Class Notes

Those notes listed here are from June 2020-May 2021. If you would like to submit a class note for inclusion in the next issue of The Raider (summer 2022), please email alumnioffice@regisjesuit.com.

1950s

Louis McCabe '58 is the retreat director at Our Lady of Oaks Retreat House.

Paul Foster '59 is a native Coloradan whose love of architecture and art was surely inspired by his roots in Denver's Park Hill neighborhood. Paul's piece, Patterned Light, was awarded the Best in Show in this year's Rocky Mountain National Watermedia show.

1960s

Tom Robinson '64 served as replay coordinator for college football's national championship game.

 BELOW: Bill Waldron '65 is “leading a blessed accomplished life in Montana” and is “still chasing grizzly bears to stay young.” He remarks fondly on the education he received at Regis Jesuit.

1970s

David Ciancio '72, global head of grocery retail for Dunnhumby, named as RIS Influential: "Top Movers and Shakers in Retail."

Dan DeFrancia '76 is the owner and innkeeper at the Willamette Valley Bed and Breakfast.

Daniel Mondragon '79 is the resource development director at Hands of The Carpenter, a non-profit organization that provides services for single women in need to eliminate barriers to economic self-sufficiency. Brian Loiseau '83 is the principal at Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc.

Danny Porreco '83 has been the head softball coach at D’Evelyn High School since it was founded in 1994.

Steve Smith '85 is the owner of Smith & Company, LLC.

Sean Lewis '86 founded SC Concepts Ltd (Japan) in 2004, ProFound Innovations LLC (Colorado) in 2017 and 8760 Power Ltd (Japan).

RIGHT: Great Raiders Chris Denmark '88, David Hayden '88 and Kyle Speller '89 (pictured left to right) reunited this spring and "remembered our special bonds with Regis during our time there!" said Denmark, who sent us this photo of the first time the three of them have gathered since 1989.

Kyle Speller '89, public service announcer for the Denver Nuggets, was one of the home announcers for the NBA bubble last year.

Patrick Vitry '89 is vice president of client services at Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

1990s

Andy Boian '90 is the founder and CEO of Dovetail Solutions in Denver.

 BELOW: Thank you to Marcus Danneil '92, General Manager at Mile High Outdoor, for helping to celebrate the RJ Class of 2021 and promote Regis Jesuit during Colorado Gives Day with electronic billboards around town.

Jeremy Heit '96 is a neurointerventional surgeon (neurointerventional radiologist) who specializes in treating stroke, brain aneurysms, brain arteriovenous malformations, brain and spinal dural arteriovenous fistulae, carotid artery stenosis, vertebral body compression fractures and congenital vascular malformations. He also serves as an assistant professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Tom Owenby '97 is a faculty associate in elementary education and secondary social studies at the University of WisconsinMadison.

Nicholas Runkle '98 won the Chicago Open Mic Challenge benefi ting the American Cancer Society for singing an original song, Goodnight (Mom's Song).

John-Paul Maxfi eld '99, founder and president of Waste Farmers, has been selected for the 2021 Real Leaders Impact Awards, recognizing leading social and environmental impact businesses around the globe.

2000s

Darren Pettapiece '00 is the event and sales manager at Vehicle Vault, the premier auto gallery and elite custom garage community located in Parker, CO.

David Blakeman '01 is the co-founder of Zealous Travel Co.

Fr. Michael Rapp '01 celebrated 10 years of priesthood in the Archdiocese of Denver.

Andrew Davis '02 and Craig Bustos '02 joined forces to launch Downing Street Commercial Partners in April 2020. The real estate fi rm specializes in multifamily, industrial and manufactured housing assets.

RIGHT: Brian Strassburger, SJ ’02 was ordained to the priesthood at Holy Name of Jesuit Catholic Church in New Orleans in June. Brian most recently served as the editor-in-chief for The Jesuit Post and following his ordination, he will serve in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas responsible for responding to pastoral needs in the area, especially those of the migrant community.

Nick Laff erty '03 is the VP of Growth and Development at Brogdonenergy.

RIGHT: Dr. Collier Wright IV '04 and his wife Colleen welcomed their son, Henry Collier Wright V on April 25, 2020, in Cleveland, Ohio. Collier is fi nishing his second-year Fellowship at Cleveland Clinic in EndoUrology in June 2021.

Dan Ficke '05, who coaches at Belmont Abbey College, was voted by his peers as Region Coach of the Year for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He now is eligible for national honors. Ficke played basketball for the Raiders and earned Second Team All-State and Honorable Mention honors during his high school career.

