Knox Magazine - Fall '22

Gina Franco, Professor of English

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Gina Franco has occupied this office on the 2nd floor of Old Main for 18 years. Students sometimes call it the Tree House because of its high windows, views of the treetops, and cozy feel. Franco, a professor of English, is a poet and her teaching interests include literary critical writing, modern and contemporary poetry, Romantic and Victorian literature, poetry translation, literary theory, Borderland literature, women’s writing, 18th- & 19th-century philosophy, and religious studies.

1. 4-way test. My stepfather renovated an elementary school in Del Rio, Texas, a town on the U.S.-Mexico border where he and my mother live. There were four of these signs on the school premises. He brought this one back to me. I look at this sign and I think about the nature of conversation and the fact that someone felt that these things should be posted in an elementary school. These are really hard questions to answer. They are about ethics and community, which I think about a lot in leading classroom community discussions.

3.

2. I’m a high school dropout, a GED graduate, and a first-generation college student. My mother and stepfather are proud of the fact that I became a professor. My stepfather gave me these antiques, a school bell and hourglass timer, which he found in the school he renovated. The bell says Dick ’87 on the inside of it.

4. Little Free Library made from an old doll house. The College gave me permission to install the free library in the hall outside of my office. It was made out of the structure of an old doll house I found here in Galesburg. My stepfather overlaid it with fencing

CARLA WEHMEYER

Open Door

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from my family’s backyard in Del Rio and put lights at the top connected to solar panels. All the books and broadsides in the bookshelf are free to students—or to anyone who wants them.

5. This whale-shaped straw basket is the “Poetry Whale.” I fill its belly with scraps of found text, and the students and I use the text to create erasure poems—we erase or cross out words and look for creative ways to put the texts together.

6. This Animal Gothic poster was designed by a student for the literature capstone course, Senior Symposium. The image is from Max Ernst, a pioneer of the surrealist movement. Since then, I’ve taught animal Gothic themes in my Victorian literature class. The Victorians worried a lot about the narrowing divide between human beings and other animals. Some serious and amazing stuff happens when animals become monsters.

7. Animal menagerie. The first animal in the collection, the octopus, was a gift from Emily Anderson, professor of English. After that, people seemed to notice these little animals and thought I should have more. The dragon was crocheted and stitched together by a student. She printed the tiny copy of Frankenstein in its hand. I once taught an entire course on Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley’s Frankenstein. The alebrije (Mexican folk art of fantastical creatures) was a gift from a student. The little camel is the most recent addition and was a gift from Shuchita Poddar ’22.

8. Victorian tarot cards. When I first got to Knox, the Pagan Club and other students were into tarot readings. I thought it might be interesting to treat the tarot deck like a literary text and teach a class on tarot and literary theory, so I was doing some work on that at the time. I received this deck as a gift. All of these images are from original Victorian engravings.

MAGAZINE

VOLUME 105, ISSUE 2 FALL 2022

“IN INDIA, WHEN WE DEPART HOME FOR THE DAY, WE SAY SOMETHING THAT TRANSLATES TO THE FEELING OF ‘I’LL BE BACK SOON.’ SO THIS ISN’T OUR GOODBYE. IT’S OUR HOPE TO SEE EACH OTHER CLASS OF ’22, I’LL SEE YOU SOON ”

SHUCHITA PODDAR ’22 (PAGE 23)

McGadney Inaugurated as President

In May, C. Andrew McGadney was inaugurated as the 20th president of the College.

Page 6

Green Oaks Term Burns in Students’ Memories

In 2022, Knox commemorated the 20th anniversary of the College’s Green Oaks term.

Page 8 No Limits

Meet five Knox alumni and former Prairie Fire athletes who have parlayed their Knox experiences into meaningful careers.

Page 12

Departments

Open Door Inside front cover

2 East South Street Page 4

The South Lawn Page 22

Knox Writes Page 30

Class Knox Page 33

Parting Shot Inside back cover

On the cover: Cadence Eischens ’24 focuses on details in nature at Green Oaks. Photo by Carla Wehmeyer.

EDITOR

Maeve Reilly

LAYOUT DESIGNERS

Becky Hale

Ami Jontz

CONTRIBUTORS, WRITING & PHOTOGRAPHY

Peter Bailley ’74

Suyash Chitrakar ’25

Thomas Cook ’05

Steve Davis

Jennifer Gallas

Kent Kriegshauser

Maria Reeves ’25

Laura Schmitt

Jenna Schweikert ’25

Lisa Van Riper

Carla Wehmeyer

Jan Wolbers

Special thanks to Jerry ’65 and Carol Vovis ’65.

Knox Magazine is published twice yearly by the Office of Communications, Box K-233, Knox College, Galesburg, IL 61401-4999; Phone: 309-341-7760; Fax: 309-341-7718; E-mail: knoxmag@knox.edu.

It is distributed free of charge to Knox alumni, students, parents, and friends. The magazine welcomes information and story ideas. Please query before submitting manuscripts.

ISSN: 0047-3499

Visit us online at magazine.knox.edu.

Holi Heralds Spring

Holi, a Hindu festival of colors, marks the arrival of spring. Iris Berto ’22 was one of the students who celebrated the festival in May with colorful dust, water slides, and ice cream.

Editor’s Note

Hello! My name is Maeve Reilly and I’ve recently joined the staff at the Knox Office of Communications and, for the foreseeable future, have taken on the role of Knox Magazine editor.

I started at Knox in the Office of Advancement, where I was responsible for donor stewardship activities; some of you may know me at least by name. Prior to Knox, I worked for 20+ years in a variety of communications roles at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. One of my favorite jobs there was working at the public broadcasting station where I edited the monthly program guide, so I’m experienced in many aspects of putting together a publication such as this. I welcome your feedback on how we are doing and suggestions as to what can make this magazine a true reflection of all that is Knox.

Though I’ve only been at Knox a few years, I have been so impressed by not only my co-workers, Knox’s dedicated staff, and the outstanding faculty, but also by all of you—your stories of success and your commitment to this institution. I had the great pleasure of writing a story on the 50th anniversary of Farm Term recently (Spring 2022 magazine), and it was truly a wonderful experience to talk to the participants of that program who, 50 years on, hold the experiences they had while students at Knox so near and dear to them. My friend, Laura Schmitt, contributed an article on careers in the sports field in this magazine and she commented on how much alumni love Knox. It’s truly a joy to come to work and be able to listen to your stories and find ways to share those stories more broadly.

I look forward to hearing from you and, now that things are moving to a new “normal,” meeting many of you in person. The Knox Magazine is just one of the many important ways we maintain this community. Meeting fellow alumni, students, or staff as they travel is another. Of course, the best way to keep connected is to come back to campus for a visit. If the magazine doesn’t spur your interest in traveling the “long, long road to Alma Mater,” I hope the magazine will provide you with some fond memories and reflections on your college home, and news about the exciting future plans for Knox.

With kind regards, Maeve Reilly

Letters to the Editor

Swinging to the Sky

Lenny Greene was the swinger of birches in the Spring 2002 Farm Term article photos—and how high he was up there!!! I LOVE this shot of the farm—how it was when we were there. Rick’s comment about the Farm Term model living on touches me. And I adore Sandy’s quote!

I also love the mention of the “Food and Fiber.”

—Kadi Finlayson Meyer ’72

Impactful Experiences

I’ve just read your piece on Farm Term. You really conveyed the impact that program had on all of us, and also caught how much we all really liked and admired Dewey and Doug.

One thing you mentioned that I’d forgotten about was the effect meeting with all the local farmers had on us suburban kids. They were largely broken down old Norwegians, with great grit and a droll sense of humor. And all were pretty happy with the lives they had led. So Farm Term readied me to become a lifetime fan of “Prairie Home Companion.”

I would love to see some sort of follow up study of these alternative educational programs. Our system occasionally may track academic “achievement,” but we don’t seem to have any way to quantify the profound impact of these programs on the whole person.

—Steve Axon ’73

Send us your letters!

Knox Magazine welcomes the opinions and comments of its readers. Write to the Editor, Knox Magazine, Box K-233, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401-4999, or email knoxmag@knox.edu. Letters should refer to material published in the magazine and may be edited for length or clarity.

South Street

President’s Note

Focus on Admission and Enrollment

As I write this, the academic year is beginning and I’m excited for this new start. I remain humbled to begin my second year as president of this great institution. Over the next several weeks, I will continue to partner with the College community to finalize details of our strategic planning framework, which will serve as a resource to guide our work over the next three to five years. The themes, ideas, and initiatives in the framework capture our ambition to grow and sustain Knox through creativity and innovation. The cadence of projects and priorities will be influenced by the external market and environment, resource availability, risk tolerance, and impact. Given that the fall is a key time for the admission application cycle, I want to focus this letter on one of the strategic priorities agreed upon by the Board of Trustees in the summer of 2021—increasing admission and enrollment.

This past enrollment cycle, we introduced innovative new initiatives to increase enrollment, including the Prairie Promise, our new program to recruit more students from Illinois by meeting full demonstrated need; bringing independent counselors to campus; and providing incentives for accepted students to visit campus. The College continues to explore and implement creative strategies to increase enrollment at Knox. One example is our successful counselor fly-in program, a strategy to get the word out to these key influencers about Knox. In May, almost 30 independent educational counselors, high school counselors, and communitybased organization representatives visited the College. Attendees overall rated the visit very positively, sharing specific feedback such as, “An exceptional college visit,” “Knox College completely hit it out of the park,” and “I had the pleasure of spending the last day and a half on the campus of Knox College and wow. Just wow.”

The goal is to grow enrollment from approximately 1,200 students to more than 1,450 over the next five years. To do this, the College is investing in key, high-impact initiatives that include increasing our outreach to school and independent counselors; entering new markets; enhancing the Office of Admission staff; and focusing on the institutional brand strategy, messaging, and creative campaigns that will differentiate Knox from our competitors, enhance our national reputation, and effectively package our academic programs and unique student experience for applicants. The brand strategy will provide consistency of messaging throughout each student’s journey, from prospective student to current student to alumnus.

As alumni, you are the best ambassadors for how Knox transforms lives. Partnering with the Prospective Student Engagement Committee of the Knox College Alumni Council will further encourage admissions referrals with our alumni. There is a form on our website that you can use to easily recommend students; it can be found at www.knox.edu/recommend. You probably already know at least one high school student within your network who would thrive at our College. Please talk to this student about your Knox experience and make the referral to our Admission team.

You can also tell us about your Knox experience and how it changed your life. Our Office of Communications welcomes suggestions for alumni to profile. If you have suggestions, you can email our Office of Communications directly at communications@knox.edu. In addition, the team working on our brand strategy will be reaching out to some of you to gain insights for its work.

In closing, I want to thank the members of the Knox community for your warm welcome, encouraging correspondence filled with great ideas and thoughtful comments, and for the opportunity to engage with you on and off campus. I am excited to expand my outreach this coming year and look forward to developing additional strategies that will enable our students to thrive, achieve postgraduate success, and fulfill their potential.

With Warmest Regards, Andy M.

SÉAN ALONZO HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

Knox College celebrated the inauguration of C. Andrew McGadney as the 20th president of Knox College on May 6, 2022. Hundreds of alumni, trustees, delegates from other higher education institutions, family and friends, and members of the community gathered at the Orpheum Theatre in Galesburg to mark the historic moment for the College.

Honorary degrees were presented to Sarah Jane Ahmed ’12, a financial and environmental strategist, David A. Greene, president of Colby College, and poet Haki Madhubuti. Knox awarded doctor of humane letters degrees to Ahmed and Greene, and a doctor of literature to Madhubuti.

PHOTOS BY CARLA WEHMEYER, KENT KRIEGSHAUSER

CARLA WEHMEYER

LEARNING TO LIVE ON THE LAND

Green Oaks Term Celebrates 20 Years of Immersion Living on the Land

BY THOMAS COOK ’05

Imagining the prairie landscape that greeted the early settlers of Galesburg and the surrounding communities is difficult for today’s students. The cityscape, while small, is largely concrete with green spaces dotted throughout. The surrounding farms are mainly large agricultural businesses where rows of corn and soybeans outnumber native plants. Drawing in part on the success of the College’s Farm Term, Knox professors created the Green Oaks Term in 2002, the second in a line of rural Midwest experiences that have connected Knox students to the land. The term provides a glimpse back at the prairies while giving students the opportunity to learn not only about the land, but also ways to live in it, communally and sustainably, all the while learning about nature, art, literature, and history.

This year, Knox commemorates the 20th anniversary of the immersive and interdisciplinary trimester spent living, working, and studying on 704 acres, including an area that was formerly strip mined. Biology professors Paul Shepard and George Ward began converting farmland owned by the College to a native prairie in 1955, and the College obtained an adjacent portion of land that had been owned by Alvah Green, an 1890 alumnus and trustee, through his estate in 1958, creating the area now known as Green Oaks.

Peter Schramm, professor of biology, continued the work started by Shepard and Ward and instituted the annual

burns in 1965. Today, the prairie burn is a seminal event that is the celebratory and symbolic center of the student experience for those who take part in the Green Oaks Term.

“Prairie ecosystems, like grasslands all around the world, are firedependent ecosystems in which all species—plants, animals, and fungi— are adapted to frequent fires,” explained Stuart Allison, current director of Green Oaks Biological Field Station and Watson Bartlett Professor of Biology and Conservation. “Many of those species depend on fires creating conditions that favor their survival. For the last four or five thousand years, the climate in Illinois has been suitable for the establishment of forests. The fact that prairies exist here is the result of those fires—which for hundreds of years were set by Native Americans as part of their eco-cultural practices and now are set by us.”

Allison has been taking part in the term since its inception. He arrived at Knox in 1997 and has been the director of the Biological Field Station since

1999, three years before the Green Oaks term began. Green Oaks is 20 miles east of the college campus and hosts a number of facilities, including Schurr Hall, a classroom, laboratory, and dormitory, as well as a cabin for the faculty directing the term, the caretaker’s home, and a barn that students, who are known as Oakies, use for projects. Allison is the last remaining original member of the 2002 group that founded the term— Jon Wagner, professor of anthropology, retired in 2015, and Robin Metz, Philip Sidney Post Professor of English, passed away in 2018.

During the first year of term, Wagner lived in the cabin for all 10 weeks of the experience, and Tony Gant, associate professor of art, and Allison have also done so. Usually, the professors involved rotate through their time in residence at Green Oaks, typically swapping out every two weeks, as spending 10 weeks with, in this current year, 13 Knox students as the sole faculty member, can be—well— immersive.

“The Green Oaks program, student participants, and all the professors involved played such a pivotal role in my educational and personal development. I would not be in my current career field if it were not for the conversations and experiences I had in the classroom, on the prairie, and around the campfire at Green Oaks. In particular, Jim Mountjoy sparked my passion for birding during a crazy roadside dash to chase a displaying male American woodcock, and Stuart Allison helped foster my interest in conservation biology and applied science through field labs and lessons at Green Oaks.”

—Alicia Young Herrera ’03, who currently works as a Rangeland Watershed Initiative Partnership Biologist in California

“The memories that sit in my mind from Green Oaks Term were not from our big trips or classes or adventures, but things like chatting over tea with some Oakies and heading down to make myself a late-night snack. One night, I came down to find another Oakie from my cooking team marinating some chicken for the next night’s dinner. I was struck in that moment with a really profound sense of place and home. The quaintness of our living situation, the joy of sharing that space, and the act of prepar ing dinner for all our family a whole day before, all while just sharing stories about our lives before entering into this space was, for whatever reason, very impactful and sweet in my mind.”

—Finnegan Hautau ’25

Cadence

“I did Green Oaks Term during my junior year. I had to make a choice between doing it right away during my freshman year or not. It was one of the best experiences of my life. Living on the prairie in a converted barn with people was such a great experience. It gave me a chance to live in nature: nice, simple communal living.”

—Zarir DeVitre ’07, a freelance sustainability generalist in Mumbai, India

“Green Oaks gave me a much deeper appreciation for rural Illinois and prairie ecosystems that I have kept and shared with my students, friends, and loved ones. My time at Green Oaks helped me connect better with the idea of developing a sense of place in a location. In retrospect, the freedom we were given to explore our interests (and develop new ones) during the Green Oaks term was very valuable to me and helped set me up for success in subsequent endeavors as a student, Peace Corps volunteer, and advocate for both environ mental and social causes. In 2020 I worked as a visiting professor for a study away program based in Oregon. I think the time that I spent during the Green Oaks Term helped make me better contribute to that program as a professor and community member.”

—Megan Butler ’08, educator

The curriculum of the Green Oaks term has been relatively unchanged since its inception. Wagner’s original Deep Maps of Place course, a sociological tracing on the people and histories of the land, has been taken on and adapted by Katie Adelsberger, professor and chair of environmental studies. Metz’s course in the arts and imagination has been adapted by Gant to focus on visual art, and Allison continues to teach a course that helps students connect to landscape ecosystems of the Midwest, and demonstrate how the region has been shaped and changed by natural processes and human intervention. Jim Mountjoy, associate professor of biology, teaches the natural history course in years when Allison is not involved with the program. Allison explained that the College does a lot to embrace its place-based environmental origins, but it could do more.

“The College as an institution has a great deal of pride in its location in the rural Midwest and the way the landscape and people of the area have helped form it. We embrace our location in programs like Farm Term, the Great River Seminar, and Green Oaks Term. But we need to do more to transform our reflection on the local to a pathway to considering how Knox and its students can engage with the entire world.”

Knox’s effort to replant the native prairie in the 1950s was an important step in regenerating a natural landscape that had been disrupted by the previous 130 years of European settlement and industrialization. Early research into prairie restoration processes was begun at the University of Wisconsin at Madison arboretum in the 1930s. At Green Oaks, Shepard’s work was

aligned with the spirit of the work at that time, which aimed to restore the prairie to an estimation of how it was before white settlement. Allison recalls hearing stories of that early effort, which was largely Shepard and students walking the land and scattering seeds. Since that time, the focus to maintain that original composition has served a vital purpose for student research in biology, environmental studies, sociology, history, and the arts. “We’re trying to restore to a target from the past,” Allison said, “but the rapidity of climate change means we have to adapt. We may have to ask, do we need to plant other species here that are likely to flourish in the changed environment?”

CARLA WEHMEYER

The species of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century that thrived in Midwestern prairie ecosystems would have necessarily adapted to their changing environment as years went on, Allison said. Thus, he believes, the work ahead of the students and professors at Green Oaks is twofold. First, 70 years of diligent restoration and rebirth, culminating in the annual burn, is an achievement and activity worth continuing in the future. At the same time, there is a dimension of the process that is artificial and does not account for all the variables involved in warmer summers and shorter, wetter winters, the tangible effects of our changing planet.  Fortunately, these new efforts square

with aspects of the College’s mission, specifically to provide immersive experiences for students and close student-faculty interaction.

This does not mean that study at Green Oaks is focused on this particular landscape to the exclusion of others. In fact both Allison and Adelsberger bring their previous research, on marine and desert ecosystems, respectively, to bear on their work at Green Oaks. In turn, students get the opportunity to see how their work in the field can extend to the different landscapes and different disciplines entirely. Mountjoy with his research on avian life, brings another dimension to the Green Oaks experience. This diverse set of faculty interests is reflected in the students who participate in the term. Graduates of the Green Oaks term have gone on to pursue careers in public health in India, and in sustainability in Boca Raton, Florida, as well as taken roles as educators, biologists, and environmen tal scientists. In June, a reunion brought together 40 Oakies, along with friends and family to share and reminisce.

In this close and collaborative environment, the experience can best be summarized by the additional “course” in which all students are enrolled. This is a half-credit course called the Dynamics of Intentional Living, which sounds abstract but is the most tangible of experiences. It allows students to plan, reflect on, and organize their lives in the Green Oaks community, from the basics of who cooks and cleans, to their intentions for their time in the term as well as beyond the term. Essentially, this course is about engaging in a community and the natural world as a citizen, with a focus on the collective good.

“Returning to Green Oaks has always felt like coming home. Every time I am there I am flooded with memories of walking the land, of painting landscapes and making sculptures, of connecting with people and nature. Coming back for the 20th anniversary with my 7-yearold daughter Maggie was very special. I was so proud to see her hiking the Shortcut Trail, swimming in the lake, exploring Tony Gant’s massive art installa tion, square dancing in the barn, and having a singalong with the recent Oakies around the campfire. I was thrilled to teach her about Leopold benches, and I saw a cerulean warbler!”

—Meg Huizenga Jedrey ’05, educator

“My boyfriend and I drove a total of 2,500 miles from Albuquerque, N.M., for the reunion. It was incredibly meaningful to return and introduce my boyfriend to such an important place and group of people. The best part was how much it felt like coming home and how easy it was to fall back into an easy community with the other Oakies, not only the Oakies from my term (although it was nice to know I could still rely on Nick Liberko for extra camping gear), but also Oakies from other terms—older Oakies, newer Oakies, even the current Oakies!”

—Emily Roberts ’16, library and information professional

Stuart Allison, Watson Bartlett Professor of Biology and Conservation and director of the Green Oaks Biological Field Station, explains the process for the prairie burn to students in the spring of 2022.

NO LIMITS:

How a Knox liberal arts education prepared alumni for sports-world careers

BY LAURA SCHMITT

Knox College provides its students with an exceptional liberal arts education and limitless opportunities for success. Meet five Knox alumni and former Prairie Fire athletes who parlayed their Knox experiences into meaningful careers with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), NFL, and collegiate sports programs.

At Knox, Brynna Barnhart Blodgett learned how to think analytically and write clearly in all her of liberal arts classes, especially those taught by polit ical science faculty Lane Sunderland, now the Chancie Ferris Booth Professor Emeritus, and Louisa Sue Hulett, now the Henke Distinguished Professor Emerita.

“I learned to interact and have vigorous discussions with a variety of people who are different from me, have a different viewpoint, or are in a different position of power,” said Blodgett, who later earned a law degree from Southern Illinois University

Carbondale after earning her B.A. in political science.

These skills have served her well during her 14-year career in enforce ment with the NCAA, where she has conducted and overseen high-profile investigations involving rules violations in both men’s and women’s college sports.

“When I was an investigator, I could start the day interviewing a high school prospect and parents and later in the same day sit down with a university president for discussions,” she said. “My Knox experience helps me connect and communicate with people on issues that can be contentious.”

A four-year starter on the Prairie Fire women’s softball and basketball teams, Blodgett said playing sports also influ enced her personally and professionally.

“I learned how to balance my time, collaborate, and communicate with other people toward a common goal, and figure out my role on a team … while helping the team succeed,” she said. “Being a student-athlete got my foot in the door with the NCAA, and my sports experience helps me relate to the student-athletes we serve now.” Blodgett recalls nearly accepting an offer to study journalism at a different Division III school but settled on Knox, in part, because of the actions of

Brynna Barnhart Blodgett ’03, NCAA managing director of enforcement

legendary Athletics Director Harley Knosher.

As point guard for her high school team, she was accustomed to making assists rather than racking up big scoring numbers. One night at Galesburg High School, though, she was draining baskets in the first half. Unknown to her, Knosher was listening to the game on his car radio as he drove out of town on a trip.

When she got home from the game, there was a message on the family answering machine from Knosher saying how proud he was of her for such a stellar first half.

“That human connection—you don’t get that everywhere” she said. “He personified Knox College to me. He is an amazing human, teacher, and leader; one of my all-time favorite people.”

“I was weighing my options and right before graduating, I decided to go the college football route,” said Emini, a Prairie Fire wide receiver who holds the team’s single-season record for receptions (88). “I was offered a coaching job at Wofford College in South Carolina based on former Knox Coach Damon Tomeo’s recommendation.”

Perhaps more importantly, Emini said, Tomeo instilled in his players the skills they needed to be successful in their careers on and off the field.

“He taught us to treat every day like it is an interview,” said Emini. “If I didn’t live this way while I was at Knox, I doubt coach would have recommended me for the Wofford job.”

After three years as an assistant coach at Wofford, Emini landed an assistant coach job at the University of Illinois under Coach Lovie Smith. Several years later, after Smith was named defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans, he invited his young protégé to make the leap into NFL coaching.

“I learned so much from Coach Smith throughout our years together at Illinois and will never forget his call asking me to head down to Houston with him to help build a strong defense for the Texans,” Emini said.

tion to each athlete’s learning style— visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. For example, he’ll do more on-field instruction and demonstration with a kinesthetic learner, while he’ll watch more game films with a visual learner.

“My background in education helps me to really understand how my players learn, what motivates them, and how we can help them achieve success on and off the field,” said Emini. “Overall, I’ve been able to turn a passion into a career rooted in both education and athletics. It ended up becoming a dream come true.”

The Knox personal connection played a role in the meteoric rise of Ilir Emini’s career. As he was finishing up his B.A. degree in elementary educa tion, Emini knew he would pursue a career in teaching, but the question was whether his pupils would be gradeschool children or college athletes.

Emini is entering his second season as an assistant defensive/nickels coach in Houston, where he teaches defensive schemes and strategies to specialized position players called nickels— defensive backs who come on the field in place of linebackers when an offense has three or more receivers on the field.

Using individualized learning techniques that he studied in courses that he took from Department of Education faculty members Joel and Diane Estes, Emini tailors his instruc

Sara Burton ’91, University of Illinois executive senior associate director of athletics, sports administration/ senior woman administrator

As the highest-ranking woman executive in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s athletic department, Sara Burton oversees the sport administration team, is the sports administrator for the softball, gymnastics, and women’s basketball teams, and chairs the Illini Way steering committee, which focuses on the cultural health of the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics at Illinois.

Ilir Emini ’16, Houston Texans defensive assistant/nickels coach

“It’s really critical for us to protect what is at the heart of our organization, which is our student athletes,” said Burton, a four-year starter for the Prairie Fire women’s soccer team with a B.A. in anthropology-sociology. “Every decision we make impacts their experience, so we want our people to have a championship mindset and complete integrity.”

Burton assists in leading a staff of more than 300 people, including student interns, veteran administrators, administrative staff, and a variety of coaches—some of whom earn millions of dollars per year for high-profile sports like men’s basketball and football. She works hard to instill a culture of trust, respect, and belonging throughout all athletics.

According to Burton, the knowledge she gained from a broad selection of courses at Knox prepared her well for the Illinois position.

“The generalist piece of my education is an important facet with administration,” she said. “I have a broader view of the big picture and I have familiarity with many aspects of our operation.”

For example, Burton took a course on women, race, and power from MaryAnne Borelli, former assistant professor of political science. She later helped Borelli further develop the course as an undergraduate research assistant.

“That was a phenomenal opportunity to take on a leadership role in an academic space with a brilliant faculty

member,” she said. “I learned about power dynamics in relationships and leadership.”

Playing for Coach Amy Reifert while she led the Prairie Fire soccer team also positively influenced Burton.

“She taught us how to compete, what leadership looks like in critical moments, and how to work through adversity,” said Burton, who launched her professional career as an assistant soccer coach for Reifert at the University of Chicago after graduating from Knox.

“Playing soccer was the key that opened the door for me for a professional career in athletics,” Burton said. “I was fortunate to get that call and be willing to take that risk.”

Burton’s coaching career spanned more than 20 years, primarily at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse before she transitioned to administration.

Jake Ayers ’06, Claremont-MuddScripps (CMS) director of athletic facilities and sports operations

A first-generation college student, Jake Ayers didn’t know much about Knox College when he committed to playing baseball for Coach Jami Isaacson even though he grew up in a small town only 40 miles southeast of Galesburg.

“On my first recruiting trip to campus, I walked into Seymour Library’s Red Room and that ignited the inner history nerd in me,” he recalled. “It felt familiar, and I felt like Knox was a place where I could be successful. I would not be where I’m at now if I hadn’t gone to Knox and taken that leap.”

Today, Ayers is the director of athletic facilities and sports operations at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS)

Colleges, a consortium of D-III schools about 30 miles east of Los Angeles. He manages the athletic facilities and game day operations for all 21 of the schools’ sporting teams, works to attract NCAA championship events, oversees NCAA championship tournaments on campus, and collaborates with CMS capital

planning officials on the development of a new $140 million athletics complex.

He attributes his success, in part, to his Knox liberal arts education. He specifically recalls taking the History of Sports in America from Matthew Raffety, former visiting assistant profes sor of history. That class helped him re alize for the first time that it was viable to pursue sports as a profession.

A multi-sport athlete, Ayers started as catcher on the Prairie Fire baseball team all four years and even saw some action as quarterback for the football team. He earned the baseball team’s most valuable player award his senior year.

“In the classroom, I learned how to be flexible and adaptable,” said Ayers, who majored in social science education. “On the field, I learned how to lead and how to follow.”

After Knox, Ayers played a season in the Israel Baseball League in Tel Aviv, catching for the league champion Bet Shemesh Blue Sox team. He also played two seasons for an independent baseball team in Lincoln, Nebraska, before transitioning into coaching and collegiate athletic administration.

Attributes learned at Knox help him navigate the collegiate administration waters each day.

“My athletic director says that my staff and I are more interested in getting things right than being right,” said Ayers, who is overseeing CMS volleyball facility upgrades in preparation for hosting the D-III national championships in 2023. “In my job I need to know a little bit about every sport and be able to adapt, learn, and figure things out quickly, which my Knox education provided.”

Raleigh DeRose ’14, Brown University associate head soccer coach for player development

Growing up in Peoria, Illinois, Raleigh DeRose had always envisioned herself playing soccer in college at a school on one of the coasts. However, when she visited Knox on a blue-chip weekend, staying with the players, touring campus, and speaking with the coaching staff, she began to change her mind.

“The players were very welcoming and took a lot of pride in the school and soccer program,” she said. “Their overall love and pride for Knox was contagious. I knew being in the Knox learning environment would be exponential for my growth and who I wanted to become.”

An American studies major, DeRose recalls being particularly influenced by three Knox faculty because of their passion for teaching and their expertise in their subject matter.

“Lane Sunderland in political science, Catherine Denial in American history, and James Thrall in religious

studies loved what they did and communicated well, which was inspiring to me,” said DeRose, the associate head soccer coach for player development at Brown University. “As a soccer coach, I’ve tried to copy their passion for learning and positivity.”

Outside of the classroom, DeRose had surgery following her freshman soccer season to repair chronic knee pain and cartilage damage from a high school injury. While she healed and rehabbed for 18 months, she channeled her energy into the Knox Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), participating in service projects and athletic engagement activities.

