Ripon College R Connections Fall 2019

Connections A Ripon College Class Letter Publication Fall 2019

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Fall 2019

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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION CONNECTS RIPON FAMILY ACROSS GENERATIONS Being part of the Ripon College alumni community is not something that starts when you cross the Commencement stage. It is something that begins the day you step onto campus as a first-year student. A few months ago, I had the honor to welcome the Ripon College Class of 2019 to the Alumni Association at Ripon’s 153rd Commencement ceremony. Welcoming this class to the ranks of alumni was made even more special by the fact that over the past three years, I have had the opportunity to network with and get to know these young alumni.

One of the initiatives of the Alumni Board is engaging with students. One of our focus areas is growing student networking with Alumni Boardsponsored events. First-year students are welcomed to campus with a class mug from the Alumni Association. In the fall, we host an event with the sophomore class called Endless Connections with Bottomless J’s as well as the senior class VIP Party. During the spring, there is Casino Night for the junior class and the Cap and Gown party for seniors. At these events,

(I continue) to grow not only student-alumni connections, but to engage with all alumni at events and gatherings held throughout the year.”

KIMBERLY M. LARSON ’08 Alumni Association President

students are encouraged to mingle and network with Alumni Board members and ask questions around career paths and life during and after college. These events not only are great ways for students to practice networking, but a chance to share Ripon stories across generations.

The class of 2019 was the first class to partake in all of these events. In the fall of 2017, I met a great group of students. I learned where they were from, what they were studying and what their career aspirations were.

Fast-forward to the spring of 2019. I reconnected with the same group of students and, low and behold, we all remembered those conversations from the beginning of their sophomore year. I learned about their plans postgraduation: what jobs they had lined up, where they were headed next for school. A month later, I was able to congratulate each and every one of them again and welcome them as Ripon College alumni!

As I watched the graduates walk across the Commencement stage to receive

If you have photos for

their diplomas, I thought back to my Commencement and my time at

future editions, please send

Ripon. It was 11 years prior that I was at that same Cap and Gown party

them to Yvonne Nicklaus,

networking with members of the Alumni Board. I now find myself as the

associate director of

president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, continuing to grow

engagement and outreach,

not only student-alumni connections, but to engage with all alumni at

at nicklausy@ripon.edu or

events and gatherings held throughout the year.

920-748-8117. You also can contact Yvonne if you are interested in serving as a Class Agent.

News to share can be sent

Kimberly M. Larson ’08

to alumni@ripon.edu or

Alumni Association President

your Class Agent, or can be submitted via the online form at ripon.edu/update-contact-info.

CONTENTS 2

Alumni Sightings

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Class Letters

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Staying Connected: Barb Clay ’83 David McMullen ’07 Leslie Paulsen ’90 Roger Mills ’64

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Campus Snapshots

R Connections is published annually in the fall by Ripon College, 300 Seward St., Ripon, WI 54971. Postage paid at Ripon, Wisconsin. Copyright ©2019 Ripon College.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to R Connections, 300 Seward St., Ripon, WI 54971.

Connections Fall 2019 Volume 5

To submit a note for a future issue or to update contact information, contact Ripon College Office of Constituent Engagement, 300 Seward St., Ripon, WI 54971.

Phone: 920-748-8126 Email: alumni@ripon.edu

ON THE COVER:

Web: ripon.edu/update-contact-info

Sadie Geiger Mleziva ’00 and Julie Kaiserling Pfeil ’00 reconnect at the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble held June 26, 2019, during

ripon.edu

Alumni Weekend.

Editorial Staff

facebook.com/ripon.college

Yvonne Nicklaus

instagram.com/riponcollege

Jaye Alderson Melissa K. Anderson ’02 Ric Damm Haley Stowell ’20

Design Ali Klunick

linkedin.com/company/ripon-college twitter.com/riponcollege youtube.com/riponcollegevideo

ALUMNI SIGHTINGS

BECKY HUSTAD FREY ’91 and BRIAN FREY ’91 celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Arizona in October, including Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona and many points in between.

DORRIE SMITH SCRANTON ’87 of Woodstock, Connecticut, left, CHRIS TEMPLETON ’87 of Chicago, Illinois, and MICHELLE MARTIN ’87 of Madison, Wisconsin, met up in southwestern Colorado last fall to spend a long weekend hiking, off-roading and fly fishing in the San Juan Mountains near Telluride, Colorado.

DU Gathering, classes of 1979-1982: From left: BILL KRIESE ’81, JEFF GILMER ’81, GREG COX ’82, ANDREW SCHMIDT ’81, RICK ROSENECK ’80, DIRK WILKIN ’81, PHIL OUELLETTE ’80, DAN BESTUL ’80, SANDY VAHLE BESTUL ’79, TOM ABENDROTH ’81, ANDREW MILLER ’80, SUSAN ANGELL SCHMIDT ’80, BOB FURNISS ’81 and JON STERLING ’80.

Four alumni find each other at a Wisconsin Bar meeting in Wisconsin Dells in October 2018. The classes of 1979, 1980 and 1981 held a microreunion! Left to right: ANDREW SCHMIDT ’81, SUSAN ANGELL SCHMIDT ’80, DAN BESTUL ’80 and SANDY VAHLE BESTUL ’79.

DAVID MIRISCH ’59 sits on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Midway which is permanently docked in San Diego Harbor. For 10 years, David was on its board of directors and his family produced the motion picture “Midway,” starring Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda.

LISA WOLLAN ’78 visited Waimangu Volcanic Valley in New Zealand where the world’s youngest geothermal system is located.

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Florida-area alumni gather for a night of baseball.

Top row from left: JEAN KIRKPATRICK LEDERER ’73 and GARY LEDERER ’72; and second row from left: SUE REWOLINSKI WIFF ’75, MAYNARD WIFF ’76, CYNTHIA SANBORN NYQUIST ’69 and SCOTT NYQUIST ’69 gather April 9 for the Fort Myers Miracle Baseball Game.

JACKIE ALCORN ’65 and family visited Ripon last summer.

KEN GRANT ’87 of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, is an official intern/vicar at the Genesis Lutheran Church in Detroit and will be ordained at the end of this year.

A mini-1968 class reunion was held in October 2018 at the home of Steve and Kathy Henig in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Clockwise from bottom left: STEVE HENIG ’68, DIANE THORSEN WHITELEY ’68, RICK KAMMEN ’68, Kathy Henig, PETER UHRIG ’68, DOUG WHITELEY ’68 and LINDA JONES KAMMEN ’69.

Presidential gathering Feb. 25, 2019, in southwest Florida at the home of Gary ’72 and Jean Kirkpatrick Lederer ’73. Left to right: SCOTT REYNOLDS ’74, Roger Key, Debra Gifford Reynolds, SUE MIJANOVICH KEY ’72, GARY LEDERER ’72, JEAN KIRKPATRICK LEDERER ’73, then-acting President Ed Wingenbach, KAREN TESCHNER DORN ’72, LINDA BRASSINGTON DANIELS ’72, CYNTHIA SANBORN NYQUIST ’69, SCOTT NYQUIST ’69, Dave Daniels, Janice Paine, MATTHEW PAINE ’18 and Allan Dorn.

This winter, CJ O’REILLY ’07 (dark jacket) and LISA VERWYS ’07 (red jacket) found the snow to be awful in Bozeman, Montana, but the ice was perfect.

The wedding of TOMISSA PORATH ’10 and DAVE FREISLEBEN ’07, Oct. 13, 2018, at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, Wisconsin. From left to right: VINNY ROCCO ’11, DANIELLE SCHOLFIELD ROCCO ’10, HANNAH WENDLAKE DUFFEY ’10, KATERINA YOUNGBERG ’10, SARAH GUSTAFSON RUMPF ’10, KASEN RUMPF ’12, TOMISSA PORATH FREISLEBEN ’10, DAVE FREISLEBEN ’07, WESTON RADFORD ’07, RYAN LUEDTKE ’08, PAT KERSTEIN ’07, JAKE SEVERANCE ’07, LESLIE REINKE LUEDTKE ’08 and EMILY YOUNG ’10.

Left to right: MARY ULLAND PERABO ’67, DIANE VAUGHAN LONGCORE ’67 and KATHY SANTIMAYS DUNN ’67 taking a break while hiking at Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

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ALUMNI SIGHTINGS TOM HORVATH ’84 and LARRY HUEBNER ’83 were in meetings at Kennedy Space Center where they reconnected. On the last day, they had a few hours to visit the historic sites at Cape Canaveral. This picture was taken at Launch Complex 5, with a replica of Freedom 7, the capsule that took Alan Shepard into space as the United State’s first astronaut.

