni Weekend, there are many other great activities happening year round. Check out the Ripon College website for upcoming events and make plans to meet up with some classmates on campus soon!

As usual, our classmates have been up to some amazing thing! Check out the Class Notes listed below. Remember, if you would like your life event (engagements, marriages, births, continuing education, new jobs or promotions, moves, starting a business, and so on…) shared in the class notes, contact one of the class agents at any time during the year. We would love to hear from you! Keep in touch!

One last note- Ripon’s second annual Giving Day, #OneDayRally, will be held on May 1. More information will be coming as the time gets closer. Please consider participating in this great event to show your support!

As always, Go Redhawks!

-Your class agents- Leah, Stephanie, and Zac

CLASS NOTES

MAGGIE HALL ’08 of Spring Green, Wisconsin, is now the sound supervisor at American Players Theater in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

KAREN HANADEL EDMONSON ’08 of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, shared “our second son, Isaiah Kain Edmonson, was born November 23, 2018.

LEAH HOVER-PREISS ’08 of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, successfully defended her dissertation “”Do More Students Graduate?: A Quantitative Intervention Study on Changes in Graduation Rates After the Implementation of Link Crew”” in September to complete the requirements for her Doctorate of Education from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. She was awarded her degree at the commencement ceremony in January 2019. She is in her ninth year of teaching high school mathematics. Leah and her husband Zach have two children, Aiden who is 7 and Harper who is 2.

SARA KUSSMANN SCHMITT ’08 and CURTIS SCHMITT ’09, welcomed a baby boy (Finley John) on October 18, 2017! Curtis and Sara both work from home, which allows them to spend lots of time with Finley.

JULIE NELSON KUKOWSKI ’08 and BRUCE KUKOWSKI ’10 of El Paso, Texas, write, “1LT Kukowski is an EOD Platoon Leader deployed in support of Inherent Resolve in Iraq.  Julie is part of the leadership team for Fort Bliss MOPS.”

ALEX ROYZEN ’08 of Lindenhurst, Illinois was recently promoted to Director of Supply Chain Management for Ecentria, the parent company of two major online retailers- OpticsPlanet.com and CampSaver.com.  

SARAH TIMM SILTANEN ’08 of Cloquet, Minnesota wants to share the news of the birth of her son Emmett Michael, on June 16, 2018.

Submitted by: Zac Schwandt

 Co-Class Agents:

Lindsey Kreye Heil

[email protected]

Adam Krueger

[email protected]

Stacy Krusa Teachout

[email protected]

Liz Leach Morrell

[email protected]

Spring 2019

Hi Everyone!

We hope this letter finds you well…and surviving the long winter season! Ripon College actually cancelled classes more than once this year due to inclimate weather. Campus continues to be a busy place. Amazing renovations have been made to Lane Library, campus enrollment has increased by ten percent, and the Willmore Center continues to be a popular hangout for current students. Attached you will find updates from our classmates. Enjoy!    

MARK DEDINA ’07 of Hampshire, Illinois was promoted to maintenance superintendent at ENCAP. See more details including a personal article written about his achievements on the Ripon College website.

JOHN DUNLAVY ’07: Former Badger, Packer Headlines Awards

By Erik Buchinger

The 26th annual Doug Jirschele Sports Awards Banquet was held at Memory Lanes Bar and Grill in Clilntonville on Saturday, May 19. Former Wisconsin Badger and Green Bay Packer player Bill Ferrario was the guest speaker, and Badgers men’s basketball player Brian Butch earned the Nice Guy Award. Leann Hopp, Jim Polzin and John Dunlavy were recipients of Doug Jirschele Sports Awards. Mark Doornink earned the Forgotten Man Award. Gerry O’Connor was the Master of Ceremonies at the event.

John Dunlavy graduated from Clintonville High School in 2002 where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball.

Dunlavy played baseball at Ripon College and was a member of the Midwest Conference Championship teams for four straight years, and he was named a First Team All-Conference selection three times.

Dunlavy coached varsity baseball at Clintonville and was a hitting coach for Ripon College. He also coached football and baseball at Markesan High School.

Dunlavy thanked his coaches for the time they put in working with him including Bill Kinzinger and his father.

“I feel very lucky and blessed to have been the son of a coach,” Dunlavy said. “I also feel cursed at times when I was younger. Anybody who had to play for their dad, you got coached at practice, you got coached at home, in the car ride and it was nonstop. It probably spilled over a little bit when we got in an argument once or twice, but when you look back on it, how lucky was I to go to the gym every single day? Whatever season it was, that was my favorite sport.”

