CLASS NOTES

1948

Richard Sanderson announces that his wife, Gladys, died on January 19, 2022. They were married for 60.5 years. He now lives in a retirement community in Laconia, New Hampshire.

1949

James McCarl turned 90 in February 2022 and retired again from Enterprise Rent-a-Car in March 2022. His wife, Jean, died in June 2020.

1958

Phillip Gainsley recently celebrated 50 years in the practice of law. He has tried hundreds of cases as well as numerous appearances in Minnesota’s appellate courts. He is also proud of his association with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Sarasota Orchestra. Finally, music lovers should check out his podcast devoted to classical music and music theater: Phillip Gainsley Let’s Talk Music. 1

1963

Bruce Shaw happily retired on Boston’s North Shore several years ago and lives near his grandchildren. He volunteers for several organizations, which is immensely satisfying, still staying very physically active, and continuing to try to perfect his watercoloring skills — an impossible task.

1966

Antony (Tony) Harrison retired in July of 2021 after 46 years of teaching English at NC State University.

1975

Members of the Class of 1975 held an impromptu reunion in the summer of 2022. 2

1977

George (Rusty) Hunt has worked as a Department of the Army Civilian employee for close to 29 years. His career has included volunteering for and serving on very active battlefields in Kuwait and Iraq. Over the past two years, he has been a procurement analyst as part of the Federal COVID Response. He cites it as an honor to be working in this critical area with shifting requirements.

1980

Ben Langlotz and his wife, Karmen, are now “empty-nesters” in Plano, Texas, celebrating the entrance of their son, Leo (6), into kindergarten and daughter, Sally (3), into preschool. 3

Paul Williams , CEO of Project for Pride in Living, was named one of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs in 2022.

1985

Eric Christ was reelected in November 2021 to a second term on the Peachtree Corners City Council in Georgia. He currently serves as Chief Product Officer for Inclusivv, which provides content and software to enable organizations to have conversations that matter.

Dianne (Marsh) Haulcy was named President and CEO of The Family Partnership, where she will oversee a $10 million organization with 100 staff dedicated to removing barriers for families impacted by low-income, systemic racism, and adversity to clear the path to greater well-being. 4

Dale “Skip” Simonson spent the past year sailing the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean with his wife, Christine, and their daughter. His sister, Kari Simonson ’86 , Siri Anderson ’86 , and former Breck science teacher Dan Ratliff joined as crew for the Atlantic crossing. In addition, Tim Woodland ’85 and Greg Yoch ’85 joined for a week in Guadeloupe. Skip, Tim, and Greg are pictured during their trip and during their Breck days. 5

1986

Lynne (Moore) Nelson started a new position in January 2022 as the Executive Director of Georgia’s Institute of Continuing Judicial Education and serves as a senior member of the University of Georgia’s Law School in Athens, Georgia.

1993

Rebeka Ndosi founded Maji ya Chai Land Sanctuary, a nonprofit organization centering rest, healing, and thriving for Black, Native, and people of color. Maji ya Chai recently purchased a 40-acre property on the Encampment River near Two Harbors, Minnesota, where they plan to build the nature-based sanctuary to support people resting, connecting, and thriving across generations. Please visit majiyachai.org for more information. 6

Katie Wahlquist has joined the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross Minnesota & Dakotas Region, where she is a fourth generation American Red Cross volunteer. Katie is the chief administrative officer for Star Bank in Eden Prairie and is a member of the bank’s Board of Directors. Katie is passionate about philanthropy and governance. She serves on four local and two national boards, and she recently joined the Breck School Alumni Council.

1997

Jennifer (Newsom) Carruthers and Tom Carruthers are currently living in Italy as recipients of the 2022–2023 Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome.

1998

Kevin Cannon created the 2022 Saint Paul Winter Carnival buttons. 7

Simone Hardeman-Jones was named Founding Executive Director for GreenLight Twin Cities. 8

Rachel Hardeman became the Founding Director of the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity (CAHRE, pronounced “care”) at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She was also the feature of a New York Times piece entitled, “Pulling Back the Curtain on Race and Health Care” alongside her daughter, Leila ’31 9

1999

Holly (Piotrowski) Skomars (pictured with her family) started her own business, Sunnyside Equine, in 2020. She has also been employed with the Minnesota Judicial Branch in Dakota County for five years. 10

2000

Joe Pohlad took over as the Minnesota Twins’ Executive Chair. Airina Rodrigues moved from New York City to Denver, Colorado in late 2019 to join the law and lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where she leads the trademark, copyright, advertising, and media practice of Brownstein’s Denver office. She resides in Denver with her husband, Stephan, and daughter, Alexandra, and enjoys hiking, skiing, and figure skating with Denver Synchronicity’s Adult Team, which qualified for the National Championships in 2022.