JONDI GUMZ ’75, Class Agent, chats with well-wishers at her good-bye gathering after 26 years on the news staff at the Santa Cruz (California) Sentinel. Jondi won regional, state and national awards during her career as a reporter, the latest a first-place honor from the San Francisco Press Club for a series of stories observing law enforcement training on how to respond to people in crisis due to mental illness and/or drug use. The training came in the wake of two fatal shootings by officers, and since then no officer-involved fatal shootings have taken place locally.

Attending a family wedding with GARY SHARPE ’73 and Gail Sharpe in Milwaukee were, from left, Peter Tullio, CAROL PARKHURST TULLIO ’73, ROB GADDIS ’72, JAN BEAN GADDIS ’71, GARY SHARPE ’73, Gail Sharpe, PEGGY SEELBACH MIZEN ’74 and MIKE MIZEN ’73.

PAT ANDREWS GANDER ’67, SUZANNE BALDWIN LENNOX ’67 and BOB LENNOX ’67 in Charleston, South Carolina.

DAVID MINOR ’68 runs into the Hon. JON WILCOX ’58 in, of all places, a grocery store in Fort Myers, Florida.

PAUL NANCARROW ’78 and wife Lee just outside of Grand Haven, Michigan, on the shore of Lake Michigan thinking about how much they’re going to enjoy retirement!

RANDY KAWAMOTO ’69 visits Oslo, Norway, in October 2018.

Four brothers of Beta Sigma Pi, left to right, SCOTT NYQUIST ’69, FRANK ANDERS ’69, ART SCARLETT ’69 and ROB HANDEYSIDE ’69, visit the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in October 2018.

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VINCE AYE ’69 and DAVID CHIONG ’69 visit the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

A reunion group from the 1950s has gathered at Ripon each fall for the past 60 years. Visiting this year were, left to right: BILL DONALDSON ’54, BOB WITT ’55, NED LUFRANO ’54 and VERNE CHURCHILL ’54.

NED LUFRANO ’54 shows off his very own bobblehead, a gift from his son, Michael, when he heard Ned was the oldest living member of the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame.

NAOMI JAHN SKULAN ’14 and NICK SKULAN ’14 with new baby Charles Xavier, born July 21, 2018.

From left to right: KRISTINE SCHULTZ IIDA ’86 of Glenview, Illinois, AMY GEROSO DUGGLEBY ’86 of Salt Lake City, Utah, TANYA BENNETT ’86 of Matthews, North Carolina, and LOIS BRENNAN ’86 of Hingham, Massachusetts, got together for their “annual junket. This time we met in Charleston, South Carolina.

We try to meet up every few years as a group. We all met freshman year and were roommates in Wright Hall. 30+ years and our friendship is still going strong!”

Some of the Smith Indees ’86 met at DAVE ’86 and Martha Forgione’s in Woodstock, Vermont, for a weekend that included a lobster feast after a day of fishing and whale sightings off Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Front row: LARS GREINER ’86, CHANDLER BATHRICK ’86, PAUL WENNER ’86 and JON KOSTELIC ’86. Back row: JOHN MORTON ’86, JOHN FISHER ’86, JIM YOUNG ’86, STEVE GANEY ’86 and DAVE FORGIONE ’86.

JACOB SUMNER ’01 and TOM BECKER ’05 met last winter at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, United Kingdom, home of the Chelsea Football Club of the English Premier League, for the Chelsea vs. Newcastle match.

AMY SONIER FOELSKE ’12 and Robert Foelske with their first child, Leah Marie Foelske, born Dec. 18, 2018.

“She was born premature at 35½ weeks, weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces, and was 18 inches,” Amy says. “We are all doing very well!”

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ALUMNI SIGHTINGS

KRISTIN DODDS ’98 is pictured with her children at the U.S. Army Reserves reenlistment ceremony.

JOHN SPADONI ’15 and KRISTY OGLESBY ’15 were married Nov. 10, 2018, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, surrounded by friends and family.

They honeymooned in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

They both continue to make strides in their careers and enjoy their current positions. In 2019, they are hoping to travel more. Kristy dreams of going to Italy, and John dreams of becoming a lobster on a beach somewhere. Pictured front row from left, JOHN SPADONI ’15 and KRISTY OGLESBY SPADONI ’15; back row from left, BRI MILROY ’15, NATE SUIDAK ’15 and JEN KELLER ’16.

GREGG PETERSEN ’78, center with hat and vest, provides “a picture of me and my quarterly water quality monitoring team of volunteers in the Middle Patuxent River (Maryland) in February.”

SYDNEY RADANDT ’17: “I am currently serving with Peace Corps Namibia as an ESL (English as a second language) and art teacher for grades 6-9 in a small rural farming village in the Oshikoto Region of Namibia. Alongside teaching, I am also working with the Ministry of Drug and Alcohol Addiction Prevention Project in Namibia to reach the youths and communities of the north to prevent abuse of drugs and alcohol. I’ve been spending my weekends training with the Six Stars Volleyball Club, and we are set to compete in a tournament at the coast later this month.”

TOM HORVATH ’84 and LARRY HUEBNER ’83 had the good fortune of being at two different work-related venues this summer (they both work for NASA). The first was in late June, when they were in Madison, Wisconsin, for a technical symposium. One night, fellow alumnus BRET JAEGER ’84 drove to town from Waupun for an evening of reminiscing at The Great Dane Pub and Brewing Co. From left are Tom, Bret and Larry.

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Gathering for the Ripon Alumni lacrosse game during Alumni Weekend 2019 are: KEVIN WARMACK ’79, left, BILL SCHNESE ’79, TED SCHALLER ’79, TONY PONCE DE LEON ’79, JOHN HELLAND ’79, ARTIE PETERS ’79, TOBY STORZER ’82 and ANDY DIXON ’79.

ALI NEMECEK ’14, KRISTY OGLESBY SPADONI ’15, EMILY GARY ’16, KATIE DREW SCHUMACHER ’14, BRI MILROY ’15 and SAM KAY ’15 enjoy a holiday gathering in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

ALICE HALL HAYES ’69 with husband Ed Hayes at Alumni Weekend 2019.

Back row: BECKY LINSKY DELISLE ’84, left, CONNIE HERBON MOSER ’84, DONNA REARDON GOLDBERG ’84, VICKI VICHA ERICKSON ’84, SUE SHEPHERD ’84; Middle row: KEITH MITCHELL ’84, left, LINDA GIUFFRE ANDERSON ’84, DESIREE SWENSON STROM ’84, GARY PAGE ’84; front row: MIKE FRANCOLUCCI ’84, left, MARK SPRAGUE ’84, GREG HALVORSEN ’84, JAY HYUCK ’84, MIKE ALBERTSON ’84, MIKE GALVAN ’84 and DAVE SHORGREN ’84 at Class of 1984 Reunion, Alumni Weekend 2019.

SHERRY SWENNES SCARLETT ’70 and ART SCARLETT ’69 at Alumni Weekend 2019.

Beta Sigma Pi brothers at Alumni Weekend 2019.

Kneeling, from left to right: STEVE LEITSCHUH ’69, GREG DRYANSKI ’74, ROB HANDEYSIDE ’69, JAY TAYLOR ’69, JEFF SHEFERMAN ’69 and PERRY BREWER ’69; middle row, left to right: DAVE RICHARDSON ’69, ART SCARLETT ’69 and WAYNE YAKUMA ’72; Back row, left to right: WAYNE BARTHOLOMEW ’73, DAVE LEACH ’69, DON PARK ’69, GALE MURRIN ’69, BRUCE BUBACZ ’66, MARK BAUER ’69, JEFF POMERANTZ ’71, BOB FLECK ’65 and FRANK ANDERS ’69.

SCOTT SCHEFERMAN ’95 with daughter Sloane, left, JEFF SCHEFERMAN ’69, CAROL ENGEL SCHEFERMAN ’70 and Scott’s wife, Katie, at Alumni Weekend 2019.

PERRY BREWER ’69 and his wife, Mary Brewer, at Alumni Weekend 2019.

DON PARK ’69 with wife Dana Park at Alumni Weekend 2019.

JUDY JONES ’69 at Alumni Weekend 2019.

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JEAN BLACK ’77, left, MARYJO MACSWAIN ’77, ALAN LAWRENCE ’77, CONNIE JESS ZOLKOSKE ’77, and Alan’s wife, Diana, at Alumni Weekend 2019.