“I loved my team and took a lot of pride in … being a student-athlete, so I did not want my injury to sideline me from being involved in the athletic community,” said DeRose, who continued to participate in SAAC after returning to the pitch for her junior and senior years. “I learned to balance so many things as a student-athlete, and that has helped me in my coaching career. I’m grateful for the experiences and platforms I had to hone leadership skills, which has prepared me for my job now.”

As the associate head soccer coach for player development at Brown University, she performs a variety of duties that include helping with on-field coaching, enhancing players’ skills and overall fitness, organizing prospective students’ visits and summer camps, and recruiting at tournaments and showcases.

“I teach our athletes that life doesn’t stop because you’re having a bad day,” she said. “You have to push, walk, or exist through. Knox helped me not just exist through [my injury], but I was able to thrive.”

Knox Promotes Four Faculty Members

Jennifer McCarthy Foubert Associate Professor of Educational Studies

Foubert received a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2017, a master’s in education in curriculum and instruction from the University of Washington, and a bachelor’s of education in special education from Gonzaga University.

Her research examines the ways white supremacy operates in K-12 schools, particularly in practices and policies of family-school partnership.

Her book, Reckoning with Racism in Family-School Partner ships: Centering Black Parents’ School Engagement, is published by Teachers College Press. Foubert serves on the City of Galesburg Youth Commission.

What is your most memorable moment at Knox? In 2019 we awarded Dr. Ladson-Billings an honorary degree for her incredible accomplishments in the field of education. I planned a “fireside chat” for our students featuring a conversation about teaching between Dr. Ladson-Billings and Caroline Ware ’18. I had supervised Caroline’s student teaching experience the year before, and she had just finished her first year teaching in Chicago Public Schools. Witnessing one of my first undergraduate students in conversation about culturally relevant pedagogy and racial justice in education with the person who inspired it all was really special.

Ole J. Forsberg Associate Professor of Mathematics; Chair of Statistics

Forsberg received his Ph.D. in statistics from Oklahoma State University and also has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Tennessee.

What are your areas of research? I investigate elections for evidence of certain types of unfairness using secondary data published by the governments. While election observers are excellent at finding improprieties while the ballots are being cast and counted, statistics can frequently check for problems when the ballots are not being observed. For instance, statistics may be able to detect ballot box stuffing or improper invalidation of ballots. I extend and modify statistical techniques and apply them to this purpose.

What is your most memorable moment at Knox? I will always remember the first time I walked to my office and saw my name on the door. It meant I was home.

If you weren’t a professor working at Knox, what would you be? Given that I’ve been teaching for 30 years, I am sure I would be doing the same thing as now, only elsewhere.

What’s your favorite thing about Galesburg? I love how small it is … nice and cozy … allowing me to get to know the people here.

Four members of the Knox faculty received promotions and tenure in July. To read the full interviews, visit magazine.knox.edu.

BREA

CUNNINGHAM

PETER

BAILLEY ’74

The South Lawn

Nick Gidmark

Associate Professor of Biology

Gidmark received his Ph.D. in comparative biomechanics in 2021 from Brown University. He subsequently held postdoctoral positions at Brown, the University of Washington, and the University of Chicago, before taking a position at Knox in 2016.

What motivated you to bring a whale to Knox? I’ve been building skeletons for decades and adding to Knox’s anatomi cal teaching collection since I arrived in 2016. Once you build skeletons from a turtle, a skunk, a dog and a pig, things tend to get bigger. The horse and bison made important impacts on the collection, and the real teaching value of the collection comes with diversity of form and size range of organisms, so naturally it made sense to articulate a 60-foot fin whale. I summer in Maine, where I bump elbows with folks who respond to marine mammals (e.g., dolphins and whales) beaching. I floated the wild idea of wishing we could get a whale skeleton from one of these natural deaths to hang in the atrium of our science building (this was just before the start of the A-core renovation of the Umbeck ScienceMathematics Center). Surprisingly to me, there are proper channels that any academic institution can go through to legally do just that. After a few dozen phone calls, a federal permit, a cross-country U-Haul trip, and several thousand hours of person-time (from two dozen Knox students and three Knox faculty), I'm pretty proud of what we came up with. While the motivation initially was for the biology teaching collection, it's had some interesting impacts in lots of departments across campus, which has been fun to see. It’s a lightning rod for conversation and inquiry.

Joan Huguet Associate Professor of Music

Huguet received her Ph.D. in music theory from the University of Rochester-Eastman School of Music. She received her master’s in music theory from McGill University-Schulich School of Music, and her bachelor of arts in music and French literature from Rhodes College. Her courses treat music theory as a language to be learned, a puzzle to be solved, and an art form in and of itself. While her early research primarily focused on form and harmony in nineteenth-century music, she has more recently become interested in the Broadway musical. She enjoys teaching students about the extraordinary variety of human musical expression across time periods and genres.

Who is your favorite composer and why? This is such a hard question for someone who spends their life engaging with music! My own relationship with music has evolved tremendously over my 15 years of studying and teaching it.

I started my career as a scholar of classical music, and the music of Beethoven and Brahms will always be dear to me.

I have taught a course on the Broadway musical at Knox for the past several years, so that has been a huge new area for me to explore. In that genre, I would recommend checking out Hadestown, by Anaïs Mitchell, which has some very interesting relationships between folk, jazz, and Broadway genres in its music. Continuing to challenge my ears and mind is essential to growing as a teacher and scholar.

PETER

BAILLEY

PETER BAILLEY

Career Move: Retirement

Elementary School and current principal of Galesburg CUSD 205 Bright Futures.

As a graduate from Ripon College, a liberal arts college in Wisconsin, and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Spittell feels very strongly that a liberal arts education is a crucial foundation for success in business.

“In a knowledge-based society, students will have multiple jobs and careers. They need to learn liberal arts to effectively manage an organization,” Spittell said. “They need everything we teach: philosophy and ethics, history, sociology, anthro pology, psychology, environmentalism, economics, business, the sciences, and more; they will use it all.

John Spittell Joseph E. and Judith B. Wagner Distinguished Chair in Business

John Spittell loves working with students and teaching, and believes in giving back. Over the past 15 years, he has shared his business expertise and acumen with Knox students, helping to create the robust program in Integrative Business and Management at Knox. “My desire is to assist the students

I work with and improve their competencies. I’ve had a ball at Knox doing exactly this.” In June 2022 Spittell finished his “third career,” teaching at Knox.

In 2007, after careers in commercial lending and distribution, he joined the Knox faculty as professor of business and management and executive-in-residence. In 2015, he was named the inaugural Wagner Distinguished Chair in Business.

He received the Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Prize for Distinguished Teaching twice: once for new faculty in 2010 and for established faculty several years later. Spittell attributes his success, in part, to his mentors, particularly Rich Stout, professor of economics, the late Jonathan Powers, assistant professor and chair of economics, Roy Anderson, Charles W. and Arvilla S. Timme Professor Emeritus of Economics and former department chair, Lane Sunderland, Chancie Ferris Booth Professor Emeritus of Political Science. He also credits his wife, Ellen, past principal of Gale

“There was a significant concern when I came to Knox that business and management wasn’t really part of the liberal arts curriculum,” said Spittell. “I came to the firm belief that we needed integrated business and management. My desire was to assist in enabling students, teaching them how to be productively engaged in their life’s passion—whatever field that is.”

He is pleased with the growth of the business program, and the fact that one of the most popular majors for the class of 2022 is integrated business and management.

“In my early days at Knox, there were about 25 to 30 students in the program. As we end the 2022 academic year, we have 90 majors and 24 minors for a total of 114 declared students. The program is very healthy.”

Along with John Dooley, retired William and Marilyn Ingersoll Chair in Computer Science, and Jaime Spacco, associate professor and chair of computer science, Spittell launched Startup Term, an immersive term that provides students experience in entrepreneurship. This successful program is currently in its fourth year of providing students with a real-world business experience in an office building located in downtown Galesburg.

Spittell also served as coordinator of the Kemper Scholars Program, sponsored by the James S. Kemper Foundation of Chicago, which provides internships for students interested in leadership and service. He is the faculty representative for the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester, which allows students to be admitted directly from Knox to the master’s of business administration program. A

STEVE

DAVIS

The South Lawn

number of Knox students, including Sara Jane Ahmed ’12, have taken that route. She is the founder of the Financial Futures Center and currently also serves as finance advisor to the ministers of finance from the world’s 55 most climatevulnerable countries. Ahmed received an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Knox College this year.

“John taught me not just core finance, but also values,” Ahmed said. “These are values that do not just drive success, but also drive you forward in personal and professional growth, which has been really important to me. I would call him one of my lifelong mentors.”

So what lies in store for Spittell? Time with his family, including his new grandson. Some travel. And a yet to be figured out new endeavor.

“I would love to occasionally come back to Knox to teach in an emeritus capacity. I feel a fiduciary obligation to the students here. I want to see them prosper and grow. I want to see Knox grow. I love this institution, it is in my blood. Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve felt totally at home at this special place.”

Steve Cohn Charles W. and Arvilla S. Timme Professor in Economics

Cohn’s research and teaching interests include macroeconomics, environ mental economics, Marxist economics, and the Chinese economy and Chinese political-economic thought. He is the author of three books, including Competing Economic Paradigms in China: The Co-Evolution of Economic Events, Economic Theory and Economics Education 1976-2016.

At Knox since 1984, he co-chaired the Peace and Justice Studies program and was a faculty member of the Asian studies and environmental studies programs. He has worked as a consultant and director of the Micro and Macro Critique workshops for the Global Development and Environment Institute and was a past member of the Steering Committee of the Union of Radical Political Economists (URPE).

In 2014, he was a visiting Professor at the China Studies Institute in Beijing.

What is your favorite Knox memory? The 2006 commencement when Stephen Colbert was the commence ment speaker and Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, also received an honorary degree.

Carol Scotton Associate Professor of Economics and Business and Management

Scotton’s interest in economics was grounded in what we value and how we determine worth.

Focusing on land and labor, she explored the notions underlying work and property that lead to inadequate and inequitable compensation systems, as we have now. She taught courses in labor and health and especially enjoyed learning with her students in introductory economics.

Before coming to Knox, Scotton spent 15 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, where she worked on HIV-prevention program evaluation and emergency preparedness.

At Knox since 2005, she served on the Knox County Board of Health from 2006-2020. Her last publication was “New Risk Rates, Inter-industry Differentials and the Magnitude of VSL Estimates” in the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis. She is currently working on a monograph “Taking Land, Making Race.”

What is the value of a Knox education? Learning how to be curious and courageous. That we challenge each other as learners. To figure out what the questions are. To learn to see what needs doing and developing the confidence and competence to do it.

What are your future plans? I am looking for my next adventure working toward a just, fairer society and a healthy place for everyone.

CARLA

CARLA

Media Matters

Knox students explore art through many different media— painting, sculpture, photography, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, spoken word. Here is a sampling of just a few of the awardwinning creative works from our students.

Ingrid Wasmer ’22, is a fifth year student, hailing from Chicago. She is majoring in studio art and psychology. In 2022, she was inducted into Psi Chi, and awarded first place in the Blick Art competition for her painting Thanks for the wings! In 2021, Wasmer was awarded the Janet Greig Post Prize in Music for her participation in the Knox College Choir, and the Blick Art Materials Senior Award for an outstanding studio artist. Ingrid is a painter and spent the past term in Open Studio, the capstone course for the art major. She built a body of work exploring grief, loss, remembering, yearning, and the exhaustion of unrelenting feeling. This term, Wasmer will be showcasing her paintings in her senior exhibition “afterimages,” with the support of the Richter Memorial Trust. After graduation, she will begin work on a digital installation for 150 Media Stream, with team members James Adamson ’24 and Tristan Blus ’23.

Go Figure

Thanks for the wings!

2021-22. Oil, dye, & collage on canvas. 60 in x 72 in.

6.86

the year the first Flunk Day was celebrated at Knox

seconds—record-setting time for the 60-meter Midwest Conference (MWC) Indoor Track and Field Championships record set by Derrick Jackson ’22

number of Knox graduates hailing from other countries

The South Lawn

CJ Johnson ’23 received the 2022 Audrey Collet-Conard Prize, presented to a student who submits three to five poems reflecting aesthetic excellence and spiritual resonance. She was raised in the small town of Little Suamico, Wisconsin. She is a creative writing major. CJ has enjoyed every workshop class she’s taken in her time at Knox, and the poetry workshop that guided her in creating these poems holds a special place in her heart. Upon graduation, she plans to pursue a career in literary agenting, where she will be able to help authors fulfill their goals of publishing their novels and poetry collections. Here is one poem from her prize-winning submission.

Matriculation

—after Ralph Angel and Jill Osier

Because this whistlestop town will whistle down to an early grave. Because the ballpark is flooded with weeds. Because the Kids don’t ride bikes anymore. Because the Russians burnt the playground with all their cigarettes. Because they are Kids too. Because the school bus comes when the sky is still bruised. Because the neighborhood is too spread out to be called a neighborhood. Because the woods separate. Because trains shake the houses when Kids can’t sleep. Because the blaring horn wakes them. Because no one listens to the stop signs. Because the viaduct is rusted in graffiti, and the river runs brown with pollution. Because we know the end. Because it’s in the woods—the tracks the ash borers leave. Because they follow hoofprints in mud. Because kids, and spring. Because Family let raspberries grow wild. Because Father was careless with the lawnmower.

Because Eldest tells stories with no end about the hobo that walks down their deadend street. Because Parents lock their doors at night. Because they call the kids in when a car drives by. Because Mother won’t let Daughter give the walking-man a dollar. Because it is Sunday. Because church. Because the end can be seen in the beginning. Because grown up. Because won’t return. Because Kids don’t know how Parents love, and Parents can’t explain.

gallons per 1 inch of rainfall—the amount of rainwater that the two Knox rain gardens soak up every year, preventing flooding

1100different species of native plants in the two Knox rain gardens

$3 million

grant Sara Jane Ahmed ’12 received in the fight against climate change

The South Lawn

COMMENCEMENT 2022

Acclaimed author Walter Mosley gave the address at the 2022 Commencement held on June 5. Mosley received an honorary doctorate of literature. Dr. Joy Buolamwini, whose research discoveries have identified real-world examples of racial and gender bias in technological systems, and Barbara Stewart, who most recently served as chief executive officer of AmeriCorps, also received honorary doctorates.

Nearly 260 graduates representing 32 states and 22 countries received degrees in 49 majors. Tony Etz, chair of the Knox College Board of Trustees, commented in his speech that their four years at Knox mirrored his time as Board chair. “You’re the first class where, as a trustee, I’ve known you from your first year to now, as graduates.”

Knox College President C. Andrew McGadney told graduates that their “willingness to step forward each day, despite what you see and hear around you, is exactly what's needed for communities to thrive and prosper.”

Sarah Wallenfelsz, a biology and computer science major from Galesburg, was selected by her classmates as Senior Class speaker. Class of ’22 president Shuchita Poddar, a creative writing major from Gurgaon, India, closed the ceremony by observing that “in India, when we depart home for the day, we say something that translates to the feeling of ‘I’ll be back soon.’ So this isn’t our goodbye. It’s our hope to see each other. Class of ’22, I’ll see you soon.”

PHOTOS BY CARLA WEHMEYER, STEVE DAVIS, KENT KRIEGSHAUSER

The ’Burg

Historic Preservation of Iconic Homes

Galesburg is a town rich with history. Amy Tropp ’98, a double major in history and education, is doing her best to preserve that history by buying and renovating historic homes in the area, three of which are listed on Airbnb.

The project began when she bought the Custer carriage house in 2014. Built in 1923, the property was the carriage house for the home of Omer Custer, an Illinois state treasurer and president of Purington Brick Factory. Later Tropp bought what she calls the “Prairie House,” the home of the vice president of the Purington Brick Factory in 1914. She also bought the “Galesburg Great House” on East Losey in late 2021. This home was built in1857 by Silas and Cordelia Chambers Willard, who purchased the land from Hiram Kellogg, the first president of Knox College. Silas was instrumental in bringing the CB&Q Railroad to Galesburg, directly resulting in a boom in Galesburg’s economic and population growth.

Tropp grew up near Galesburg and was familiar with the iconic homes around town. As a youth, she took long walks to explore Galesburg and its historic homes. The affordability of the homes convinced her to invest in some of Galesburg’s history.

“This is not about my personal comfort. This is about what I want to add to this community,” Tropp said. “I have lived here through the pandemic. I grew up here. My family goes back several generations.”

Today Tropp works remotely as a business intelligence analyst for UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California. She says that Knox broadened her perspective. Making a positive impact on the community is important to her.

“If you infuse a little energy into the community, things can change.”

What’s Next for

The Class of 2022 celebrated the cul mination of their Knox experience with a joyous Commencement celebration on June 5. We asked some of our Class of 2022 grads what their future plans are, how Knox impacted them, and what Knox’s future looks like. Here are some of their comments.

Kyle Williams graduated cum laude with a degree in journalism and a minor in anthropol ogy and sociology. He is attend ing graduate school at one of the top journalism schools in the country: Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journal ism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. “The journalism major just started this year at Knox, so I really hope that 10 years from now, it’s one of the best departments at Knox.”

A native of Ethiopia, Bethlehem Mulualem graduated magna cum laude with a double major in computer science and economics. She is headed to Virginia to work as a technical program manager for Amazon. “I think Knox opened up my horizons, widened my vision, and made me more lenient and open-minded.”

CARLA WEHMEYER

The South Lawn

The Class of 2022?

Charles Broomfield received a degree in computer science and integrative business and management. He gradu ated summa cum laude and is taking a position as a data analyst at the MITRE Corporation in McLean, Virginia. He previously worked as an intern for MITRE on a project at the Department of Homeland Security. “The pandemic changed things, so I feel like we’ve seen two different Knox cultures. Some of the old traditions haven’t been passed down, but there’s a new culture being established and I think that’s kind of interesting.”

Olivia Palepoi graduated magna cum laude with an anthropology and sociology major and a minor in history. She’s pursuing a master’s degree in cultural an thropology at Purdue University, with plans for a career in academia. “I’m a Pacific Islander and my family comes from the island of Samoa. I want to become a professor and start an indigenous studies program at a university.”

Jack Culbertson continued a family tradition when he received his degree in economics from Knox. His grandfa ther, Richard ’55, received a Knox degree, and his great-grandmother, Evelyn Fellingham Weiskopf ’23, also attended

Knox. Jack is working as a commercial credit analyst at KeyBank in Cleveland, Ohio.

“Before I decided to come here, I was visiting and a custodian let me into a backroom where they kept awards, and I got to see some that my grandfather received. Before I even stepped on campus as a student, I had that experience.”

Daniel Bien majored in political science and environmental studies. The magna cum laude graduate is also headed to Spring field as an aide to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.

“When I return to Knox, I will visit the Umbeck Science-Mathematics Center (SMC). I’m expecting SMC to be fully renovated. As a double major in political science and environmental studies, it’s a place where I spent a lot of time.”

Sparks

“Many good memories of those under the direction of Dr. Peter Schramm in the early ’90s. I lived at Green Oaks for two summers.”

Bob Connour posting on Facebook about the Prairie Fire burn

“When my dad got to come to

BURNING MILK ROUTE

in my fourth year, it was this vindication of everything he’d given up so my brother and I could go to college.”

Liam Wholihan ’20 on participating in the Milk Route event in which creative writing majors present their work to family and friends

“I am the

LUCKIEST PERSON

I know. I have been blessed beyond belief to be a part of something bigger than me. Something about Galesburg and Knox and music.”

Nikki Malley ’98 on participating in the 2022 Rootabaga Jazz Festival before her retirement as chair and associate professor of music

We saw a young guy wearing a Knox shirt, so I yelled

“KNOX COLLEGE!?”

He happens to have my same majors too—econ/business and art. Steph.is.sore (Stephanie Sorensen ’12) on Instagram after spotting a Knox student at Disney World, where she works

I am Knox — Aicha Chehmani

Vitals

Hometown: Canton, Michigan

Major: Business and Management Minor: Anthropology and Sociology, Dance Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs Campus Involvements: Common Ground President, Co-Production Manager Terpsichore Dance Collective, Social Media Assistant Knox Office of Communications, Dare to Care Peer Educator starting fall 2023, occasional Knox Farm Volunteer

Three Facts about Aicha

I love to cook and taught myself how to make all kinds of recipes. I have gotten good at cooking various curry-based plates or anything over rice.

I enjoy attending comic conventions and handmaking my own costumes for them. My first comic convention was the Motor City Comic Con in Detroit for my 12th birthday. I dressed as Ash Ketchum, and my little brother dressed as Pikachu.

When I was 13, I participated in my first pageant. My mom thought it would be a good idea since I was shy, and it would help me get out of my shell. A big part of participating in pageants is activism. I had a platform where I advocated for inclusivity and for the LGBTQ+ community.

What is your Knox philosophy?

Go to things! Go to as many things as possible, every chance you get. I have met new people, discovered passions, and made all kinds of wonderful memories by just getting out to campus events and clubs. It is good to get out and make lots of memories.

Advice received at Knox that you will hold forever?

Students have the power on this campus. I participated in Common Ground, a LGBTQ+ club on campus with a focus on support and social events, as a project manager. I became the president in the fall term of my sophomore year. I was able to use resources I had as a student leader to make things happen, such as the gender-affirming closet, which offers free clothes for any individuals looking to build an affirming wardrobe. It offers masculine and feminine clothing, binders, undergarments—things that may help students figure out how they want to present and dress themselves. Still, there is always so much we can do. The more I get involved in Common Ground, the more I can help people and make a difference.

A time on campus where you felt empowered and inspired?

Being cast in and working on the Choreography Workshop piece “Generations” in the spring of my first year. It was my first time dancing on stage at Knox. I had participated in virtual events before, but this experience changed how I view dance. Ashley, the student who choreographed this piece, trusted me to help tell a story that is very important to her by not only having me in the piece but also giving me a solo. She gave me the push I needed to realize that I am capable as a dancer and an artist.

CARLA WEHMEYER

The South Lawn

New Soccer Coaches

Kevwe Akpore, formerly assistant men’s soccer coach at Knox, has taken the position as head men’s soccer coach, and Robert Battisson was named the head women’s soccer coach.

Akpore has been a leader in the Galesburg soccer community for more than three decades. He has, at different times in the last 30 years, been the assistant coach and head coach for the women’s program at Knox, and head coach for the men’s program.

He rejoined the Prairie Fire athletics coaching staff after a very successful and historic year as head men’s soccer coach at Carl Sandburg College, where he left with a school-record 34 victories in four years of leading the program.

He is a retired U.S. Army veteran with multiple tours of duty in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and more, and is a retired executive with the State of Illinois corrections system.

Battisson was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the women’s soccer program at the University of Akron (NCAA Division I) in Ohio. He helped lead their program to a Mid-American Conference (MAC) East championship and five MAC tournament appearances.

Previously Battisson was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and an assistant coach at Northwestern University in Chicago. A native of England, Battisson played soccer and graduated from Lock Haven University with a bachelor’s degree in English. He earned a master's in English literature from Northwestern Missouri State and also has master’s degrees in sports science and coaching, and exercise physiology from the University of Akron.

Fired Up / Burned Out

Fired Up

We are fired up about the 20 faculty members joining the College this fall. These faculty represent six tenure-track candidates, seven visiting faculty members, and five visiting instructors, a journalist-in-residence, and a digital humanities media specialist/Mellon Fellow to support the Mellon “Abolition for All Time” program at Knox.

The new and visiting faculty cover every subject from art and Asian studies to chemistry, economics, education, German, and psychology. When asked about these new faculty members, Provost and Dean of the College Mike Schneider said, “These professionals are joining the Knox ranks to deliver the top-notch educational experience our institution is known for around the globe. Our students will reap the benefits of their expertise and passion for teaching.”

Smoldering

Knox has had the same business system underlying its operations for almost 30 years, and it is now time to replace this aging system with a new one that helps our campus community deliver an efficient, consistent, modern experience for our students, families, faculty, and staff. We are in the beginning stages of evaluating a short list of candidates for the new system, and the cross-campus team working on this project is excited about the possibilities!

With vaccinations required (except for those with exemptions), masks optional, and only symptomatic testing on campus after an initial testing for students arriving on campus this fall, could we finally be moving forward from COVID-19 and back to the full residential learning experience Knox is known for? We held a full Pumphandle, Convocation, and other treasured in-person events this fall for the first time since fall 2019, a positive sign that COVID-19 may be moving to an endemic that we learn to live with.

CARLA

First Impressions

At first a few of them survived the classroom’s filibuster and then later, the censor’s bonfires. For the most part, they now bunch together on our maps as hot stars, and sometimes some of them can be seen and measured with Hubble’s infrared spectroscope.

First lines of Cadenzas (Redbat Books, 2021) by Alex Kuo ’61.

Cadenzas is a unique, double-sided work of fiction that narrates a conversation between music and language, with walk-ins by Dorothy Parker, Dante, Edith Sitwell, J.S. Bach, Qiu Jin, Dmitri Shostakovich, and June Jordan. It is Kuo’s accumulation of more than 80 years of living, listening, and writing on several continents and breathing in the cadences of several languages, including three Chinese dialects.

Examining An Alternative Life

Debut Novel Explores World of International Modeling

Body Grammar, the debut novel by Jules Ohman ’12, grew out of a short story she was working on while she was at Knox.

“It’s a queer coming of age story set in the international modeling world,” explained Ohman. “I started modeling when I was 16 and had a complicated rela tionship with it. When I was 18, I had to decide between continuing my education or modeling professionally in New York. I decided to come to Knox and spend most of my time writing in the library, which was the right choice for me.” Her novel is based on the very beginning of that experience, but her protagonist made the other choice and continued to model.

“The protagonist isn’t me, but I had to really think a lot about my alternate self in order to write her. I tried to think about it in a joyful way. I think a lot has changed in the industry since I was doing it from 2007-2009, so I wanted to imagine that world in a generous way, to think about community and queerness and finding yourself amidst other people making their art. And learning to make your own.” She completed a draft of the novel while she was studying for her master of fine arts at the University of Montana. While there, she won a chapbook award and published several stories that she wrote during her time at Knox. At Knox, she was the fiction editor of Catch her senior year, and involved with the creative writing community, which was “phenomenal,” according to Ohman.

Who were your mentors at Knox?

Robin Metz taught these five-hour long fiction workshops that went from 7:00 p.m. to midnight, and I took as many of them as I could. It was amazing as an 18-year-old to be taken seriously as a writer. Robin was the first person who told me I would be a novelist. I remember talking to him in the Gizmo my sophomore year, when he had just read a short story of mine, and he said, “When you write a novel, you have to promise me that you’ll thank Knox.” It was that “when” that really got me, and that I held onto for years. The fact that this dream of mine that felt impossible to me actually felt inevitable to him, like, of course it would happen, and therefore I was able to imagine it too. So I do want to thank Knox, because it was so foundational.

Monica Berlin was my thesis advisor. She wrote a really long letter in response to my senior portfolio, and saw so much about my own writing I couldn’t see then: What I was hiding from; What I could write into. I teach from Chad Simpson’s story collection all the time. Monica, Chad, and Robin all gave me advice about graduate schools, and helped with my applica tions. Nick Regiacorte was my very wise and wonderful academic advisor. Sherwood Kiraly and Gina Franco both taught creative writing workshops that changed the way I thought about writing.

It was amazing to be taught by such brilliant writers and generous teachers at such a young age. I continue to read all the Knox professors’ work. They’re still giving me creative inspiration.

Knox Writes

Are there other ways Knox has impacted your work?

I chose to attend Knox specifically be cause of the Creative Writing program and was a finalist for the ACM Nick Adams Short Story Contest several times, which was really encouraging. I attended as many workshops and read ings as I could. Maybe most of all, I went to readings where the professors were reading their own work—being around adults who were creating their own art and sharing it with us was really impactful. It showed us a way.

One of my close friends, Kate Barrett ’12, was also a Knox student and is a fiction writer, who attended Montana’s M.F.A. program a few years after I did. We weren’t friends at Knox, but we became really close in Missoula and would send letter poems back and forth whenever we had a dry spell, which we both learned in Knox poetry classes. I did the same with Emily Oliver ’11, who is an incredible poet. It was an exercise to keep writing when we felt like we couldn’t. It’s a useful tool. Having the shared reference point of the Knox Creative Writing program has been a buoying part of our friend ship. The same goes for my friends Alyssa Kennamer ’14 and Evelyn Langley ’14 who I met in the Green Oaks program. They’re both making amazing art in the world, and meeting them at Knox had a huge influence on the direction my creative life has gone. All four of them read drafts of my novel, Body Grammar, for me over the years, and have supported the book in countless ways.

What was the publishing process like?

I completed a draft of a version of the novel when I was an M.F.A. student at Montana and started sending it out to agents the year after I graduated. I worked for several years on the book with an agent. I spent years revising it. That process felt like getting a Ph.D. One of my agents was a former editor so he suggested a really intensive revision, and it took years. They took me on as a 24-year-old and I think they knew that it would take me a lot of work to get to where it was ready to send out. The book was sent out to publishers a couple of years in a row, and turned down by a lot of editors, with a number of nearmisses. In the summer of 2020, I really rewrote the novel from the ground up, cut several protago nists, and eventually it sold to my incredible editor. It was an ongoing process with a lot of stops and starts and a lot of grief. I really struggled with the idea that you could work on something so intensely for this long and have it not work out. Knowing people at Knox who it had worked out for helped me continue to believe in the art of it, and the necessity of persistence.

Now I’m focusing my attention on a new novel.

Do you have a day job?

I work for a non-profit called Literary Arts in Portland, Oregon. I manage their Writers in the Schools program, which places professional writers in public high schools to teach creative writing. I also teach fiction workshops to students and adults.

Body Grammar is published by Penguin Random House.

Books by Members of the Knox Community

Quantitative Cell Physiology

Kindle Books, 2021

Stephen M. Baylor ’65

The laws of diffusion, electricity, and mass action are explained in this experimentally grounded textbook and are applied to elucidate how cells establish a resting membrane potential, achieve osmotic balance, generate action potentials, initiate secretion, and control muscle contraction. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter to test the student’s un derstanding. It is a unique framework for exploration of the physiology of nerve, muscle, and secretory cells at a quantitative and mechanistic level.