2002

Kristin Thompson owns Tuttie Fruitties: Organic Farm and Juicery. Since 2019, they have sold organic produce and Minnesota seasonal and organic cold-pressed juice at Northeast Minneapolis Farmers Market on Saturdays. They also have a farm CSA and offer juice subscriptions! For more information, visit tuttiefruitties.square.site 11

2004

Kelly Rae Finley was named Head Women’s Basketball Coach at University of Florida. 12

2005

Shardé (Thomas) Skahan was elected to serve a second term as Vice President of Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles.

2006

Ross Tanick is a family physician currently in his residency at Swedish Medical Center in Denver, Colorado. He also hosts internationally acclaimed podcast Primary Care Podcast with Ross Tanick, where he releases monthly episodes interviewing physicians about their journeys and advice in various fields related to primary care. 13

2007

Katia Dragotis recently founded Purple Banter Entertainment Network. 14

Addie Gorlin-Hall moved back to Minnesota and is now Associate Producer at the Guthrie Theater.

Charlie Rybak launched Southwest Voices, a local news organization covering Southwest Minneapolis. They send out a free daily email newsletter with things to do, restaurant openings and closings, and news and information about the city government. You can sign up for it on their website, southwestvoices.news.

2008

Marjan Riazi celebrated six months at Sony Music working for the Office of Philanthropy and Social Impact in Los Angeles and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the NYC headquarters. 15

2010

Katie Thornton recently started a new podcast series called The Divided Dial on WNYC’s On the Media. The Divided Dial tells the story of the American political right’s reign on talk radio, how what happens on the radio still shapes the American political landscape, and how one company is quietly launching a right wing media empire from the airwaves.

Kiarra Zackery was named Director of Equity and Inclusion for Intermediate District 287 in Plymouth, Minnesota.

2011

John Culliton is the Senior Vehicle Dynamics Engineer for Lucid Motors, an electric vehicle company based in Silicon Valley. Their first car in production, the Lucid Air, was awarded the 2022 Motor Trend Car of the Year.

This fall, Joe Ginsburg took on a new role as Breck’s Associate Director of Athletics.

2013

Halle Huff joined our very own Breck Advancement Team as the Event Planner this fall.

2017

Julien (Jiaheng) He was chosen as a 2021–2022 Schwarzman Scholar. The Schwarzman Scholars program, established in 2016, is designed to build students’ leadership abilities and deepen their knowledge of China and global affairs. It is intended to prepare high-caliber individuals to serve as the next generation of leaders to build bridges between China and the rest of the world. The group of 180 Schwarzman Scholars were selected from more than 4,000 applicants, making the program one of the most selective. Julien’s Breck education and his experience of homestays with Breck host families were important components in developing Julien’s global perspective and willingness to accept another’s views without judgment. 16

2018

Melinda Samaratunga delivered the class speech for Barnard College commencement in 2022. 17

2019

David Roddy was drafted in the first round of the NBA draft in June 2022 and played his first professional basketball season for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2022–23. 18

2021

Melanie Oden was selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission’s (JUSFC) Summer Institute. JUSFC is a U.S. government agency that is committed to developing a diverse and inclusive community where contributions from underrepresented scholars and practitioners support and sustain the U.S.-Japan partnership. Melanie will spend two weeks in Japan to enhance her knowledge of Japanese language, culture, and society; develop cross-cultural communication skills; and meet American and Japanese peers, educators, diplomats, and industry and civil society leaders.

Mustang Reads

Ross Fruen ’69 recently published a memoir, Growing up Minneapolis & Minnetonka: A City, A Lake, A Family. The book is a narrative nonfiction tale that features local, hidden historical insights from Minnesota between 1852 and the 1970s. Fruen’s first book, The Boys of the Brule: Centuries of Comradery on Wisconsin’s River of Presidents, was published in 2019. A Julian Randall ’11 authored his first YA novel Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa, a blockbuster contemporary middle-grade fantasy duology. The sequel in the duet, Pilar Ramirez and the Curse of San Zenon, is slated to be released on February 28, 2023. B

Mustang Listens

Mayyadda Major ’11 released her album, TRY&REMEMBER in October 2021. Her next project, Holiday Joint, is expected to drop in 2023. C

Luke Leblanc ’14 released his latest full length album, Fugue State D