JENA ROSCIZEWSKI CLUKA ’13 and KEVIN CLUKA ’13 welcomed their first child, Declan, on June 15, just in time for Father’s Day! Another future Red Hawk for the Class of 2042!

JASON WOOD ’96 spent some quality time this summer with ELKE SPORSEEN BETONTE ’96, left, and KIM PHU LEE ’96, catching up on everything old and new in San Francisco, California.

ZACH SPACIEL ’15 and his fiancée, Ivana Karabegovic, in front of their new home in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.

In July, DONNA LESLIE ’81 toured Colorado, and LARRY NIKOLAUS ’81 and KATHERINE HARBUT NIKOLAUS ’81 took her to the top of Pikes Peak and to enjoy some kayaking in a local reservoir.

KARENA SCHROEDER ’15 and Andrew Brenny with their son Aiden, celebrating his first birthday in July in Lakeville, Minnesota.

DAVE SHOGREN ’84, third from left, is serving a two-year term on the U.S. Trade Finance Advisory Council in the U.S. Commerce Department.

KARI LEE ’96, foreground, JASON WOOD ’96 and JOAN GRZESINSKI ’96 enjoying offerings of the Parkway Bank Park Entertainment District in Chicago, Illinois.

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R Connections

Connections is now online!

Stay up-to-date with classmates, access class letters, and post your own news, alumni sightings and updates throughout the year at

RIPON.EDU/RCONNECTIONS Fall 2019

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CLASS LETTERS 1930s & 1940s

1956

The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

ELIZABETH TILDEN BEATTIE ’49 of Kirkwood, Missouri: “I am still directing a choir of 34 in our retirement home!”

The Reverend Dr. EDWIN H. CROMEY ’56 of Tuxedo Park, New York, became rector emeritus of St. Mary’s-inTuxedo Episcopal Church in January 2018.

1950, 1951 & 1952 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

“For the past 30 years, MARY JANE BUMBY ’52 of Green Lake, Wisconsin, has continuously applied the knowledge gained from her biology studies at Ripon College to her work as a volunteer for Wisconsin’s Citizen Lake Monitoring Network, monitoring the water quality of Green Lake.

Among other tasks, she performs routine measurement of the lake’s transparency and dissolved oxygen.

From early childhood, Bumby knew she wanted to attend Ripon College. Her parents, HAROLD BUMBY ’23 and ISABELLA BUMBY ’25, met at Ripon College, and because she was their daughter and a resident of Ripon, she frequently saw College activities. For 40 summers, her family visited nearby Green Lake.

Bumby also utilized the College’s scales in the chemistry lab to gather data regarding dry weights for all species collected from the lake.

Bumby’s volunteer work has led to a five-decades long participation in Green Lake’s survey of its macrophytes, contributing to the 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 surveys.

She plans to participate in the 2021 survey, as well, when she will be 90 years old.”

1953 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1954 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1955 Art Lundeberg 520-296-9281 / artlund@cox.net Dear Class of 1955: This will be my last Class Agent letter.

During the years, I have tried to write articles that would appeal to our times at Ripon. I have received several email comments (and phone calls) commenting on the letters, which I have greatly appreciated and welcomed. However, I was disappointed in the lack of response to the spring letter re: going home for Christmas from Ripon. I had hoped that would have been fun and of interest to us.

I do thank FRANCES JOANNES WINANS ’55 and BILL IHSSEN ’55 for their comments, as requested in the letter, but those were the only responses I received. I also thank everyone in our class who took the time to send me an email during the past years. I always looked forward to hearing from everyone. I enjoyed renewing old friendships.

As always, I wish a very happy Christmas and holiday season to all.

ART LUNDEBERG ’55

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1957 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

HANK BORG ’57 of Mount Dora, Florida, was inducted into the Springfield (Illinois) Sports Hall of Fame April 8. At Ripon College, Borg played basketball and golf, was captain of the golf team in 1956 and 1957 and was the medalist in the conference tournament in 1956.

From 1970-95, he played golf in 48 countries, and from 1995-2007 he served as North American Executive PGA of Europe/RdG.

1958 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1959 David Mirisch david@dmirisch.com Class of 1959: I am happy to say that at the age of 84, my wife, Sandy, and I made a major move. We moved back to Montana after four years of living in Thousand Oaks, California. Our daughter, Summer, became a single mom to children ages 4, 11 and 14. So big-city David moved from a city of 3,000,000 people to a town of just 800 people. But it is nice to know we are just one hour from Missoula, where the University of Montana is.

Since I was in the “fundraising business” all of my life, I have offered my consultation services free of charge to any nonprofit in the territory that could use my help.

So, when my three grandchildren are in school, I will stay occupied. The local paper ran an editorial on that and I received 14 inquiries. Plus, I am working with the local Chamber of Commerce, the hospital foundation, the high school and the 4H Club. So, when the three grandkids are in school, I should have plenty of things to keep me busy. Sure, I miss the big-city life, but “it’s all about family, isn’t it?” And, Montana is a beautiful state to live in. If you haven’t visited Montana, put it on your “bucket list.”

Stay happy and healthy.

DAVID MIRISCH KEN BENSON ’59 (klbenson2261@charter.net): “Wow! The years have been kind. Thank you for all of your accomplishments. You have helped Ripon’s image immensely! When I left Ripon, I was head waiter in the dining hall under Lucille Hawkinson and secretary in the music department under Charles Bolin, along with directing a church choir in the area. I went straight in to teaching music in the Gladstone Schools in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a “little” north of Ripon in the U.P. After a few years, I received my master’s from Northern Michigan University and switched to teaching fifth grade, which I thrived in, ending up as the school’s principal. Since retirement, I have continued in my local Kiwanis Club as their secretary for the last 20some years. During that time, I served as the lieutenant

1930-63 governor for our district for seven years, all of that time remaining in Gladstone. We have two children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild who are scattered around the U.S. Like most of our classmates, we have long passed 50 years of marriage. Again, thank you for taking over for Roger.”

1960 Deborah Johnson Van Slyke 480-284-5564 / 619-889-5061 / advanslyke@cox.net DELORES GRAY HOLDEN ’60: “When I opened our copy of this current issue, I was surprised to see a photo of myself on page 3. My guess is that it was taken while I was in my senior year. In my years (1956 through 1960) Ripon’s curriculum offered classes that would fulfill the minimal requirements needed for a teaching license in either Illinois or Wisconsin. That included a two-hour course in cooperatives required

by Wisconsin. I taught for one year in Plymouth, Wisconsin, then the following year in Oklahoma.

Several years of substitute teaching all over Chicago, including going to an elementary school in a ghetto neighborhood the day after the riots ended. I received an M.A. in special education after raising our two sons and then worked for the Northwest Suburban Education Organization where I was the provocation all coordinator.”

JANET GORN ’60 of Montclair, Virginia, retired with 40 years of federal government service as a diplomat in the field of civil nuclear energy and nonproliferation. In honor of her distinguished professional career on the staff of the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Congressional Research Service and the Brookings Institution, and civil society contributions, she was named a Lifetime Achiever by the Marquis Who’s Who in America. Having traveled to 38 countries and 49 states, she is not planning to travel for a while. However, retirement has not slowed her down. In 2019 she was elected to the office of program director on the Virginia State Board of the League of Women Voters (LWV), joined the board of directors of the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Foundation and is contributing to the George Mason University Women’s Leadership program. She also is president of the Kings Highway Republican Women’s E-Club (the first virtual club in Virginia), vice chairman of the National Federated Republican Women’s (NFRW) Literacy Committee and the NFRW Membership Committee Working Group on the Virtual Club concept.

CHARLES MORGAN ’60 of The Villages, Florida: “I enjoy golf three to four times a week. Living in The Villages is great. We, however, miss our grandkids and their athletic activities in New Jersey. You wouldn’t believe how great they are!”

1961 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

GARY KAZMIER ’61 of Brookfield, Wisconsin: “I am enjoying traveling, three grandchildren, still volunteering at a local hospital, and am the treasurer of the hospital auxiliary and two active book clubs.”

1962 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

1963 Wayne Wolfgram 313-882-1712 / waynewolfgram@gmail.com Greetings, Classmates! I hope this finds everyone doing well.

LARRY HAMILTON ’63 of Dallas, Texas (larry@ hamiltonproperties.com): “Ripon organized a Career Discovery Tour that included about 15 students exploring potential future career paths. The group spent a couple of days in Dallas staying at my recently completed Lorenzo Hotel. I met up with them on a Saturday night and led a little walking tour of downtown Dallas starting at the Lorenzo, then walking to the nearby Aloft Hotel, a conversion of a historic 1925 building that we completed in 2009. There we all had a drink at the bar (with our bartender not checking IDs).

