From our Alumni

1950s

ABOVE: Margaret (Harstad) Matzke (’54) and her husband, Fred, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on August 14, 2021, with an open house attended by fifty close friends and relatives. Fred and Marge reside in Apple Valley, Minnesota.

1950s

Dave Geisler (’55) sends his greetings and God’s blessings to all of his Class of 1955 high school classmates. If you make it to Murdo, South Dakota, please stop in for a visit at the Pioneer Auto Show.

1960s

Vivian (Unseth) Weseloh (’60) and Larry Weseloh are pleased to announce the birth of their second great-grandchild, Odin Jack Weseloh, on March 30, 2021. Odin’s older brother, Ezekiel Lawrence Weseloh, was born on April 18, 2018. Zeke and Odin’s parents are Devin and Claire (Ott) Weseloh of West Fargo, North Dakota. Devin is the oldest child of Viv and Larry’s son, Christian Weseloh and his wife, Wendi.

PHOTOS ABOVE: Alumni from the class of ’68 John Branstad, Terry Harstad, Steve Lucht, and Bill Moore together with Bill Jorgenson (’67) were featured in the winter issue of Pheasants Forever Journal (Dec ‘21) highlighting the group’s over 50 years hunting pheasants together.

1970s

ABOVE: Wanda (Olmanson) Berke (‘70) and Marvin Berke (‘70) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June at Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin, with their two children and spouses and six grandchildren. They were married at Norseland Evangelical Lutheran Church on June 26, 1970, by the late Rev. Theodore Aaberg. Bethany alumni in their wedding were Marv’s two brothers, Larry (‘62), Don (‘66), Anita (Olmanson) Wise (‘74), Ann (Gullixson) Laudon (70), and Linda (Hellwig) Gross (‘69). A blessed life!

Jim Lemke (’71) enjoyed attending the Class of ’71 Reunion in October 2021.

Cheryl Roberson (‘78) recently retired from Central Rivers Area Education Agency in Marshalltown, Iowa, after nearly 40 years in the rewarding field of education.

Linda (Harstad) Becker (‘79) and her husband, Rev. Vance Becker, are Lutheran Church Missouri Synod missionaries living in Matongo, Kenya. Vance is a theological educator at Neema Lutheran Theological College. They live up in the beautiful tea hills where the weather is always pleasant. Linda keeps busy playing piano for the daily chapel services, accompanying the choir which meets four nights a week, and teaching piano lessons. She also is the matron of the deaconesses which means she is the dorm mama, and leads a weekly Bible study for the deaconesses. The Kenyan people are very friendly and speak English quite well.

1980s

Mark Grossklaus (‘88) accepted the position of Executive Director of Teaching and Learning at Centennial Independent School District (Minnesota) starting July 1, 2021. Mark had served as high school principal at Albert Lea (Minnesota) High School since July of 2014.

1990s

ABOVE: Dennis Hutter (’93) won his 250th career game earlier during this 2021-22 basketball season. Dennis has been the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Mayville State University for the past sixteen years. Mayville State is located in Mayville, North Dakota. His current career coaching record at Mayville State is 252-189.

2000s

ABOVE: Peter (‘05) and Kristin (‘07) Faugstad were blessed with their sixth child, John Arthur Axel, on July 30, 2021.

ABOVE: Anton Myroshnychenko (‘08) and his family live is Singapore. The couple’s second child, Isabella Eva, was born on October 4, 2021.

ABOVE: Paul (’09) and Marta (Krause) Webber (’13) are pleased to announce the birth of yet another child, Kenneth. He joins his older brother, Robert, whose birth his parents forgot to announce in this magazine, along with the rest of their siblings. The Webber family lives in West Jordan, Utah, where Paul is the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregation there.

2010s

ABOVE: Kristin Matzke (‘11) stepped into the role of Resource & Donor Development Director at Greater Mankato Area United Way in September. She and Michael Litynski became engaged in October and are planning a May 2022 wedding at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Mankato.

Sara (Krueger) Sanchez (‘12) and Thomas Sanchez (‘11) are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Maria Rosa Sanchez born on July 8, 2021. She is little sister to James Sanchez (three years old) and two golden retrievers. The Sanchez house is busy, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

ABOVE: Ben Petzel (‘13) and Allison (Homan) Petzel (‘12) are proud to announce the birth of their son, Micah, in August 2021. Micah was welcomed home by proud big sister and brother, Faith and Jonah (two and a half years old).