American Massif Tupelo Press, 2022

Nicholas Regiacorte

American Massif by Regiacorte, associate professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program, follows the first stages of one American mastodon in his attempts to evolve. His life begins to resemble a human life. His mother appears human. His wife and children, human. His own birthplace and childhood. His appetites, sins, faith, cynicism, big plans. All apparently human. At the same time, all of these things are

relinquished or increasingly subject to the story of his own extinction.

Amazing Webster Groves Reedy Press, 2022 Don Corrigan ’73

America’s Heartbeat can be found in a St. Louis suburb that’s been a Time Magazine cover story, the subject of a CBS-TV documentary, and a magnet for poll sters at presidential election time. In Amazing Webster Groves, you’ll dis cover Old Orchard, where prime real estate was sold out of President Ulysses S. Grant’s log cabin. You’ll find Webster Park, where a governor, a senator, and many of St. Louis business geniuses once lived. Corrigan profiles the town he has been proud to cover for four decades as editor of the Webster-Kirkwood Times

Price of Passage—A Tale of Immigration and Liberation DX Varos Publishing, 2022

Larry F. Sommers ’66

It’s 1853. Anders, the law at his heels, sails from Norway to seek a life of honor and respect in America. Maria, a boat builder’s daughter also seeking a new start, knows that she is just what Anders needs. Daniel, a young plantation

runaway, flees northward to “free soil.” Newlyweds Anders and Maria find him in their barnyard, hiding from slave catchers who can legally capture and return him to his master. Daniel’s plight draws Anders, and drags Maria, into the conflict that is tearing the country apart.

They Can Take It Out Word Works, 2022 Cheryl Clark Vermeulen ’96

In Vermeulen’s poetry, the speaker shares her life as a woman with cancer, the invasions and intimacies of the battle against it, the healing, and the quest to make new life for herself and her family.

Class Knox

Flashback

100 Years of Flunk Day

2022 marked the 100th anniversary of Knox’s Flunk Day, a day on which classes are cancelled, and students spend the day enjoying carnival games, rides, and live performances. In the 1970s, three-legged races were part of the fun. Can you identify the year or the racers?

Send the story to knoxmag@knox.edu

Alumni News

Jerry and Carol Vovis: An Enduring Love for One Another, the Sciences, and their Alma Mater

When Class of ’65 alumni Gerald “Jerry” and Carol Klail Vovis were swapping Knox stories at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, a fellow Knox alumnus overheard them and happily joined the conversation.

“After a while, I asked if he gave to the College,” Jerry recalled. “When I heard he didn’t, he may have regretted that he joined our conversation, as I made an impassioned plea to give to Knox.”

This chance interaction is just one example of the decades-long commit ment that Jerry and Carol made to their alma mater. At every single turn, Jerry and Carol have supported Knox,

volunteering their time, seeing that the College received needed scientific equipment, and generously investing in the College’s future.

Jerry and Carol met as high school students, both attending J Sterling Morton High School in Cicero, Illinois. They began dating during their senior year. Jerry entered Knox as a first year, first-generation college student. Carol felt she couldn’t afford a four-year school and started her journey at a local community college. A Knox admission representative convinced Carol she could afford Knox through scholarships and federal loans,

Class Knox

so she transferred and majored in biology.

Both Carol and Jerry have great memories of the close-knit community they found and cherished at the College. “Knox had a family feel,” said Carol. “You got to know people starting at Pumphandle, where you shook the hand of the president of the College.”

The August after their graduation, Jerry and Carol married. On the guest list was Jerry’s college mentor, Bill Geer, a professor of biology, and his wife, Judy.

Honoring a Mentor Jerry attributes his strong, five-decade relationship with the College to Geer, who was instrumental in Jerry’s aca demic and career decisions. When he started at Knox, Jerry had intended to go to medical school, but things changed his junior year when Geer joined the Knox faculty. Jerry soon joined Geer’s “Fly Lab,” which studied Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly.

“Before Thanksgiving, I called my parents to tell them I wasn’t coming home for the holiday,” Jerry related. “When they asked what I would be doing, I said I would be scoring the physical characteristics of fruit flies. There was silence on the other end of the line.”

Jerry majored in chemistry and did an honors project in biology. Following graduation, he attended Western Reserve University in Cleveland, later Case Western Reserve, receiving a Ph.D. in molecular biology.

To honor his mentor, Jerry led the creation of the Bill W. Geer Research Fund to honor Geer at his retirement

from Knox in 2000, when Geer was also named the Clara A. Abbott Professor Emeritus of Biology. The fund provides for purchases of scientific and lab equipment to support and encourage research in the sciences.

In 2001, Jerry became a Knox alumni trustee and, in 2010, a general trustee. “I accepted these honors in recognition of what Bill Geer had done for my life,” Jerry said.

Influential European Experiences

In 1967, the couple began a three-year stint in France while Jerry worked on his Ph.D. thesis research at the Centre de Genetique Moleculaire du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (equivalent to the National Institutes of Health). Carol taught English at the prestigious Faculté de Science d’Orsay.

Though their science backgrounds heavily influenced their careers, the humanities courses at Knox prepared them for life as global citizens.

The couple traveled around Europe, and hosted Frank Konopasek ’62, a childhood friend of Jerry’s, who was stationed in Hanau, Germany. “Frank brought with him a friend who had graduated from the Air Force Academy,” Jerry said. “At museums, Carol, Frank, and I would be talking about a piece of art and he would ask, ‘How do you know these things?’ ‘Oh, we went to Knox,’ we’d say.”

When they returned to the States, Jerry took a position at Rockefeller University in New York City, and Carol taught at a private school in Queens, later moving to the corporate world and concluding her successful career at American Express. Jerry moved from academia to the business sector in

1980, taking on executive roles at several biotechnology companies. Today, he continues to work as a consultant and investor in that industry.

Influencing Future Generations

When asked what makes Jerry and Carol most proud about their involvement at Knox, the unequivocal answer is the renovation of Alumni Hall and establishment of the Gerald and Carol Vovis Center for Research and Advanced Study.

“Former President Teresa Amott had a vision for Alumni Hall and talked to us about establishing the Vovis Center,” Carol said. “We liked the ideas and were the initial and one of major donors to start the ball rolling. Now, we get to attend student presentations and meet the amazing Knox students who are receiving these experiences. It’s emotional for all of us.”

Jerry insists that there’s lots of room and opportunities for other passionate Knox alumni to get involved with their alma mater in meaningful ways and support Knox, allowing it to provide that same experience to others.

Class Knox

We are Knox.

You are, too.

If you attended Knox for one year, two years, or graduated with honors, you are a Knox alumnus/a. You are the best reflection of Knox College and the education it provides. So, keep us informed. Tell us what you’ve been up to, if you’ve been promoted or honored, or simply say hello. Here’s how:

• Contact your Class Correspondent;

• If you don’t have a correspondent, email, call, or “snail mail” us directly (see below);

• Or have other media sources send us press releases, articles, and publicity.

Please send information about births, marriages, and deaths directly to: Alumni Records

Knox College, Box K-230 Galesburg, IL 61401-4999

Email: records@knox.edu

Send all other updates, correspondence, or questions to: Christina Smith

Director of College Engagement

Knox College, Box K-230 Galesburg, IL 61401-4999

Email: chsmith@knox.edu

Please note that Class Notes may be edited for space and in accordance with the Knox Style Guide. If you are submitting photos, please send high-resolution images that are at least 300 dpi.

1951

Jay Burgess writes that he is doing well for a member of the Class of 1951. He is still living in a “nice senior facility in Fort Myers, Florida. The center is called Amavida, and I’m enjoying it.” He would love to visit Knox again but finds travel just too much these days. He does drive to local spots around the area, though. He says “hello” to all who remember him. ❯ Received this nice message from Dick Fleming and Lorraine Johnson Fleming ’54: “As Megan mentioned in her most recent request for alumni news, we and other old-timers first look through incoming Knox Magazine and FYC Bulletin for news about our classmates—which in our case means check ing the years 1947–1954. We are both doing rea sonably well, having survived a 2019 move from Delaware to a nearby retirement community, and we have also evaded COVID so far. We are in Jennersville, Pennsylvania, right on the edge of buggy country where Amish carriages can be seen—and heard—regularly clip-clopping down the back roads. Lorraine continues her lifelong professional interests doing volunteer work on environmental issues, mainly habitat preservation in Delaware, and she is part of a community landscape committee. I completed my decadeslong efforts to preserve the Fleming family his tory: eight volumes and some 2,000 family photos of interest to hardly anyone except me! We often think of Knox and the choir, where we first met, and the friends we made there. We hope at least some of you will drop Megan a note. We would love to read your updates!”

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1952

Frank and Carol Johnson had a visit from Bill and Jean Corkill, who were on their way back to their home in Arizona. Everyone is doing all right even though we’re all in our 90s!

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1953

Class Correspondent: Audrae Norris Gruber 2419 Woodridge Lane, Brainerd,MN 56401-5533, Aaudraepaul@aol.com

1954

Class Correspondent: Jim Dunlevey 27419 Embassy Street, Menifee, CA 92586-2005, dunlevey@aol.com

1955

It was wonderful to hear from Tony Liberta, and he had some exciting news to share. He wrote, “In mid-November, a dedication ceremony took

place at Julian Hall on the Illinois State Univer sity campus when a student study area was named the ‘Dr. Anthony Liberta Study Suite.’ The suite was named in my honor, thanks to one of my for mer graduate students and her husband securing the naming rights.”

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1956

Jack Reiners reports that the Class of 1956 Scholarship has been awarded to Jonathan Walker-Moses, a member of the Knox Class of 2025. Jonathan’s hometown is Chicago, where he attended Lane Tech High School. At Knox, he is studying physics and astronomy, planning a ca reer in astronomy, and is thankful that the schol arship has allowed him to work toward his goal. At the end of June, the market value of the schol arship fund was $89,984; the award for 2021-22 was $3,582. ❯ Stan and Jenny Anton have good news/bad news. First the good news that their lit tle grandson Luke arrived on November 14 and is a total treasure. The bad news is that Stan had a fall in October and currently is in a long-term care center because of other complications. He is happiest when family visits and takes him out for lunch, although those excursions are on hold for now thanks to a COVID outbreak at the facility. Jenny says that once again she will be downsiz ing. ❯ Update: Stan sadly passed away on Febru ary 7, 2022. Jenny shared the following: “Stan will be greatly missed, but we’re feeling relieved he’s finally taking his celestial journey. Now he’s whole in mind and body and with his loved ones, both human and canine.” ❯ Bob and Judy ’58 Rothe, after selling their home of 55 years, have moved into an “upscale” (read “expensive,” ac cording to Bob) retirement center that has about 500 residents in Boulder, Colorado. The center has done a good job of protecting its residents during the pandemic, although Bob feels that they are overly restrictive. He has used this time to write an as-yet unfinished mystery fiction book entitled A Minor Case of World-Wide Nuclear Ter rorism. He also produced a math paper that de velops the mathematical formulae for a square, a diamond, a line segment of finite length, and the first quadrant of a circle. He believes these have never been published but still cannot find a place to publish these findings. Bob remarked on some local disasters, including a fire that destroyed 1,000 homes. Angered by the careless actions of a cult believed to have started the fire, Bob would support a class action lawsuit against that cult. He is wondering if any lawyers want to comment on that suggestion at Bobrothe57@gmail.com. ❯ That is the extent of the class news. Perhaps spring and summer weather and (hopefully) less COVID restrictions will have folks on the move again and sharing news of their activities and in terests. Meanwhile, please stay cautious and healthy!

Class Correspondent: Ricky Jung Schwarzler schwarzler@msn.com

1957

Willis Cravens, basketball and baseball star at Knox, still plays a mean game of tennis every day down in Florida. ❯ Mondo Lopez ’58 is about to publish his new book tentatively entitled The Last Play, which is about his days at Knox. It is in the final editing stage and, hopefully, it will be re leased soon on Amazon. ❯ As you remember, Mondo was a Little All-American running back, who still holds several Knox records in football. The guy who opened the holes for Mondo was all-conference guard Trev Winebright, who was recently recognized for his military service by being chosen for an Honor Flight to Washing ton, D.C. Trev recently retired from his success ful real estate practice in St. Louis. ❯ The all-conference end on that team was George Olson, who with his wife Bonnie ’58, just switched retirement homes from Minnesota to Florida. ❯ Congratulations to June Lynch Bath and her dog Javie, who won blue ribbons at a re cent kennel club competition. ❯ Had lunch with Larry “Swede” Anderson ’58, and Art “Swede” Carlson, who talked about the recent passing of buddy Ralph “Swede” Lundgren. Seems there were a lot of Swedes called “Swede” at Knox in bygone years. ❯ Just heard that Nick Panos was inducted to the Peoria Hall of Fame for his out standing performance on the Peoria Central championship basketball teams. ❯ Rumor has it that Bill Shaffer is alive and well and planning a revolution from his World Headquarters in Indi ana. ❯ A collective class Thank You to Dick and Joan ’56 Whitcomb, who have been most gener ous in their contributions to Knox, including the stunning new Whitcomb Art Center. Many thanks for your loyalty and generosity!

Class Correspondent: Homer Johnson Hjohnso@luc.edu

1958

I’m in touch with Nina Allen and she is living in a lovely retirement condo in Grays Lake, Illinois, with several of her children close by. ❯ Bob Wolf and his wife Louise Bost Wolf ’59 are still in Knoxville, Illinois, with daughter Melissa Wolf Rickabaugh ’83 and son-in-law living right be hind them. ❯ Mary Peterson Potter thanked me for being class correspondent and reminded me that she and her husband were introduced by Jim Krugoff and Mary Zahutnik Krugoff ❯ We received an update from Ron Streibich, who is retired from a career in philanthropy, having di rected fundraising for Northwestern U., Knox, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M for three decades. Now he resides in Houston across the road from NASA headquar ters and is spearheading a memorial for astro nauts lost in space. ❯ John Norton reports that he and his wife Janet have spent the winter in Mesa, Arizona, and hope to get to Germany in June. They plan to see the Passion Play in Ober ammergau. They finally got tickets after seven

tries since the 1960s. ❯ Linda Sokody Seybold and her husband will celebrate their 62nd wed ding anniversary in August. They have lived in their home in Westchester, Pennsylvania, for 55 years. They have two children, one of whom is close by. ❯ Our former correspondent, Letitia Luther Schactner, broke her hip the day after Christmas, and after a lot of rehabilitation, she is living in an assisted living apartment in Knoxville, Illinois. It is located at the former site of the stately PEO Home, which many of us will remember. ❯ Bill Baker and his wife, Anne Velde Baker ’60 are still living in Oak Park, Illinois, but are now living in a condo. They have three daughters, the youngest of whom visits three mornings a week “to help the old people,” to quote Bill. ❯ Bill Studley and his wife have moved from the country into a condo in Ma homet, Illinois, not far from me, as it turns out! Bill has been a beekeeper since the 1970s. ❯ Mary Kay Krughoff also shared this news, “My wonderful great granddaughter arrived on Sep tember 22nd! Her name is Hunter Mae. I was able to see and hold her on Thanksgiving!” ❯ Mary Peterson Potter writes, “Mike and Pat Craig Ruffolo were in the Chicago area in September, and we had lunch and a nice visit to gether. They looked good and seemed to be in good health. Someone took a picture of the three of us (my husband passed away in April), and Pat said ‘The Three Amigos’.” ❯ Mondo Lopez sends this note: “Dear Caroline, on behalf of the Class of 1958, thank you for volunteering to be our Class Correspondent! Particularly at this stage in life, your time and efforts are greatly ap preciated. Knowing our great class, I am sure I speak for everyone. To the extent words can ex press it, again thank you for serving as our Class Correspondent. On a personal note, know that I am grateful I had the pleasure of knowing you for three quarters of a century, or, since we were in elementary school. Over the years remembering you as a dear friend and how you always offered your friends and community your help and serv ices, your volunteering to serve as Class Corre spondent was not a surprise. Yet, it made me remember the wonderful person and character you have always been, and now, in the present, serving our terrific Class of 1958. Thank you, Dear Carolyn!

Mondo,

Friend and Class President.” ❯ And as for me, I am now living in an independent living senior apartment complex, am president of the resident council, and am writing and photographing for resident profiles in our monthly newsletter. If you want to give me a call, my number is 217-2209447. Classmates have been staying close to home, for obvious reasons. Here’s to wishing us all continued good health and contentment until next time.

Class Correspondent: Caroline Andrews Porter portercaroline38@gmail.com

1959

Rich and Jean Bloomberg are using their time wisely—long walks, daily Bible study, too many jigsaw puzzles, building some clever things. I wonder what those clever things are?—next time! Thanks to Zoom they viewed college and high school graduations, confirmations, football games, swim meets, and actually saw a grandchild in a virtual play. They spent lots of time learning about genealogy, then wrote down some of their own childhood histories to pass on to their chil dren and grandchildren. They enjoyed the slower pace and certainly made good use of COVID lockdown. ❯ I received a Christmas card from the Hohes with a vacation picture. I emailed them asking if they were traveling during COVID. Here’s the scoop! In May 2019, Paul and Elva sold their Chicago condo. In September 2021, they flew to Chicago, cleared out their lockers, donated 75 percent of the contents, rented a large SUV, visited Chicago friends, drove to Cody, Wyoming, visited a cousin, then visited Glacier and Grand Teton parks. Whew! No rocking chairs for those two. ❯ What have you done for your community? Margaret Konzo Wolf has planted and maintains an award-win ning lily garden for her retirement facility. She also plants and harvests zucchinis and gives them to the chef to make zucchini bread for the resi dents. Next class reunion, Margaret should bring some zucchini bread to share. ❯ I just remem bered that at the 2009 reunion, David Poston said he would bring goat cheese from his goat farm to the 2019 reunion. He came, but no goat cheese. Next time. ❯ Larry Blasch emailed. His daughter said Larry and Barbara ’61 were get ting older and should move to Richmond, Vir ginia, to be closer to their children. They moved! Larry still plays golf and rates golf courses for the USGA. ❯ I received an email from Howard Dil lon, replying to my 10-week-old email. Howard is busy with journals, newspapers, classical music, museums, organizations, digitizing and organiz ing photographs, Zooming with family and friends, devoting time to reading (but avoiding difficult novelists). He did NOT learn a new lan guage, did NOT write a novel, did NOT acquire a new skill. At least he is honest. Howard also sent his email to everyone in the class of 1959, but I have not heard if he had any replies. You can email Howard at hdillon37@gmail.com; he would enjoy an email from a classmate. Also send me an email, I too would enjoy a note from 1959 classmates. That’s it for now, stay well.

Class Correspondent: Conny Drew Tozer connytozer@yahoo.com

1960

Ed and Mary Alice ’62 Vondrak’s 60th wedding anniversary was, according to Ed, “the opposite of our 50th anniversary a decade earlier, when we had about a hundred guests in the large hall at our church, with catered food and music for

Class Knox

lily garden for her retirement facility.

dancing. That event required a few months of planning and a chunk of money. Unfortunately, on that date, September 2, 2011, I woke up that morning with a Menieres attack, which occurred spontaneously, without any warning. I spent that entire day sick in bed, and Mary Alice had to greet the hundred guests by herself. I wonder what will happen on our 70th, if we are still around.” He also reported, “You might already have information about the death of Peter Pav in 2021. Pete was my classmate, colleague in physics, and roommate during our latter semes ters at Knox. Pete and I went to different gradu ate schools, after which we both became professors, Pete in Florida and me in Indiana.” Ed retired from full-time teaching in 2000 and launched a volunteer tutoring ministry in his church. From that time until COVID arrived, he tutored a total of about 50 students from all over the world. ❯ Bob Baker wrote, “At our Illinois farm, Susie and I are practicing what we call ‘eco logical cultivation.’ We have about 20 acres of young tree plantations, 20 acres of native prairie, 150 acres of mature forest, and 40 acres of wet lands. In these days of global warming, invasive species, plant diseases, and deadly insects, it is not enough just to plant trees or to leave nature alone. If you are cultivating (whether it be gar dening or farming or trees), you have to destroy one living plant or animal so that another can thrive. Should we as humans make those kinds of decisions? Susie and I have answered ‘yes’ but you may have another opinion.” He has been try ing to figure out what the French would say for “going to hell in a handbasket.” Bob wrote, “It’s a phrase that I learned on our farm in Illinois when I was young. Would it be ‘Etre dans de beaux draps’ (to be in a pretty pickle)? Pessimism,” he added, “would appear to be the prevailing politi cal cultural mood in both America and France these days. But speaking personally, it is not the mood of Susie or myself. We divide our lives be tween two remote places, a house at 8,000 feet in Colorado and the farm in western Illinois. We hike and snowshoe in beautiful country, read good books, and eat good food.” Looking to the future, he added, “One of the places to which we would like to travel is France, still the natural en vironment (after American nature) in which I feel the most at home.” ❯ Back to the jigsaw puzzle on the dining room table. The one good thing that’s come out of the pandemic for us: Mary Lu and I have finally found a use for that over-sized piece of furniture.

Class Correspondent: Dick Aft aftd@fuse.net

1961

Class Correspondent: Megan Clayton Knox College, Box K-210, 2 East South Street, Galesburg, IL 61401, 309-341-7476, pclayton@knox.edu

1962

Greetings fellow Knox graduates of 1962! I bring you news of great joy as we look forward to our 60th this fall. Reflections: ❯ Pat Gronemeyer Carrell reflects on Knox: “My prominent memo ries of those years include the Pumphandle at the beginning of each year, the building of the floats for Homecoming, living freshman year in Whit ing Hall with its small closets, and having only a curtain for doors. Then moving into Post which was luxury, parties at the frat houses, running into the Gizmo between classes for a quick hand of bridge, having to be in the dorms by 9:00 on school nights, sorority meetings at the panhell house, studying in quiet corners of the library, having a work-study job for the chair of the math department, going to chapel, and trying to guess when Flunk Day would be.” ❯ Joe Empen tells the story of 2021: “I don’t have much to add for this crazy year. Seems like I spent most of my time trying to find “the shot,” and then looking for the next one. But, by golly, I got all three and the flu shot! So, I am well ventilated by needles!

On a more serious note, John Hintzsche died a year ago. Ted Folk’s wife, Ginny, passed away ear lier this year. Life goes on. Joe challenged me to another 5K remembering that I fell and crushed my meniscus and he won the last one.” ❯ Mary Karr Merikle: “I would have to say that my four years at Knox were among the best four years of my now fairly long life. I made friends, and the friendships have lasted all these years—I even got together with Linda Allen ’61 and Susan Nien huis ’61 some years ago, and it was like we never had never been apart. I can’t think of anything I didn’t love about my years at Knox—well, maybe midterms and finals and ‘idiot math.’ Reflecting on my life at Knox has given me a big boost.” ❯ Lee Benham: “From my senior year at Knox, I recall a big free speech event. Burton White, a supporter of free speech from Berkeley, was in vited by Knox students to talk about the Bay Area protest against the House Un-American Activi ties Committee. The Chicago Tribune criticized this Knox event, but on the Knox campus there was little opposition to open discussion. ❯ I re gret not talking more with Knox faculty about their personal experiences—for example, during WWII. I did learn that Professor Phil Haring was on active duty at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and barely survived. The decades since then have been much better, and our faculty helped make that happen. ❯ Alexandra ’61 and I talk about wonderful classes we had at Knox, in cluding Professor Andy Lindstrom’s modern al gebra seminar which also included Jim Farver ’61, Harriet Remaley Sear and Michael Good man ’63. It is good to recall topics and people first encountered in college.” ❯ Dick Wertz writes: “When I was in my late 30s, for no partic ular reason, I took up running. At the age of 42, I ran my age in a 10K race (6.2 miles in 42 min utes). I was pretty impressed with myself until I learned that a little old lady in the over 85 age bracket beat my time by over 5 minutes. I have

continued to run in the years since, but never in an organized event, UNTIL my son Philip goaded me into running with him in a 10K event in Charlotte. Once again, I ran my age (6.2 miles in 81 minutes). I am horrified to report that once again a little old lady in the over 85 age bracket beat my time. This time by 45 minutes. Needless to say, I have retired my Nikes.” ❯ Ingrid Malm Temple shared that 2021 has been a year of goodbyes. “It began with my husband, Tom, and me getting COVID at the doctor’s office. Tom died on January 21, and I was hospitalized with lung complications. My two daughters spent the next three months driving or flying to Indiana to get me back to my healthy self. More goodbyes to lifelong friends followed when in July, I sold my home of 55 years. In September, I moved near daughter Laura into an independent living residence, Monarch Landing, in Naperville, Illi nois. Now hellos and making new friends begins, and I am planning to focus on that!” ❯ Karen Gould shared only one year of her life with Knox but tells that she now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, in a CCRC community called Alder gate to be close to her kids. As with us, all her family grows with marriages, births, and new friends. One of her current interests focuses on Martin Luther King. ❯ Jim Horner shares “Well, time goes by, and all of us men are geezers by now. I decided to celebrate that reality by getting my personalized Colorado license plate to say ‘GZRMOBL.’ Recently my wife Pam and I moved into a new home in Lakewood, Colorado, which we call the ‘Ark.’ Pam and I live upstairs and have three women renters downstairs. I work with men on their journey to ‘become more like Christ.’ Wishing you all the best on your jour neys.” ❯ Ted Folk recalls fondly his years at Knox and the TKE house. He spent summers at Knox and was saddened as many of us were when Knox changed their name from Siwash to Prairie Fire. He hopes that at Knox, the conservative speakers get the same respect as the more liberal opinions. “My wife, Virginia, died in 2020, and since her death I have traveled to visit friends in the good old USA. Still ticking!!!”

Class Correspondent: Kate Calvert Bloomberg kateberg40@gmail.com

1963

Class Correspondent: Ramona Reed Landberg

400 Avinger Lane, Apt 136, Davidson, NC 28036, 704-896-1136, landberg.group@outlook.com

1964

Val and I (Klopcic) met with Don and Catherine Hardinger ’66 Shriver. Don is STILL practicing law! Does he hold the class record for the longest career? Added to the fact that his sons are lawyers, you must admit that he is “raising the bar.” ❯ Received from Fay Stevenson-Smith: “I am now an emeritus Knox trustee. I continued to

I can still sing ‘Oh Tannenbaum’ in German thanks to

attend board meetings until COVID-19 hit, then participated at board meetings remotely. I had a chance to sadly watch on Zoom President Amott’s departure, and then happily speak via Zoom to incoming President McGadney, who had been mentored by a very good friend of mine as one of his fellow alumni from Wesleyan Uni versity in Middletown, Connecticut. I have also had the pleasure of reconnecting with a couple of classmates on a regular basis: Jean Sanders Ford retired with a successful career as a vice president at Avon Corporation after obtaining an MBA from Columbia University. The most re cent and surprising reconnection after his friend ing me on FB was with Michael Ford, with whom I had not spoken since our senior year at Knox. A two-hour phone conversation revealed a few things in common since I left Knox for Liberia, West Africa, to teach at a liberal arts col lege (Cuttington), while Michael left the U.S. as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya in East Africa. Upon his return to Chicago, he received a Ph.D. in African studies which led to a continual con nection to the continent in committed creative educational programs that make me proud to be a Knox grad. ❯ Karen Crumbliss reports: “Al moved out of his Duke office after 52 years, though he is still writing. He caught the chem istry bug at Knox, and there’s no cure. He contin ues to recover from his stroke, currently enjoying re-learning computer skills with an assistant.” Karen stays busy supporting Al as needed and en joys a French conversation group with friends. She caught the French bug in high school and it continued at Knox and it is also life long! ❯ An addendum to Shripad Pendse’s fall issue report: “The last four years have been inter esting. I was asked by my Canadian university to teach a couple of business administration courses in Zhuhai, China. Zhuhai is a short ferry ride from Hong Kong, and two years ago, China opened what is said to be the longest ocean bridge connecting the two cities. I made three trips to Zhuhai between 2017-2019. Each course lasted between three and six weeks. Students were respectful and disciplined. They were shy about speaking in English, but many of them made good progress after a while. I also took a few side trips after the end of the term—to Bei jing and Shanghai, to Harbin near the Russian border which hosts a famous ice sculpture festi val, and a cruise on the Yangtze River which in cluded a visit to the huge Three Gorges dam.” ❯ A couple of plus-side COVID stories. Steve Gamble tells of grandsons who finagled firstclass tickets on otherwise full flights because their original flights were canceled. (Wonder whence came their power of persuasion?) ❯ And Sandy Cooper wrote: “Every few days I receive a hand written postcard with three jokes on it. I laugh out loud at the jokes, and then I keep smiling that someone still writes in cursive. Thank you, Babs!!! (i.e., Barb Fiala.)” (A postcard! How retro! Way cool!) ❯ With the passing of Profes sor Rosic (see article in this issue), Gabrielle

Shufeldt suggested: “What about getting several of our class to reflect about Mr. Rosic who died at 105? I don’t know who took Russian, but I’ve read some touching comments by friends.” This brought several replies. ❯ J. Olson ’65: “I am sorry to learn of Dr. Rosic’s passing. He was very simply a wonderful man. He was also my aca demic counselor. One Saturday morning after a very late night’s gab session, there was a knock on my door about 8:30 a.m., and it was Dr. Rosic, who commented “Still sleeping … not studying?” And away he went! He was terrific!” ❯ Nancy Anderson Levin: “I’m sure you remember our 55th class reunion in 2019, when we had no idea how fortunate we were to be gathering in the snow at Knox! Our Russian professor’s son, George, was also celebrating his Knox class re union. When George came to our table with greetings from Mr. Rosic for Jean Howell Card and me, we discovered, as I recall, that eight of us there that night all had been in his Russian classes. Jeannie and I corresponded with him through all these years, which has been the kind of special lifelong connection with Knox that small liberal arts colleges like to mention to prospective students. He also left a legacy in my life, for which I am very grateful. I have no doubt there are many who will remember his irrepress ible enthusiasm for life and his genuine interest in his students.” ❯ Evan Cameron: “He was a re markably resilient human being, as I and every other linguistically inept student who studied Russian with him can attest, though we knew nothing of the long journey that he had been obliged to take enroute to Galesburg. How he managed to instill even the rudiments of the lan guage within us remains a mystery to me. Our stumbling attempts to mimic how he sounded may have encompassed a slight Serbian echo, es pecially since, as I recall, every student of Middle and Eastern European lineage at Knox was sitting somewhere near me in class, their exchanges with him ranging diversely and, to me, wondrously though the many languages that they shared— English and Russian filtering through, but only on occasion. He was among the most patient, kind, supportive, and engaging teachers with whom I was ever privileged to study. I cherish my memories of him.”