Then we moved to the Dallas Power & Light complex where we had dinner at its Indian restaurant, Spice in the City, and the students got to see a historic complex that we had converted into loft apartments in 2005.

After dinner, we resumed the walking tour down Main Street to the former Municipal Building (where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby in 1963, our graduation year), at which point I excused myself and the students ventured on to explore the Deep Ellum neighborhood on their own.

“The following morning we had a nice brunch that I hosted at Lorenzo Hotel, and a few local alumni also attended. I think all of us elders found the students to be very impressive. They certainly seemed to be a cut above the likes of me at that age. The following day, while the students were off to other exciting venues, I had the pleasure of a brief meeting with then-Acting President Ed Wingenbach and Vice President for Advancement SHAWN KARSTEN ’09, so I was fortunate enough to get a good dose of Ripon College for a few days in March.”

SUSAN RITTER KALANGES ’63 of Chester, Virginia (s-jk@comcast.net): “All’s well in Chester, Virginia.

We always seem to be busy — with a little travel in the States (I haven’t been overseas for awhile), our organizations (need to cut down on those), our daughters who live close by and trying to downsize all our ‘stuff’ — just in case we need to downsize our living quarters one of these days! Hope to make it to our 60th reunion! Best to all!”

SUSAN KELLER MATTHES ’63 of Carson City, Nevada (susanmatthes@sbcglobal.net): “Here in the West, our spring often was mixed with snowfall in the mountains and rains in the valleys. Many of the peaks in the Sierra Nevada are still white and so lovely against a blue sky.

Our water supply for the summer should be quite adequate here in the desert.

“Juergen and I revisited Utah and the Moab area this spring to finish up with a boat trip on the Colorado and a jeep trip into the Paradox salt extrusion areas.

Here there’s a layer of 5,000 feet of salt below the earth’s surface which pushes up to the surface on occasion — a result of an inland sea which covered much of this area way back when! The forces of the earth are indeed interesting and beautiful!

“Relaxing time on our patio at Red Cliffs Lodge overlooking a quiet section of the river, listening to birds and watching rafters and kayakers float past completed our Moab visits. Flaming Gorge was another interesting, though not nearly as popular, stop for a few days in the upper northeast corner of Utah. Utah is certainly a state that has much to offer visitors of all interests.

“Value the positives of each day — and protect your health. Both are important! Happy summer days!”

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CLASS LETTERS DAN SCHULTZ ’63 of Silver Spring, Maryland (deschultz41@gmail.com): “I know that at our age most people are looking to downsize — selling the family home and moving into a smaller home or condo or into a retirement community, etc. We, on the other hand, acquired our winter home in Florida two years ago in Palm Beach Gardens; and over this past winter renovated a lakefront home on a small lake in Wisconsin that we will use for our getaway place in the hot summer months when you don’t want to be in Florida and would rather not be in the Washington, D.C., area where our primary home is. Hard to Beat: Washington, D.C., in the spring and fall when it is beautiful here; Florida in the winter months; and a Wisconsin lake in the hot summer months. Our Wisconsin place is particularly special to me as it is on Lake Ripley, the lake where I spent my youth at our family summer home that ultimately became my folks’ primary home when my dad retired.

Bookends of my life, so to speak.

“As we get older, our lives seem to become a series of falls. My wife fell riding her bike in February and broke her wrist and severed a tendon. One of my sisters fell last month and fractured her hip. And a number of our friends have experienced falls of one magnitude or another. En garde, and watch your step!”

All the best everyone. Let’s all stay in touch. Until next time.

WAYNE

1964 Pat Ostrom Kohnen 925-201-7377 / pmko@aol.com Greetings Classmates: It is time for the fall class letter, but I am enjoying summer. Life is still great here at Stoneridge Creek. I finally saw “Hamilton,” which was wonderful (I did my homework first). I wonder if some of you made it to Alumni Weekend. It is hard to imagine that we graduated 55 years ago.

I have another Road Scholar trip planned with my friend, Cleve, for October. We will travel to Oahu and Kauai. I did not receive any information from classmates to share this time.

It has been fun to see a few classmates on Facebook. If you participate in Facebook, consider asking me to be a friend.

JANE “JAN” WREDE ’64 of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, published a second edition of her field guide “Trees, Shrubs and Vines of Texas Hill Country.” The comprehensive plant chart “makes tips about color, scent, flowering period, height, site preference, and wildlife and livestock utilization easily accessible.” The book is available on amazon.com.

I encourage each of you to donate to the Ripon Fund.

I know that many of you have given for a long time, but it is also not too late to start. I am really grateful for my experience at Ripon. I just completed the PATRICIA OSTROM KOHNEN ’64 and JAMES B. KOHNEN ’64 Summer Chemistry Student Research Fund.

Remember that if you visit San Francisco, I would like to meet you or have you come to visit me at Stoneridge Creek.

I am very near the Livermore Valley Wine area; we have 50 wineries.

PAT KOHNEN

1965 John C. Hyde 414-530-4041 / jhyde65@gmail.com Donna and I enjoying pleasant weather here in Pensacola.

I’m flying to our Conover, Wisconsin, house for two weeks to see daughter, TERRELL ’94, hubby Brendan and granddaughters Helena, Julia and Georgia. Also will see Trevor Hyde and wife Phyllis and sons Tristan and Cian.

Tristan is the first grandchild to attend college. He will start at Illinois Wesleyan University this fall.

Donna and I are celebrating our anniversary this August by going to New Orleans which is only three hours by car and seeing Queen with Adam Lambert and spending a few days in the French Quarter.

JOHN HYDE ’65 JACKIE EADY ALCORN ’65: “I’ve travelled more in the last three months than any time in my life. In April, I flew to Stuttgart, Germany, where my son is stationed with the Navy. His family included me on a cruise out of Venice to Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Ravenna, Italy. I took a trip by myself to Malta where I lived from 1954-1956. I stayed in an Airbnb that seemed like a cross between an art and a history museum. The present occupants of the house where I lived with my parents invited me in and showed me all through the house. I saw where I used to take horseback riding lessons and the beach where I had my 13th birthday party. It was like a time warp — going back in time, but without my parents and school friends.

“After another week with my son and three grandchildren, I returned to Virginia for a few days before flying to Washington state where my oldest granddaughter graduated from Whitman College in May. From there, I flew to California to spend a couple of weeks with my friend from Ripon, JANE PERSON ’65.

I always enjoy my time with Jane. My granddaughter, Jackie, and her boyfriend drove down from Seattle, picked me up at Jane’s and drove me to Yosemite where we spent a couple of days. It is a must-see for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. They took me back to Jane’s from where I flew back to Seattle for my grandson’s high school graduation in June. I was able to attend several concerts that two of my grandsons participated in.

“From Seattle I flew to Colorado where my youngest daughter and her family took me tent camping in four national parks: Grand Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon and Rocky Mountain. I’m finally home in Virginia Beach but getting ready to drive to New Hampshire where my entire family gets together each July for a couple of weeks by a lake.”

When I called PHIL HOLM ’65, he enjoyed discussing Ripon’s undefeated football team our junior year. Classmate JIM CAHOON ’65 was our quarterback and DICK BENNETT ’65 was a receiver. Phil also mentioned PETE COOPER ’65 who was on the team. Phil and Pete were on our golf team.

Phil mentioned that he just sold his successful awards business that was started by his parents in the ’30s.

Phil and I talked about Dick Bennett’s success as a college basketball coach, taking Wisconsin to the Final Four, and what happened this year when Dick’s son, Tony, the basketball coach at the University of Virginia, lead his team and won the NCAA National Championship this year.

I had an interesting phone discussion with JANE PERSON ’65. She says that classmate JACKIE EADY ALCORN ’65 is doing a lot of traveling. Jackie’s son is in Germany, grandkids in Seattle and there is an annual New Hampshire bash with the Peace Corps. Jane is

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1963-66 always full of energy and news. Our Ripon College President, Zach Messitte, stopped at Jane’s house for lunch with a Ripon alumni representative.

RETT HUMKE ’65 and JEANNE HYDE HUMKE ’66: “Our grandson, Basil Humke, is to begin college in the fall.” I talked to Jeanne when they were visiting their son, Ryan, and his wife, Carly, in Vermont. Jeanne and Rett were taking a 3+- week trip in the camper when I talked to Jeanne. Part of the trip was to Quebec, Canada, where Jeanne said that knowledge from Rett’s Ripon French class got them through! Their daughter, Kristen, and husband, Eric, have two daughters in college.