Michael Koenigs '05 is the host of ABC Television's More in Common and executive producer of Localish, which won its fi rst Emmy Award.

Klint Kubiak '05 was promoted by the Minnesota Vikings as off ensive coordinator. Kenneth Stable '05, former senior specialist at Charles Schwab and current full-time law student at the University of Denver, shared his story about being a Boys Hope Girls Hope scholar and how he is now giving back to the organization and the students it impacts. He currently serves on the Board of both Boys Hope Girls Hope Colorado and Regis Jesuit. You can see the full story at www.regisjesuit.com.

Klay Kubiak '07 has moved from head varsity football coach at Strake Jesuit High School in Houston, Texas to become the new defensive quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers. He joins his brothers, Klein and Klint '05 and father, Gary, who all have made careers working in the National Football League.

Sarah Leach '07 works at Denver Catholic Hospitality House.

Grace Sullivan '08 received her master's degree in international and intercultural communication from the University of Denver. She also was selected as a commencement speaker.

Mike Degitis '09, a skilled trades instructor and coach at the Cherry Creek Innovation Campus, led his students to build six tiny homes now being used to serve women transitioning out of homelessness.

2010s

Ellen Clark '10 recently received her master of arts degree in literacy from the University of Northern Colorado.

Courtney Cochran '10 received her master of physician assistant studies from South College in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Charlotte Wagner '10 moved to Salt Lake City to start a job as a malignant hematology clinical pharmacy specialist at the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Did you know?

In celebration of our rich history and the Great Raiders who once fi lled our halls, we proudly display the senior class composites dating back to the early 1920s in the Boys Division and to 2006, the fi rst graduating class, in the Girls Division. Come to campus for a walk down memory lane!

RIGHT: Michael O’Dwyer '11 and Catie Mulhern '11 married on September 18, 2020, in Vail, Colorado by Fr. Ronny O’Dwyer, SJ '01.

Sarah Anderson '12 wrote an editorial about the importance of good communication by scientists when conveying information about scientific matters like the COVID-19 vaccine. Anderson is pursuing her doctorate in chemistry at Northwestern and is an aspiring science writer.

Jennifer Evans Bennett '12 received the Charles N. Shepardson Graduate Teaching Award this spring for demonstrating excellence in the classroom teaching agriculture-related courses from the College of Agriculture at Colorado State University. Jenny was awarded a master of agriculture degree with honors from Colorado State University in May 2020.

Kathleen Kershisnik '12 has joined Physical DimensionsChiropractic/Physical Therapy as a doctor of physical therapy, graduated from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She received her bachelor of science in health and kinesiology and played NCAA D1 golf at the University of Wyoming.

RIGHT: Andrew J. Schmidt '13 married Katherine Vedas on July 17, 2020, at All Souls Catholic Church.

RIGHT: Brendan Van Jacobs '13 married Mary Sullivan '14 on June 6, 2020, at St. Ignatius Loyola Denver.

Jackson Burkholder '14 was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America. He is currently studying cactus anatomy at Texas State University.

Kyle Butenhoff '14 and Dana Mackin '14 are in pre-production for a feature-length film entitled Laced. Written and directed by Butenhoff, the film is a single-location thriller set in rural Colorado with both Mackin and Butenhoff also acting in it. As co-producers, they are sponsored by The Film Collaborative, a 501(c)(3) created to help fund independent films. "We feel deeply connected to the RJHS performing arts department and credit not only our meeting there but also the foundation of our passion for our acting and storytelling careers there," said Mackin, who was involved in RJ Theatre, as was Butenhoff, during their time at Regis Jesuit. Laced is slated for release in 2022.

Max George '14 was invited to attend Rockies spring training camp.

Drafted by the New York Mets in 2017, David Peterson '14 completed his rookie pitching season in the major leagues and looks forward to taking his game to the next level in the 2021 season, securing a spot in the starting rotation.

Nicholas Stofa ‘14 graduated in May 2021 with a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado School of Law. Following the Bar Exam in July, Nicholas will begin work as an Associate Attorney at Falgien Warr and Iyer, P.C. in Wheat Ridge, CO.

Reagan Todd's '14 strong Catholic faith continues to steer life choices and career in Minor League baseball with the Colorado Rockies and his startup business, Todd Urich Recruiting, which helps high school student-athletes choose the right college. Following a recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2018 with his family, prayer and spirituality have been his guide, centering his life around his love of God. He remains open to where life may take him and keeping faith and family as his priorities.

