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Class Briefs
Class of 1967
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Theresa Dinunzio Urbanski ’67 and Wayne Urbanski celebrated their thirtieth wedding anniversary on September 7, 2020. They live in Wethersfield and were married at Corpus Christi Parish.
Class of 1970
Patty Bremer Larson ’70 and John (Rusty) Larson (X ’68) celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary on June 29, 2020. “The past fifty have been such a blessing. We have raised three children and enjoy watching them raise our seven wonderful grandchildren. Weekends will find us at plays, musicals, sporting venues, and Irish dancing! We are enjoying travel in our retirement and have been fortunate to see so many beautiful places.”
Class of 1973
Elizabeth Sullivan ’73 works as a Nurse Practitioner for UVA (University of Virginia) in Culpeper, Virginia.
Class of 1988
Congratulations to Mercy alumna Paula Kohs Drake ’88 and Stonehill Alumna ’92 named this year to the D2 East Hoops Super 75 as one of 15 Stretch/Power Forwards. Shown below, Paula in her glory days on Mercy's Basketball Team.
Class of 1990
Liz Malaquias Malczon ’90 graduated from The University of Scranton in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. She has worked as a registered nurse in a variety of settings including medical-surgical, hemodialysis, home care, intermediate care, and most recently in case management at Middlesex Hospital. Liz has been an active member of the Mercy Alumnae Association, has assisted with many alumnae hosted events, served as a Class Representative and most recently assumed the role as vice president. “I am so incredibly grateful for my four years at Mercy. Its traditions and empowering all female environment are what makes Mercy so special and helps create an atmosphere of spirit that is palpable upon entering the foyer. Mercy is a place where you not only receive a high-quality education, but you learn the importance of service. My experience was so positive that I wished to share it with my two daughters, Caitlin Malczon ’18 and Abigail Malczon ’20. My girls thrived in Mercy’s fostering environment, just as I did. We are proud to be 2 generations of Mercy women.” Pictured in photo below, left to right: Caitlin Malczon ’18, Liz Malczon and Abigail Malczon ’20.
Class of 1992
Elizabeth Ames Miller ’92 celebrated her twentieth anniversary with husband Christopher Miller in April 2019. They currently live in Frisco, Texas with their two boys (Michael 14, Matthew 11). She recently
accepted a role at the North Texas Performing Arts Academy as their core learning counselor and is happy to say both her sons are following in mom’s thespian footsteps. Shown below, left to right: The Millers—Christopher, Matthew, Elizabeth, and Michael.
Class of 1993
Melissa Reynolds ’93 works as a Radiology Technician at Bradley Memorial Hospital in Southington, CT.
Class of 2001
Jenny-Lynn Neumann ’01 is a 6th grade Special Education teacher at Bellows Falls Middle School in Bellows Falls, VT. Jenny-Lynn moved to Keene, NH after graduating from Keene State College in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Geography with GIS certification. She returned to Keene State and graduated with her Masters of Science in Special Education in 2009. She lives in Keene with her fiancé, Vincent Morey, and her six pets. “Looking back at my years at Mercy, I was beyond prepared to enter college thanks to the expectations that the Mercy staff gave me as a student. I excelled knowing that what Mercy gave me as tools for learning were implemented successfully in college and in my years as a teacher.”
Class of 2002
Dina Marie (Sanghvi)Ycaza ’02 is a Clinical Nurse III/Charge Nurse at Yale New Haven Health and obtained her BSN at Quinnipiac University in 2004. The Charge Nurse role has helped her build many relationships with the entire interdisciplinary team in the operating room. She enjoys coordinating care for the patients in their 21 operating rooms with upwards of 50 surgical cases a day. This past year she cared for COVID-19 patients who needed urgent surgery. When Dina gets a free moment, she loves educating new staff. She has developed a Trauma 101 presentation alongside another nurse to educate new staff on what to do in trauma situations when there's minimal time to react and how to prioritize. “Mercy helped me stay on a regimented pathway and every time I started to stray my educators pulled me back in. My teachers always pushed me that extra mile and helped me develop vital critical thinking skills. This skillset is extremely useful when I'm delegating tasks during a trauma in the operating room.” Shown below: Dina Marie (Sanghvi) Ycaza (top photo) and coworkers at Yale New Haven Health at work during the pandemic.
Mercy Girls ’02 gathered on October 25, 2020 at Hops on the Hill in South Glastonbury to shower Jill Fortier Indoe, MD ’02 with love. Shown to photo below, left to right: Nicki Jung ’02, Sarah Putnam McCoy ’02, Stephanie Thomas MacDonald ’02, Jillian Fortier Indoe, MD ’02 and Megan Spencer ’02. Jillian had a baby girl in January of 2021.