Nicole, the oldest, who will be a senior next year, had a wonderful trip to Florence, Italy.”

MARY KROENING ’65: “Not much has changed since our last class letter! My knee is replaced and is working like it’s supposed to. I’ve been doing a lot of exercising and decided to work with a personal trainer to keep progressing. I’ve been volunteering at the arboretum as usual and am working on the planning committee for our Ukulele Festival in Aurora on Aug. 25. I decided to concentrate on the uke instead of storytelling. The band is my happy place! Our son, Dave, and grandson, Trevor, are here for a short visit from Alaska. Trevor is 6’3” — I’ve never felt so short! We all went to see “Hamilton” yesterday and loved it. There’s a wonderful Hamilton exhibit in Chicago which John and I plan to see sometime soon. Trevor’s kind of “Hamiltoned” out or else we’d take him before he flies out of here next week.

We are hoping to see CAROLE COOP ATHERTON ’65 and Malarkey when they come to town this summer. We always enjoy catching up with them.”

SUE PURTELL KULLICK ’65 from Hamilton, Montana, and her husband are planning a summer wedding for their daughter at their home. She and her husband have four children. The oldest is highly ranked in the U.S. Tennis Association. They have nine grandchildren, all of whom will be at the wedding. She and her husband are celebrating their 53rd anniversary. She mentioned that Ripon classmate, MARK LEDGER ’65, gets out there a few times each year for the Western Sustainability Exchange. She is planning to be at our Ripon 55th year reunion in 2020.

CHARLIE LARSON ’65: “We haven’t got a lot planned this summer-fall, but there are a few things. Next weekend we are getting together with 12-15 of my former tennis players to celebrate one of the players, BILL FIEDLER ’82, being inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame. Some of these players I haven’t seen in decades. It should be a lot of fun.

“Karen and I always take a train trip (usually out west through the mountains) each summer. This year we are traveling east to Charlottesville, Virginia, in September.

We are looking forward to seeing a different part of the country. Have a great summer!”

LARRY LASCODY ’65: “My wife, BARB BERGER LASCODY ’67, and I have lived in Atlanta suburbs since 1970, the last 20 years in the horse-farm country of Milton, Georgia. We’ve long enjoyed year-round golf and tennis, though bad shoulders have curtailed our tennis in recent years. It’d probably surprise many Ripon folks to know that after Ripon and then two years as an Army officer, I actually became very studious — earned an MBA and CPA — and rather a workaholic. That’s what growing up, getting married and having kids can do. But hard work enabled me to retire at 58 and lead a life of volunteering and leisure. Speaking of kids, we have two wonderful married daughters and sons-in-law, plus five grandchildren (three will be in college in autumn, one in high school, one middle school). The whole bunch

of us like active and fun things and to be involved in church and sports. Luckily, none of the offspring seem prone to get into all the trouble I did at Ripon but instead have been excellent students. In 2017, we took the family of 11 on the largest cruise ship at sea on an eight-day Caribbean (three-island) cruise. We had a blast while celebrating that year’s wedding anniversaries (Barb/me: 50th; older daughter Lisa: 25th; younger daughter Laurie: 20th). I still enjoy running road races of all distances up to 26.2-mile marathons, and also mountain trail races. This year will be my 45th July 4th Peachtree Road Race, a fun tradition that has included some of our family’s next two generations. We’ve enjoyed summer Ripon alumni class reunions over the years and may visit again.”

WIN RYDER ’65: “Mary and I went to Egypt in January, loved it and recommend it highly. Went to Naples, Florida, in February and Turks and Caicos in March.

Made it through the Michigan winter. We live on Lake Michigan and it gets brutal. In summer, the kids and grandchildren are here. In September we are going to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Poland.”

BARB BRADFORD SEWALL ’65 and TED SEWALL ’66 spend March and April in Venice, Florida, each year.

Their sons, TOM SEWALL ’93 and GREG SEWALL ’95, are Ripon grads. Greg’s wife, SARAH BOTSFORD SEWALL ’96, is also a Ripon grad. Tom is an attorney and Greg is a surgeon. Ted enjoys fishing and hunting with his sons.

JIM THORSEN ’65: “I want to thank CRAIG FERRIS ’65 for his article about GREG THOMPSON ’65. Well-done, Craig. Nancy and I attended the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Our grandkids’ high school band participated in ceremonies at three beaches, SainteMere-Eglise and the American Cemetery. Everywhere on the Normandy Coast we saw U.S., British, Canadian and French flags. The French have not forgotten their liberation from Nazi rule. An emotional trip, to be sure.

Have a great summer.”

LARRY TICE ’65: “Ready to enjoy another Wisconsin summer ... ready to have a few more “water fights” and pool “splashes” with the grandkids. I’m still in Chicago, still not far from where you seemingly hung out as a kid.

(Seems like yesterday since I’ve had some eye surgery and other “invasions” of the “body politic” that I’ve lost some energy and am slowing down. Hope I get the energy back.) I’m semi-retired yet; exercising with MinJa along Chicago’s beautiful lakefront. And, what a series of venues offered by the lakefront: from Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” at Millennium Park to (old guys) Rolling Stones at Soldiers Field to still ongoing controversies between “friends of the park” versus Obama library conservators. MinJa is “happy” to be retired and stays in touch with family in South Korea.”

1966 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

BOB FLECK ’66: “I think I have finally and completely retired from university teaching and administration. No separation anxiety, either. I came out of retirement twice to do things I liked, but my interests have changed.

“My wife, RUTH POTTS FLECK ’66, and I enjoy our second home in Wisconsin and our primary home in Georgia. I am writing this note from our home on Green Lake just several miles from Ripon College. The Thursday before the official reunion of 2019, about 50 people will be at our lake house. We are hosting a

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CLASS LETTERS “brat fry” for all the Beta Sigma Pi brothers and family members who are returning for the reunion. We did this last year with a great deal of success and fun and decided to do it again.

“Ruth and I like to travel and we took a short cruise last year in the Caribbean. In 2020, we plan on taking a cruise starting in Rome and then crossing the Atlantic to Fort Lauderdale. We have found the transatlantic and transpacific cruises to be some of the most relaxing cruises.

“Our family continues to do well. Our youngest daughter, Allyson, who was an adjunct at Ripon College, is executive director of Midsummer’s Music in Door County. Our oldest daughter, Julie, took early retirement and is working with Allyson as office manager. Our middle daughter, Jeannie, loves teaching in the Atlanta area. We now have a large family with five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

“My brother, Jack, and his wife live in Pensacola and he is also officially retired.”

JEANNE HYDE HUMKE ’66 and RETT HUMKE ’65: “Our grandson, Basil Humke, is to begin college in the fall.” They recently took 3+- week trip in the camper, including Quebec, Canada, where knowledge from Rett’s Ripon French class got them through! Their daughter, Kristen, and husband, Eric, have two daughters in college. Nicole, the oldest, who will be a senior next year, had a wonderful trip to Florence, Italy.”

TED SEWALL ’66 and BARB BRADFORD SEWALL ’65 spend March and April in Venice, Florida, each year.

Their sons, TOM SEWALL ’93 and GREG SEWALL ’95, are Ripon grads. Greg’s wife, SARAH BOTSFORD SEWALL ’96, is also a Ripon grad. Tom is an attorney and Greg is a surgeon. Ted enjoys fishing and hunting with his sons.

1967 Kathy Santimays Dunn 704-633-8999 / mamadunn@hotmail.com

1968 Bob Martin porger@verizon.net Dear Classmates: I suspect that, like a lot of you, I left Ripon with a feeling that I could have done a lot more, not only for myself but for the College. So when VICKY PORTH TOBIAS ’68 urged me in 2005 to become Class Agent, I accepted. Since then, I’ve been writing these letters for 14 years, as well as coordinating three class reunions. Particularly after our 50th reunion last year, I felt that I was able to finish some things that I left undone in 1968. With that in mind, I’m happy to report that the class agency reins will pass to PETER UHRIG ’68 once this letter is published.

I chose Peter not only on the recommendation of classmates but also because he has been a steadfast supporter of the College and our class, through annual giving, reunion attendance and contacts with friends from 1968. He is also facile with the written word.

I wish him all the best, and thank all of you for the support you’ve given me over the years.