❯ Gayla Reed Lindquist:

“Thank you for this info. I did not have him but always saw him as a gentle, warm, wonderful man.”

❯ Tom Alloway: “We had many good pro fessors at Knox. The College’s emphasis on teaching was important in promoting that. How ever, Prof. Rosic was outstanding. I admired him immensely, so much in fact that I ended up grad uating with a double major in Russian and psy chology. It was only during my senior year that I realized that what I had thought was an interest in Russian literature was mainly the result of Prof. Rosic’s charisma. I’m glad to learn that he lived a very long life. I hope that he was happy during his retirement.”

❯ Pam Nelson: “I re member ‘Herr’ Rosic well from two years of Ger man—he was one of my favorite teachers. Just

wish I’d known he was in Glenview where I grew up and about two miles from where I live now—I would have loved to visit with him. On the anec dotal front, I can still sing ‘Oh Tannenbaum’ in German thanks to Dr. Rosic. He had our classes singing Christmas carols in German to improve our pronunciation and they stuck!” ❯ My (Klopcic) favorite memory also involves his singing. Translated from Russian, his end to “Ochi Chornia” (“Dark eyes”) was “I cannot live without champagne and my gypsy girl” which he followed with a mischievous grin and a wink. (Hey, that was daring for a prof in the early ’60s!)

Class Correspondent: Terry Klopcic klopcicjt2@roadrunner.com

1965

Several classmates wrote about the impact of the pandemic on their lives and some talked about how they have been maintaining their physical and mental health during the past two years. ❯ Cam Neri and her husband, Forrest, have been getting outdoors four times a week to exercise and enjoy nature. She writes, “To stay sane, we continue to do 6-9 mile hikes up and down the foothills and forests around our home in Los Altos, California. It keeps us from getting cabin fever, and the sighting of wild animals brings us joy.” ❯ Wendel Swan and Diane ’64 had traveled widely in 2019 … the Cotswolds, Amsterdam, the Austrian and Italian Alps, Florence and Venice, as well as trips to the Mid west, but they soon realized that the pandemic required a new vision of retirement. Wendel notes, “One positive thing was that I resumed riding my bike. No longer able to run, I got back into cycling in the spring of 2020, bought a car bon-fiber bike and rode through that winter for the first time in my life.” Continuing with 20-24 miles aerobic rides three times a week have kept him physically fit and provided a needed relief from the bombardment of bad news. Diane has also maintained a rigorous schedule of workouts, as well as doing serious gardening to carry her through COVID ‘house arrest.’ They both teach and take OLLI courses at American University. ❯ Larry Reed writes, “I had quite an experience with COVID in November 2020 before I could get a vaccine. Worst thing I have had since the rattlesnake bite. But thanks to the good care from my wife Gloria, who with her O- blood, did not get it, I survived. Both of us got the vaccine when it was finally available for old people so we could travel, but that has not happened other than a trip to the Turks and Caicos in February ’21. Gloria closed her travel agency that had let us travel all over the world for many years, but I am still working at the clinic full time. Life goes on.” ❯ H. Thomas Kyvig writes, “During the pan demic, I had COVID and about six bouts of pneumonia. Survived that, but, unfortunately, on October 26, 2021, I lost George McKay, my hus band of seven years.” ❯ Bob Butterfield sends the following update: “My wife, Keiko, and I are

Class Knox

Dr. Rosic. —Pam Nelson ’64

into our sixth year of retirement after serving as Presbyterian Church (USA) mission co-workers in Brazil and Portugal. We live in the Mayflower Community, a friendly place for retired pastors and retired Grinnell College faculty and staff. One of the great advantages of living here is that we can audit courses at Grinnell College. I’ve been studying Ancient Greek and am signed up this semester for a course in the great comedic dramatist Aristophanes.” ❯ Ken Grimm contin ues to reside with his wife, Dorothy, in Gainesville, Virginia. He writes, “We are living in an over-55 community (way over!) I continue to consult for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Ft. Belvoir, worrying about the surviv ability of strategic radar and communication sys tems. Recently I was active in the election campaign for Glen Youngkin here in Virginia, and in the parent and grandparent protests in Loudon County regarding the teaching of the bogus Critical Race Theory in public schools. Tough work for an old physics major! Peace to all my ’65 classmates.” ❯ Glenn Schiffman is living 40 miles from the west entrance to Glacier Na tional Park. He writes, “If you haven’t been to Glacier National Park, you owe it to yourself to spend some time. The difference from other na tional parks is that Glacier is a wilderness sur rounded by wilderness. Drive east out of Glacier and you’re on the Blackfeet Rez. Drive south, you are in the Bob Marshall Wilderness area. Drive north and you’re in Canada. Drive west, you’re in the Yak Valley, best fly fishing in North America. I took the first steps on my 80th walk along the park’s Going to the Sun Road in February. Health is good, vaxxed and boosted and mystified by those who aren’t. My wife, Barb, and I cele brated anniversary #43 at Kobe Steak and Sushi in Kalispell, Montana, on January 29. (Yep, I was almost 37 when we married.) I’m teaching a Writing Autobiographical Fiction class at Flat head Valley Community College in the spring, which will preclude my coming to the May re union. I have a short story series, Vanishing Points, and a creative non-fiction series, Relationship with Fire, thriving on Kindle Vella. My rock ’n’ roll memoir, Life in the Fast Lane, is with an agent. We’ll see if it sells. Some publishers have brought up legal issues. Apparently changing Mick Jag ger’s name to Mike Jaguar isn’t enough.” ❯ Mary Ellen Alt Johnson, who has been active in Albert Lea’s community theater for years, hosted a lunch for Marion Ross (a.k.a. Mrs. Cunningham in TV’s Happy Days series) when Ross visited her hometown for the dedication of her statue in front of the performing art center named after her. The theater, which has managed to stay somewhat active during the pandemic, presented a musical version of Jean Shepherd’s popular screenplay A Christmas Story over the holidays. ❯ Rod Ross sends his greetings and a link to a fourminute YouTube he prepared as an archivist for the National Archives. “Memorial Day, 2015: Why It Matters,” which remembers John A Logan, the founder of Memorial Day, can be ac

cessed by googling “rod ross memorial day.”

Class Correspondents: Terry Rothstein

antiquarian@wavewls.com

Diane Trout-Oertel doertel@oertelarchitects.com

1966

Class Correspondent: Judith Holland Sarnecki

judithsmamabear@gmail.com

1967

Greetings, Class of ’67 classmates! I came across this Charles Dickens quote recently and thought how relevant it is to our lives today: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of in credulity, it was the season of light, it was the sea son of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” ❯ Illustrating this theme of alternating and simultaneous positive/negative events in life, Tom Collins writes that he had a small stroke in December 2019, but he made a quick recovery and within two months was back to driving and other normal activities. His son Thomas missed 8th grade graduation, but they all enjoyed more family time together! Here is Tom’s description: “Our son Thomas did not have a graduation from 8th grade or a year-end trip to Washington, D.C. But we did get to see him at home a lot more. Freshman year was all remote. Lots of time with Thomas. Then this sophomore year. He goes to school with a mask and is doing very well. This picture (see below) shows how I feel about more than two years of COVID related activities. It may be the first time to introduce the nine-day week calendar when no one knows what day or month it is anyway.” Tom’s invention of the “nine-day week calendar” is a real thing … contact him directly if you want more info! ❯ Michael Wheeler has reinvented himself as an author! He writes, “Post-retirement I decided to write a novel. Several classmates were aware of this endeavor. I thought it would be as easy as selecting a pig and applying some lipstick and fancy clothes. Little did I realize how many hours would be spent on reapplying the makeup and changing the wardrobe to truly transform the pig. It was finally time to enter the pig in the state fair, so I entered my novel in an international competition judged on the first 50 pages of an English language unpublished manu script incorporating some element of mystery. My goal was to get an honest, professional opin ion of my story and style. The competition is called the Claymore Award and winners are often offered publishing contracts. Out of hundreds of submissions, my story was selected as a finalist. I didn’t win, but the finalist position was more than satisfactory. The genre of my book can best be described as metaphysical fantasy. Originally ti tled The Universe of Missing Socks, it was changed to Infinity is not Forever. Starting my second book now. I can’t describe how much enjoyment I am

finding in researching the arts and sciences after over a half century in finance. Thank you for my liberal arts background, Knox College!” ❯ James Nordin continues the theme of recover ing from adversity in his Orrante/Nordin 2021 update: “2021 proved to be as challenging as 2020. We were both vaccinated in January and February but continued to hunker down at home with the occasional trip for groceries. Then in late April/early May, we noticed little white spots on our living room floor. It turned out we had a tiny leak under our sink for several months. The brief summary is that the entire living room, dining room, and family room floor had to be re placed. From May through October, we were in some degree of disarray as floors were torn up and replaced. We spent 19 days in a motel. All is well and the insurance paid for almost every thing. ❯ Then in June, Jim fell and severely dam aged his right rotator cuff and his bicep tendon. He had surgery in September (after going to three orthopedic surgeons) and will be in physical therapy until mid-February (or beyond) of 2022. Full recovery is expected by September 2022. ❯ Just to end the year appropriately, our hot water heater sprung a leak on (what else?) December 23. After several frantic calls, we found a plumber who was able to replace the unit be fore Christmas. ❯ Added to the ongoing stress of COVID, it has been a difficult year. However, we learned—once more—the importance of friends and family and community. The floor was re placed, the shoulder was repaired, and we still have hot water. Through it all we had amazing support from those near and dear to us. ❯ Don’t wait for difficult times to remember how valuable human support and contact is. We learned. Stay well. Stay safe. STAY CONNECTED!!” Good

Tom Collins illustrates how he feels two years into COVID.

Pam Stoffel ’68 spent three days in Savannah, Georgia, as an extra

advice, Jim! ❯ Eric Johnson entertains us: “Here’s a story. Some will remember it. My fresh man year I served as the basketball manager. On Monday, the freshman would play those players from the weekend who had not played. This was the weekend after the Coe-Beloit game. The team spent the night in Dubuque, Iowa, at what was called the 4th Street Hotel. I was in the training room and overheard folks talking about Dr. X who had been along on the trip. Coach Knosher used to invite one faculty member to go on road trips. The idea was that the academic fac ulty would get an idea of what the basketball pro gram was about. I overheard the upperclass men who’d been on the trip laughing about Dr. X and a run-in he’d had with the bellhop/elevator oper ator. Turns out that Dr. X went downstairs to get a cup of coffee. On the way back to his room, the elevator operator asked if the gentleman was looking for some entertainment and a good time. Dr. X quickly realized what was being suggested and declined. ❯ When I asked for details, I was told the story. When I next went home. I related the story to my parents over dinner. Well … that year my father was the president of the Dubuque Ministerial Association. Within a few days the story had been passed along to the chief of police, who arranged a visit for his detectives to visit the bellhop and the lady. It was reported that the car pet was worn directly to her door. ❯ Chapter 2. I told coach there were better accommodations, namely the brand-new Dodge House. Good food and good rooms without the offer of entertain ment. The next year, I was along on the trip. I arranged for my mother to meet me at the motel. She took the dirty, smelly uniforms and washed and dried them, and returned to me in the morn ing. Big, big hit. Later my folks moved from Dubuque and after a few years, Dad took a church in Grinnell, Iowa. The first year they were there, Mom (Class of ’41) went to the game as a cheering squad of one. After the game, she knocked on the locker room door and presented the door-opener with a big box of homemade cookies for the team. Thereafter it was a tradi tion. At every Knox-Grinnell game she presented a box of cookies. This went on for perhaps 15 years.” ❯ Constance Bond reports that she is putting her research skills to good personal use: “I am doing research on my great uncle, newspa perman, and novelist Garet Garrett. A prominent isolationist before World War II, he sank into rel ative obscurity after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Some scholars believe that Ayn Rand borrowed heavily, in her novel Atlas Shrugged from his 1922 novel, The Driver ❯ It is with enormous sadness that we report the unexpected and sudden pass ing of Paul Madsen ’68, beloved husband of Diane Koeppel Madsen. Teacher, scientist, coach, and beloved husband, father, and morfar (grand father), Paul passed away unexpectedly on March 20, 2022, at age 76. He and Diane rarely missed a Knox Homecoming. Paul was the first of his fam ily to attend Knox, but he was followed by his son Erik, four nephews, a niece, and two grandnieces.

Paul touched many lives through his 43 years of teaching high school physics, and he spent three decades of summers working at the distinguished Fermilab National Acceleration Laboratory. An other intriguing fact is that during his basketball career at Knox, he was the first player to score more than 1,000 points and is in the Knox-Lom bard Hall of Fame. Full of curiosity about the world around him—from the mechanics of the universe to the energy of electrons, from kicking a soccer ball and playing as a team to the rela tionship of words across languages—Paul found joy in learning something new, and in sharing this love for knowledge and problem solving with others. His impact as a teacher is far reaching and enduring, as are the friendships he shared with many of his Knox classmates.

Class Correspondent: Helen Gilbert helengilbert@learningenrichmentcenter.org

1968

I want to thank each of you who responded to my very late request for news. I’ll do better next time. ❯ JoAnne Vieweg shares, “We are doing well here in Missouri with this crazy winter weather. I’ve fully recovered from the broken foot I got from stepping on the edge of a pothole last winter. My, this has been a long year! I am re ally enjoying the personal notes from classmates about how the Knox experience has impacted their lives and hearing about how those lives have evolved since Knox. Much of my time is involved with following the grandchildren’s activities, reading, and creating new baby and children’s clothes through my etsy shop: etsy.com/shop/bunnyluvcreations. I’m giving se rious consideration to picking up violin lessons again. Haven’t played since freshman year at Knox. Janie Crawford Walker, Jan Thies Fettig, and I were able to meet with Kathy St Cyr this summer for lunch and catching up. Kathy Suter will be coming to town this summer so we are looking forward to making some fun memories.” ❯ Howard Partner suggests perhaps we could make this issue about our major appli ance breakdowns. They just endured three fur nace repair visits in cold weather to finally correctly diagnose the appropriate replacement part. They have been home since their October hiking trip to Arizona and Utah. They also hiked in Sedona, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Canyon de Chelly, Antelope Canyon X, Monu ment Valley, and around Kenab, Utah. storm works88@gmail.com ❯ Bill Foss is enjoying his work. He owns his own agave farm in Mexico and makes Suavecito tequila. The largest liquor store chain in America, Total Wine and More, has just agreed to put Suavecito in all 230 of their liquor stores across the nation in May. Suavecito will be come a national tequila this year. Blue Agave Importers 1020 15th Street, Suite 42A Denver, CO 80202 Cell 317-903-7222 bill@suavecitotequila.com

❯ Susan Van Kirk is still busy writing. Harlequin Worldwide Mystery is planning to publish her 4th Endurance Mystery, The Witch’s Child, as a mass market paperback. This will be the 4th book published in this format, and it will go out to the Harlequin book clubs. It’s great exposure for her writing. On another front, her first book in a new series, Death in a Pale Hue, will be out June 8, 2022, from a mid-list publisher, Level Best Books. She’s fortunate because they do a lot of advertising for their authors. It’s a three-book contract, so the other two books in the series will come out in the summers of 2023 and 2024. She sends thanks to all of her Knox friends who have been supportive. On the home front, her first grandchild will be graduating from high school in May. They’ll be celebrating from the rooftops. ❯ Pam Stoffel has continued working despite hav ing to deal with all of the necessary COVID pro tocols. She reports, “I have spent winters in Rochester and successfully directed My Fair Lady and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and in March I will be presenting Little Shop of Horrors. Talk about a perfect show for the times! Last April I spent three days in Savannah, Georgia, as an extra shooting the Amazon Prime film I Want You Back. It was a great experience, and since there is a lot of film work being done in Georgia, near our home, I am constantly reviewing the casting calls. Jim and I are celebrating our 50th this year. We will be returning to our honeymoon haunts in Hawaii in June. Our most recent grandchild, Henry Harrison Stoffel, was born this past May and joins his two-year-old sister, and cousins, Everleigh, Eli, Reid, and Harrison, all of whom live in Rochester. As I’m sure most of you know, the best times we have are when we can get the whole family together. As for my Knox family, our class Facebook page still remains a great source of information and humor thanks to the continued efforts of Chip, Ira, and others of you who contribute to the task of keeping us con nected. Thank you all and best wishes for a happy and healthy year.” ❯ Paul Madsen had a few comments on thoughts of his Knox experience. “Our graduation took place on June 9, just three days after the death of Robert Kennedy and about two months after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. I still recall the joy, celebration, and pride that came with the accomplishment! But what I want to share is that, as time has passed, I have come to appreciate the wonderful experiences I had in the classes, quality of in struction from the professors, as well as contribu tions from fellow students back in the dorm or the fraternity house. Harley Knosher, a great coach and wonderful human being, always pro vided incentive and enthusiasm for his players to work hard to improve skills! On occasion, we would have professors travel with the team to away games. Once, I shared a room with Profes sor Ward from biology and Colonel Henry Jor dan from the ROTC department. Those times, as well as Professor Priestley asking me about the weekend game and encouragement to defeat the

Class Knox

shooting the Amazon Prime film I WANT YOU BACK.

Monmouth Scots, have stayed with me. Chip Evans arranges for monthly luncheons where several classmates attend and we talk about shared experiences. Last November, Chip and I drove to Estes Park, Colorado, to spend a week with Norm and Ginny Close, Brad Routon, Steve and Keiko Hayashi, Tom and Lynn ’71 Seaman, Tom Mellen and Jeanne Jessup ’69. We had a great time. I hope to continue to use my Knox experience to understand what is hap pening in America and still find joy in every day!”

❯ NOTE: So sad to hear of Paul Madsen’s pass ing on 3-20-22. Gentleman and scholar describe him so well. Loved seeing him at our reunions. Our sons went to Knox at the same time and be came good friends. He always contributed to our notes and often thanked me for doing them. He was a dear soul and will be so missed. ❯ Chip Evans wrote, “I am thinking already about our upcoming 55th reunion at Knox next year in 2023. Hope to see all ’68 classmates there in Oc tober.” ❯ Life has been hectic lately. I’m agreeing with Howard about appliance breakdowns. My faithful microwave just quit heating. I was able to get one without a back order! Worse, my furnace humidifier had a blocked tube and water was pouring into the furnace room for weeks before I found it. Wood floor is buckled, and we have to replace the kitchen, family room, and dining room. Can’t wait. Still visit my husband in mem ory care for 2-1/2 hours weekly. Judd is still able to come home for visits, thank goodness. Loving the Olympics and seeing family! Enjoying snow as long as I can drive but could use 20 degrees more on those cold days. Stay safe!

Class Correspondent: Susan Meyer Mika pottatea@comcast.net

1969

Mike Webster (“Rock”) informed some of us of a health scare that Sue Barcroft (“Barky”) Mc Cormick endured in mid-December: “Just got off the phone with Barky’s husband, Joe. Barky has been having dizzy spells for the last month, and last Saturday she finally called the Call a Nurse program. She was told to get to the ER and after a battery of tests she was diagnosed with a 70 percent blockage of her left carotid artery. She had surgery the next day to clear the block age (basically a roto-rooter of the artery). Fortu nately, the blockage was discovered before she suffered a stroke. The surgery went well and she expected to go home the next day. But her recov ery developed complications, and she had to spend the last week in the ICU, much of the time unconscious. She was moved to the general ward yesterday and hopes to go home in the next day or two. She is talking and has not shown any last ing effects. Her prognosis is good. I hope to talk to her by phone for a few minutes. Joe is going to keep me up to date on her progress. If you’d like to send an email, her address is joemdenver@ aol.com.” ❯ Paul Behnke sent a Christmas greeting to all, and a lengthy “newsletter” depict

ing his 2021 activities. Excerpts of his newsletter follow: “Cammie—Worked remote from our Durham home for NBC Nightly News from Jan uary through August, then moved to London in September to study in a master’s program in global media communications at the University of London. As of this writing, she’s on her way to Heathrow to visit us over the holidays. She’s con tinued to work part-time for NBC’s London Bu reau. Nikki—Found a great job with the Jefferson Consulting Group—a USAID contractor—and moved to Washington, D.C., at the end of 2020. She’s working in water and sanitation policy in the developing world and was the point of con tact for Afghanistan (among other countries) until the country fell. Nikki is scheduled to work in the office for the first time in late March, but that’s not a given at this point. She arrives today to spend a month with us in Durham. In Septem ber, she spent two weeks in London, helping Cammie move into her apartment in the Ham mersmith neighborhood. Paul continues to teach graduate-level aviation economics at Purdue, and he delivers training courses for a UN program as well. In October, he held seminars at two UK universities and spent some time with Cammie while there. ❯ Paul got out to Colorado twice during the year and celebrated son Kevin’s 50th birthday in September. Dana and Christopher are also doing well, and their girls are turning out to be gifted multi-sport athletes. We are now accus tomed to living with uncertainty; but the pan demic is still a constant source of stress. So, we circle the wagons and make the most of our time with family and friends. Blessings for the holidays and the New Year! Love and Peace, Deb, Paul, Nikki and Cammie. ❯ Finally, on a personal note, the fall and winter have been fairly mild in Wyoming, save for a monster snowstorm that hit in my corner of the state in late December. It re mains in my yard, piled high along our streets from the snowplows, and covering my horses’ pasture. I flew to Illinois last July to spend time with my younger brother, Mike, who was putting up a strong but lengthy battle with cancer. He succumbed in August, at the age of 71. In March, I will be traveling to Tucson for a reunion with my remaining two brothers, Pat (Mike’s twin) and Steve (our eldest brother). These are truly the times that try our souls, and my best wishes go to all of my Knox family for peace, health, and hap piness in the coming years. ❯ Don Janoff writes “The year at Knox at Seymor Hall was most memorable. Now retired from periodontics (dental), I relish in those memories and write. In 2020, I published Outdoor Adventures and Misadventures of Don Janoff, some 22 short stories (Amazon). In progress is Escrowed Literature: Explosion at Northwestern University. I dedicated my first book to Robin Metz whom I had never met until the 50th anniversary of the creative writing program ceremony in Ashland, Oregon.

Class Correspondent: Bill Combs bcombsi@yahoo.com

1970

To “Kuch” & Ken Kucera ’72, and all 1970 +/alums: I’m a retired internist, but I have been playing (drums) every year since Knox. I’m cur rently in three bands in the Athens, OH, area … rock, jazz, and a blues band. I’ve been fortunate to have played in some quite good groups with some great players. Music is my full-time gig at present. Nothing but fun! Best wishes to all, Randy Purdy ❯ Ed Kucera reports that he re cently became a doggie daddy by adopting an 8-year-old Siberian Husky. “The dog is all white with blue eyes and is named Aspen. Dog and fa ther are doing fine. We are even starting to jog together.” ❯ From Roger Andersen: “Kyanne and I were able to sneak into France between Delta and Omicron for an oft-rescheduled visit. With ourselves and our kids’ families healthy, we’re very fortunate.” ❯ Marc Wollman: “2021 seems like a year that did not exist. Most of my time has been taken up with helping care for Mom (class of ’46) in declining health, and, since her passing in June, slowly working on estate matters. So for me, it’s not been productive. I’m looking forward to actually having our reunion, but with COVID doing its thing again, I’m not counting on this actually occurring until it does.  I hope all are staying well, as I am.” ❯ Topper Steinman writes: “In spite of COVID-19 (’20, ’21, ’22 … and its variants), we remain good—not great, but good. My wife, Carol, and I, two grown kids and their spouses, and four grands ages 20 to 3, have been able to retain a nearby family bubble of 10. It has saved our mental health and mostly our physical health. Yes, we are good. And we hope for those ’70s folks “out there” that you and yours are as good as good allows in this very dif ferent world. May we all continue to find the good in the bad, the similarities among our dif ferences, and the heals in our ails as life moves on. Best to ALL!” ❯ From Doug Youngren: “Sandy and I are enjoying spending lots of qual ity time with our son Jon, our daughter-in-law Laura, and their awesome one-and-a-half-yearold, Elsie, here in Naperville, Illinois. Babysitting is such a joy! We are planning a family cruise va cation for later this year.” ❯ From Nancy: If you change your email address—please send me the new contact information so I don’t lose you all. Thanks!!

Class Correspondent: Nancy Hoover Debelius Knox1970@zoominternet.net

1971

Not a lot of news from the Class of ’71—we’re all too busy getting ready to celebrate our 50th reunion. I am sure the next issue will be chock full of lots of news, stories, lies, etc. ❯ Betsy (rbowen@wi.rr.com)and Rick ’73 Bowen moved to a senior community which they are loving, es pecially the no stairs part. Since they have moved in, neighbors have been reporting sightings of snow angels, skeletons hanging around Betsy and

Tom Kroupa ’73 has been decluttering, digging up (discovering), and

Rick’s house, and some woman who wears strange hats. ❯ Sue Levinson (sue.levinson@gmail.com) is almost retired. She’ll finish up a few matters and then happily not renew her malpractice in surance. When it becomes due, she will be offi cially retired! ❯ Both she and Michael can now work from anywhere thanks to online court filing for Sue and telemedicine practice for Michael. Sue writes: “Since our older daughter (Hilary) and her husband and two kids are in Richmond, Virginia, we bought a small condo here in the spring. It’s not Florida, but it is milder and much sunnier than the Chicago area. We’ve been here since just before Thanksgiving, and plan to stay through early March. We’re about two miles from … (their family and)…on the north bank of the James River with a great view. We see the kids often when COVID doesn’t disrupt things. Hi lary continues to teach at Virginia Common wealth University. Her teaching has been hugely disrupted by COVID as it has become completely virtual, affording little interaction with her stu dents. My younger daughter, Margy, eventually returned to Brooklyn after completing her mas ter’s in public administration at Harvard. Sue is taking a couple of online art classes, something she regrets not taking advantage of at Knox. “I’m really enjoying it. Silk painting, which I’ve been doing for some time, really requires a studio. So I’ve branched out: Fun, frustrating, and challeng ing! We hope to go back to working on our travel ‘bucket list’ in the not-too-distant future.” ❯ Rudy Beck (beckfamily2015@gmail.com) is fi nally taking the necessary steps to get himself out of the law office by the time he is 75. Sandy and he are looking past COVID and are looking for ward to a lot more travel as Sandy also begins to unwind her CPA practice. On the fun side, Rudy has become part of a quartet (baritone), which had their first ‘gig’ over Christmas—and, to his delight, people encouraged the group to keep it up. Their next performance is in April. All in all, Sandy and he feel blessed and look forward to the next chapter in their life together. ❯ Judy and I are doing well. We (mainly Judy) watch our 6month-old granddaughter every week day and spend time with our 12-year-old granddaughter as she acts, plays baseball, and does TikTok posts. If we knew how great it is to have grandchildren, we would have done that before we had our own children! Judy is also doing some acting—mainly commercials and, hopefully, some Chicago-based TV shows. I am still practicing law, but also make time to catch on one hardball baseball team and manage another—and then run the Shoeless Joe 60+ baseball tournament at the Field of Dreams movie site in Iowa. Judy and I are also looking to get back to doing some traveling both to Israel to visit our daughter, as well as to Alaska, New Zealand, and who knows where else.

Class Correspondent: Jerry Tatar jerry@tatarlawfirm.com

1972

Cush Copeland writes, “In the microverse that our lives have become, I continue to grow spicy peppers and turn them into edible concoctions … sauces, salsas, hot giardiniera (hello, Italian beef sandwich) and such. I am also scanning all our family’s 35mm slides from the ’60s to share with my brothers and sisters.” ❯ Sandy Hanna writes, “I’m honored to announce that I’ve been elected board president of Storytelling Arts of New Jersey. This non-profit organization serves lowincome communities, old age homes, Head Starts, and teachers; it’s dedicated to helping young and old capture their untold stories. Lots of work ahead, but it ties in beautifully with my interest in memoirs and the stories all of us have as our legacy.” ❯ Carolee Burns Hayes writes, “I got a very severe case of COVID with 12 days of hospitalization and ICU time. 2022 is here, and I am still on oxygen and seeing side effects. Hope to be back at work in March and continuing to progress. Our trip to Hawaii has been delayed twice, so I’m hoping to make it this year.” ❯ Susan Wessels Hiatt writes, “Navigating the death of my partner, husband, and best friend (William R. Hiatt 12/8/20) has been most diffi cult. Fortunately, I have our daughter and three grandchildren close by, so I remain busy with their family life. William and I had been together since our freshman year, when we met in the lunch line with Steve Messenger and Christie LeMaire Wright. We had traveled to Maine every summer for a glorious respite on the ocean. Shortly after he passed, I found myself purchas ing a little cottage on Spruce Head Island. I spent the summer renovating and enjoying the com pany of lots of old Maine hippies—I felt most at home!! This will be my summer home, and I wel come anyone who would like to stop by and say hello. My little place is on the water, and I wake every morning to the sounds of lobster boats leaving the harbor. So, life continues and I re main so happy that William and I were able to see so many of you at reunions and events on campus. Knox brought us together and will al ways remain an important part of my life.” ❯ Jim Rosenthal writes, “I’ve retired from Kaiser Permanente and am still doing a little consulting work, but the rest of the time I have other pur suits—cars, boat, music, hanging with family, cats, and friends. Regards to all of my fellow alumni.” ❯ Wendy Scherwat Ducourneau has been helping to research the lives of the 99 Knox alumni who died in service during the wars of the 20th century. Look for the exhibit online—hope fully soon. ❯ Bill Sowle writes, “I completed 1,200 miles on my new electric bicycle as I trav eled in my RV through Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. Laramie River Greenbelt Trail is near Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site (Butch Cassidy was a guest). Nebraska has great bicycling along the Platte River and in Kearney, Lincoln, and Omaha. Raccoon River Valley Trail in Clive is

‘quintessential Iowa,’ with farms, corn, and silos. Visiting my brother and his family in Wauconda, I found excellent bicycle paths; Millennium Trail, Moraine Hills State Park Trail, and Prairie Trail were my favorites. Elroy-Sparta State Trail has two tunnels that go over a mile in complete dark ness. Winona, Minnesota, has great trails along the Mississippi, with fun kayaking nearby. Trem pealeau National Wildlife Refuge is a must see. Minneopa Falls was a great rest stop while on Red Jacket Trail, which crosses the Blue Earth and Minnesota Rivers several times. George S. Mickelson Trail goes through Deadwood, South Dakota, a fun gambling town with a shoot-out every afternoon. Two saloons both claim to be where Wild Bill Hickok was murdered. This trail goes past Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Custer State Park. I continued west to Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail. Smoke from California fires cut my visit short. Olympic Dis covery Trail was the highlight of my trip. It will one day go from Port Townsend to La Push on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula. Sequim, Washington, resides along this picturesque trail. Elwha River is famous for the largest dam re moval in the United States, and salmon once again spawn in the upper reaches of the river in Olympic National Park.” ❯ Gary Wax and wife Nancy Tumavick have weathered the COVID storm to date and are looking forward to a week at an all-inclusive beach resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The next major travel is the pilgrimage to Knox in October. Gary contin ues to volunteer with Travelers Aid at Washing ton Dulles, so instead of traveling the world himself (as he did for much of his career), now the world comes to him! ❯ Jane Wolff writes, “After grad school at UW Madison, I had a ca reer as an archivist, including a grant job in Cali fornia, which morphed into a second career in academic computing services at UC Berkeley. I moved to Costa Rica in 2000 to raise my sons, Carlos ’10 and Nico. In 2009, I began another career and have just retired from the Madison Public Library. Five years ago, I met a wonderful man; a friend introduced us after she discovered that the house I had bought was where his dad had grown up. We hit it off quite well and were married last August. Our honeymoon involved riding our recumbent tandem bike from Pitts burgh to Washington, D.C., on the glorious Great Allegheny Passage Trail and the Chesa peake and Ohio Canal Trail, followed by mu seum-binging at the Smithsonian. It was wonderful seeing Knox friends who came to our wedding and everyone at the 50-year Farm Term Reunion in July!”

