IN MEMORIAM

died in December 2022. She graduated with a degree in psychology.

1975

John Love, 66, of Abbeville, La., died Sept. 2, 2019. He graduated with a degree in biology and was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. Love worked for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. His crowning professional achievement was leading the re-introduction of the whooping crane to Louisiana. For his efforts, Love won the 2014 Governor’s Award for Conservationist of the Year.

Mark Turay, 67, of Littleton, Colo., died April 11, 2023, after a brave battle with cancer. After one year at Monmouth, he transferred to Eastern Illinois University, graduating with a degree in psychology. Turay worked in sales and also had 10-year stints as district manager for Rocky Mountain News and as a mortgage banker. He then switched his profession to facility manager for Canon and Century Link.

1976

Melvin Siverly, 86, of Galesburg, Ill., died May 1, 2023. He studied at Western Illinois University and the University of Illinois before completing his degree later in life after the birth of his four children, including Bryan Siverly ’81. He worked for 30 years at Butler Manufacturing in Galesburg, retiring in 2001, and then was a substitute teacher for 10 years. Among Siverly’s many civic contributions, he often portrayed Wyatt Earp at community events. He was also a certified master gardener. Other survivors include his wife of 64 years and a grandson, Josh Siverly ’10

1977

David Larson of Orlando, Fla., died Sept. 17, 2022. He graduated with a degree in speech/communication/theater and was a member of Crimson Masque.

1978

Annalee Feldmann, 64, of Provo, Utah, died May 31, 2020. She graduated with a degree in sociology, was involved with Crimson Masque and the radio station, and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta. Feldmann worked with autistic children in Washington, D.C., then moved to Utah and worked in the Provo School District, especially enjoying her position in the library at Spring Creek Elementary. Survivors include a sister, Kathleen Feldmann Francis ’80

Phyllis Millsap Renth, 66, of Spring Branch, Texas, died Feb. 9, 2022. She worked in the field of early childhood education and care.

Joyce Schroeder Surman, 66, of Herrin, Ill., died June 24, 2020. She worked as a nurse.

1982

Kathleen Stees Terpening, 65, of Geneseo, Ill., died May 26, 2023. She graduated with a degree in sociology.

1987

John Carlberg, 57, of Appleton, Wis., died unexpectedly on Jan. 10, 2023. An All-American football player for the Fighting Scots, he was also a member of the track team and graduated with a degree in business administration. His most recent position was CEO of Dixon Ticonderoga.

Ed Simpson, 58, of Monmouth, died Feb. 5, 2023, of ALS. A business administration major, he was a member of the football and track teams and Theta Chi. Simpson was an officer with the Monmouth Police Department before starting a 27-year career with BNSF Railroad as a locomotive engineer.

1992

Sean McKee, 53, of Bettendorf, Iowa, died June 2, 2023, following a short battle with recurrent colon cancer. The Monmouth graduate studied art and computer science and was a member of the football team and Tau Kappa Epsilon. McKee had a knack for all things IT and made that his career. He was the senior network systems engineer at RiverStone Group, Inc., in Davenport, Iowa, joining the company in 2004 after working for Caterpillar and Knox Office Equipment. Survivors include his wife, Kelly Montroy McKee ’01

1997

Richard Stephens, 44, of Kerens, Texas, died May 25, 2019. He was a producer in the entertainment business.

2001

Gwen Solberg, 44, of New Holstein, Wis., died Dec. 1, 2022. She graduated with a degree in biology and was employed by Charter Communication as a service representative.

2003

Ellen Thomas, 62, of Galesburg, Illinois, died June 11, 2023. She graduated with a degree in elementary education after completing an associate’s degree at Carl Sandburg College. Thomas worked with children as a reading teacher, tutor, early childhood educator and caregiver. She also worked on the Spirit of Peoria as a crewmember and gift shop manager.

Word has also been received of the following deaths:

Mona Buchholz, 97, of Monmouth, the wife of the late biology professor Robert Buchholz, died Dec. 28, 2022. A son, Dan Buchholz ’77, also preceded her in death, and she is survived by two sons, including Mark Buchholz ’71.

Doris Dice, 89, of Monmouth, a former secretary at the College, died Feb. 12, 2023.

Barbara Hawk, 91, a 14-year member of the College’s maintenance and custodial staff, died Feb. 2, 2023.

James Haynes, 90, of Bushnell, Ill., registrar of the College for the 1988-89 academic year, died Dec. 12, 2022. He was preceded in death by his wife, Anne Eckley Haynes ’56. Survivors include a daughter, Emily Sue Haynes Nelson ’77, and a son, George Haynes ’79

Mike Hull, 58, of Monmouth, who worked several years in the cafeteria, died Feb. 22, 2023.