College News: The College celebrated Commencement on May 19 with the graduation of 152 seniors and the keynote address by Marc Edwards, a University Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech. Called the “plumbing professor” by Time magazine, he is best-known for leading the research

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group that uncovered both the 2001-2004 lead crisis in Washington, D.C., and the 2014-2016 water disaster in Flint, Michigan.

JOHN HERMES ’68 and Cynthia Cortright were married on May 4, 2019. John reports: “I met the love of my life, SUSAN ROBINSON HERMES ’68, at Ripon on Feb. 7, 1965. We had a wonderful marriage. On June 7, 2016, Susan lost her six-year battle with cancer. I do and will always miss her. Fortunately for me, after a couple of years, I met Cynthia. She has a doctorate in music from the University of Oklahoma and is a wonderful piano player and person.”

Congratulations to John and Cynthia.

John also is featured in the 26th edition of The Best Lawyers in America, a peer-reviewed ranking recognizing lawyers for their professional excellence across the United States.

As we go to press, Sun magazine is considering a submission from TOM SELSOR ’68 for its “Readers Write” section. I have condensed it here. It’s a great narrative about a young student’s intellectual journey, with Ripon in a strong supporting role: “It was late September 1965 and I was entering my sophomore year as a psychology major at Ripon College, having hitch-hiked there from my hometown of Berkeley, California. I had registered for an elective English course in 19th Century American Literature, and at the recommendation of my professor, William Martz, had gone to the campus library that morning to begin reading Billy Budd, Sailor. It was the last and shortest novel of Herman Melville’s, never published in his lifetime, and found in his attic after his death.

“I started reading at 8 a.m., skipped two psychology classes and finished about 9 p.m. The next morning I walked into the administration building to request a change in my major from psychology to English. I thought a psych major would teach me the mysteries of human behavior and thinking and identity. But nothing so far in over a year had even suggested the mystery and depth of this short novel of the complex moral dilemma between Man’s Law and God’s Law, between the head and the heart.

“The woman behind the desk appeared confused and nervous. ‘I think you need approval from your psych advisor to do this,’ she said. ‘You’d better talk to her first.’ I said ‘No, I’ve already made my decision. Please change my major to English.’

“In an entire year at Ripon as a budding psych major, I had never found anything remotely as absorbing and charged with depth and insight as this dilemma of true innocence vs. guilt, good vs. evil, innocence vs. guilt.

“Three years later, I would enter graduate school at the University of Wisconsin and later graduate with a doctorate in 19th Century American Literature. My advisor at Wisconsin was Merton M. Sealts Jr., who had joined with Harrison Hayford from Northwestern University to edit the definitive edition of Billy Budd, Sailor. And what was my 265-page dissertation titled? ‘A Thematic and Structural Analysis of Billy Budd, Sailor.’

“Thanks, Ripon College, Herman Melville, and professors Martz and Sealts, for setting me on the right track for a rewarding career of learning, discovery and teaching.”

All the best, BOB

1966-69 1969 Scott A. Nyquist 239-732-0523 / 630-632-1619 / scott.a.nyquist@gmail.com Hello Class of ’69! It’s July 3, just four days after our 50Year Class Reunion, and I am still feeling that wonderful feeling I felt at the party. We had about 50 classmates and about 25 spouses at the event on Saturday, June 29. It was held in Great Hall and the College had it set up and decorated beautifully. It looked like a wedding reception in the ballroom of a Ritz Carlton Hotel.

The party started at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour, then the class photo was taken on the steps of Harwood Memorial Union at 6:30 p.m. All classmates in attendance were awarded a certificate of induction into the Golden R Club (for 50 years as an alum) as well as a Golden R pin.

The certificates and pins were presented by KIMBERLY LARSON ’08, president of the Alumni Association, and Ed Wingenbach, then-acting president of Ripon College.

The Rev. JOHN BILLINSKY ’69 gave the invocation before dinner. Professor of English Emeritus Doug Northrop and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus Robert “Spud” Hannaford were our honored guests at the party.

The food was delicious and the renewal of friendships even better.

After dinner, JANE WIESER BAKER ’69 had us howling with laughter as she read passages from (and made comments on) the Ripon College Student Handbook sent to us before we started in August 1965. Following that, several classmates shared Ripon stories, some funny, some poignant. The evening concluded with a 22-minute video presentation I put together about life in the ’60s, all set to the music of that era. It included a section called Classmates: Then and Now, where I paired recent photos of classmates who could not attend the reunion with their yearbook or Green List picture.

(Everyone looked EXACTLY the same). The presentation concluded with a tribute to those class members who’ve passed away. It was an awesome party.

The next morning, our class hosted the Service of Remembrance, held every year to recognize those alumni who are no longer with us. BOBBI SUESS ANDERS ’69, FRANK ANDERS ’69, ALICE HALL HAYES ’69, PHIL MCCULLOUGH ’69, SCOTT NYQUIST ’69 and JOHN BILLINSKY ’69 were presenters at the service. Professor of Religion Brian Smith gave the invocation and Doug Northrop was a speaker. The entire service was orchestrated by VINCE AYE ’69. (Thank you, Vince.)

There were lots of activities over Alumni Weekend, including reunions of Beta Sigma Pi and Delta Upsilon, which those two groups organized. The Beta Sigs met for a brat fry on Thursday night then held an official reunion on Friday night at a local bar and grill so they could enjoy a traditional Wisconsin Friday night fish fry.

The DU’s organized a boat ride on Green Lake as well as a dinner at a local restaurant. Several Kappa Delta’s held an informal “mini reunion” on Friday night.

Finally, I am proud to announce our class won the trophies for Largest Percentage of the Class at Alumni Weekend (30%), the Largest Percentage of the Class Contributing to Ripon College (52%) and Largest Amount of Money Contributed to Ripon College (more than $255,000). I want to thank all of you who gave to the College this past year.

I also want to thank the reunion committee for all their hard work to make the reunion a success: FRANK ANDERS ’69, BOBBI SUESS ANDERS ’69, VINCE AYE ’69, NANCY GONIA BAJOREK ’69, ALICE HALL HAYES ’69, SAM JOHNSON ’69, BILL JORDAN ’69,

DEBBIE HAMELE KUKLA ’69, TOM MACE ’69, PHIL MCCULLOUGH ’69, DON PARK ’69, CHIP RETSON ’69, STEVEN RUOFF ’69, BOB “OTTO” WACHHOLTZ ’69 and JOHN WOLFE ’69.

MARK BAUER ’69 of Pewaukee, Wisconsin: “I truly enjoyed the reunion evening of June 29. That evening itself was highlighted not only by the wonderfully organized reminiscent and nostalgic video to popular late ’60s and early ’70s music, but the opportunity throughout the evening to reconnect with classmates, many of whom I had had little contact during the years at Ripon College. Yet it was amazing how many of those knew me or things about me. I have missed many reunions and now deeply wish I had attended many more. The event evoked some sadness as we are reminded how long it has been since those college years.

On the other hand, we are so fortunate to be present at such an occasion in the company of people who can celebrate common experience ‘aus jenem, kurzen Schnitte des unseren Lebens’ (from that short slice of our lives).”

TERRY BROWN ’69 of Richmond, Virginia: “This is the sixth reunion that I have attended, having started with the 25th (where I was told that I should have been at the 20th, because that was the one with everyone). I like talking with people about how things have changed from what they had planned. The first three times I had a very enjoyable conversation with JOHN BRENNAN ’69 of Temecula, California, but have not seen him since. I hope that he is well and is doing OK. Checked out the dorms while on campus.”

JOHN ERICH ’69 of Scottsdale, Arizona: “The reunion was a special experience to have dinner with Dr. Hannaford on Saturday and engage with him again in some lively and stimulating conversation! We are fortunate to have had many excellent professors during our time at Ripon.”

John also is featured in the 26th edition of The Best Lawyers in America, a peer-reviewed ranking recognizing lawyers for their professional excellence across the United States.

ALICE HALL HAYES ’69 of Washington, D.C.: “The Service of Remembrance was a moving way to create a lasting memory of our dear classmates — gone too soon.

Thank you, VINCE AYE ’69, for designing the ingredients of the program for us. It was my heartfelt pleasure to be a part of it and spend time with you.”

Congratulations to our classmate WILLIAM C. JORDAN ’69 who received an honorary degree from Harvard University this year. Jordan is the DaytonStockton Professor of History at Princeton University, a medieval historian and the director of the Program in Medieval Studies, director of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies and chair of the history department from 2008–2017 at Princeton.