ABOVE: Hannah (Rank) Dupont (‘14) was married to Joseph Dupont on May 22, 2021, at Bethany’s Trinity Chapel. Her father, Bethany Professor Reverend Thomas Rank, was the officiant. Hannah and Joey were blessed to have their entire families and friends present for the ceremony.

ABOVE: Anna (Flintrop) McKelvey (‘15) and Chris McKelvey were married on January 22, 2021, in Davenport, Iowa.

ABOVE: Adam and Lindsay (Brech) Schulz (‘15) are proud to announce the birth of their baby girl, Mallory Ann Schulz. Mallory was born in October 2021 and is their third child.

ABOVE: Morica (Reinsch) Nichols (‘15) and Brandon Nichols were married in their backyard on January 9, 2021. They reside in Lakeland, Florida.

ABOVE: Ella (Andreasen) Balbach (‘17) and Josh Balbach were married October 17, 2021, at Peace Lutheran Church in North Mankato, Minnesota, with just immediate family present due to the pandemic. They have enjoyed settling into their brand new home and are looking forward to throwing a “Happily Ever After Party” at their home to celebrate their marriage and housewarming next summer.

ABOVE: Kyle Kubesh (’19) and Melinda (Poehler) were married on July 18, 2020.

2020s

ABOVE: Kenlie (Pytleski) Maday (‘20) married Tristan Maday on September 4, 2021.

ABOVE: Leah (Sonnenburg) Shult (‘21) was married to her high school sweetheart, Wade, in May 2021. Wade graduated from Martin Luther College also in May, and received a call to teach at Huron Valley Lutheran High School in Westland, Michigan. After moving to Michigan, Leah began a job in the Henry Ford Health System at an eye clinic as an optometric technician.

ABOVE: Anne Marie Tshibwabwa (‘21) is proud to announce that she has been working at Creation Technologies in St Peter, Minnesota, for the past three months in the Supply Chain department.

ABOVE: Audrey (Rundgren) Schilling (’21) and Caleb Schilling (’20) were married on August 6, 2021. Audrey now works at Bethany as an admissions counselor. Caleb, during this last summer, was a contestant on LEGO ® Masters on FOX and was a Top Three finalist on the show. His finale build is on display in LEGOLAND ® Florida along with the other two teams’ work.

Deaths – Alumni, Regents, Faculty and Staff

Darlene (Lorenz) Helming (‘50) passed away on May, 4, 2021.

Marvin Beer (‘52) passed away on September 11, 2021.

Shola (Kauffeld) Fohr (‘89) passed away on September 27, 2021.

Erma (Hohenstein) Morrill (‘42) passed away on October 9, 2021.

Ardelle (Fischer) Krenz (‘53) passed away on October 12, 2021.

Norman Werner (‘48) passed away on October 17, 2021.

Thomas Farrell (‘69) passed away on October 17, 2021.

Linda (Nelson) Squires (‘70) passed away on November 19, 2021.

ABOVE: Gwendolyn Kay (Hoyord ’84) Gauerke entered the loving arms of her Savior on November 26, 2021, after a courageous battle with ALS. She attended Bethany Lutheran College, Concordia University-St. Paul, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and National College of Chiropractic where she received her Doctor of Chiropractic degree.

Gwen was a natural athlete (a member of the Bethany Vikings women’s basketball team), problem solver, and artist, as well as a devout Christian who committed her time to teaching Sunday School and coordinating children’s Christmas programs at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Iola, Wisconsin. A Christian Funeral Service was held on Friday, December 3, 2021, at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Weston, Wisconsin.

ABOVE: Gerald “Gerry” Bakke (’71) passed away September 25, 2021, at his home after a long illness.

Bakke attended Bethany, where he placed first in the 1970 State Junior College Wrestling Championships, third in the 1971 Championships, and twice qualified for the National Junior College Tournament. After graduating from Bethany in 1971, he continued to study secondary social studies education and to wrestle at Gustavus Adolphus College (GAC), where he placed second in the 1972 MIAC Championships and was the 1973 GAC Most Valuable Wrestler.

After graduating from Gustavus in 1973, he started his teaching and coaching career at Nashua High School in Iowa where he was honored as the 1978 Iowa State Wrestling Coach of the Year. In 1980, Bakke and his family moved to Buffalo, Minnesota, where he continued to coach and teach social studies until his retirement in 2010. In Buffalo, his wrestling teams advanced to the state team championships seven times. In 1991, he was selected as the Class AA Minnesota State Coach of the Year. Bakke was inducted into the Dan Bartlema Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 1999 and was inducted into the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018. He was a member of the Class of 2007 Bethany Lutheran College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Bakke’s funeral took place at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota, on October 2, 2021.