Rose Sandstrom, 75, of Roseville, Ill., died Oct. 24, 2022. In her retirement years, she was a supervisor of Monmouth College student teachers, and she also taught a teaching methods class. Survivors include a son, Mark Sandstrom ’98

Leonard Szaltis, 41, of Monmouth, a former staff member, died Jan. 30, 2023.

Nnachi Umennachi, 70, of Bettendorf, Iowa, a former philosophy professor at Monmouth, died Dec. 22, 2022. After leaving Monmouth, he taught 25 years at Scott Community College in

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True to the aforementioned description of engineering, the project was easier said than done.

“There’s been a bunch of fine tuning that we didn’t expect,” said Stasko. “It’s gone from a nine-month project to a multi-year project. Professor Iselin is hiring some students to do research this summer, and we’re hoping to pass this on to them.”

Rousey grew up on a farm, and that environment, plus his natural curiosity, put engineering on his radar.

“I grew up tinkering with things, and my family was fully supportive of that,” he said. “If some equipment broke down, I’d help put it back together. That got me into vehicle maintenance, and I had plenty of hands-on physical labor.”

As he progressed in the level of difficulty of the things he fixed and made, he was in-

Emeritus trustee H. Safford Peacock of Lincoln, Ill., who as chairman of the Monmouth Board of Trustees from 1984-91 helped guide the College, died July 5. He was 94.

“Saf was a giant in the life of Monmouth College, a presence that inspired us all and inspires still,” said Monmouth President Clarence R. Wyatt. “Saf did work he loved and did it exceptionally well. He made all the communities he served — most especially Monmouth College — better places. And he loved and was loved by an extraordinary family. What better legacy could any of us leave.”

A Monmouth native and the son of two Monmouth alumni, Peacock attended Monmouth High School before graduating from Lake Forest Academy and then Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1950. He served in the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps for three years, before working from 1953-77 with Myers Industries Inc. in Lincoln, retiring as vice president and general manager. He then started a new career as an investment manager.

Peacock joined the Monmouth Board, then known as the Senate, in 1977, and he received an honorary doctorate of laws from the College in 1991. In 2008, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal of Outstanding Public Service – one of the highest awards given by the Secretary of Defense to a private citizen – for his work with the National Defense University.

In 1997, Peacock and his late wife, Betty, made the lead gift that enabled the College to build Peacock Memorial Athletic Park, named in honor of his late parents and home to the Fighting Scots’ baseball and soccer teams. He also created the Roy S. Anderson (Class of 1922) Scholarship to help students from Lincoln High School attend Monmouth.

Bettendorf.

Karen Woodward, 79, of Eau Claire, Wis., who taught French at Monmouth, died Nov. 18, 2022.

H. Safford Peacock ENGINEERING

volved with a much more personal creation.

“My life has all been about trying to make something of myself,” said Rousey. “I liked that engineering was a new major at Monmouth and that I could make a name for myself in it.”

Stasko shared a similar story, in terms of his background and his desire to stand out from the norm.

“My dad was a diesel tech and now he’s an auto mechanic, so I’ve been around it my whole life,” he said. “I’d hear my dad complain about engineers and why they’d designed things a certain way, and that’s what made me think about engineering even more and pursue it – to fix things from the start in their design, instead of having to fix them later.”

Several of his high school peers were also interested in STEM fields, and they headed to predictable schools.

“I wanted to get away from what the other kids in my school were doing, picking the University of Illinois or Bradley,” he said. “I was looking for a small school. I thought it was kind of cool that I was going to make my own program.”

She also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and, for 18 years, at UW-Eau Claire, retiring as an associate professor in 2002.

Wilson, who said he’s “always liked tinkering with things, like the toys I had growing up,” had a more obvious reason for choosing Monmouth. A pole vaulter for the Scots, Wilson hoped to follow in the footsteps of Monmouth’s three national champions in that event, including the assistant coach who helped recruit him, Dan Evers ’18.

“Yeah, that helped a little bit with the decision,” said Wilson, who has cleared 16 feet, 4-3/4 inches and won multiple Midwest Conference championships in the event. He narrowly missed All-American honors in 2022, placing ninth at the NCAA outdoor meet.

Wilson realized that engineering made sense as a college major, but said, “I didn’t know what kind of engineering I wanted to do. Then my senior year, I took a circuits course, and it clicked.”