❯ Dave Wood writes, “Cold and snowy in the Burg. Can’t go to b-ball games because of COVID, so I spend my time with the two-year-old grandson, Dean. Looking forward to the reunion and golf season!”

❯ Margaret King Zacharias currently serves as editor-atlarge for Hawaii Writers Guild’s online journal, Latitudes; and she is the coordinator of the guild’s online open forum writers’ group, Readings and

Class Knox

compiling (or is it just piling?) all kinds of Knox memories.

Responses. She continues her work in archetypal pattern analysis with Assisi Institute International Center, a world-wide community of scholars who are working to address world-wide changes in cli mate and culture through literature, dreams, and dialogue.

Class correspondent: Wendy Scherwat Ducourneau wjsd@jps.net

1973

Kathy Donovan Bucher, Ph.D., CPA, and John Bucher, Ph.D., have settled into retirement in Hillsborough, North Carolina. They remain near sons Michael and Will and spouses Nona and Stephanie in Chapel Hill. They are also close to son Tom, wife Colleen, and their three sons in Falls Church, Virginia. Kathy is a Master Gar dener and enjoys organizing volunteers to estab lish gardens in schools across Orange County. In May 2021, John retired after many years with the National Institutes of Health, Environmental Health Sciences Institute, where he last directed the Division of the National Toxicology Pro gram. ❯ John Gorski is now retired from career work, golf, hockey, and 25 years of volunteer football coaching but is staying quite busy. He has been working on his family history and au thoring papers on both his maternal and paternal branches. Research has taken him all over the U.S., Europe, and Ireland in search of relatives and his Irish, French, Swedish, Polish, Kashubian, and German roots. ❯ Gorski continues to be the chairman of the Knox Delta TKE Board of Advi sors. In that role, he is working on a history of the Knox TKE house structure, Knox TKE ath letic contributions, as well as prominent and no table alumni. He is working with the college and alumni on fundraising, TKE House renovations, and growing the TKE section in the Knox archives. As the result of his research, the Knox TKE House is now recognized as the oldest TKE House in the country. ❯ Gorski volunteers at a homeless shelter, as the president of the local HOA, and as president of the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago. He is married to his beautiful Irish wife who is an accomplished chef and VP of the American Culinary Federation. They have two beautiful daughters, a great sonin-law, one beautiful granddaughter, and two labs. They spend summertime in Wisconsin and win tertime in New Mexico. ❯ Tim Hardin has been in St. Croix, USVI (United States Virgin Islands), for the past four years, missing out on the winter weather. He does volunteer work with the Park Service, gets in a little snorkeling, and occasion ally sits in with a blues band. He keeps up with a dozen or so Knox friends on Facebook. ❯ Tom Kroupa has been decluttering, digging up (dis covering), and compiling (or is it just piling?) all kinds of Knox memories. ❯ Solveig Spjeldnes (Spellnes) reports that in May 2020, she ac cepted the Ohio University early retirement fac ulty buyout and left academia. After enjoying her

role as an associate professor in the Department of Social Work for many years, with the changes and dangers COVID brought, retirement seemed like a great idea. Her next chapter started January 3, 2022. In 2021, she was elected to serve as Athens City Council Representative - Ward 1, to serve as precinct captain, and as a member of the Athens County Democratic Party central com mittee. Plus, she is editing her mentor’s memoirs and has started a small consulting business with her husband. She adds that they travel as much as they safely can and enjoy good health, for which they are quite grateful. ❯ Jan Vyn Sharry shares this scary narrative: “In October 2020, eight tor nadoes hit Dallas, Texas. Our house was totaled. My husband and I (along with our dog) made it through by taking refuge in the pantry. The sec ond story of the house was in the pool and our exits from the house were completely blocked by debris and trees. But no one was hurt, although there was a lot of destruction in the neighbor hood. We have spent about two years in rental properties while a new house was built on our property. The house was finished in July 2021, and we have spent the last six months settling in. It was a crazy few years dealing with the house crisis and COVID. At the end of 2021, I decided to retire after 45 years as a securities lawyer at Haynes and Boone. When I started with the firm in 1977, there were 12 lawyers in a small office in Dallas. Now the firm has almost 600 lawyers in offices throughout the U.S. and internationally. It has been an incredible run, but I am glad to have more time to travel (I hope) and be with my grandchildren. Dallas will continue to be our home in retirement, although we also have a place in Northport, Michigan, where we can es cape the heat in the summers.” ❯ Mark Skipworth calls attention to John Gorski’s com prehensive work on a history of the TKE chapter at Knox. He mentions that John has collected hundreds of photos, memorabilia, names, etc., and adds, “Man, we were really young back then!” ❯ I continue to remind our class that our 50th reunion is coming up next year. Please send your ideas for this celebration to me, and I will pass them along to the reunion committee.

Class Correspondent: Nancy Bakos Hunter geo_hunters@q.com

1974

A big thanks to all of you who helped update our class list. Many of you stepped up to identify classmates who were lost to us. As some of you retire or move, you may also become lost. If you have changed your email in the past year, please give your new contact info to the Knox Alumni Office. A special thanks to Ed Brown, Eric Eisemann, and Stan Hvostik for helping to identify lost classmates like Tom Warren, Jane Morrison, and Jay Haight. To Ron Krumm for reminding us about John Keating, who left Knox after either freshman or sophomore year. To Priscilla Inge, who created a long list of folks

we used to know such as David Dyer, Diane Edelman, Sally Gutman Fleming, Leigh Gignil liat, Fred Grote, Kim Igleheart, Donna Phelan. Sadly, most of them are still lost to us. Some of you said thanks for doing this, like Dave Coons, Leslie Brooks, Pam Mitroff, and Dave Schulz John Manos let us know about deceased class mates, and Fran Ansell Zimmerman connected us to Jerry Borchers. ❯ Jerome “Jerry” Borchers: “The short version of my life during the past 48 years is various organizing efforts, my family dairy farm, married with four children, over-the-road trucker for five years, and other various skilled labor. Unfortunately, I had to give up my ceramics but hope to pick it up soon. My longest effort was 38 years at Wright State Uni versity Boonshoft School of Medicine as a trainer specialist involving a program that I initiated and developed called Simulated Patient Program where medical students learn communication and physical exam skills in role-play situations. I or ganized the first national Simulated Patient (Standardized Patient and Teaching Associate) conference in 1989. I retired June 1, 2021. My main local volunteer work has been as president of the Yellow Springs Art Council and coordinat ing a project to have a life-size bronze sculpture created of a local hero, Wheeling Gaunt. I intend to live here in Yellow Springs, Ohio, for the rest of my life. It’s a great community, and my chil dren all benefited from our move here in 2000. Now the grandchildren come to visit and stay with us so, like many of the 1974 class, retirement and grandchildren have become the primary lifestyle. God willing, good health continues for a while.” ❯ John Manos: “Expecting a new novel to be published in 2022 and still performing music as the venues allow. I saw classmate Steve Schwartz ’75 last summer and regularly commu nicated via email with Jack McGuinn ’75 and Stu Harvey (also class of ’74 friends).” ❯ Leonard Berg: “Fran and I are venturing out a bit while being mindful of COVID. So far, I am deferring to her regarding health issues: she is the one with successful cataract surgeries in both eyes. We traveled to Texas and Florida recently. The Florida trip allowed me to take full advan tage of our St. Louis Museum memberships so that I was able to enter for free or at greatly re duced prices many different institutions. We highly recommend the Ringling museums, both circus and art, in Sarasota, Florida. I continue to enjoy many different online webinars on politics, history, religion, culture—it feels like a liberal arts education for senior citizens. Although re tired, I am writing legal articles and mentoring younger attorneys.”

❯ Peter Bailley: I spent 2021 (not uniquely) helping with grandkidsitting and self-teaching guitar; also enjoyed (more uniquely) reminiscing with and getting music tips from classmates: guitar experts

Phil Malkinson, Bruce MacMurray, Rick Swartwout, and banjo expert Dave Usher Great guys in the Class of ’74!” ❯ Linton “Lin” Yeilding Bowie: “I retired finally at the end of

Rick Partin ’75 and his wife, Paula, enjoyed a vacation to

the fall semester in 2021 at College of San Mateo, in San Mateo, California. I stayed on part-time to assist with covering some classes during the virtual campus because of COVID. I was already online qualified, so I picked up fully online classes. I had phased out of labs but had to teach one last biology lab class with home lab kits on Zoom, like many of us in education. I left with mixed feelings about all this. We were doing our best to give the students an equivalent experi ence, but it was just not the same. I tip my hat to all the educators and students working through this time. I am looking forward to some down time, and the ability to visit my children in Seattle and Oklahoma City at other times besides between semesters. I am going to take it slow get ting involved in other projects, but I have a few. I volunteer for a local homeless outreach program and UC California Master Gardeners. I also took over my apartment complex’s landscape commit tee. We have a large green space and over 500 trees planted in the complex. Changing condi tions, and drought are complicating things, par ticularly for our large plantings of redwood trees. There will be more to learn and new adventures ahead.” ❯ Stan Jaworski: “We are doing fine, keeping local and safe. I’m now on a park district commission, and one of the projects we under take is prairie restoration. Next spring we’re going to do a prairie burn just like we used to do at Green Oaks … remember, I was a bio major along with Ardie. My first prairie burn was junior year (spring 1973). Senior year Trapper, Ardie, and I did the prairie burn together. Who’d a thunk my Knox experience would again prove so very useful. I’m also now serving as board treas urer for the non-profit Harmony Hope + Heal ing.” ❯ Pam Mitroff: “I retired because work was getting in the way of traveling. After a year or two, COVID really messed up that plan! I have been fortunate to have discovered art. I have taken classes and now also volunteer at the Du Page Art League. I’ve been working in both wa tercolor and colored pencil media. I share my works on instagram as pdeemitroff. Hopefully, travel will resume soon—not to speak of every one being able to put COVID in the rear view.” ❯ Eric Eisemann: “In early October ’21, Gregg Abbott, Jay Larmee (and wife Marcia), and I stayed at Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park, for three days, as we do every so often to just to reconnect, hike, tell stories, and enjoy the amazing sense of place the inn creates. (Unfortu nately, the Bear Pit Lounge was closed this time—another COVID casualty.) In the ’80s, I directed a grassroots campaign to keep the Na tional Park Service from demolishing Crater Lake Lodge, and this was a great learning experi ence working with NPS, SHPO, politicians, and citizen activists. As a result of that experience and an H.P. conference at Timberline Lodge, on Mt. Hood, Meg and I became historic lodge groupies—kind of like ‘birders’ with a ‘life list’ of historic lodges. I am lobbying Jay and Greg to meet at Many Glacier Lodge next time we

gather.” ❯ Roger M. Rosen: “I received my Ph.b. from Northwestern University in 1976. (Yes, they called it Bachelor of Philosophy.) I received a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law in 1985. I con tinue to practice law, in my own firm with two partners in Santa Monica, California.” ❯ Leslie Brooks: “I’ll be ready to publish my second mag ical fantasy, The Magic Willow, sometime next year.” ❯ Bryce D Anderson: “I was at Knox ’70’71. Jeff Coombs was my roommate. Jim Wetherbee was on my floor. Rich D’Elia was in the band with me. Could not find Jeff Frantz, but I did see him at Jeff’s funeral. He was on my floor. Bruce Patzer was in a band with me, and I visited him at Oberlin quite a few times. Such a gentle soul. I saw Darryl Coburn when he booked Siegel Schwall Band for the reunion.” ❯ Ernie Buck: “I was dismayed to see that I had missed the deaths of so many classmates. There are some great stories/recollections of those indi viduals that could be shared. I continue to work full time as a ‘physician advisor’ to the local chil dren’s hospital system. We are building a new children’s hospital in the Rio Grande Valley, and my current task is to ‘cobble together’ the med ical staff.” ❯ Monta Lee Dakin: “Spent five weeks this past fall in France, Italy, and Greece, tracking the spread of the Roman Empire in those places. Saw dear old friends at my high school reunion in Virginia. I attended my first Burns Night Supper, and I’m still doing museum consulting work.”

Class Correspondent: Monta Lee Dakin mld780@aol.com

1975

Regarding the Go-Go, the Slow-Go, and the No-Go Years, it seems COVID has bumped some of us up into Slow-Go a bit too early! Hopefully, this is temporary. ❯ Amanda (Roberts) LaRosa says “Alas, all is quiet at Casa LaRosa.” Despite some physical challenges for them both, “Hus band Joe and I are extremely lucky to have each other, good steady employment with decent em ployers, and a wonderful 28-year-old son, Jake” who earned a theatre degree from Cal State Fullerton in 2015. “I enjoy keeping up with Knox and classmates through social media and Knox Magazine; it’s a great connection to a world of which I have wonderful memories. I feel for stu dents today who aren’t able to enjoy all of the ca maraderie and freedoms that we enjoyed.” ❯ Larry Tarman visited California friends in be tween 2021 COVID outbreaks and vacationed in Playa Del Carmen with two sons’ families. “We felt like we had beaten the system!” Larry is in frequent contact with fellow Knox FIJIs Steve Baumgartner ’77 and Bob Steinman ’77. ❯ Phil Thomason is keeping his head down through another wave of COVID. His news is that, after 40 years, he is “turning down the work volume considerably” to select occasional con sulting projects. “I hope to get back to interna tional travel and spend more time at my

mountain cabin in East Tennessee.” ❯ Jay Scheid still works in corporate risk management, saying he hasn’t yet “hung up the cleats. I reno vated a lake house in Putnam, Illinois, during COVID—hard work but satisfying. The family has grown to 17 grandkids with two more on the way.” ❯ Susan Blew writes, “Although the pan demic has cramped my style a bit, I stay sane by swimming almost every day in the San Francisco Bay. Right now, the water temperature hovers around 50 degrees. Every day is beautiful. I plunge in when it’s dark and watch the sun rise over the city from the water.” ❯ Harry Wolin is “enjoying our SOFL (southern Florida) life across the street from the beach. We are staying safe and doing our best to avoid Florida mankind. We spent the period between vaccines and Delta traveling to see friends and family.” ❯ Dave and Linda (Nelson) Langston replaced “Head Down COVID 2020 Life” with “Optimistically Vacci nated COVID 2021 Life.” They did LOTS of traveling, hosting, visiting, exercising. Two high lights were hiking at 10K feet in Colorado with Tom ’76 and Karen (Bruner ’76) Davis and see ing the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile in Cedar Rapids. ❯ Sheri Morrison says it was “magical getting to hold our new grandson Milo!” Sherry’s 50th HS Reunion was COVID delayed but she enjoys connecting with some old friends via Zoom. She and Bob Nelson attended the memo rial service in Rockford that Gary Anderson held for his wife/our classmate Judy (Middle ton), and met their family and grandchildren. Knox has set up a scholarship fund in Judy’s name: www.fitzgeraldfh.com/obituaries/JudyAnn-Middleton-Anderson?obId=20029886#/ obituaryInfo ❯ Gary Pokorn’s Lady Bug Ranch in Littleton, Colorado, has avoided COVID ill ness thus far, and he hopes “the same for all Knox alumni worldwide. After 43 years in technology sales, I’m retiring and joining my wife’s company ThrivingPetsInternational.com. We also plan to travel through Galesburg on our way to visit fam ily in Chicago for the first time in three years.” ❯

Speaking of Galesburg, Sarah Boydstun Ross continues to enjoy a life close to Knox College. “In 2021, Galesburg had a wonderful Labor Day Parade, complete with the Budweiser Clydes dales, and the most successful Stearman Fly-In ever.” She recently helped edit Galesburg, Illinois: Growing Up in An All-American City (available on Amazon) about growing up in G-burg in the ’40s and ’50s. Sarah stays in touch with Sue Whittles, Steve (Jan) Junk, Marianne LeFave (Jacobs), and Jim Rosenthal ’72, and she is enthusiastic about Knox’s new president. ❯ After 25 years with Family Service League, Paula Ochs hopes to become an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) Approved Super visor, its highest credential in her field. “My son Jess (age 29) has taken up skiing, much to my horror.” ❯ Nora Gubbins has used COVID homelife to “can lots of salsa, and pizza and spaghetti sauces. I’ve also baked lots of bread, though yeast was hard to find.” While her hus

Class Knox

Glacier National Park via Amtrak in mid-2021.

band continued woodworking, they quarantined with a rescued dog and cat, and enjoyed seeing sons’ and daughter’s families. ❯ In late 2021, Dan England and wife Cindy were “excited to cruise with all our sons and their wives who flew into Florida from Denver and Peoria—first time we had seen everyone in person in two years. Our son, Ryan, is a Knox graduate ’00.” ❯ Rick Partin and his wife, Paula, enjoyed a vacation to Glacier National Park via Amtrak in mid-2021. In May their son Trevor graduated magna cum laude with a major in geography from Illinois State University. All three live and work in Champaign. ❯ Tim (TJ) Smith will be honored by the Delta Chapter TKE’s in the Education “Notables” program. Additionally, the Tim Smith Legacy Hallway has been dedicated to him at his high school in the Chicago suburbs. ❯ In June 2021, Elmer James (Jim) Mason was elected to the Knox Board of Trustees, joining other classmates Susan Blew, Robert Long, and Emeritus Trustee Steven P. Luetger (www.knox.edu/about-knox/our-leadership/ our-trustees). After Knox, Jim earned advanced academic degrees, had a distinguished military career as U.S. Army colonel, and later provided system analyses and technical consulting at Par sons Corporation. Jim has won significant awards in recognition of his community activism. ❯ Nancy Knapp left her WHO malaria control po sition in Laos PDR following a stroke in January 2019, and has loved living in Sitka, Alaska, since then. Her son Jamie (aged 30) died of an opioid treatment failure there, so it is a comfort to live among great friends with whom they raised their kids. ❯ James (Jim) Petrila is “an adjunct pro fessor at George Washington University School of Law teaching courses on national security law (i.e., counterterrorism law, counterintelligence law). I also have been engaged with a consulting group at Gettysburg that provides leadership training using lessons gleaned from the Battle of Gettysburg. And we have two grandkids (aged 3½ and 1½) who are delightful.” ❯ Janet (Bouska) Elegant sends greetings to our class and adds “I love that the 1975 Flunk Day Schedule (that Jeanne emailed) was done on a typewriter!” (Note: Jeanne typed that in 1975!) ❯ And Brian Rose wrote “Flunk Day ’73 (I think) was the day that Ron Herskowitz and I were able to dump a bucket of water on the dean from our room in Seymour, which was right above the entrance. He was stunned, looked up, and apparently realizing it was Flunk Day, shook his head and continued to walk into the building.” ❯ Joseph “Shep” Crumrine reports “My wife and I moved to Michigan in April 2021 and are enjoying our new home outside of Detroit, with a couple happy hours with neighbors around our fire pit for safety’s sake. The kayaks are put away and the cross-country skis are all waxed up. Lapham Peak State Park (Delafield, Wisconsin) grooms several trails in the woods. I play cello in the Concord Chamber Orchestra, and sing and play guitar at a neighborhood bistro, “Charles E Fro

mage” (brush up your French). I keep up with CEUs for my Music Therapy Board Certifica tion. Our son just completed his Ph.D. in physics at U of Minnesota.” ❯ Jeanne (Pankanin) Leininger, your Class Correspondent, is prepar ing this submission while on a ski trip with 41 people to Telluride CO … my 43rd year organiz ing this! I keep active in Palatine with bicycling, motorcycling, church, and friends, and I just bought a condo in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. But recent eyesight issues are making computer work less enjoyable; so if any classmates might be willing to take over Class Correspondent duties, please contact me to discuss. Thanks! ❯ Knox College Class of 1975 Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/1509789545910382/ Class Correspondent: Jeanne Pankinin jeanne.knoxfriend@gmail.com

1976

Greetings, classmates. Our 45th reunion came and went as obviously the reunion did not occur in fall 2021. Homecoming in May 2022 will occur, but in the meantime, the kazoo band con tinues to practice, rehearse, and fine-tune their skills for our anticipated performance at our 50year reunion. ❯ First, condolences to Bill Wickart due to the death of his wonderful wife, Dr. Deborah Bouchette. Deb died of cancer in summer 2021, and Bill has written/posted won derful tributes to her since then. ❯ Congrats to Gene Procknow on the publication of his recent book, William Hunter: Finding Free Speech. A British soldier’s son who became an early American. ❯ And speaking of authors, congrats to fiction writer Tom Farrell on his second book, Wager Tough. The book is a prequel to Tom’s first book and has received nice reviews. ❯ I did receive a note from Dave Chirbas. Chirbie (as we called him when he lived in Williston) recently met up with Ted Moody and attended a Knox football game (Knox won!). Dave recently retired from his finance position, resides in Wisconsin, and meets up with Dan England ’75 every year in the Smoky Mountains for a relaxing week to discuss and solve world issues. ❯ Yours truly attended an event hosted by Merlon ’75 and Leanne ’75 Schuneman in September 2021. There were many Knox grads there, including everyone’s fa vorite, Dennis Gilbert ’77. Dennis and his wife, Gwen, received the award for traveling the far thest to attend the event as Dennis drove from Nevada to join the party. Wayne Mastin ’75 and his wife, Debbie Hotchkiss Mastin ’75, from Knoxville, Illinois, were in attendance, along with the pride of Galesburg, Sue Whittles ’75. It was a blast to see Mel Stoesser there, who resides in Elgin along with Melissa (Missy) Mueller ’77 and her husband, Mike. Paula Barrow Danoff ’77 and her husband, Jeff, were in attendance. Paula has received recent accolades for her suc cesses at YouTube commercials for her current CEO position with the Evanston Art Center. ❯ Becky Burton ’78 resides in the Beverly area of

Chicago and was in attendance along with Steve Junk ’75 and Jan Schlichting Junk ’77. Roger Strukhoff ’77 was there as well and resides in the Rockford area, attending along with Gary Jacob son ’77 from the Indianapolis area. There was lots of dialogue at the party on why Gary Jacob son looks so young, but this issue remains unre solved. Tony Lee ’75 and his wife Ellen also attended the BBQ along with Jorge Castanos ’77. Merlon was happy to show all the attendees his beautiful golf trophy he had received earlier in the year. As you can see this event was some what of a mini-Homecoming. ❯ Congrats to Norm Hillner ’79 who recently received a presti gious soccer coaching award for his decades of successful soccer coaching. That’s all for now— shoot me an email with updates and I hope every one is doing well.

Class Correspondent: George Pearce 1114 Forest Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091-1655, 847-256-5968, geoknox@comcast.net

1977

Greetings in this third year of COVID-19. Wishing each of you good health and joy in 2022. I am thankful to have two children get ting married this year to wonderful partners! Life does seem to go on amid the turmoil. ❯ Brian Bond and Mitch Baker ’76 rolled into Chicago in June of last year, staying first with Ed Jepson and his wife, Susan, then with me and hubby in our downtown condo. As usual, many beers were consumed while concocting novel approaches to solving world problems.

❯ Gary “Jake” Jacobson, Jorge Castaños, Marjolein Verwoerd Castanos ’85, Ed Jep son, me, and a few other friends gathered for a meal in the West Loop. Much hilarity en sued! The next day, Jorge and Marjolein joined me on my condo balcony for the Blue Angels flybys. It was near, clear, and very loud. ❯ Phil Singer, or ’Cro, returned for his umpteenth year to wish myriads of G (Greet ings) and H (Hellos) E (encourage) T (to getherness) T (to) O (others) dwellers and friends happy birthday on their special day. ’Cro even creatively recalls Knox anecdotes relating to each person. His New Year’s poem this year was much appreciated by all. ❯ John Bird writes: “I’m still at it, though largely by WebEx, doing adoptions and guardianships for kids in foster care. I became a grandfather for the first-time last June to Blair Rose. My bride, Bonnie, who is retired, is taking up the daycare duties. At the end of January 2022, I hope to be on a beach in Jamaica, sipping Red Stripes and listening to Little Feat at their an nual music festival there. I will be joined by my brother Greg ’82 and his wife Judy ’84.” ❯ Bob Nordgren got in touch: “All well here; I’m getting used to staying out of airplanes and getting more done. I tried retirement and didn’t care much for it, so I started a new partnership developing veterinary vaccines. I

Rosalind Soto ’79 graduated in August 2021 from Northwestern

will try to make it to our 45th reunion!” ❯ Dean Anderson relocated from the Nether lands to Corona Del Mar, California, in 2022. Sadly, he lost his wife three years ago, after 38 years together. But on the bright side, he was blessed with his first grandchild, Riley, last October. “I finally retired from Chevron after 40+ years. I am enjoying the SoCal life and walks on the beach.” ❯ Roger Strukhoff shared: “We welcomed our first grandchild, Eva Jane Elg, born last July to daughter Alexandra and son-in-law Jason. She has set the record for being the world’s cutest baby! We visited her over the holidays, resulting in much joy within our family.” ❯ Bob Thomp son ’78 connected with Dan Calandro and Bill Colby on the beach at Sanibel, where they discussed the intricacies of various bas ketball games they played together at Knox. Congrats to Dan and Bill, who have recently retired. ❯ Mitch Baker ’76 and his wife, Karen, took an epic two-month vacation to northern Spain, returning to the U.S. on Christmas. They started out in Burgos and ended up in Valencia, hiking and taking in the sights along the way. Ask him about the Picos de Europa mountains, the Cares gorge, El Capricho de Gaudi en Comillas, the Cant brian coast, Bilbao, San Sebastián, the Pyre nees—you get the picture! He also reported that the food and drink were spectacular. So jealous! ❯ Bryn Douds was inspired by Doug Hill to place high enough at the U.S. National Triathlon Championships (Olympic Distance) in Milwaukee last August to qualify for World Championships at Abu Dhabi in November 2022. This is Bryn’s first time, but Doug has been numerous times. Knox has world class athletes! Bryn is planning to retire on April Fool’s Day this year, and then go to Dallas for the birth of grandson #2. ❯ Bruce Hall writes: “At the last Class of ’77 Reunion in 2017, I recall talking with Gary Hoag, Jim Munro, Marty Stuber, and Sue CalhounStuber about ‘bucket list’ items I wanted to accomplish before the next reunion. I in cluded: climbing Mount Katahdin in Maine— the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail; sailing in the Monhegan Race from Portland, Maine, around Monhegan Island and back; and bicycling across the USA. Well, I haven’t climbed anything, but my older son has climbed Katahdin—twice! And last sum mer, I crewed on a friend’s sailboat almost every week in Casco Bay while my younger son sailed on the Tall Ship Lynx from Port land to Georgia, and he will soon sail on the Tall Ship Harvey Gamage from Pensacola to Portland! As for biking, I’ve continued to ride the Trek Across Maine and the Dempsey Challenge yearly—charity fundraisers for the American Lung Association and Patrick Dempsey’s center for cancer patient support. ❯ I will be at this year’s Reunion and hope others can make it as well. It will be great to

see and catch up with so many classmates again.”