SCOTT NYQUIST ’69 and CYNTHIA SANBORN NYQUIST ’69 of Naples, Florida: “Alumni Weekend was so much fun. We enjoyed the Beta Sig reunion, The Other Half concert, the class reunion on Saturday night, the Sunday morning Service of Remembrance and many other events. It was wonderful to see all of our 1969 classmates and also many other friends from classes before and after ours. By the time you read this, we will have traveled to Germany in August to see our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. Life in Naples, Florida, is wonderful.”

I am planning to obtain photos from all who attended the reunion and will compile them into a 50th Reunion album. I hope by the time you read this, that task is completed and you’ve already seen them. Anyone who

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CLASS LETTERS wants a copy of the presentation shown at the reunion should email me a request for it and I will share it with you. It is a huge file so it will take time to download.

Remember to send Ripon College your new address if you move and to notify them of a new email address if you create one. Keep in touch. I love hearing from you guys.

Always for Ripon, SCOTT A. NYQUIST ’69

1970 Susan Hecht Gebhardt 815-464-5761 / 815-260-1656 / wmacrogeb@yahoo.com I hope all of you are enjoying summer and are far from the storms, floods and excessive heat which much of the country is experiencing. WILLIAM “BILL” GEBHARDT ’69 and I are glad to be home despite the constant rain. We were fortunate to have been in Florida when our son, Will, and his family moved into their new home, but Bill has been helping him to build a deck. Since Will is an engineer you can imagine it is not your average deck. The weather finally cooperated so the yard could be graded and the front yard landscaped. The girls have been having fun playing in the dirt! Our older son, Matt, the club golf professional, has been busy trying to keep the course playable in between all the rain.

Bill and I will be attending his 50th reunion at Ripon next weekend. It is really hard to believe that much time has passed and that in one year we also will be inducted into the “Golden R Club!” We will be staying in Ripon, (not in the dorms, though that sounds like so much fun), since the Heidel House has closed. Fortunately we found out soon enough and were able to find accommodations. I will report back on all the events and the food to help plan ours. I hope to meet with the College personnel planning reunions to get things started. The College will be sending out a questionnaire soon asking for volunteers to help plan our reunion.

Please take some time to read the information, offer suggestions and volunteer to help. I will send you updates as I get them.

JAMES DANKY ’70 of Stoughton, Wisconsin, has received the rare and prestigious honor of Distinguished Service to Journalism Award from the American Journalism Historians Association. The award has been presented only four times since it was founded in 1981.

MARK HENKEL ’70 and HILDE BORMANN HENKEL ’73: “Well, today (May 29) is National Senior Health & Fitness Day, so all I have to share is that while we are happily semi-retired, we are very active in teaching taekwondo year-round (we are both seventh-degree black belts), twice a week, and we have additional activities here on the hobby farm: raising a new batch of chickens and working up and weeding with our huge raspberry patch giant garden and literally acres of lawn.”

JAMES WALSH ’70 of Mukwonago, Wisconsin: “Lucky man. Last five years survived heart stoppage, prostate cancer, bleeding stomach ulcer, hernia and right knee replacement. Life is great! Family is great, 11 grandchildren.”

Thank you for sharing your news with us and for your support of Ripon. Please volunteer to help plan our reunion. I will send you my thoughts on the ’69 reunion later this summer. Also please notify Ripon of any changes in address, email or phone.

Sincerely, SUSAN HECHT GEBHARDT ’70

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1971 Jim Beisner 770-570-7725 / jim.beisner@gmail.com Greetings, Class of 1971! Here’s to another great year!

It is hard to believe we were starting our freshman year 52 long years ago just as the Class of 2023 is doing now. Where did the time go? I remember very well my first few weeks of getting acclimated to classes and the campus as if it was just yesterday. Although there is a large time gap between our start and theirs, the quality of education has not changed in all those years. Through the support of our time, talents and treasures, Ripon College has maintained a superb educational experience. The update on current college activities along with honors of graduates and faculty as noted below, continue to show the excellent contribution Ripon makes to the nation and the state of Wisconsin. Speaking of time, we are coming up on our 50th reunion in 2021. More information will be forthcoming about plans for our class gift.

RAYMOND ROBINSON ’71 of Key Biscayne, Florida: “Beginning to think of retirement, maybe to part time first, hoping to do some road trips and travels.”

As we look back at our experiences at Ripon, we can all see the benefits we derived from that special time. In some way, the Ripon Fund assisted all of us. It underwrites all aspects of yearly operations, including, but not limited to, laboratory supplies, technological innovations, library resources, faculty support, financial aid and scholarships, athletics, opportunities to study abroad, the arts and facilities. I urge your consideration to increase this year’s gift in recognition of all we have accomplished as a result of Ripon College. If you gave below the Heritage Society level, consider giving at that level. If you give at one of the society levels, think about increasing your gift annually to eventually elevating to the next highest society.

JIM

1972 Susan Frederick-Clarkson susieclarkson@aol.com Stephanie Greene steviegreene@msn.com

1973 Jean Kirkpatrick Lederer 239-390-1349 / 630-987-9388 / jeanlederer@yahoo.com Dear Ripon College Class of 1973, As I write this on June 4, the hurricane season has just begun in Florida. The weathermen tell us there are no severe storms predicted for this season, but that remains to be seen. It is hot, hot, and the humidity high. Afternoon thunderstorms are the norm, so Gary and I, while we love living here, will be heading out soon to avoid some of this. We will be gone when this letter is due in to the College, so that is why I asked classmates to send me news early.

I have to say, I am really happy with the responses I got after I said I would accept any news including trips, broken ankles and news of grandkids! That brought a much greater response than my threat to make stuff up.

I did not make any of these up. They are copied and cut responses I received from the person listed. I cannot attest to whether or not their news is real of fake, but here it is: JACKIE FARMER ANDREWS ’73: “MARK ANDREWS ’73 and I are in the throes of selling and buying houses at the moment! We did get away for two weeks in Switzerland,

1969-73 down (up) the Rhine to Amsterdam on our first adventure in Europe and we loved it! Our favorite spots were Lucerne and the Alps and Strasbourg where we walked on cobblestones for eight hours eating our way across the city. Highly recommend Viking River Cruises!”

JANE BENSON ’73: “I am afraid my retired life is quite boring. I retired April 1, 2016, and love it but am still finding my way around this new part of my life. Since I retired, my stepbrother and sister both have passed away, and this last November my stepmother died at 109. She was great up until the end, still playing Scrabble, doing jigsaw puzzles that have 1,000 parts to them (MORE patience that I would ever have with those things) and enjoying life to the best of her ability. It certainly helps me to appreciate each and every day with the people I love. Got the obligatory hip replacement in February 2017. What a difference! I went to Wales last year with a friend and loved it. It did spoil my love of lamb, though — more sheep in that country than people and lambs are cute as can be. Have a trip to northern Italy with the same friend in September. Not much else I am afraid. Rather boring. Oh, I am learning to play golf, too.”

MARILYN BAXTER CARVER ’73 and her husband, Johnny, have just arrived back in Minnesota after spending the winter in Arizona. During their winters, they hike, take camping trips and play music as a duo.

This winter they took a camping trip with their hiking club to Colossal Cave, southeast of Tucson, Arizona, where they hiked in the beautiful park outside the cave and also toured the inside of this world’s largest dry cave. They saw raccoon-like animals, called coatimundis, that live in and around the cave! In the summers, they sail on Leech Lake, go camping and spend time with their two grandsons (ages 3 and 6) in the Twin Cities. They are pretty sure that their grandchildren are the cutest in the world! I am sure they are adorable, but Gary’s and my Emily is pretty darn cute!! JKL KRISTINA DAVIS ’73: “We are doing sleepovers with our three grandchildren, Ivy, 9, Isaac, 7, and Quin, almost 5, taking care of our Appleton and up-north houses, and spending time with family and friends. Jim got his first taste of my hometown New York City in April visiting my family there. In May, I saw first cousins I haven’t seen in years in a Maine get-together. As a group fitness instructor through the American Council on Exercise, I have been doing community presentations on the benefits of walking and how folks can start their own in-home calisthenic walking program. I also volunteer at church.”

KATHY GRANUKE ’73: “My husband and I are going to Bulgaria in mid-June. He was invited to a math/physics conference in Varna on the Black Sea. I hope German will help to communicate! We also will fly to London to see his sister who is in a play. Also, our son Richard will get his master’s degree in information management at the University of Washington. He will be working for Allstate. One sad thing: we lost our dearly beloved cat, Luke, to carcinoma of the abdomen in April. His brother, Smokey, keeps us company still.”