Dunlavy said he was thankful for his mom when he and his dad would be having arguments during dinner.

“That’s when Mom put the striped shirt on, and she was the referee,” Dunlavy said. “I have to thank my mom for that because she was always on my side.

“Coaches are the reasons why I was able to have some success in sports. The life lessons you learn through all those things are unbelievable and I’ll carry on with me forever. Being a coach myself and having a son, I hope he’s lucky as I was when I was a kid.”

MARA EVANS ’07 and her husband Jordan Shaw of Madison, Wisconsin welcomed their first child, Marion Laurel Shaw on December 2, 2018. She is named after Mara’s Grandmother Marion, and the summer camp where Mara and Jordan met: Camp Laurel.  

DAVE ’07 and TOMISSA PORATH FREISLEBEN ’10 of Madison, Wisconsin were married on October 13, 2018.

KARI JOAS ’07 of Larsen, Wisconsin, writes, “I am a firefighter and first responder for the town of Winchester fire department.”

LINDSEY KREYE HEIL ’07 and her husband, Christopher Heil, welcomed a baby girl, Zoey Mae Heil on December 31, 2018. Lindsey also graduated with her Master’s Degree in special education from Concordia University in St. Paul in May. She completed her capstone research on the effectiveness of co-teaching and the academic success of students with mild to moderate disabilities.   

AMANDA LIETHEN GLASS ’07 and her husband, Michael Glass of Random Lake, Wisconsin, had a baby boy, Theodore Stephen Glass on July 14, 2018.”

ADAM RONCHETTI ’07 of Mundelein, Illinois, writes, “I accepted a new position at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals in Madison, Wisconsin. In May, my wife, Lisa and I will be taking a (rock climbing) trip to Kalymnos, Greece.”

Please save the date for Alumni Weekend 2019! Festivities will be held June 27-30 and we would love to see you there! As always, please continue to share your life updates with us. If you are interested in supporting our alma mater, please visit: www.ripon.edu/give. We hope to hear from you soon!!

Until next time,  

Adam, Liz, Lindsey & Stacy

Submitted by: Liz Leach Morrell

Class Agents:

Nicole Klaas Hands
[email protected]

Ed Hansen
[email protected]

Andrew Kitslaar
[email protected]

Spring 2019

Greetings Friends!

By the time you receive this letter, hopefully the snow is melting in Ripon or at a minimum, for those of us who live in Wisconsin, are not facing negative degree temperature highs or lows for the foreseeable future.

Since we last wrote, a lot has happened on campus and in our lives. Ripon’s new curriculum, called Catalyst, continues to receive accolades and grant funding to change the way Ripon’s students learn and implement their education. A variety of speakers and events continue to flow through campus: poets, sustainability and health panels and even hosting a congressional debate this past fall. Events and classes did stop, however, in January when the College closed for a few days due to the weather and cold temperatures. We cannot remember if there was ever a school closure during our time on campus, can you? Well, maybe the one time a squirrel chewed threw the transformer and canceled evening classes, but other than that?

It’s easy to stay informed, and we hope you are following along with Ripon’s story through their Instagram, Facebook or Twitter account. Of course, there is the good old ripon.edu as well. You can also see what Ripon’s up to this summer at this year’s Alumni Weekend June 27-30 (it’s not our reunion yet).

While there are things happening on Ripon’s campus, we know there are activities or accomplishments in your life that you’d like to share. We only have a few updates this spring, so enjoy them, but please reach out and let us know what’s going on in your life.

RACHEL FISCHER ’06 has been named dean of students at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family. “I’m looking forward to expanding opportunities for students to grow and be involved,” said Dr. Fischer. “Silver Lake College continues to be an environment that encourages students to learn and develop, in and out of the classroom.” She joined the college in July 2009 as director of residence life and student activities. She was promoted to registrar in 2012 and assistant dean of student development in 2016. Dr. Fischer earned her Doctor of Education in educational leadership from Edgewood College in Madison and her Master of Arts in communication from the University of Dubuque in Iowa.

NATHAN POLUM ’06 of Houston, Texas, writes, “Started a new job as Regulatory and Transactional Counsel at AIG in Houston, Texas.”

KELLY SOLBERG WILHELME ’06 shared with us, “My husband and I had a kid in June, her name is Hattie. I took a new role at work this fall — marketing manager at Weidert Group, an inbound marketing agency in Appleton.”