Class Correspondent: Sarah Kaull skaull@icex.com

1978

Faith Miller loves her cruises, but she reports that she just had to cancel her eighth trip since June 2020 and fears the one she’s planned for May (three times postponed) will go the same way. But she used the time at home well—she has completed a novel and is searching for an agent! How many of us can say we did that with our iso lation? The most productive thing I can claim is a few crossword puzzles. ❯ Pam Berra Swafford and her husband, Wayne, continue to enjoy life in Houston, although it is interrupted often by trips to Austin to visit kids and grandkids. ❯ Susan Huey Walker is still with Bank of America’s Pri vate Bank. She loves her job and has more than doubled the size of her sales team. They had their best year ever in 2021, which is amazing since they were in a work from home posture for 10 months. Zoom and WebEx to the rescue! Her oldest son, Zach, got married in July. A truly magical week in San Diego. Now she has another daughter. ❯ John Luthy continues to work on home projects, including an upgrade to his elec trical service to get 200-amp service into the shed/barn, where he is continuing to rewire lights and outlets, waiting for warmer temps to work on the outside of the structure. He is also upgrading to add a generator to address the power outages due to mother nature, which are all too frequent in central Illinois! He is continuing his education and is taking a CAD class again (and learning more this time!), as well as adding welding to the mix this semester! He just got back from Califor nia where he was house sitting for his younger brother. Great weather and views, as he lives in the hills above Santa Barbara. Luth also had lunch with Bob Thompson in Springfield in De cember during his brief time before returning to sunny Florida. Future plans here include seeing Carlos Santana in Moline on April 15. ❯ Errick Cameron fully retired from dental practice last year, and he and his wife, Cindy, moved perma nently to Atlantic Beach on the Outer Banks of North Carolina last July. They have spent their time remodeling their home (it was supposed to be downsizing???) and enjoying their four grand kids. More time finishing is just around the cor ner! ❯ After 10 years of living and working in Germany, Bradley Milton and his wife have re tired and moved back to the U.S.—at least for the time being. They are living in his hometown of St. Charles, Illinois, enjoying time with their son (who moved there earlier after taking a job at Fermilab). His sister and her kids, and his daugh ter (still pursuing her Ph.D.) are all nearby. They are taking their time looking for a house and liv ing with their son in the meantime. Brad says they housed him for 19 years, so turnabout is fair play. They had hoped to be in Japan this year, but

due to COVID, the country has yet to open up to tourists. So, it’s back to Europe for a while in March, and they will see what happens from there. ❯ Robert Milford and wife Debbie (Koch) Milford are enjoying retirement in Springfield, Virginia. Despite the pandemic, they spent 2021 traveling. In June, the family ren dezvoused for two weeks in Iceland, which at the time was one of the safest countries for tourists. During the month of September 2021, they toured France with their youngest son (Brandon), who is currently stationed there. They were able to spend several days at the American Battlefield Cemetery, Normandy, France, and other parts of northern France. Of course, while in France they also traveled to the Bordeaux area and enjoyed the vineyards. In October 2021, they spent two weeks in Austin, Texas, with their eldest son (Eric) where he is working as a software devel oper. If they were able to do all that in 2021, just imagine where 2022 will take them. ❯ As for me, I retired at the end of October 2021 after 40 years of practicing law. I am enjoying the free dom, although I still have trouble not feeling guilty for having no stress. And the less I have to do, the harder it is to get things done. Our kids (and our just-turned-one-year old granddaughter, the sweetest baby in the world) are all living nearby, along with my healthy, sharp 93-year-old dad and my sister, so life is good. We really have enjoyed Colorado Knox Club activities and get ting to know fellow Knoxites here. We are hop ing to meet Brent Petersen and his wife in Tucson next month. ❯ That is all the news I have that is printable. Please keep in touch!

Class Correspondent: David Bates david.m.bates01@gmail.com

1979

Rosalind Soto graduated in August 2021 from Northwestern University with a master of sci ence in health communication. She was also in ducted into Lambda Pi Eta, the national communication association honor society. She is currently weighing her options for the next phase of her career.

Class Correspondent: Brian Sullivan bjpscruffy4@aol.com

1980

Class Correspondents: Roy Brandys 1818 Feather Nest Drive, Cedar Park, TX 78613-1414, brandys@barronadler.com Joe Moore 773-848-5796, joe@joemoore.org

1981

Jennifer Eich: “The reality of teaching remotely, a 3-4-hour daily commute once we returned to in-person teaching in fall 2021, along with the loss of four family members to COVID-19 and other age-related diseases prompted me to reflect on what I wanted to be doing for the next 30-40

Class Knox

University with a master of science in health communication.

years. So, after 27 years as a professor of Spanish, three years as an associate dean at Loyola Mary mount University, and a spring semester 2022 sabbatical, I am stepping down and into retire ment! It was not an easy decision but once made, I wondered why I waited. My husband, Salvador Fernandez, continues as associate dean and pro fessor of Spanish at Occidental College, which he still enjoys, especially as his walking commute is about five minutes. Our daughter Rebeca de fended her dissertation in inorganic chemistry (one chapter was even written in Spanish) at the UW-Madison in June 2021 and we, along with 15 family members attended. She now has a postdoc at UC-Davis, and it is nice to have her back in California after five years in Madison. Our son, Gabriel, graduated in May 2021 with a degree in restaurant management from the Institute of Culinary Education in Pasadena, and he now works full time at the Proper Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The family is set on their own paths, the cats are happy I will be at home full time, and I look forward with joy to this next life stage since I agree with Fred ‘Mr.’ Rogers: ‘Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.’ ❯ Jane Strode Miller: “My company, Lily’s Sweets, was sold to Hershey’s in June 2021, and shortly there after, I launched Haevn (www.thehaevn.com/) with two 20-something co-founders. We are solv ing the chicken and egg dilemma that you can’t get a job without experience, and you can’t get experience without a job. We partnered with Scott Crawford and his team at the Bastian Fam ily Center for Career Success and have 24 interns from Knox doing micro-internships this semes ter. Super exciting! Thanks for your continued leadership in keeping our class together!” ❯ George Smith: “Good to hear from you. I hope you and your family are well. I very much en joyed the Zoom call you were able to pull to gether last year. I wish I had something of interest to report but I don’t. Thanks for serving as Class Correspondent all these years.” ❯ Linda Mugnaini McMillan: “How about a new knee or hip? Just kidding—but that’s what some may be looking at right about now. Nothing new to re port here. Enjoying retirement, hoping to do more travel this year and spend more time up in Wisconsin’s Northwoods fishing.” ❯ A note from Erich Redschlag’s sister: “Hi, John—My name is Heidi Redschlag. My brother is Erich Redschlag, alumnus, Class of 1981. Erich had a debilitating stroke in January 2020 and is now disabled. He is in good spirits but is otherwise quite limited in both physical and mental capac ity. He resides with his mother, who provides daily care for him. His address is: 2216 Jonathan Ave., Rockford, Illinois 61103. I brought your re quest to his attention, and he agreed that I could write this as an update. Thank you for keeping the Class of 1981 informed and in touch.” ❯ All good with the Nicolau family here on the Northshore of Chicagoland. Three of our four adult children are married, two wonderful grand

Alumni Achievement Award Winner

2022 Alumni Achievement Award

Merry Sloan Mosbacher ’80

Merry started her 38-year career at Edward Jones as a student intern while pursuing her MBA, and was named a principal just five short years later in 1986. She retired in 2019 as the most tenured woman partner in the firm.

Her experience spanned investment banking, insurance and annuity prod ucts and diversity and inclusion.

She helped shape strategy and developed new products, tools and systems to meet the needs of individual investors as the firm grew from roughly 400 fi nancial advisors when she started to more than 18,000 today.

She was an active volunteer at Knox which contin ued into her professional life and retirement. She has received numerous awards for her achievements, in cluding being named one of St. Louis’ 25 most influ ential businesswomen and a St. Louis Woman of Achievement.

Why did you choose to attend Knox?

I was a first-generation college student and I wanted to go away to college. I didn’t want a large university because I wanted to have a closer relationship with friends and faculty. Knox just seemed to fit the bill.

I came to Knox thinking I was going to be a math major. I was heavy into my math degree when I dis covered economics and felt that I could apply my math skills better in that area. My mentors there would have been Wilbur Pillsbury, professor emeri tus of economics and business administration or Roy Andersen, Charles W. and Arvilla S. Timme Professor Emeritus of Economics, as the heads of the department during my time. They really helped me learn to apply technical skills to the economic environment as a whole and to understand money in business, which helped in my career.

Was it difficult being a female in finance at that time?

One of my early mentors was from an internship I did while I was here at Knox. There was a program through the Associated Colleges of the Midwest called Women in Management that took me to Chicago. I worked for a young woman who had come out of Wharton’s MBA program. I was at FMC Corpo ration in Chicago and she’s the one who convinced me that I should pursue an MBA, recognizing that there were career opportunities emerging for women I like to joke that we were the Helen Reddy generation—we could do any thing we wanted. “I am woman hear me roar” was a lyric from one of her songs. We didn’t know that we couldn’t do things and that there was a glass ceiling. So, I got my MBA and ended up at Edward Jones in the investment banking area. My primary mentor was our managing partner, who saw poten tial in me and gave me some guidance. One of the leaders in investment bank ing taught me that being the only woman in the room was a competitive advantage because people would remember me, and I never looked back.

The last two years of my career were spent in our inclusion and diversity area, where I spent time developing leadership skills for our women and di verse financial advisors. Although I technically retired as of 2020, I continue to serve the firm as a trustee of its Bridge Builder Mutual Funds.

Watch a video interview with Merry at magazine.knox.edu

STEVE DAVIS

Andrew Wenk ’94 and Jerry Zavorka ’94 made their annual trip to Las Vegas

daughters, another grandchild due in June, and everyone lives within 30 minutes of us, so we know how blessed we are. My wife celebrated 40 years as an ICU nurse, has done an incredible job taking care of COVID patients the past two years and plans to continue for at least a few more. After selling my business back in 2018, I completed my obligations to the new owners and moved into a strictly business development role with another IT consulting firm, still focusing on supporting businesses with Microsoft-centric infrastructure. While I still feel there is plenty of fuel in my tank, it’s nice not to be responsible for leadership-related issues, including the drama that often comes with being a business owner. Future plans include some travel and a lot more time with my family.

Class Correspondent: John Nicolau j.nicolau@comcast.net

1982

Class Correspondents: Sharon L. Schillereff

7780 W 38th Ave., #404, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, 303-885-7185, Sschil7470@yahoo.com

Chris Bohm Gavlin

4246 Howard Ave., Western Springs, IL 60558, 708-246-1419, cgavlin@gmail.com

1983

Class Correspondent: Beth Anderson Schuck bschuckgal@gmail.com

1984

Class Correspondent: Valerie Jencks

P.O. Box 825, Downers Grove IL 60515, knoxcollege84@gmail.com

1985

It’s a snowy day in late January as I write this, the first “big” snowstorm in NYC of winter 2021-22. Call me crazy, but I do miss an Illinois winter with zero-degree temps and a foot of snow on the ground. I have fond memories of the winter of 1985-86, when my sister Margaret Davis and I ice skated down Cherry Street to campus and several of us went to an evening event in skirts when it was -26 or so. But enough with the rosecolored glasses. In current news: Jolene Robin son Seitz writes: “I retired from the U.S. Department of Energy in July 2021 after nearly 29 years of service split between the Idaho Na tional Laboratory and the Savannah River Site. Roger and I recently moved to Bluffton, South Carolina, and are enjoying life in our new com munity—Sun City Hilton Head. Our days are primarily spent on the softball diamond. It’s great to be playing ball again.” ❯ Jere Hinson com pleted his tour as fleet chaplain at U.S. Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Virginia, last sum mer and now serves as deputy chaplain of the Marine Corps at the Pentagon. He and his wife

Ruth celebrated the weddings of two of their children this past year. Jere posted some lovely wedding photos on Facebook, and I say with all sincerity that it’s not every man that still looks good in a kilt at our age! ❯ Debbie Dehm moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, last year, where she is “freezing my butt off, doing massage, writing ebooks and teaching reiki classes.” ❯ And Mike Spires writes to say that “Now that it’s official, I’m extremely proud to say that I’ve been selected as one of the consultants in the inaugural HBCU Consulting Program through NORDP (the Na tional Organization of Research Development Professionals). I’ll be working for the next couple of years with folks at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University on enhancing their re search activities and helping them grow from a Carnegie R2 institution to an R1 institution. More about the program and the institutions can be found here: nordpnews.org/2022/01/25/ nordp-consultant-pilot-program-participantsselected/

Class Correspondents: Jane Davis jedavis_ill@hotmail.com

Margaret Verkoulen Lynn mvlynn@comcast.net

1986

Class Correspondent: Susan Bantz 2012 Shady Lane, Muscatine, IA, 52761, 563-554-9213, sbantz001@luthersem.edu

1987

Class Correspondent: Lisabeth Simms Belman 12701 York Mill Lane, Clarksburg, MD 20871-4034, 301-972-3751, lisabeth1208@verizon.net

1988

Happy 55th birthday to most of us! As I connect with classmates over phone calls, through holiday newsletters, and as I browse through Facebook, I noticed how we are all at such different stages of life. Sadly, some are enduring the loss of a parent. My condolences to you! I lost my father suddenly in 1994 and my mother in 2017 after a short bat tle with cancer. Life is forever changed. Some are still raising their children while others are enjoy ing their grandchildren. Some are at the peak of their careers while others have retired! Two of my Post 2 suitemates retired within a couple of months of each other. Regina Griffith Swanson retired in December 2019 from the Illinois Com merce Commission Police, and her roommate Tammy Hill Ballard retired as an elementary school teacher in North Carolina in February 2020. Others are celebrating 30 years of marriage while others are getting married for the 2nd or 3rd time. Congratulations to all of you! Whichever stage of life you are in, seek happiness and enjoy the journey because the years are going by way too fast! ❯ Hopefully, most of us have

survived the COVID pandemic without the loss of family members or dear friends. The biggest positive change out of the pandemic is being able to work remotely which I have not done in my 33 years in corporate America. Fortunately for me, my company did go 100 percent virtual. This allowed me to become an official snowbird prior to retiring. I now split my time—summer and fall in Illinois, and winter and spring in Arizona. I want to plan some Knox Class of ’88 events in each of these areas. Please share some ideas that you have for an event. Some of my ideas include family day at a Cubs or Sox game, a happy hour event, and picnic and games at a forest preserve. I am open to ideas! I can plan a Zoom happy hour that will allow more people to attend. My email address is tracydb531@gmail.com. Please send emails to share your life’s journey and ideas for a group event. ❯ Dr. Lil María Castro Rosabal, Ph.D., recently obtained a specialization in digital animation and special effects from the Film & Animation Academy ULACIT Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología in Costa Rica. She celebrated her graduation with her husband Dr. Jonathan Charles Riemitis, Ph.D., and family.

Class Correspondent: Tracy Dahlen Brandon TracyDB531@gmail.com

1989

Class Correspondent: Mia Jiganti 1850 W. Cortland, Chicago, IL 60622-1035, 773-278-0814, mjiganti@prodigy.net

1990

Class Correspondent: Darcy Turner 108 West James Street, Warren, IL 61087919-932-9150, Bonetbien1@gmail.com

1991

Christine Purtell Deblock writes: “It’s a year of transitions. Our oldest, Lee, is finishing high school. Our youngest, Charlotte, is finishing 8th grade. Middle kid Luke is learning to drive. I was able to attend the off-season, delayed Homecom ing in May. It was very strange being on campus during spring. Girija Gullapalli and I enjoyed the weekend. We had to shelter in the mailroom dur ing a tornado warning. We wandered the campus and attended the alumni achievement award pres entation as well as the talk by John Podesta ’71. In the future, the bookstore will no longer be selling books since students only ever purchase them online. Girija and I were the only two from our class at the reunion dinner, so we hung out with people from the classes of ’66 and ’67. We ran into Amy Ragnini Olson and Steve Olson ’92 at the hotel on the last morning. It's always good to be back at Knox, but we hope to see lots more classmates at our next regularly scheduled reunion.”

❯ Kathy Hansen Foster: “Hi, JJ! Greetings from South Florida! It’s been a busy

Class Knox

to watch the Bears and Raiders game in the fall at the city’s new stadium.

couple years for the Hansen Fosters—both girls graduated from University of Kansas (one with a master’s of architecture and the other now pursu ing an MBA in Italy), we adopted two dogs, and we moved from Chicago to Boynton Beach, Florida! My husband, Rich “Fuzzy” Foster ’86 got a new job near West Palm Beach and we de cided the time was right to make the move to a sunnier climate! Before we left, we were so grate ful to catch up with many Knox friends in Chicago—Mike Boyd ’86, Angie ’88 and Mike “Huck” Reilley ’88, Lisa Tracy Petrauskas ’90, Kelly Glisan Cahill ’90, Genevieve Fitzgerald ’92, Jeff Gossrow ’88, Dave Newbart ’90, Fred Gore ’88, Dave Murphy ’90 and Jason Radakovich ’90. We’re enjoying our new adven ture, though this Midwest girl is a little nervous about hurricane season! Hope everyone is doing well and if any Knox folks are in South Florida be sure to look us up!” ❯ Marc Saphir: “Greetings! I retired in Nov. 2019 after 28+ yrs. in the Army & returned to Sweet Home Chicago! After a whirlwind career serving the U.S. as a soldier and diplomat, it’s wonderful to be back here! Along the way, I got an MBA, married (and divorced) and worked in Latin America (mostly), Afghanistan and Liberia. Although retired from the military—not retired from life—I live in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village and pursue a range of interests, ranging from real estate development to DJ-ing to micro-financing. It’s been awesome and grounding to stay connected with Knox alumni, some who I’ve met in different parts Class Correspondent: Jonathan Sheinkop 260 Cary Ave, Highland Park, IL 60035, jonathansheinkop@hotmail.com

1992

Dear classmates, my heart breaks to announce that Anne Poston passed away at the age of 51 on Thursday, June 9, 2022, at home with her family and David Jesuit ’91 by her side. Left to cherish her memory is her husband, David, and her son, Daniel Sanford Jesuit. Anne was an amazing person, friend and classmate. We are planning a memorial at Knox in her honor, more to come later. Her complete obituary can be found here: www.charlesrlux.com/obituary/anneposton. Anne was the granddaughter of Lawrence Poston Jr., a member of the Knox modern language faculty from 1938 to 1948. ❯ Kelly Lynn Hogan just became a new mom, and while raising her beautiful daughter is going through chemo with surgery and radiation to come. If you want to help out more information here: www.mealtrain.com/trains/go9y5l ❯ I also just wanted everyone to know that I am now an islander! I sold my big empty house and moved from Dallas down to Galveston, Texas. I love the island life and being a bit closer to Anika, who at tends Texas A&M Galveston. ❯ I hope to see some of you at our 30th Class Reunion at home coming this fall. Tammy and I are looking for volunteers to help organize some fun for our

class. Please reach out to us.   Class Correspondents: Celine Gura Matthiessen

celmatthiessen@hotmail.com Tammy Thorsen Ragnini rragnini1@yahoo.com

1993

Ben Hirby: “Let’s see … my wife, Sage, had a po sition to lead a study abroad program in Aix-enProvence, France, for the academic year 2020-21.

I left my job of 20+ years, and we planned to go as a family. Of course, COVID got in the way. We buckled down like everyone else. I got a job teaching graphic design for branding in the UW Art Department. Sage earned a sabbatical, so now we’re planning to make good on that promise and move to Aix again this summer and fall. Reed, our oldest, will graduate next spring, class of ’23. Oliver is 13 in 7th grade.” ❯ Michele Trabue: “Greetings and salutations. It’s coming up on 30 years since I last interacted with Knox College. Hmmmmmmm. My, how time flies regardless of whether you are having fun. After getting my $60,000 receipt a.k.a. my diploma, I returned to my hometown of Louisville, Ken tucky. I left Knox sick, but I did not realize how sick till I returned home. I had become diabetic. I spent 1993 trying to figure out how to navigate the world with a malfunctioning pancreas. I also got hired on at the Louisville Free Public Library in November 1993. I settled into my unionized paraprofessional job and got on with living. Then in March 2001, my beloved mother came down with yeast pneumonia. She was in the hospital for 47 days. She spent two weeks in a coma. Life was never the same. She was 51 and I was 30. I be came head of household and primary caregiver overnight. My father got sick in June 2001. He was not my responsibility, fortunately since he had a mother, a girlfriend and a wife looking to take care of him. He passed away in 2005. My mother came down with gallbladder cancer in 2018. Then while an electrical fire rendered us quasi-homeless in November 2019, in March 2020, mom caught COVID-19 while in the hos pital. She survived it, barely. I spent most of 2020 at home nursing her and on unpaid furlough from the library. On January 1, 2021, my mother and friend passed away, AND now life is very much different and yet it feels sorta the same. On April 1, 2023, I can retire from my job with pen sion and medical. I have no plans. I can also say I have no plans to attend any reunions. However, I do rejoice with all that are still here with us in this upside backwards world. #StayBlessedEvery one.” ❯ Art Weible: “Our school string orchestra actually was able to play a live concert just before Christmas. No virtual anything, and it was bliss.”

Class Correspondent: Rebecca Gillan rebecca.m.gillan@gmail.com

1994

Andrew Wenk and Jerry Zavorka made their annual trip to Las Vegas to watch the Bears and Raiders game in the fall at the city’s new stadium. Jerry’s oldest son, Ryan, is a sophomore at UWMadison and his youngest son, Jack, will be head ing there in the fall. ❯ Mary Souther is busy teaching high school and coaching cross country and track. Her boys’ cross country team won the state championship last fall! (Good job, Coach!) My oldest child will be attending the same high school next year. I can only hope she has Mary as a teacher or coach. ❯ Darren King shares “birth day condolences to the ’94 class” as he just had his 50th this January. Yes, we’re old(er). His wife, Tacy, is still the director of multilingual programs for Clear Creek ISD in League City, Texas. Their daughter, Elsa, is starting as center mid on the Rose-Hulman women’s soccer team. A highlight for Darren—her soccer schedule included an away trip to Galesburg where the game ended in a 1-1 draw. His middle daughter, Alayna, is a jun ior in high school, running cross country and track. She is considering Knox! Darren spends most of his time with daily travel with his son, Evan, on the Texas select baseball circuit and for the Houston Dynamo Academy. After 15 years as Head of Equities for American National Insur ance Company, Darren recently accepted the po sition as chief investment officer for Moody Bank

Dr. Lil María Castro Rosabal

’88, Ph.D., recently obtained a specialization in digital animation and special effects from the Film & Animation Academy ULACIT Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología in Costa Rica.

2022 Alumni Achievement Award

Hardika Shah ’92

Shah is the founder & CEO of fintech Kinara Capital, which is at the fore front of driving financial inclusion of small business entrepreneurs in India.

Under her vision and leadership, Kinara Capital is globally recognized for its innovations in SME financing and has received IFC’s Bank of the Year-Asia international award, is listed among Top 100 High-Growth Companies in Asia-Pacific by the Financial Times, and among India’s Growth Champions by the Economic Times.

Prior to founding Kinara Capital, Shah spent two decades as a management consultant for global com panies in the United States, Europe, and Asia; and for almost a decade was a mentor for emerging social entrepreneurs. Most notably, Shah was listed as one of the “Top 20 Most Powerful Women” by Forbes India in 2021; one of the “Top 40 Social Entrepre neurs” by Causeartist in 2022; and one of “7 SoloWoman Entrepreneurs Who Raised the Largest Funding Amount in India” by Yahoo! in 2019.

Why did you attend Knox?

I was a middle-class student in India who heard about liberal arts as a form of education and was just thrilled that something like this existed. Middle class kids didn’t come to the United States for undergrad in the ’80s, especially not girls; it’s never a priority for families. But my parents were a little different and they moved mountains, including selling their home to fund my education at Knox.

Why did you start Kinara Capital?

I worked a lot with social entrepreneurs in a mentoring capacity and I remem bered when my mom was running small businesses in India that access to cap ital was the biggest challenge. As India went from a closed economy to an open economy in the ’90s, it still didn’t open up access to capital for the small businesses. There are 60 million small businesses in India, and only 5 percent of them have access to commercial capital. I started Kinara Capital to provide fast and flexible loans to small businesses in the range of $2,000 to $25,000 so that they could grow their business, and they could do this sustainably. We have been operating for 10 years and we have disbursed over 75,000 loans to taling over $500 million. Along with growing to 1200+ employee strength, we have been profitable for over seven years.

There are many career highlights. It is always a learning opportunity and it’s exciting to learn about new businesses. But when it comes to my own busi ness, the most exciting is to meet that one customer who could not get capital from commercial banks, who we were able to support with a small loan. And with that loan they have been able to expand their reach as a business. Some who have funded their children’s education—one was so proud that his daughter was going to become a doctor that she never dreamed could happen. Those moments are very special.

Watch a video interview with Hardika at magazine.knox.edu.

Alumni Achievement Award Winner

Wealth Management & Trust in Galveston, Texas. ❯ Monica Wetzel-Smith, along with hus band, Alex, and twin boys, Duncan and Jeremy (age 7), are exploring the outdoors along the Cal ifornia coast and Sierras. She shares: “We’ve been enjoying the snow at Lake Tahoe this winter and the boys are by far surpassing me in skiing ability this year!” ❯ Tamara Thebert graduated from California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) with a M.A. in integral counseling psychology in 2007, and she is now a licensed psychotherapist in the San Francisco Bay area (psychospiritual counseling.net). She and her colleague Deborah Yarock are launching an online clinician-focused training called the Confident Clinician YearLong Program for New Therapists across the globe. She wants to to bring more awareness to the Inner Science Institute (innerscience.net), a place to train “mental health professionals who value progressive social change and the expansive consciousness that comes from learning to work from the inside out.”

❯ Since 2016, Liano Sharon has been very active in the Michigan Democratic Party, working on important things like establishing universal single-payer, reforming criminal justice and immigration policies, abol ishing the electoral college, and more. In No vember 2020, he “co-founded MISolidarity to organize and fight for (small-d) democracy in the Democratic Party in Michigan.” Later in Decem ber, he was elected to the Democratic National Committee. He continues to help progressive Democrats across the country organize and fight for democracy in their local, state, and national parties as chair of the Strategic Planning Com mittee for People for Democratic Party Reform (PDPR.org), a national group with the same goals in the Democratic Party as MISolidarity. He sent along multiple links to share, and this one is a great summary: www.michiganprogres sive.com/2020/12/05/progress-report-2020-thepolitical-revolution-in-michigan/. ❯ Laurie Rompala’s world is less hectic than it was prepandemic. She has a legal, investigative, and HR consulting practice that she operates out of her home office. Her two high-schooler sons play baseball year-round and will be leaving for col lege in the fall. She spends time with them and her dogs. She loves to spend time outside, hiking and fungi hunting, working to complete her mas ter naturalist certification. ❯ Dawn Campbell D’Orazio and I recently caught up via a mutual acquaintance and she gave me this update. She and Fiore ’92 have lived in Aurora for over 25 years. Their oldest son graduated from Waubon see Community College in May 2021 and started his junior year at Valparaiso University last fall. He is a creative writing major with minors in poli sci and communications/visual arts. Their youngest son continues to homeschool but plans to start at Waubonsee this fall as a dual-enrolled high school student. They also have a four-yearold German shepherd which Dawn reports is “a bit like living with an anxious toddler who sheds.” Fiore has been at Gerber Collision since 2014,

STEVE DAVIS

“Knox may have prepared me for a lot of things, but not

Class Knox

working in strategic projects management. Dawn continues to do volunteering, recently as the first community co-chair of her hospital’s patient and family advisory council, something she has be come deeply passionate about. She also continues to work with Illinois YMCA youth & govern ment, where the interim CEO is fellow Knox grad Julie Brown Kapsch ’86. ❯ From Leslie Combs: “I just got back from a trip to New Or leans with Lloy Brodnicki Johnston, Mark Johnston ’93 and my husband, Dean, to cele brate my 50th—we had so much fun! One of the best things to come out of Knox for me is my treasured friendship with Lloy and Mark, and the joy of raising our families together in the North Park neighborhood of Chicago.” ❯ As for me, my update is about the same. I’m still working as a clinical physician at Emory University/Health care in the Department of Rehabilitation Medi cine. My husband, Chris, is still at the CDC, now working on COVID. My three kids are doing ok and are back at school in person, vaccinated and masked. We now have a teenager—woooweee! Knox may have prepared me for a lot of things, but not for a teen in my home. I’ve continued to work on the craft of creative writing more seri ously, mostly poetry and fiction. Since I started honing in on this writing in 2019, I’ve had a few pieces accepted for publication in literary jour nals, rubbing elbows with kind writers and whipsmart mentors. You can follow me on Instagram @writers.eatery. ❯ Almost everyone who sent up dates said to be well somehow. We are approach ing what I’m feeling as middle distance: we’ve covered a lot of ground and these times after 50 are not completely unnavigable but coming into a strange downslope. That’s not a bad thing. There is a settling. Maybe a little shake of the foundation, but everything holds steady. Every thing holds when we remember our formative years. Not everything was carefree in college, of course. My now-adult self-stored some of that college-age sense of idealism, something I wish I could draw on more. We’ve learned reality in our alumni years. I am so, so thankful I found Knox. In the end, Knox found me better. Be well, every one. Think of all you’ve lived.

Class Correspondent: Lisa Preston-Hsu story.of.a.kitchen@gmail.com, @writers.eatery on IG

1995

Hello, Class of 1995! When I worked as a chap lain with young people with mental illnesses and behavioral disorders, I used to say to them, “I never learned much from getting it right.” In other words, we learn more from mistakes than we do from those times when we get lucky and get it right the first time. I have learned so much about starting a small business during a pandemic (a skill I never thought I’d need to have.) I’ve also learned about practicing and choosing to hope over and over again, when many indicators would have me give up and just pull the covers over my head. How about you? I asked what you’ve

learned these past few years, and you did not dis appoint. Here’s what some of your classmates said about what they’ve learned recently: Keshia (Te verbaugh) Gipson wrote that she has noticed the benefits of gratitude and keeping a grateful journal for herself. Over the last two years, she’s learned that sharing her passion for gratitude has been helpful for others. I knew, and was re minded, that a sincere thank you or a small ges ture often means a ton, leaving both parties happier. ❯ Elena Rakochy started teaching art at a therapeutic school in Chicago in August. It has been a really great and a real learning experience as well. A few things she tells her kiddos (and anyone else who will listen): 1. The best you can do is the best you can do. 2. Don’t borrow trou ble. 3. If you don’t know what to do next, do jumping jacks (they usually find something to do next instead). :) ❯ Pete Lyon wrote that the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant warping of our societal, professional, and even mediocre rhythms has triggered reflections. First, as much as we prefer the future to be set in stone, or at least semi-predictable, we must take life day by day. Second, plagues have been longtime facets of human existence (e.g., the Black Death and 1918 flu); why should we assume that, in our modern, hyper-connected world, we are im mune? ❯ John McCurdy wrote that during the last two years, he’s learned the value of determi nation and persistence! Having had to cancel sev eral trips for work and fun, it was tempting to just give up. But in February 2022, he resumed travel and headed off to London! ❯ SpyridonVasileios Manias wrote that the specter of the pandemic is enormous. He realized how suscepti ble and vulnerable we are. We have let the “invis ible” intruder invade our lives and radically change our behaviors and habits. He was startled how quickly the scientific world reacted with the invention of a vaccine. All of this has taught him to not be absolute and to realize and strongly be lieve that science and human invention is not above God. We have deified some human achievements. The appearance of the pandemic filled human societies with fear, panic, and uncer tainty. It was impressive how soon scientists in vented a vaccine. Theological and ethical dilemmas, among others, certainly make the main puzzle. Other issues that emerged are whether the protection of public health is above the free dom and the protection of personal data. ❯ Thank you all so much for writing! What a de light to have this conversation about what people have learned.