Christina (Canino) Troksa '14 has started a new nonprofit, Humankind, dedicated to serving communities most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amber Dalton '15 recently accepted the position of rotational health, safety and environmental engineer at Honeywell Aerospace in Phoenix, Arizona.

Matt Schmidt '15 was signed by the Kansas City Royals.

Madilyn Emerson '16 worked as an ICU RN at St Joe's for two years (until January 2021) and just completed her first semester of the CRNA program at Boston College. She received her first clinical site assignment which will be at Boston Medical Center.

Bella Gervasini '16 served in the Alum Service Corps (ASC) at Regis Jesuit High School during the 2020-21 school year as a health education teacher. She will also serve as a mission coordinator next school year.

Erika Rasmussen's '16 latest article, "Searching for Beauty— and God—in the Age of Instagram," was published in the March issue of America Magazine, The Jesuit Review of Faith & Culture. She completed an 11-month long fellowship at America Media in New York and continues to broaden her horizons and take on new challenges in the development of her literary skills writing for Catholic media. In December, Erika worked as a film production assistant for a recent documentary that spotlights a lay Catholic woman who runs St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Albany, New York.

Maura Rose '16 graduated magna cum laude from Villanova University double majoring in fi nance and accounting and minoring in both business analytics and international business. She works at the Bank of Montreal in New York City.

Katie Schilmoeller '16 is featured in the fall/winter 2020 issue of Regis University Magazine. Schilmoeller, who is pursuing her master's in nursing at Regis University, is currently working as a pediatric home health nurse. She sees her work as combining "her passion for serving marginalized and vulnerable populations with nursing and community health." Her eff orts show an ongoing commitment to being with and for others.

The Philadelphia Eagles signed Nebraska tight end, Jack Stoll '16 to their roster.

Ryan Vottiero '16 is an offi cer in the United States Marine Corps.

Great Raider Mary Weinstein '16 has added a few more wins to her resume since winning a team title and an individual title during her time at Regis Jesuit. Weinstein now leads the University of Denver Women's Golf Team in several categories. "She has the lowest career stroke average, has the highest GPA, she's getting her master's in management, and she's just a great leader and just truly cares about her teammates and this team," Head Coach Lindsay Kuhle said.

Erin Whitaker '16 graduated from Marquette University with a degree in electrical engineering and will be starting her career at Michael Best & Friedrich in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a patent engineer. She hopes to attend law school in the next few years and become a patent lawyer.

Jennae Frederick '17, a senior at Colorado State University, was featured on CSU’s website in a story entitled Embracing Her Passions, Goals as They Arise.

RIGHT: Sean Dunnington '18 is starting a construction management internship at Milender-White.

Sydney Fillipi '18 received the Animation Award for Excellence for sophomores through Bradley University’s Interactive Media Department for her design work on "Fuse," a department-wide student showcase, and the 24-hour animation challenge.

Fran Belibi '19 was part of the Colorado trio that helped the Stanford women's basketball team win the NCAA Championship.

Daniel Carr '19, a sophomore at Augustana College in Illinois, continues to shine and score big for the men's basketball program. Carr received First Team All-Conference honors in just his second year with the program, only the fourth player in team history to do so. After three scheduled Ironman competitions were canceled over the last six months, Connor Hodes '19 mapped out his own route and completed a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a full marathon in less than 12 hours on Saturday, October 11, 2020. Connor’s RJ Boys Swim & Dive teammate Will Kerscher '20 provided some much-needed companionship for 27 miles during the biking leg.

Sydney Cross-Watts '20 was chosen as freshman corepresentative for Trinity College Athletes of Color Coalition.

RIGHT: Bryce Parsons '20 is an outfi elder for the Air Force Men’s Baseball Team.

Grace Varga '20 didn't wait to start making her mark at Creighton University. Seeing that the school had gotten rid of its recycling program in lieu of a composting program as a cost-cutting measure, she took matters into her own hands and ended up starting a renewed commitment to recycling among her fellow students.

On March 24, eight alumni returned virtually to their alma mater to share their refl ections and leadership advice with sophomore students who served as leaders on Freshman Retreat. Thank you to Chibueze Agwu '16, Austin Layne '18, Dean Maloney '18, John O’Hagan '15, Hector Peralta '16, Rayvon Solomon '15, Nicholas Tyng '15 and Ian Wuertz '15 for their participation in this panel.

Additionally, Ashlyn Frederick '11, Kendra Schraeder '14, Gianna (McWilliams) Barbaretta '14 and Natalya King '14 shared their Raider experience with members of the Class of 2024 as part of their Freshman Retreat.