Class Briefs
Class of 2006
Alyssa (Driscoll) Jochym ’06 resides in Wilmington, Delaware with her husband and their children. She works as an Operating Room Nurse at St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington. Noah is 3 years old and Emma was born in May of 2020 during COVID-19. Alyssa was grateful for FaceTime and to keep in touch with family and friends during the pandemic. Proud to be a Mercy girl!
Class of 2008
Melissa Wyskiel Troiano ’08 is an Occupational Therapist in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital. She helps people of all ages get back to everyday life after an injury. She works with patients after strokes, heart surgery, joint replacements and everything in between. Melissa lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas with her husband of 3 years, Eric Troiano (X ’08), and their 11/2 year old daughter Alianna. “I got involved in Cross Country and Track which changed my entire life. It was the competitive nature of sports that helped me make friends and strive to want to be better every time I got on the course. Mercy sports taught me how to strive to help the team be better as a whole and that it wasn’t just about me anymore. It was about striving to be better for the collective and that has stuck with me throughout my life.”
Class of 2009
Keri McCarthy Duque ’09 and her husband Juan welcomed a baby boy, Mateo David Duque born on December 22, 2020.
Samantha Sweeney-Annarumma ’09 is the Communications Director for the Subcontractors Trade Association in New York City. After moving to New York to pursue a career in journalism in 2013, Samantha instead landed at the Subcontractors Trade Association, where she has been ever since. Although Sam did not have a background in construction, the association was looking for someone to help manage its website, write newsletters and handle administrative and operational responsibilities. Now as its communications and events director, she says she has enjoyed the privilege of learning a lot by working with the association’s industry-leading members. “Construction is extremely male-dominated. But there are some incredible women, and there are a lot of women especially coming up through the ranks, starting their careers ... it’s been great to see that representation.”
Taylor Funaro Mersereau ’09 married college sweetheart Jonathan Mersereau on August 17, 2019. The two met as undergraduates at Colby-Sawyer College in NH. The wedding day included three Mercy alums and Taylor’s best friends Kristin O’Connor Richey ’09, Darlene Vadasz Smith ’09, and Lauren Yoia Stoveken ’09. Taylor and Jon live in Wethersfield, CT with their black lab puppy, Finley. Taylor works at St. Francis Hospital and Jon works in sales. Taylor and Jon are looking forward to a healthy year and opportunities to travel. Taylor feels honored to have had such a wonderful experience at Mercy and looks back fondly on her memories made.
Class of 2010
Sarah Bachenheimer ’10 is an Optical Metrology Technician at ASML (ASML is the world's leading provider of lithography systems for the semiconductor industry) in Wilton, CT. Her mother, Buff Bachenheimer, worked at Mercy for 42 years. This is Sarah’s 10th year as a mentor on the Mercy Robotics team, the TechTigers. “The obvious reasons to send a daughter to Mercy are the academic ones. I received a great and varied education and was prepared for college and life. Each department has excellent classes and teachers. I appreciate the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math). I was taught that women can do anything.”
Class of 2011
Jacqueline Fischer ’11 married Matthew Kish (X ’11) in an intimate, family ceremony in Greenville, South Carolina, in October of 2020. They’ve been together for over 9 years.
Class of 2012
Kate-Lyn Dadario ’12 married Tom Sheehan, whom she met in college. Kate always kept her Mercy girls close. Hadley Moore Gigas ’12 was the matron of honor and her roommate in college. Shannon McKenna ’12 was her maid of honor and her best friend since their Mercy days. The photographer was Shayna MacDonald ’11 who did a fabulous job and has her own business (Shayna MacDonald Photography). “The circle of Mercy is timeless.”
Class of 2014
Rebecca Rizy ’14 attended Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia to study nursing and graduated in May 2019 with her BSN and decided to stay in Virginia after graduation. She currently lives in Fairfax, Virginia and is a Registered Nurse at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in the Medical/Oncology Unit. “I am so grateful for my 4 years at Mercy. I made some amazing friends and had the opportunity to try different clubs and sports. I was challenged academically and was able to take classes like pathophysiology and neuroscience that I would not have gotten elsewhere. It was my time at Mercy that made me realize I wanted to go into a career to help other people and that is when I thought of going into nursing.”
Class of 2017
Jenasia Shuler ’17 graduated from UConn-Storrs, Class of 2021, with a degree in Chemistry. In 2020 she was awarded the Ulrich Muller-Westerhoff Scholarship, given to a full-time undergraduate chemistry major who has a proven commitment to the Chemistry program and is participating in undergraduate research. Staff from her middle school, St. Martin De Porres Academy in New Haven, surprised her with a congratulatory sign this summer.
Class of 2019
Kylie Johnson ’19 builds on her TechTigers skills and resources. She also co-pilots a plane she helped build as part of the Teens to Flight program. Kylie recently completed her sophomore year at RIT, (Rochester Institute of Technology), studying mechanical engineering with an aerospace option.