Class Correspondent: Nicole Havelka defythetrend@gmail.com

1996

Class Correspondent: Kathryn Dix Biallas 1418 East Colter Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014, 602-944-7466, kathybiallas@gmail.com

1997

Class Correspondent: Chip Chandler knoxclassof97@gmail.com

1998

I love winter, so to prove it to myself (#winkwink), I signed up for the American Birkebeiner Ski Marathon. That’s a 30-mile cross country ski race in northern Wisconsin. But now I’m liking the earlier sunrises that come with the start of spring, and I’m happy to switch from ski boots to running shoes. I also signed up for the 2022 Boston Marathon for my first time. Staying in touch with all of you is a real joy, and from the notes below, you’ll see that we are bringing our talents to new cities and workplaces, publishing and producing creative works, closing chapters in careers and starting new ventures, and generally making Knox proud. We’d love to hear from you too! ❯ Elizabeth (Flanders) Monaco shared news of a move: “In June we moved to Grand Rapids, and Jason took on the role of CFO for SpartanNash. We are all readjusting to winter after years in Texas and are enjoying our first Michigan winter. I am working as an outpatient therapist part time and mom/kids’ personal Uber driver the rest of the time. I hope we can all find our way back to Knox sometime in the near fu ture so we can all reconnect!” ❯ Phillip Mottaz checked in: “We are still healthy in Los Angeles. Our son is midway through 7th grade at the Wes ley School, where Rachel ’99 continues to teach kindergarten. I’ve been working from home since the beginning of the pandemic, with our dog Bodhi as my coworker/office manager. And my first novel, The Murderous Haircut of the Mayor of Bel Air, has been popping up in more and more libraries and stores and has been submitted for independent publishing awards.” ❯ Tim J. Lord sent this update: “I’m currently living in central New Jersey. We moved here in early 2020 so that my wife could start a job at the McCarter The atre in Princeton. I’ll finally have my regional theater premiere when my play about the 2002 Moscow theatre siege, We Declare You a Terrorist, will have its world premiere at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD. Any alums in the D.C. area come check it out this April/May. www.roundhousetheatre.org/On-Stage/Ex plore/We-declare-you-a-terrorist.” ❯ Nikki Mal ley shared an update from her office in CFA: “After 19 years teaching at my beloved alma mater, directing the Knox Jazz Ensemble, and overseeing the amazing Knox Rootabaga Jazz Festival, I will be stepping down from my posi tion at Knox to pursue new opportunities, includ ing my passion project-turned small business in small batch canning. I will still be right here in Galesburg where I live with my husband, Cory, and our fabulous dog, Bob, on the Malley family farm. I am unendingly grateful to Knox for allow ing me to make and teach music all these years, and I look forward to continuing to perform and

Rachel (Unger) Curry ’05 and Ryan Curry ’05 moved back to

support the Knox and Galesburg arts communi ties for many years to come. Hooray for new ad ventures!” ❯ Aimee Woodyard sent this family and career update: “After five years doing surgical oncology (Upper GI cancers) with AMITA/Alex ian Brothers Hospital, I’ve switched to Palos Hospital/Northwestern, doing general and col orectal surgery. Kids are 14 and 9, and are start ing to recover from the mental health toll of COVID restrictions on top of regular life issues. And after five years of arguing and disliking each other, then two years happily apart, my husband, Bryan Woodyard, and I are happily back to gether! Both of us never expected to go down this path, so that was an awesome surprise. Hope everyone is well and enjoying life!”

Class Correspondent: Kip Conwell kipconwell@gmail.com

1999

Dr. Lora Sariaslan received her Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam in April 2022 with her dissertation titled Pins on the Map: Urban Map pings in European-Turkish Contemporary Art. Con gratulations!

Note: If you’re interested in serving as a class corre spondent for the Class of 1999, please contact Jennifer Gallas at jgallas@knox.edu or Jan Wolbers at jkwolbers@knox.edu

2000

Class Correspondent: Jennifer Parker parker_jen78@yahoo.com

2001

Ben Neale lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his wife and two young children. Since 2019, he has operated a private psychotherapy practice serving primarily military, veteran, adolescent, and college student populations. ❯ Eric Pietras was promoted in July 2021 to associate professor in the division of hematology at University of Colorado. Last year he published two significant papers addressing how inflammation can trigger the early stages of leukemia, and Eric’s lab cur rently works on developing early treatment strategies that can target this process before dis ease occurs. ❯ Joel Mensing and his wife, Brid get, welcomed their youngest son, Malcolm, in 2021 and their older son, William, turned 4. Joel just started a new job as a pulmonary and critical care physician at Rush Oak Park Hospital where he also serves as the ICU medical director.

Caroline Sietmann still lives in Chicago. After 10 years as an academic librarian, she switched gears and now works for the JAMA Network as the author outreach program manager. After 30 years of softball, Caroline switched gears to go easier on her joints and now is a bocce player. ❯ Brynn Seibert sends the following note: “I want to thank everyone in the Knox community for the condolences on the loss of my dad, Professor Robert Seibert ’63. It’s been a big comfort to my

mom and me to hear all of your memories from my dad’s days as a student and faculty member, and we’ve been especially moved to hear about the many ways my dad impacted your lives. The Knox community and his students were so im portant to my dad, and we are so grateful for the love and support you’ve sent our way.” ❯ Sidharth Mahapatra: “The pandemic has taught us all the true meaning of vigilance and adaptability. While in lockdown, we bonded deeper as a family, realizing how stretched life was with school, activities, and our respective jobs. We also learned the meaning of innovation and creativity.” With life now opening to a new normal, Sidharth’s wife, Namrata, has resumed her job as a teaching assistant for special needs kids in the Elkhorn Public School District, and she also serves on the executive board of Rejuve nating Women, a national organization commit ted to rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking. During the pandemic, Sidharth was promoted to associate professor of pediatrics and received his career development K12 award for his research on pediatric brain tumors. “Among other things, the pandemic has helped us learn to cherish, appreciate, and love each other, our fami lies, and our friends that much more.”

Class Correspondent: Kelly Marlin Flenniken kmarlin407@gmail.com

2002

Class Correspondent: Jennifer Wreyford 1700 Bassett Street, #407, Denver, CO 80202, 813-482-4112, jwreyford@gmail.com

2003

Class Correspondent: Allison O’Mahen Malcom 8134 Gridley Avenue, Wauwatosa, WI 53213-3049, allison.o.malcom@gmail.com

2004

Class Correspondent: Susan C. Vitous Johnson 1312 Iles Avenue, Belvidere, IL 61008-1407, susanvitousjohnson@yahoo.com

2005

Jon Betts continues to be reminded of the en during power and beauty of the Knox community in ways both small and profound. “From follow ing the Prairie Fire soccer team’s national tourna ment performance live stream, along with the alumni group chat, to spending the summer working on court alongside the uniquely wonder ful Dave Rahofy ’03, to running the 9th annual Henry Hustle put on by Seth Kopf ’04, to the outpouring of support and love my family re ceived from former classmates, coaches, and pro fessors following my mom’s passing in 2021,” Jon tells us that Knox has remained an impactful con stant presence in his life. ❯ Alexandra (Ali) Birn

bach married David Daskal before family, friends, and fellow Knox alumni in San Ramon, California, on October 30, 2021. Masks and addi tional COVID-19 safety protocols were put in place to ensure all guests could safely enjoy the festivities. Ali told us, “It was an incredible day, and David and I were extremely moved to have friends and family gathered together in the midst of these isolating pandemic years.” The couple is expecting their first child in April 2022. ❯ Rachel (Unger) Curry and Ryan Curry moved back to Galesburg in June 2021 and bought their first house. They are also excited about their soon-to-be growing family with the anticipated arrival of their first child this June (a boy!). ❯ Drew Parsons provided the following update, “I am an appellate attorney, and I’ve been working for the Office of the State Appellate Defender of Illinois since October 2020. I represent indigent criminal defendants as they appeal their convic tions to the Illinois Appellate Court for the Third District, in Ottawa. I can even take their appeals as high as the Illinois Supreme or even the U.S. Supreme Court if the situation warrants it (and I highly look forward to doing so). I have practiced law in Illinois for over 10 years and been with OSAD for more than a year. I am married to Erica Riley Parsons, and we have two beautiful daughters, Viola (age 5) and Josephine (age 4). Additionally, I have run six marathons.” ❯ Jacqueline Dehne Scafidi reports that 20212022 has been a great time for an introduction to another possible career. She has been teaching 6th grade elementary in-person in a long-term substitute position since the fall. Jackie met the class when she substituted in August as well. Jacqueline told us that it’s been a whirlwind, learning all the behind-the-scenes parts on the job, but it has been rewarding. Her spouse, Matt, and daughters, Alexandra (10) and Vivian (8), are doing their best to stay safe in this new way of living and keeping their lab-mix Kira (2) enter tained with chew toys and tennis balls. ❯ Amanda Smith Sodomka assumed the role of assistant court administrator/chief juvenile officer of the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit Court in St. Louis City on June 1, 2021. ❯ Erick West writes, “After nearly five years working for Ama zon—including a relocation from North Carolina back to my hometown of Beloit, Wisconsin—I have returned to my first career in nonprofit re source development. Beyond professional life, my wife, Rachel, and I, along with our son, Archie, welcomed Alice Irene to our family on August 26, 2021.”

Class Correspondents: Ashley Steinsdorfer Gottlieb aggottlieb@gmail.com Marissa Parkin moeparkin@gmail.com

2006

Sylvie Davidson writes, “My husband, Trevor, and I moved to Portland, Oregon, to be near

Class Knox

Galesburg in June 2021 and bought their first house.

family after the pandemic shut down the Ameri can Shakespeare Center where we were working. In May 2021, we welcomed our son, Buckminster (Bucky) Wheetman. I am pursuing a master of arts in restorative justice while also hoping to re turn to the stage sometime soon.” ❯ From Aleza Berube Sitarz: “We had a big 2021—this year we decided to move back to our hometown, Car bondale, Illinois, to be closer to our family who live here (my mom and Justin’s parents). I have left Austin ISD and am now the director of re silience education for southern Illinois at the Stress and Trauma Treatment Center. I love get ting to work with educators in Illinois to help create more trauma-responsive schools. We feel very fortunate to spend much more time with our families and to have our kids spend more time with them as well. I hope you all are doing well!” ❯ Megan Gamble writes, “I’m still in Washing ton D.C., still working from home doing fundraising for NARAL Pro-Choice America. Between COVID waves, I was able to do some domestic travel in 2021, including visiting my cousin Genevieve (Gamble) Nassif, and her family, outside of LA! I was also able to sneak out of the country last year for an excellent trip to Iceland. Hopefully 2022 will bring more oppor tunities to leave the house AND the country!” ❯ And from Katelyn Mazman: “I married my part ner, Lindsey, on December 5, 2021, at an estate in Northern California. Officiated by Ann Hernan dez, the ceremony was attended both virtually and in-person by lots of Knox folks, their part ners, and kiddos, including Brent Aronowitz, Lauren Burke ’07, Brian Ching ’05 and Melanie Hagen-Ching, Sylvie Davidson, Devin Hogan, Brian Humpherys ’09, Emily Richard son Fanjoy and Jim ‘Fletch’ Fanjoy, Joe Page ’03 and Hillary Loomis-Page, Ashley Palar Look, and Gabe Paz ’11. There was even a sur prise virtual performance of the Knox College hymn during the reception. It was a perfect day!”

Class Correspondent: Megan Rehberg

megan.rehberg@gmail.com

2007

Class Correspondents: Laura J. Wentink Marcasciano

ljmarcasciano@gmail.com

Michael C. Sales

KnoxClassof2007@gmail.com

2008

Chris Berger completed his doctorate in philos ophy at Boston College (BC) in May ’21 and is now Dr. Christopher Berger. He’s teaching at BC in their Philosophy and Perspectives programs as an adjunct and is pursuing a tenure-track teach ing position. ❯ Megan Krenz passed along an update for those that know her, “My dog, Norma (who was with me since my senior year), made it to her 18th birthday before passing on to the land of unlimited treats and adventures. Remember her as she would want to be remembered—luxu

Alumni Achievement Award Winner

2022 Young Alumni Achievement Award

Shane Fogerty ’09

Fogerty earned his Ph.D. in astrophysics at the University of Rochester and is a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, leading teams of researchers and students in innovative scientific projects. He is a national and international conference speaker and a published author in numerous prestigious scientific journals across multiple disciplines.

His research on physics simulations has contributed to the responsible stewardship of our nation’s nuclear stockpile and the nonproliferation of nuclear arms. As a mentor and teacher, Fogerty created learning environments that allowed students to thrive and as a result has been awarded multiple teaching commendations from his alma maters.

Why did you attend Knox?

I chose to attend Knox because when I first visited I was really inspired by the people that I met, the energetic students, the dynamic staff and everything that they were doing, the ideas that they were putting together and the kind of determination they had to make a difference. How they put their learning into practice was just really inspiring. I wanted to be a part of that.

What does a scientist at Los Alamos do?

As a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, I’m involved in a lot of different cutting edge research. One day I might be working on plane tary defense, how to nuke asteroids so that they don’t harm the planet, and, the next day, I might be making supercomputers faster. I work with large teams of diverse groups of people. I work on super computing codes in order to simulate things faster, like hurricane tracking models, which can help warn people faster when a hurricane is imminent and where that hurricane is going to be. We also do climate change models to see the increasing effects of climate change. That's just kind of a grab bag of the things I've been doing.

The research I like most is when things go from theoretical to having an impact on our everyday lives. So if you make your physics simulations more accurate or faster, it could potentially save lives. What I like best is when it merges with the real world. It’s a lot of responsibility, but also it’s really cool to make an impact.

What is your advice for Knox students interested in science?

You have access to some of the leading scientists in the world here at Knox, and some really great professors, who take an interest in you. I would take advantage of that opportunity to form a relationship with them, do some research with them, ask them about their experiences in graduate school and being scientists. Just take advantage of the opportunities you have here. That doesn’t exist everywhere. You can have a barbecue with your professor or get invited over to their house and really get to know them. So that is pretty special.

STEVE DAVIS

riating on an intensely fluffy bed, receiving many pats, and eating all the snacks. The queen Bean lives forever in our hearts.” ❯ C. Meaker started teaching playwriting and queer theater at Macalester College in the Twin Cities. They teach horrific playwriting at the Playwrights’ Center and continue to workshop their plays and screenplays around the country. ❯ Ann Marie Al bright is working as a nurse practitioner in pri mary care. She says “we welcomed our second son into our family in August. Waiting for Flunk Day.” ❯ Ivy (Amanda) VillarreaI submitted her exciting first update: “I got married in 2017 with my Knox housemates/best friends Sarah Lund ’09 and Laurie Nowak ’09 as bridesmaids! My husband and I bought a home in San Antonio in 2016 and we have two dogs; we both work in tech. We are looking forward to competing in Rome this February in the IBJJF Europeans Championship.” ❯ Magdalena Tortoriello says “I have been working as the interim costume stu dio manager at Indiana University in Blooming ton, Indiana, since last semester, the same university from which I received my M.F.A. in 2017. I also created my business (Ribboned Raven) for custom clothing, costumes, and alter ations early last year when I moved into my own house, both of which feel like huge millennial ac complishments!” ❯ Ariel Lauryn updated with “During the pandemic, I began working as a stop motion animator for a kids’ TV show called ‘Reading Buddies.’ I will be working with that show in the spring for season two, as a stop mo tion animator and on-set puppeteer. I will also be remounting a show that I co-created and have toured internationally, ‘The Last Rat of There sienstadt.’ More importantly, I got my first dog, Gidget, and I am better for it.” ❯ Lucas Street was promoted to assistant professor of English at Augustana College, where he continues to teach and direct the Reading/Writing Center. ❯ Jen nifer Golz Reidl can’t remember what her last update was but relates that “I am in my 10th year teaching 7th grade science. I am in my 3rd year as an assistant college basketball coach at Trinity Christian College and 7th year coaching high school softball.” ❯ Miriam spent the 4th of July Weekend with Carly Kirven ’11 at Lake

Weematuck. “I also went on a girls’ trip to Michi gan with Catherine Ray Dabrowski, Stephanie O’Brien Shmick, and Rosemary Ibis We are now planning Rose’s bachelorette party. Emily Jensen and I continue to haunt Roscoe Village eateries together and share many laughs over brunch.” ❯ Erica Stringfellow Tully recently achieved national board certification in literacy: English-language arts for early and middle child hood. She continues to teach 4th grade—you guessed it—literacy.

Class Correspondents: Miriam Gillan miriam.gillan@gmail.com Erica Stringfellow Tully e.swizz@gmail.com

2009

Mike Callahan is living his life a quarter mile at a time in Colorado. ❯ Sarah Forsythe-Insley started working for the empowering leaders divi sion of the Contingent in Portland, Oregon. ❯ Will Gallmeyer sends congrats to @Mike Payne on his recent nuptials! Green Projects Group is going strong, and daughter, Charley (1-year-old), lights up the world. ❯ Madeline Weiland is rock climbing in Nebraska and learning how to tapdance after being inspired by 2021 Miss New Hampshire winner, Ashley Marsh. ❯ Audra Adolph Bair graduated early with her master’s degree in nursing education in March 2021 and has been working as a visiting professor at Pur due University Northwest in the College of Nursing since August 2021. She loves teaching the next generation of nurses and still works as a bedside nurse on occasion. ❯ Marek Dorman wants to say hi and hopes all is well. ❯ Maren (Reisch) Axe got married in October 2021! Bridesmaids included Jaclyn Anderson, Kim berly (Anderson) Kasper, and Jennifer (Hoben) Quick Clare (Hines) Nichols was also there celebrating! “We’re expecting our first child in July. We’re going to name the baby Prairie Fire. Just kidding, we’re going to name the baby Seymour Hall.” ❯ Sam Jarvis is still in Iowa City, Iowa, promoting science and evi denced-based practice. ❯ Adam Vera has discov ered calligraphy and knitting as a hobby.

Class Correspondent: Sam Jarvis samuelpaulleejarvis@gmail.com

2010

Class Correspondent: Lauren Assaf-Holmes knoxcollege2010notes@gmail.com

2011

Kira keeps her owner Jacqueline Dehne Scafidi ’05 busy with lots of activities.

that slow us down! ❯ Andrew Polk hosts several radio shows with the iHeartRadio group in El Paso, Texas, including Talk El Paso, a local news and politics talk show that just expanded to two hours this year. This just in—he and Sara Belger Polk ’10 have three dogs who are all very good. ❯ Nea Fernandez and her husband welcomed a daughter, baby Ainhoa, to the world. ❯ Brigette Atcheson-Demke and husband, Cole Atcheson ’13, are happy in Chicago with the kitties. Brigette is working her way through a master’s in nursing leadership program, and she is now a clinical coordinator in her unit. She’s still running to maintain her sanity through all this! ❯ Tomilola Olotu took a break from corporate life to reassess her interests, and she is now a first year MBA student at the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School. ❯ Helen Schnoes is back in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, Ben Byers, where they enjoy the city’s lakes and bike trails. She’s working as an outreach manager for Minnehaha Creek Water shed District, but the real highlight was playing sand volleyball with Casey Patrick. “Go, Rusty Patches!” ❯ Chloe Bohm Yonker and husband, Josiah, rang in 2022 with the arrival of baby Benjamin!

Class Correspondent: Tim Schmeling trschmeling@gmail.com

2012

There are a few reasons why I love serving the class of 2011 as correspondent. Twice each year, my inbox is full of baby announcements (both fur and human), personal and professional success stories, and, of course, notes from friends. We re connect 10 years after walking together across the graduation stage. The past couple of years have been weird, but the Class of 2011 hasn’t let

John Williams and wife, Kaitie Adams, wel comed their first child in February. John is starting his fifth season at Sola Gratia Farm in Urbana, Illinois, after a very successful 2021. They donated over 16,000 pounds of produce to the food bank, area soup kitchens, and other food access programs. John and Kaitie also manage a small apple orchard in their limited free time. ❯ Guys who wear hard hats like to talk about disap pointing investments, such as bitcoin they almost bought, $TSLA they sold too early, or any win ning horse they didn’t bet enough on. When this topic comes up, Kevin Box likes to tell his fellow electricians about his most disappointing invest ment. ❯ Ed Davis and Gabi Sutton, having lived in Kansas City since 2016, are relocating to Chicago this spring, their mutual hometown, so that they can be closer to their families. There, Ed plans to start his own choir, a dream he’s had since singing in the Knox College Choir over a decade ago. They are celebrating six years of marriage in September. ❯ Celestina Agyekum writes: “My 30s have proven to have learned from my 20s—whew! As I grow in my role as chief of staff, Programs at Americares, I have found that creating time to grow and enjoy my other interests is indispensa ble. Thus, I am happy to be publishing my poetry book, Colliding Into Place, by early spring as a totem to my 20s and a laudatory for my 30s. Always open to (re)connecting with folks. Reach out, let’s chat at cdagyekum@gmail.com.” ❯ Karl Bair just recently obtained his certified fi-

“We’re expecting our first child in July. We’re going to

Class Knox

name the baby Prairie Fire.” —Maren (Reisch) Axe ’09

nancial educator designation. He continues to build his book of business across the Midwest. ❯ Krista Anne Nordgren is finishing her last year of graduate school in clinical mental health coun seling at North Carolina Central, and yucking it up with her neighbor Martin Yaeger, his cool wife, Crystal, and their sweet baby child. ❯ Amanda Archer writes: “I’m still living in Or ange County, CA, and working as the lead prod uct manager for Kwikset door locks. My husband and my days are busy trying to balance raising our two kids, Joel (3) and Amelia (1), while work ing full-time. Our highlights of 2021 include traveling to French Polynesia and nine U.S. states, including Hawaii twice, donating over 1,200 oz of breastmilk to local NICU babies, and tackling many home remodel projects!” ❯ Mon ica Prince signed a publishing contract for her next choreo-poem, Roadmap, with Santa Fe Writ ers Project, to be released in summer of 2023. She also got engaged to her best friend and life partner, Robert Barkley II, in the spring, and they continue to live together in central Pennsylvania, taking care of their emotional support cat, Lolo. ❯ Rachel (Clark) and Michael Cole welcomed baby girl Emerson Frances on October 15, 2021! She brightens their days with her smiles, giggles, and intense eye contact. She currently loves doing the happy baby yoga pose, blowing rasp berries with her lips, and shoving her whole hand in her mouth. She has transitioned from baby squeaks to coos and some days it truly seems like she knows what she’s talking about! Every day is a wonder for all of them. The Coles live in Coralville, Iowa, with their two kitties, Aspen and Mae, who are a little jealous of all the attention Emerson gets. Rachel and Michael work at the University of Iowa Hospital and are looking ahead to next steps in their careers. ❯ Paul Lurenz III and Lena Brandis ’13 recently moved to Münster, Germany. They will spend the time abroad devising new ways to play tricks on Todd Heidt when next they are able to visit. ❯ In Chicago, David Aken is a value analysis coordi nator RN for Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. The effect of the pandemic on hospital supply chains has made for an inter esting day-to-day work experience. Carmen Var gas Aken ’14, has been hard at work (from home with the pups) and making career leaps at AIM Specialty Health as director of finance and opera tional excellence. ❯ Emma Gingold happened to line up her graduation from her master of music in collaborative piano program with her 10-year Knox reunion this year, which will make remem bering dates much easier. Josh Wood was re cently promoted to staff software engineer and tech lead for his team at Rocketmiles, which means he’s a decisionmaker and is responsible for not only writing code but also what his team works on. They’re both enjoying life in Elmwood Park, Illinois, with their cat, Irman, and their dog, Bonnie. ❯ Diana Preshad Jain writes: “My hus band and I bought our first home and moved to Austin, Texas, in July 2021. In September, we

welcomed our firstborn, Vaani. Parent life has been a whirlwind, but she is the joy and light of our days! Siggy has embraced his role as a protec tive big brother too :)” Class correspondent: Aparna Kumar Boehm aparna.boehm@gmail.com

2013

Hannah Basil Bryant and her husband, Caleb, welcomed their first child to the world on No vember 21, 2021. Their daughter, Ruth Lydia, is happy, healthy, and growing by leaps and bounds. Hannah looks forward to showing Ruth around campus one day! Dog Lily is adjusting to big sis ter duties. ❯ William Budding stubbornly re mains living on the East Coast near Boston, working in higher education staff recruitment, and serving as a disability rights advocate around the region. William serves as a new member of the Knox Alumni Council, founding and chairing the Knox New England Alumni Club. Turning 30 was his newest landmark, and now that he has left his 20s behind, he has begun to appreciate the greener things in life, from growing house plants, games of cribbage, and other forms of green recreation. The pandemic has obviously kept things more indoors, but William hopes 2022 will bring more travel and possibly buying his first home!

❯ Emalie Jacobs Moore: “My husband, Jeremy, and I have welcomed our second child! Penelope was born November 16, 2021. Her big brother Oliver (2.5 years) is doing great! I’m also teaching part-time creative writing classes online, working on a collection of poems, and am a stayat-home mom to my awesome kids!” ❯ Sophie Townsend and her husband Gaige Spencer ’19 welcomed their daughter, Marcella Spencer, in July 2021. They reside in Peoria, Illinois, and So phie teaches physics and chemistry at Richwoods High School. She, Gaige, Marcella, and their dog, Marilyn, often walk to visit Justin Steele and Laura Thompson, who live down the street. ❯ Franzesca Mayer is a wardrobe technician at Cirque du Soleil. She writes, “We opened the

new Cirque du Soleil + Disney collaboration, ‘Drawn to Life,’ here in Orlando! It’s a dream to be a part of this production. Thank goodness live performances are BACK! Love to you and all at Knox.” ❯ Captain Joseph Puntoriero, Rayann Parkinson Puntoriero ’12, and their daughter moved to Tampa, Florida, for Joseph’s career. He was appointed as the special operations civil af fairs branch chief for Special Operations Com mand Central (SOCCENT). It has been busy since the last update to Knox; Joseph completed his master of arts in international relations while deployed to Lebanon and has been at the epicen ter of several of our generation’s worst humani tarian crises. He and his civil affairs team lead the humanitarian aid effort for the Port of Beirut ex plosion in 2020. Then, while at SOCCENT, he was the civil affairs advisor to the command for the Afghan retrograde and the ongoing refugee crisis. This and his time at SOCCENT earned him the recognition as Top 30 Officers under 30 years old in the U.S. Army. Hopefully this year brings a sense of calm and there will be more en joying the Florida weather for him and his grow ing family. ❯ Jill Krippel and Justin Dingle paid off their mortgage! ❯ Grant Deam: “Here is a summary of how things have been going: I earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from South ern Illinois University, Edwardsville, in Decem ber 2020. I taught composition at McKendree University in fall 2020 and spring 2021. In May 2021, I was offered a job at Gulf Coast State Col lege in Panama City, Florida. In July 2021, I mar ried Cassandra Poto in Saugatuck, Michigan. We met while teaching at a K-12 charter school in Chicago. Cassie and I moved to Florida days after the wedding. She now teaches fourth grade, and I

Helen Schnoes ’11 says “This is Zoey the Cat! No graduation date, but lots of Knox pride.”

Chloe Bohm Yonker ’11 and husband, Josiah, with baby, Benjamin.

SUBMITTED

LEFT TO RIGHT: Dan Lieberman ’05, Meg Huizenga Jedrey ’05, Letty (Luke) Maxfield ’06, Stephanie Sorn ’05, Alexandra Birnbach ’05, David Daskal, Ben Maddox ’05, Conni Edwards ’05, and Crystal Reeves ’05.

supervise the writing and reading lab at GCSC. I also teach composition.”

❯ Julius Parod: “Jen neke Oostman (now Parod) and I had our first child, Adrian, on 9/12/21. We got married the previous year, nearly 11 years after we first met during orientation week at Knox.” ❯ Erin Bell: “I got married in September 2021! My name has not changed. My spouse and I live in Chicago. I am the manager of library services at Oak Point University. I was promoted to this role in Octo ber 2021. I am part of a team that developed a podcast exploring archive collections at the Ger ber/Hart Library and Archives in Chicago. Our podcast, Unboxing Queer History, launched on Feb 1, 2022. I have been a volunteer at GHLA for over 4 years.” ❯ Lena Brandis and Paul Lurenz III ’12 now call Münster, Germany, their home. Adventure is out there! ❯ Matt McKinney made the leap from journalism to public affairs after being part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He lives in Santa Monica, California, with Kate Mishkin ’16, re cently worked on Super Bowl LVI, and raves about Knox to anyone who asks. ❯ Alyssa (Wyss) Soren married Robert Forney (George town ’10) on August 6, 2021. Kate Haslem and

THE WEDDING GUESTS INCLUDED: Ann Hernandez ’06, Brent Aronowitz ’06, Katelyn Mazman ’06 and partner, Lindsey, Devin Hogan ’06, Brian Ching ’05.

Regina Rosenbrock were bridesmaids. “Thank you, Knox and Kappa Kappa Gamma, for the lifelong friendships you’ve given so many of us!”

Class Correspondent: J. William Budding williambudding@gmail.com

2014

Paige Lowe: “Grant Lowe and I are still in Seat tle with three cats. I got a job at a startup that uses machine-learning-big-data-fancy-program ming-words to decrease food waste—basically, getting paid to help stave off one part of our looming environmental disaster. Grant got a job at Expedia, but they still won’t let him take the private jet because apparently, they don’t give those to copy writers.” ❯ Hannah Black: “I got engaged on my 30th birthday! Still in the Madi son area with my now-fiancé and our cat, Charlie. Teaching high school biology in a post-virtual school year has been extremely challenging and rewarding. I co-directed my first high school musical this year and it was life changing.” ❯ Marcus McGee: “(Still) Ph.D.ing in anthropol ogy at the University of Chicago; starting to teach undergrads (!) this year. Preparing to move to Mexico City this summer for a long-term re search stay.” ❯ Jessica Ohmert: “Connor Schmidt and I still live in the Seattle area, with our adorable rescue dog, Aviva. Connor is work ing as a marketing consultant, which is a fancy way of saying people pay him to make *really nice* PowerPoints. I’m currently enrolled in a coding bootcamp, specifically as a full stack de veloper, expected to graduate at the end of April. Shout out to Jaime (Spacco) for giving me the love of coding way back in his winter 2014 CS 100 class. It stuck with me, and I finally threw my hands up and said ‘alright, fine, this is my career now.’ Love that man.”