NICOLE KAPLAN SHOLES ’06 wanted this added to our van segment, “I crashed my coworker’s van in the parking garage at work at 5 mph.” Our collective van saga continues…

Thanks of the updates and all of your support for Ripon. Enjoy your summer!

Ed, Andy and Nicole

Submitted by: Nicole Klaas Hands

Co-Class Agents:

Amanda Zahn Przybyl

[email protected]  / (920) 299-1081

Daphne Meyers Leigh

[email protected] / (414) 841-7210

Spring 2019

Greetings Ripon College Class of 2005!

I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I last wrote you all!  Life remains the normal rat race of home life, work life, mom life, wife life, direct selling life, and friend life.  Only now we have homework to deal with. I was one of the weird kids that enjoyed homework in high school but not so much helping my 7 year old do his homework. I’m ready for proof reading book reports and such- simple math, not so much.  And oh how the terrific threes are actually terrible for my youngest. Just this last weekend he found a marker while I was in the shower. Now everything- the floors, walls, toys, furniture, him- has all been marked. It’ll all come off eventually, but for real (and feel free to laugh at my expense)! I got some new responsibilities here at Ripon College- I’m in charge of the OneCard system (the card that gets you meals, into Res. Halls, do laundry, etc.).  I helped install the system back before TJ was born then took a step back and now a step back up. It’s been a nice add to my normal routine as I get to put out fires, trouble shoot, etc, which, I’m learning, is one of my happy places! What are your happy places?

I’m so lucky that for about 7-8 hours a day I get to be full immersed into 6 students’ lives. I hear the good (got a job, internship, into grad school, got engaged, etc.), the bad (my dog died, failed a test, didn’t get into grad school, my car broke, my mom has cancer, etc.) and the everyday (what they did over the weekend, in meetings, in their fraternity, in class, etc.).  The best part is that I get to watch them learn how amazing they are as they grow over their years here and learn their own worth. In a world that’s ever changing (both at Ripon College and the greater world), it is so comforting to know that Ripon College is still a place where it’s safe to explore, find out who you are and, ultimately, become a version of you that is far better than the one who came to Ripon. How did you change during your time at Ripon?

Here is what is going on with your classmates:

CADY SINNWELL GERLACH ’05 writes that- “Peter Gerlach ’02 and Cady Sinnwell Gerlach ’05 are raising two great little boys in Iowa City, Iowa and have recently transitioned jobs. Peter recently accepted work at the University of Iowa International Writer’s Program coordinating their Summer Institute and Cady is now legal counsel and directs strategic operations for Shelter House, a local nonprofit provider working on ending homelessness through innovative housing interventions.”

JUANITA BAATZ GUTBROD ’05 – “I’m currently teaching 3k/4k in Dousman, Wisconsin and finding time to sew for charity. I’m also helping my husband with his business making video games and arcades featuring Cosmotrons by Arcadaholics LLC.”

JACOB GRAF ’05 – “I started Graf Technology during college as an IT Support/Web Development company. In 2011, I went full-time with it, but recently decided to get out of the IT Support side of things and focus on Digital Marketing. I partnered with a buddy of mine and we started Click Insights (clickinsights.com). We also launched a user testing platform called User Insights (userinsights.com). Focusing on one industry has been a great change for me.”

TERI SOLARZ HATFIELD ’05 and MICHAEL HATFIELD ’05 – “We (Teri and Michael Hatfield) are still in Lombard and working for the same organizations. However, I (Teri) am working on my certification to become a Birth Doula! It has been an incredible experience and I love this new work! We unfortunately lost our two golden retrievers last year to health issues, but have since added a new pup to the family. The kids love her to bits and are enjoying having a puppy to play with again. We hope this update finds you well and send our love to you and yours!”

CHARLES JOHNSON ’05 –“Things are going well in the Twin Cities. Almost finished with real estate and property management, I have one property left to sell this spring. Then it’s continue focus on growing my car dealership and financing business. We have been doing this for about 3 years now and it has grown exponentially by word of mouth! My daughter, Charlotte, just turned 4! Our mini juliana piglet, Cami, just turned 2! I’m still living in the metro area right outside of Minneapolis and loving it! Hopefully everyone is well and I can’t wait to read everyone else’s updates!”

AMANDA GUAY KREJCAREK ’05– “GENE ’05 and I welcomed Gracelyn’s brother, Brycen, to the world on May 31.”