❯ Ryan Christopher Hansen: “Emily Hansen and I are currently liv ing in Mount Prospect, Illinois. I am the director of clinical training and core faculty at Adler Uni versity in the art therapy program. I was also elected as the treasurer and director of peer con

LEFT TO RIGHT: Clare (Hines) Nichols ’10, Kimberly (Anderson) Kasper ’09, Maren (Reisch) Axe ’09, David Axe, Jaclyn Anderson ’09, Jennifer (Hoben) Quick ’09.

sultation and seminar for the Illinois Art Therapy Association. I started my Ph.D. in counseling ed ucation and supervision at Adler University this past fall!” ❯ Amber Theisen: I am still living in St. Louis with my husband, Adam, our two dogs, cat, and our new baby boy! Milo was born July 19. I’m still working as an ICU nurse at BarnesJewish Hospital but am starting to take some college courses (yay, organic chem) to try and go back for my nurse anesthetist degree.” ❯ Jessica Ranard: I started working at a bookstore in Logan Square and was recently broken up with (and yes, honey, I’m thriving). I’m working on a new book, signed up for improv classes, and I’m wearing as much leopard print as possible. I am two years sober, living in a 19-person social jus tice-oriented co-op, and I’m giving pastel pink a try. My New Year’s resolution is to learn all the lyrics to WAP.” ❯ Amanda Axley: “My husband Pier ’10 and I live in Iowa City with our two dogs. In May, I got my MLIS from the University of Iowa, and now I’m working for the Walt Whit man Archive, encoding Whitman’s correspon dence, and editing and annotating those encoded files.”

❯ Laura Pochodylo: “Last spring I worked with Prof. Cate Denial and her very cool Museums, Monuments, and Memory students to help them build a website showcasing their class research (check out beforeknox.com!) Despite bombings and tornadoes, I still live in Nashville, Tennessee, with my husband, Casey. We co-host an all-vinyl radio show on Nashville’s WXNA 101.5 FM every Sunday morning. After five years of working for myself, I fired myself to take a music nerd’s dream job managing digital stream ing initiatives for Sun Records.

❯ Eliot Davis: “I had gender affirming top surgery this past fall and have never been happier in my life. I’m mov ing back to my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, from the Pacific Northwest to complete my mas ter’s in clinical mental health counseling at UMSL. I started dating my best friend in 2020 and gained a creative, quirky stepdaughter. Our favorite thing to do as a family is go rock climb ing.”

❯ Grace Theisen Schultz: “My husband,

“I’m wearing as much leopard print as

Alexandra Birnbach ’05 and David Daskal—October 30, 2021

Katelyn Mazman ’06 and Lindsey–December 5, 2021

Maren (Reisch) Axe ’09 and David Axe–October 2021

Diana Preshad Jain ’12 with family.

Class

Sam Magnuson ’10, Colin Davis ’11, and Jason Clark ’23 were all groomsmen. Other current and former students and staff are also pictured.

Kyle, and I welcomed our son, Soren Charley, into the world in June 2021!” ❯ Rachael (Koene) Collman: “This year I have come into my own as an emergency medicine nurse at a major level-one trauma center in Indianapolis. My husband and I have been trying to balance getting in some travel and staying safe/healthy. Puzzles, hikes, and walks with our two dogs help us unwind and relax after stressful days at work.” ❯ Kayla Jones: “The pandemic inspired me to start a business creating all-natural health prod ucts. It also inspired me to get a cute little Ha vanese puppy who keeps me going every day. The struggle is still real, but things are looking up.”

Class Correspondents: Esther Farler-Westphal Natalia Binkowski Kaplan Knoxnotes2014@gmail.com

2015

Mike Sprinkle graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law in May, passed the Bar exam in October, and received his law license in November. He recently moved with his wife, Miniona, to Urbana, Illinois, for employment as a law clerk to Justice Steigmann for the Fourth District Illinois appellate court. ❯ Mikko Jimenez moved to Fort Collins to start his Ph.D. studying bird migration at Colorado State Uni versity. ❯ Matthew Klich started a Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati in Computer Science & Engineering. ❯ After 6 years, Bethany Larson finished their time on the JET Program this past summer and has moved back to the States to start their M.F.A. at ASU. ❯ In 2021, Callie Smith completed her MPA-MSES (Master of Public Af fairs and Master of Science in Environmental Science) dual master’s degree program at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The PR people from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Bloomington, Indiana, would be gravely disappointed if it was not also mentioned that their MPA program at IUB is the #1 ranked program in the nation. Additionally, (and of considerably more importance to Callie), Callie became a godmother in 2021 with the

birth of her cousin’s son, Sebastian! She is work ing towards gaining magical fairy powers and looks forward to advancing to the title of Fairy Godmother. ❯ Cody Sehl bought a house! ❯ Nesha Harper is currently living in San Fran cisco, California, with her boyfriend and their dog while she completes her Ph.D. in clinical psychology. She is a neuropsychology extern at the UCSF Epilepsy Center and works part-time as a research associate at SRI International. She also works on research at the Palo Alto VA and recently had her first paper published! ❯ Matt Timmerberg and Laura Ernst moved to Down ers Grove, Illinois. Matt started a new job with the Village of Downers Grove as a management analyst. Laura was promoted to program officer at DuPage Foundation. ❯ Over the course of the 2020-2021 school year, the New School for the Arts and Academics in Tempe, Arizona, commis sioned Maddie Mondeaux to write a play for their advanced drama middle school students to perform virtually. The play, titled The Search for Izzy Cartwright, or Escape from the Forest of Mind Control Slime!, premiered virtually in May 2021. ❯ Claire T. Neri came out during the pandemic and is gayer than ever.

Class Correspondents: Celinda Davis, Claire Neri, and Abby Kravis knox2015reps@gmail.com

2016

Class Correspondent: Kati Stemple kstemple2012@gmail.com

2017

Theresa Murphy works at the Escape Game in Chicago and invites any Knox alums to stop by if they’re in town. She is also engaged! She and her partner, Michael, will be getting married in fall 2022 and are very excited. ❯ Elizabeth Clay and Nick Sienkiewicz ’15 got engaged in September 2021 and will be getting married this coming September in Naperville, Illinois (at an outdoor history museum, surprise!). Liz has continued managing communications at the Toyota Techno

logical Institute at Chicago, a graduate school on the University of Chicago campus. ❯ Ryan Foxall has been tattooing and farming pigs for a living. They are going to be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail beginning in April. For those who don’t know, that means they will be walking from Mexico to Canada this year! ❯ Max Wallace got engaged last year, and the wedding should be in October 2022. ❯ J.C. Stokes is finishing out her first year as a content specialist at CDW and is trying to adjust to a new field in the remote/hy brid world. Her biggest news is that she bought her first home and is now settling into the neigh borhood in Westchester, Illinois. ❯ Kalie McGuire was most recently working in the data department on the re-election campaign of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. She couldn’t be more proud of her work there to help Governor Murphy become the first Democrat since 1977 to win re-election in the state. She looks forward to the next campaign. ❯ Kameron Wells moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and is enjoying his job as a data engineer, baseball systems with the Boston Red Sox. ❯ Mike Sockol moved to North Car olina this year to start a Ph.D. program in litera ture at Duke University. He is working with Fredric Jameson, studying media, ecology, and Marxism. ❯ Micah Wilger was ordained this summer as a priest with the Universalist Ortho dox Church, a progressive Eastern Orthodox

Callie Smith ’15 and godson, Sebastian.

Alyssa (Wyss) Soren ’13 and Robert Forney–August 6, 2021

LEFT TO RIGHT: Regina Rosenbrock ’13, Alyssa (Wyss) Soren ’13, and Kate Haslem ’13.

James Clark ’09 and Erin Rutledge—December 11, 2021

Jude Blair ’17 and their partner, Teagan Yaussy ’16, have two

ner, Teagan Yaussy ’16, have two adorable cats, Fjord and Freyja, as well as a dog named Goose. Blair is in their second year as a 4th grade math and science teacher in Chicago. ❯ Morgan Mad derom recently graduated from the master’s in urban planning and policy program at University of Illinois-Chicago. She has accepted a job as the director of infrastructure and community en gagement with the 40th Ward alderman’s office and is excited to get to work building a livable community for all. ❯ Alma Marin-Levy got mar ried over the summer to David Levy ’18 and had some Knoxies in attendance.

LEFT TO RIGHT: Catlin Watts ’16, Jamal Nelson ’14, Chandi Chaiyarat ’15, Kathryn Todd ’15, Dushawn Darling ’15, Devin Compton ’14, and Courtney Hill ’17.

faith community. He is graduating this spring from Seattle Pacific University with his master of divinity. He is working on a queer theology thesis that he intends to eventually publish as a book. ❯ Jen Ripka left the Naperville Public Library in the fall and is now working for the Indian Prairie Public Library as a programming and outreach li brarian. She read 100 books in 2021! ❯ Jakub Dulak relocated to Los Angeles in August. Fol lowing several months of working as a produc tion assistant at Paramount, Jakub started the new year with a job as an agent’s assistant at Gray Talent Group, LA Branch. ❯ Anastasia Gamble feels more optimistic about a lot of things this year. She has majorly improved her art, is slowly building social media followings/connections, and is getting back into the things she loves like video games, traveling, and baking! ❯ Diandra Soemardi graduated with a master’s in science from the University of Maryland. ❯ McLeod

Alma Marin-Levy ’17 and David Levy ’18–Summer 2020

LEFT TO RIGHT: Valarie Varanese ’19, Genesis Santana ’18, Fabiola Cervantes ’17, Elizabeth Marin ’22, Alma Marin-Levy ’17, David Levy ’18, Patrick Martin ’18, Bob Lallky ’19, Hector Sierra ’15.

Class Correspondents: Theresa Murphy murpth@gmail.com Jen Ripka jripka1327@gmail.com

2018

Leo Monterey ’19 is graduating with a M.Ed. in urban higher education.

Sumner went to Cambodia in 2020 to take a TEFL/TESOL certification course and is cur rently working as a preschool teacher at Portland Waldorf School. ❯ Raeann Boero was promoted to communications coordinator at Catholic Charities of Oregon. She loves her team and has been learning and growing so much in her new position. ❯ Elisabeth Zarnoti left her comfort able database job at YWCA St Paul to go work for Wayside Recovery Center and truly launch her career in fundraising. In her first few months at Wayside, she has learned and accomplished a lot. She doesn’t have much free time, but when she does, she spends it with Sean Ramsey ’18 and her cat, boi, calling her friends, and listening to unreleased songs from Taylor Swift’s Red album. ❯ Jinglun Ding graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a master of software en gineering degree. At CMU, he built ground mis sion control software for two moon rovers which will be launched to the moon on a SpaceX rocket next year. He’s planning on moving to the Bay area to work for a startup company building de centralized maps for everyone. ❯ Kieran Whittenburg received a legal name change, from “Katarina Whittenburg” to “Kieran Whitten burg.” ❯ Carley Bechen got engaged to Mitchell Murphy ’15. ❯ Casie Panganiban lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, currently and works for Squamish Nation’s Education De partment as a K-12 middle school advocate. She helps students and families from the nation access funding and academic support, and she works alongside schools to ensure equitable opportuni ties for Squamish Nation students throughout their academic journey. While it’s challenging work, she loves the connections she’s making and the overall work with families and youth. ❯ Tevin Liao reports: “I married my best friend, Charlie Finan ’16, to their husband, Devon Finan. I left my position as an academic advisor and am now at the University at Buffalo in the graduate school. I remind myself every day to rest and not work too hard. There are (hopefully) too many years ahead of us!” ❯ Jude Blair and their part

Class Correspondents: Atithya Ghai atithya@gmail.com Danielle Diaz ddiaz42@uic.edu

2019

Diego Carmona accepted a position as one of the lead Spanish teachers for Spanish 1 and 2 courses taught at Intrinsic High School in down town Chicago. In his spare time, he runs a soccer program at William H. Wells Community Acad emy High School, feels overall well settled in, and is grateful for his current positioning. ❯ Carolyn Ginder, together with Samuel Cohen, have moved back to Galesburg! Carolyn has started a new role at NPAccel working as a paid media specialist, while Sam is pursuing his online master’s degree in social work at Virginia Com monwealth University. ❯ Tiffany Misiura is working as a paraprofessional in the public school system of Highland Elementary (Skokie, Illinois). In the fall, she’ll be pursuing her master’s degree in special education at Northeastern Illinois Uni versity, a change of direction from her previous master’s degree in applied behavioral analysis. This will lead to a more practical approach that will directly apply to the school, allowing for one-on-one teaching with the students, rather than having a clinically focused career. ❯ Leo Monterey: “I wanted to share some updates. My name is Leo and my pronouns are He/Him/Siya. Currently, I am finishing up my last semester at the University of Illinois at Chicago and am slated to graduate from the M.Ed. in urban higher education program in May. In addition, I work as an assistant resident director for UIC’s campus housing department. There, I help man age buildings and support the training, supervi sion, and development of resident assistants. As a former RA at Knox, seeing things a bit more from the management and supervisory perspec tive made a tremendous impact on my develop ment as a leader and professional in the field of education. I initially majored in psychology at Knox, but I took both my in-class and out-of-

Devin Compton ’14 and Kathryn Todd ’15–June 19, 2020

Class Knox

adorable cats, Fjord and Freyja, as well as a dog named Goose.

class experiences such as my sense of statistics, social psychology, social justice, and anti-bias, to the field of student affairs and higher education. I left Knox with questions I needed to get an swered, so I entered the M.Ed. program at UIC. Now that I am closer to finishing up my pro gram, I am left with even more questions and ad ditional paths I am looking to pursue. I believe that education is the tool for which the greatest amount of change can occur within our lifetimes. Knox, with its ups and downs, taught me to seek more for myself and to leave an impact on the world. I joined higher education and student af fairs with the hope of educating others and sup porting students to create a more equitable and caring society. Having spent time in the Midwest for both my undergraduate and graduate career and having spent time in the Bay Area interning for UC Berkeley, I always find myself in the same position no matter what; there are always stu dents, coworkers, peers, and the community needing a voice, platform, or resources for advo cacy.”

Class Correspondent: Elena Iatropoulou-Bannat eiatropoulou@knox.edu

2020

Class Correspondents: Natasha Caudill, Allen Irvine, Cayne Randle, Courtney Pletcher knoxclassof2020@gmail.com

2021

Class Correspondent: Tina Jeon jse2053@gmail.com

Marriages and Unions

Devin Compton ’14 and Kathryn Todd ’15 on June 19, 2020.

Alma Marin ’17 and David Levy ’18 on July 24, 2021.

Alyssa (Wyss) Soren ’13 and Robert Forney on August 6, 2021.

Jane Wolff ’72 and Nick Hein on August 21, 2021.

Erin Bell ’13 and Rob Warren on September 26, 2021.

Maren Reisch ’09 and David Axe on October 16, 2021.

Alexandra (Ali) Birnbach ’05 and David Daskal on October 30, 2021.

Katelyn Mazman ’06 and Lindsey Adams on December 5, 2021.

Class of 2022 Contributes to their Passions

The Class of 2022 Senior Challenge Committee encouraged fellow students to contribute gifts to whatever meant the most to them at Knox. Pictured are members of the committee presenting a check at the Senior Toast during Commencement activities. Members of the Senior Challenge Committee are Shuchita Poddar, class president; Jamahra Richardson, vice president; Himani Patel, secretary/treasurer; Daniel Bien; Sophia Bowley; Maggie Cheng; Maggie Garrett; Carly Rieger; and Leah Youngman.

Deaths

Wilma E. Weatherford ’38 on 12/1/2017.

Margaret Johnson Nelson ’40 on 6/15/2020.

Jean Russell Vogel ’40 on 9/20/2018.

Marcia L. Larson ’41 on 4/8/2022.

Harold W. Ogle ’41 on 1/23/2022.

Rosemary Creighton Swise ’42 on 4/6/2022.

Audrey Benedict Sykes ’44 on 12/31/2021.

Donald P. Amenta ’45 on 7/18/2019.

Mary Markley Fleming ’45 on 6/5/2018.

Walter L. Howland ’45 on 4/23/2018.

Janet Webster Alcox ’47 on 8/28/2017.

Mary Suydam Durkee ’47 on 7/5/2021.

Barbara Miner Landon ’47 on 5/26/22.

Theo Housh Savory ’47 on 1/12/2022.

Nadine Lehman Durham ’48 on 9/27/2021.

Eleanor Mae Linn Leeper ’48 on 12/18/2021.

Joan Burkhard Smith ’48 on 1/3/2022.

Charles R. Trick ’48 on 11/23/2017.

Herrmine Groen Williams ’48 on 3/23/2022.

Roger Herlean ’49 on 7/17/2021.

Patricia Hug Loring ’49 on 5/1/2020.

Dolores Kennedy Moscou ’49 on 1/28/2022.

Gerald L. Pihl ’49 on 7/2/2021.

Barbara Bagley Filson ’50 on 12/17/2021.

Gene R. Johnson ’50 on 8/11/2021.

R. Garthwait Kelly ’50 on 7/21/2021.

Edward A. Loeser ’50 on 8/28/2021.

John F. Polillo ’50 on 10/21/2021.

Robert C. Runge ’50 in May 2018.

John D. Cooke III ’52 on 10/5/2021.

Donald Houpt ’52 on 9/2/2021

John S. Ingersoll ’52 on 3/7/2022.

John A. McLeish ’52 on 3/6/2022.

Donald E. Moyer, Jr. ’52 on 12/19/2021.

Cleon Fulle Nelsen ’52 on 4/3/2022.

Dale G. Nelson ’52 on 2/7/2022.

Alice Campbell Pranis ’52 on 12/29/2021.

Lloyd P. Shirley ’52 on 11/4/2021.

Jane Bergquist Stephenson ’52 on 8/15/2021.

Laurence S. Chadwick ’53 on 2/17/2022.

A. Kent MacDougall ’53 on 11/6/2021.

Hal G. Meyer ’53 on 9/24/2021.

Joann Brand Ogdon ’53 on 12/7/2021.

Gerasimos “Jerry” Santas ’53 on 6/20/2021.

David A. Wait ’53 on 2/21/2022.

Joan Harris Green ’54 on 9/15/2021.

Charles E. Shaw ’54 on 10/14/2021.

Francis M. Small ’54 on 2/8/2022.

CARLA

Jonathan Powers, Assistant Professor of Economics and Head Swim Coach

Beloved and respected professor and chair of economics at Knox, Jonathan G. Powers passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

A member of the Knox faculty since 2000, Powers taught microeconomics, industrial organization, and game theory, and presented research papers at the American Economic Association, Midwest Economic Association, and Western Economic Association annual meetings. Powers received his Ph.D. in 2002 from Northwestern University.

He was affectionately known as “J-Pow” among his students, colleagues, and alumni, because typing “jpow” into an email would automatically complete into his full Knox email address.

Powers was an esteemed mem ber of the Knox community, serving on a number of faculty committees, including the Executive Committee, the Faculty Advisory Committee on Internships, the Athletic Committee, and the Financial Development & Budget Committee.

“Jonathan was in equal measures deeply insightful into how and why a small college campus works, while simultaneously able to share his insights in respectful, supportive, and often self-deprecating ways,” said Michael Schneider, provost and dean of the College.

“As he did for so many, Jonathan listened with kindness and patience and great generosity,” said Carol Scotton, associate professor of economics and business and management. “He genuinely listened. He paid attention, eager to learn where I, or whoever was talking, was coming from and heading toward so he could meet us where we were. While he knew where he was going and where he wanted to bring the class, what was most important to him was to respond to how the class was getting it. Jonathan was an exemplar for lifelong learning. A teacher, colleague, and friend that will be dearly missed.”

Powers received a Knox Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement Grant for Interdisciplinary Course Enhancement for a course on sustainability taught with Paul Skrade in 2014.

He was a friendly, highly respected, and familiar figure to many students as a teacher, but also as the head coach of the Knox College Prairie Fire swim teams. He swam for four years at Amherst College, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1987. He was captain of the swim team at Amherst his senior year, and helped lead his squad to a 25th place finish at the NCAA Division III National Swimming and Diving Championships. Powers also competed in water polo at Amherst, serving as captain his senior year. He also was faculty advisor and coach for the Knox College men’s and women’s water polo clubs.

“We were all blessed to be in the presence of grace when we worked with Jonathan,” said Daniella Irle, former director of Prairie Fire athletics.

A memorial scholarship fund has been established at Knox. Visit knox.edu/powers-memorial.

Carol Davis Drennan ’55 on 2/24/2022.

Joyce McGrew Fischer ’55 on 12/10/2021.

William Flodin ’55 on 9/8/2021.

Edward S. Montgomery ’55 on 2/8/2022.

Logan “Bud” Wharton ’55 on 9/29/2021.

Stanley G. Anton ’56 on 2/7/2022.

C. Chandler Hatcher ’56 on 1/2/2022.

Charles A. Williams ’56 on 7/18/2021.

Roberta Wright Daniels ’57 on 1/11/2020.

Ronald D. Larson ’57 on 9/5/2021.

Margaret “Peg” Callard ’58 on 11/20/2021.

Muriel Hill Cronin ’58 on 7/25/2021.

George T. Matthes ’58 on 10/15/2021.

Dale A. Nelson ’58 on 7/21/2021.

Joseph J. Quagliano ’58 on 10/14/2019.

Raymond L. Rambo ’58 on 3/29/2022.

Anita Wentling Rodin ’58 on 1/31/2022.

James K. Stowell ’58 on 7/20/2021.

Helen Vraneck Polk ’59 on 12/12/2021.

Joseph E. Stablein ’59 on 2/22/2022.

Walter C. Trout ’59 on 2/25/2022.

Jean E. Barber ’60 on 6/29/2021.

Shirley Kidder Brown ’60 on 9/16/2021.

Peter A. Pav ’60 on 12/7/2021.

Carole Robbins Sharp ’60 on 8/31/2021.

Richard Stafford ’60 on 1/18/2022.

Denis A. Baylor ’61 on 3/16/2022.

Byron V. Johnson ’61 on 11/5/2021.

Donald S. Robinson ’61 on 8/6/2021.

Richard N. Engman ’62 on 9/7/2021.

Nancy L. Hope ’62 on 11/27/2021.

Carolyn Kellerman ’63 on 9/10/2021.

Sally Withrow Long ’63 on 9/1/2021.

Edward J. Dellin, Jr. ’64 on 10/30/2021.

Judith Wesch Larson ’64 on 12/28/2021.

Robert W. Kosobud ’65 on 12/14/2021.

Lawrence M. Lindley ’65 on 8/14/2021.

Nicole “Nikki” Sanders ’65 on 9/26/2021.

Virginia Radatz Stewart ’65 on 4/7/2022.

William M. Churchill, Jr. ’66 on 12/17/2021.

Elizabeth Blatchley Fraser ’66 on 2/12/2022.

Victoria Lewis Suyat ’66 on 7/29/2021.

Susan Bohlen Bryant ’67 on 7/30/2021.

Stanley Doida ’67 on 7/19/2021.

Ralph L. Gibbs ’67 on 9/20/2021.

Douglas D. Mustain ’67 on 9/15/2021.

Susan Kranc Alrich ’68 on 7/27/2021.

Mark W. Burkhalter ’68 on 7/19/2021.

Michael H. Jannone ’68 on 8/10/2021.

Paul E. Madsen ’68 on 3/20/2022.

Robert B. Wagar ’68 on 9/10/2021.

Peter Folger Stetson ’69 on 8/2/2021.

Richard E. Hemp ’70 on 3/10/2022.

Richard L. Hesser ’70 on 11/9/2021.

Franklin H. Pecsi ’72 on 10/9/2021.

Philip W. Armstrong ’75 on 2/3/2022.

Peter S. Moon ’76 on 3/2/2022.

Diana M. Phelan ’78 on 1/9/2022.

Jamie E. Johnson Ziegler ’78 on 9/4/2021.

Kandy S. Sayrs ’82 on 3/20/2022.

Sonja Johnson Crain ’84 on 2/11/2022.

Anne Poston Jesuit ’92 on 6/9/22.

Douglas Roche ’00 in February 2022.

PETER BAILLEY ’74

Class Knox

Deaths of Friends

Brenda Williams, spouse of Charles A. Williams ’56, on 8/7/2017.

Ray F. Boehmer, spouse of Liesel Wildhagen ’72, on 4/19/2018.

Rodney D. Johnson, parent of Kristen Johnson ’96 and Gregory Johnson ’98, on 2/6/2020.

Norcross Teel Jr., spouse of Elsa Swenson Teel ’67, on 4/11/2020.

Marilyn M. Forbes, spouse of Charles P. Forbes ’63, on 5/1/2020.

Anna Adams, parent of former Trustee Barbara A. Adams ’80, on 5/12/2020.

Robert L. Schertz, spouse of Juliet Engel Schertz ’57, on 7/16/2020.

Virginia “Ginny” Folk, spouse of Ted Folk ’62, on 11/14/2020.

James Frederick Morrison, spouse of Myra Wokoun Morrison ’56, on 12/21/2020.

Gary A. Church, spouse of Barbara Cripe Church ’67, on 1/6/2021.

Homer Smith, Jr., spouse of Joan Burkhard Smith ’48, on 2/6/2021.

Jessie Elias Dixon, parent of emeritus faculty member Jessie Dixon-Montgomery ’89, on 3/6/2021.

Christopher D. Stanton, son of Gregory B. Stanton ’66 and Margaret Sawyer Stanton ’67, on 3/13/2021.

Jane Morgan, parent of employee Joe Diveney, on 3/18/2021.

Lawrence Potter, spouse of Mary Peterson Potter ’58, on 4/1/2021.

Eugene W. Reem, parent of employee Debra DeCrane ’98, on 4/20/2021.

Jane Tuman McAndrew, mother of faculty member Frank McAndrew, mother-in-law of employee Maryjo McAndrew, on 5/14/2021.

Barbara Ann Gibbons, parent of employee Andrew Gibbons, on 6/2/2021.

Lady Gianna Rolandi Davis, parent of Edward Davis ’12, on 6/20/2021.

Edwin Lloyd, spouse of Marcea Bland Lloyd ’68, on 7/11/2021.

Margareta “Gretel” Baacke, former faculty member, on 8/13/2021.

Jack Wyatt, former Trustee, on 8/16/2021. Deborah A. Bouchette, spouse of William D. Wickart ’76, on 8/26/2021.

Burdett Loomis, former faculty member, on 9/25/2021.

Helen Nelson, spouse of Paul R. Nelson ’42, on 9/28/2021.

Dolores A. Nelson, former employee, on 10/1/2021.

Annabelle Waldbillig, former faculty member, on 10/8/2021.

Peggy Coan, former employee, on 10/11/2021.

Wortham Ashcroft, spouse of Claudia McFadden ’72, on 10/24/2021.

George E. McKay, Jr., spouse of Harold T. Kyvig ’65, on 10/26/2021.

Floyd Goar, former faculty member, on 11/1/2021.

Richard “Dick” Cortright, former faculty member, on 11/2/2021.

James Stanley Humphrey, former employee, on 11/7/2021.

Michael L. Puscas, spouse of Colleen Metternich Puscas ’72, on 11/7/2021.

Van E. Ball, former employee, on 11/8/2021.

Dorothy “Jean” Hedbloom, parent of Lynne Hedbloom ’83, on 11/13/2021.

James E. Lindsay, friend of the College, on 11/13/2021.

Sydney Brady, spouse of professor emeritus William Brady, on 11/15/2021.

Stanley L. Olinger, parent of employee Donna Browne, on 11/28/2021.

G. Maxine (Soper) Mundwiler, former employee, on 12/5/2021.

Kim Betts, parent of Jonathan Betts ’05, on 12/29/2021.

Momcilo Rosic, former faculty member, on 1/7/2022.

James G. Wyman on 1/9/2022.

James N. Jackson, spouse of Teresa (Terry) Jackson ’64, former employee, on 1/24/2022.

Margaret E. Durall, spouse of William E. Durall ’72, on 2/3/2022.

Julie A. Courson, parent of employee/alum Kyran Blissett ’20, on 2/7/2022.

Katie R. Williams, parent of Katherine Booth ’10 and John Williams ’12 on 2/15/2022.

George E. Peterson, friend of the College, on 2/24/2022.

Charles William Gear, spouse of Ann Lee Morgan ’62, on 3/15/2022.

Henry Joe, professor emeritus of art, on 4/2/22.

Virginia “Ginny” Hellenga, spouse of George Appleton Lawrence Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of English Robert Hellenga, 8/3/22.

Margaret Louise “Peggy” Knosher, spouse of former coach and athletic director Harley Knosher, on 8/5/2022.

In Memoriam

Momcilo Rosic, Professor Emeritus Russian Language and Literature

Momcilo Rosic died January 7, 2022, at this home in Glenview, Illinois. He was 105 years old.

He was born on February 12, 1916, in Glusci near Sabac in Serbia to father Stevan and mother Miljana Rosic. He is survived by one son, George ’74 and his wife, Mary Marselus Rosic ’76, of Evanston, Illinois; two grandsons: Nicholas (Valerie) of Broomfield, Colorado, and Gregory (Rocio) of Milton, New Hampshire. He is also survived by six great grandsons. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 59 years, Loni.

Rosic had a full and remarkable life. He was born during the midst of the fighting near the Serbian front with Austria in World War I. Following graduation from the Royal Military Academy in Belgrade he was com missioned an Army officer in 1937. Among his many accomplishments was participation in the March 27, 1941, coup d’etat which brought a pro-Allied government to Yugoslavia.

Rosic was captured by the German Army when it invaded Yugoslavia in 1941 shortly thereafter and spent four years in a German POW camp. He escaped near the end of the war as Allied troops were approaching his camp, and later served as an officer under American and British commands to bring order to the area near Osnabruck in northwest Germany after the war ended. It was here that he met his wife.

Rosic obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Bonn, Germany, in 1950 and emigrated to the United States in 1951. He was a professor of Russian language and literature at Knox from 1959 to 1986. Following retirement he and his wife moved to Glenview to be near his son and grandchildren.

One of the sayings he most liked to communicate to his family was from the 1950’s song “Que Sera Sera,” “Whatever will be will be; The future’s not ours to see.”

FILE PHOTO

New Turf on Stisser Field at the Knosher Bowl

This spring, 75,186 square feet of new synthetic turf surface was laid on Stisser Field. The process involved laser grading the subsurface to fix any settling that had occurred since the initial installation. The letters spelling out “Knox” in each end zone are15 feet high.

Photo by Carla Wehmeyer

Parting Shot

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