PAUL LARSON and SARAH MCGILL LARSON ’05 – “Our plans are still on for a move from Maryland to either Minnesota or Wisconsin.  It’s been on our minds for a few years, and the time table has moved around a bit. If job prospects work out well, the move should be happening Summer ’19. Paul may be leaving college teaching for a private sector analysis job to boost our chances of landing in Green Bay where Sarah’s two brothers live. Our son, Parker, is 5 and in Kindergarten. Daughter, Tanner, is 3, but she wants to be 5. We lost two cats in the last few months: we had Gus and Euler (named after mathematicians Gauss and Euler) since we adopted them from the Green Lake shelter in 2006. Schnapps remains our loyal kitty buddy, and we adopted Furmat (after mathematician Fermat) last fall.”

LISA MAISONNEUVE KICK ’05 writes- “I’m still doing child welfare work in Milwaukee but was promoted from supervisor to program manager in December of 2018. SCOTT ’07 is a supervisor with the post office in Madison but is about to start a 6 month detail as postmaster in Lake Mills. We reside in Lake Mills and have two daughters ages 4 years and 20 months.”

LORYN OHLAUG MERRILL ’05 writes- “I’m still working for Boeing but currently in a new role. I’m the propulsion integrated product team lead for a new program. I’m in charge of the design, procurement, and manufacturing of the propulsion subsystem for a satellite bus module. This role requires more travel which is both good and bad. I’m learning a lot and looking forward to seeing the hot fire test of our main engine. Family life is busy as usually. My oldest son is too active and broke both his arms in a 6 month time frame. Fingers crossed that my other 3 boys don’t copy their big brother! So far all my boys are excelling in math, this makes me very happy! My husband is also doing well. He was promoted to a management role at Northrop Grumman. We are busy, but happy and enjoying life.”

BETSY JONES SKIBICKI ’05– “My husband Eric and I sold our home and bought a new house in Mequon, Wisconsin in June 2018. I continue to work for the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Milwaukee and have two sons, ages 5 and 8.”

ASHLEIGH SMITH ’05 – “Our son Doug got married last fall and he and his wife Whitney are expecting their first child this spring. So excited to be a grandma!! Decided to switch up careers a little bit and just started a brand new job as a transit driver.”

RENEA VORPAHL MERTENS ’05– Not much as changed since my last report. My husband and I are busy with our kids, Gigi (4) and Sterling (2) in Green Bay, Wisconsin. We both still work in insurance and love it that we both can work from home. I recently completed my AINS designation and am working my way towards CPCU. We bought a camper and have a permanent camp site in Wautoma, Wisconsin, which puts us close to Ripon often. We can’t wait to spend more weekends there with family and friends.”

PAUL NEUBERGER ’05 of Colgate, Wisconsin, writes, “Good afternoon, I pray this message finds everyone at Ripon College doing well! Not sure if you would like to include this as an announcement in the various Ripon College platforms that you oversee, but I was recently named the Chairman of the 2019 American Heart Association Heart Walk in Milwaukee.  Peter Feigin, President of the Milwaukee Bucks, held this post before me. In this highly visible role, I will be responsible for creating awareness, signing up volunteers, fundraising, and bringing new organizational sponsors into the fold. Peter set the fundraising record for this initiative by generating just over $965,000 in revenue.  My goal? I aspire to nearly double that haul by raising $1.75 million. Attached to this email, please find a banner that was created on my behalf to promote this initiative.

Everyone else- Please, please, please send an email, text or call me and let me know how you’re doing and what you’ve been up to. I’d also love to get an updated address or e-mail address from you so Ripon can get you all the important Ripon mailings (like this class letter!).  

A few more thoughts from me: Did you know Ripon College has a #OneDay Rally day??  Seeing it firsthand last year was pretty darn amazing! We raise over $650,000 in ONE DAY!! Were you a part of that total? I was, and it felt good☺ So plan to give on May 1 and be a donor with me. Don’t want to wait- increase your gift from last year today and you can be a GAME CHANGER (contact me to learn more).  Even $20 counts, EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR counts! Watch for #OneDayRally all over our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. page. It will also a good day to wear some Ripon Red!

One other thing- Did you know that next summer, 2020, will be our 15th reunion? Make your plans to come back to campus now so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle of other summer plans (last full weekend in June)!  So many changes that you just have to see in person and so many memories to smile over. I’ll gladly give you a personal tour (special bonus because I work here)! Where is life going to take you between now and then? Stay in touch and let me know☺

All the best!

Your Class Agent,

Amanda Zahn Przybyl

Submitted by: Amanda Przybyl