DAVID GROSSMAN ’73: “2018 was a year for lifechanging decisions. My wife, Robin, and I have become empty-nesters. Both our children live together in Berkeley. Too much house for us in Lunenburg, so we sold it and bought a nice bungalow on the Cape. It’s on Bumps River in Centerville. We have our own dock for kayaking which leads right to the ocean. It was difficult for me to run my newspaper, The Lunenburg Ledger, from the Cape, so I sold it at the end of 2018. Retired life is great! Haven’t made too many long-distance trips yet but we plan to next year. The Cape house needed a

lot of work which took up our time. We still own two other houses on the Cape which we use for income.

The transition from working to not working was a little weird, but I got used to it. I’m the property manager for all three houses so that keeps me somewhat busy. Who knows what the future will bring?”

JAMES HAWES ’73: “My official ‘kind of semi-retirement’ began in late January. So ended sequels to the pinball cyber-technology book that I completed last fall. My business forges on, as I have ongoing projects. One of them: my web pages on the history of car reverbs. After the second page, the story is engineering nostalgia.

(Not for everyone. But for intrepid souls that remain reading: https://bit.ly/2WqFxWB) Summary: The golden years of car reverb ran from 1964 to 1974. Reverb preceded stereo, but for a few delightful years, a driver could entertain riders with both. Over these years, the ordinary car radio became an ‘electromechanical concert hall.’ This captivating illusion owed its improbable existence to a spring: A spring that tinkerers borrowed it from a Hammond organ.

“Today, reverb is back. The low-rider culture adopted it. For this reason, my page 2 (reverb music recommendations) also depicts low-rider cars. Most of the best reverbable music is classic doo-wop, with emphasis on Hispanic and soul favorites. I wish that JOHN STIERNBERG ’73 and AZIZ GOKSEL ’72 were still with us. They’d get a charge out of this material.

“As part of the project, I built a reverb car amplifier.

This was a difficult endeavor because the specified 50-year-old semiconductors are mostly obsolete. Some re-engineering was necessary. Next, I’m going to try to connect the little amp to an old car radio. By the way: Patching a 1960s reverb into a new car stereo would invite a scene out of ‘Mission: Impossible.’ Meaning, fire in the cockpit! Reverb for new cars involves rethinking.

But with a will and a spring, the way presents itself.

“I’m also spiffing up my web page on the Apollo moon downlink facility. (July 20 is the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. I must hurry.) I’ve studied the Rube Goldberg electromechanics for converting color moon video to Earth video. Yes, electromechanics, including one of the earliest video disc machines, rather than computer memories. In the Apollo years, such memories weren’t up to video field storage. Researchers have peppered me with questions about the color downlink station. These questions helped me to update my story.

And speaking of video history, I’m still working on my mechanical video book: How clocks became facsimile and then television.

“My wife, Jean, is even more active than I am. Yet her usual gardening season hasn’t really begun yet. We had a late spring here and then a lot of rain. On the other hand, her yearlong Christmas bread industry is burgeoning.

Unfortunately, she’s fighting pneumonia now and hardly up to snuff. (Ha.) Fortunately with powerful antibiotics, she can still go on our evening walks.”

HILDE BORMANN HENKEL ’73 and MARK HENKEL ’70: “Well, today (May 29) is National Senior Health & Fitness Day, so all I have to share is that while we are happily semi-retired, we are very active in teaching taekwondo year-round (we are both seventh-degree black belts) twice a week and we have additional activities here on the hobby farm: raising a new batch of chickens and working up and weeding with our huge raspberry patch giant garden and literally acres of lawn.”

CHRIS KOPEC ’73: “I am still teaching at Skidmore College (and my husband, Alan, still has his small-town law practice), and living on our farm in Cambridge, New York, with sheep, chickens, dogs. My son is getting

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R Connections

1973 married in September, coincidentally on what will be Alan’s and my 40th wedding anniversary (how is it even possible to be married for 40 years!!). Retirement hovers for us, but we have not yet answered its siren call.”

BILL LAKE ’73 and ROBYN MACKIEWICZ LAKE ’74: “So much has recently happened in Robyn’s and my life and we thought this would be a great time to recap the highlights and share them with you. To begin, we are proud grandparents to our granddaughter, Aria, who is about to turn 4 years old. What a bundle of energy!

Next, we just celebrated our daughter, Jessica’s, wedding in New Orleans, complete with a ‘second line’ parade; and then we went off to the 50th anniversary of Jazz Fest. Of other significance, Robyn retired from her retail job and after 40 years, I retired from our family business at IMS. We now are doing a 50/50 split of our retirement time between the Eastern Shore, Cambridge, Maryland, and Ajijic, Mexico (crazy, yes?). And yes, golf plays a big part in both places. We welcome anyone who is interested in exploring Maryland’s Eastern Shore or has an interest in visiting us in Ajijic.”

MIKE MIZEN ’73: “Last weekend GARY SHARPE ’73 and Gail Sharpe’s daughter was married in Milwaukee. We spent some quality time before the wedding in Green Lake.

We look forward to being together again in October when ROB GADDIS ’72 and JAN BEAN GADDIS ’71’s son will be married in Minneapolis. MARGARET SEELBACH MIZEN ’75 and I are well and remain blessed. Our grandson, Kael, always brings a smile to our faces whenever he is with us either in person or via FaceTime.”

KATHERINE PARISH MILLER ’73: “I have become a stronger activist for the environment. Michigan risks polluting all of the Great Lakes with Pipeline 5.

Organization is working with all of the surrounding states petitioning. Oops, I won’t use this as a political platform! OK. Glacially slow work! I’m volunteering at Telluride Mountain Film Festival. My son married a lovely woman with two boys. He is 41 and always wanted to be a dad! My children and grandchildren are all well. So thankful. Also, I am building a passive/ net zero house! Builders, architects, students, interested people will be welcome to watch and learn. Activism on many levels!”

MARTY MORRIS ’73: “Enjoying spring and summer outdoor activities. Been beachside camping up and down the Oregon and Washington coast. Attending wine pairing dinners at Oregon wineries has been fun, too. Showing up at local festivals and exploring new neighborhoods adds to the excitement. It’s hard to believe we have been here a year now. Of course, it all hasn’t been fun and games. Had some major surgery to basically rebuild an ear. It turned out well. I’m hearing things that I couldn’t for 26 years! Total readjustment.”

BETSY MOLL REZEL ’73: “Here is what Bill and I are up to. We are loving retirement! In November we went to Egypt — unbelievable! The length of history in Egypt is so amazing and the size of some of the temples boggles the mind. The people we met were all very nice but I admit we did have security. In January we went to Chile and Antarctica. That trip was planned by my daughter (the one who lives in New Zealand). Torres Del Paine park in southern Chile was very beautiful. Antarctica was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We loved the penguins, and my son-in-law and I spent a night camping out on the snow. Bill and my daughter decided to stay on the ship. We visited Hawaii a couple of times this year to visit our grandchildren who are now 9 and 11. How is that possible? Time flies way too fast. We continue to volunteer for the zoo in Milwaukee while we think about what trips to take next. I feel so lucky that it makes me nervous to even say that. Wishing everyone the best!”

JOSEPH SANDRIN ’73: “I visited campus in April 3, 2019, to meet with science majors about careers in the sciences and how mine developed. I also gave a talk about my current project, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Gulf War Remediation and Restoration Program. The talk highlighted what we are doing to restore impacts from the 1991 oil spill and the impacts of troops in the northern desert area. I enjoyed the visit and got to see a much different campus from when we all arrived there 50 years ago this coming August. I am planning to return on May 24 for the 100th Ripon College ROTC commissioning ceremony. I was one of many commissioned in the past 100 years through the ROTC program and view Ripon College and ROTC as two keys to my success — both taking second place to my wife, Janice. We, too, have been together 50 years since January 1969 and married since 1972. Anyway, that is it for the moment. More to follow as it happens. Maybe retirement will come in 2020 or 2021. We shall see.”

CHRISTINE WOLK ’73: “I am going hiking in the Scottish highlands in 10 days. It is a bucket list item.

It looks like a wet walk. Also heading to Poland in September with my then-89-year-old mother on a genealogy tour to visit the archives and my roots. I am not yet retired. I broke my ankle three to four years ago — a shopping injury — so not new news.” Glad you took me at my word when I was asking for responses. Happy you are recovered and off hiking! JKL As you may or may not know, KEN MAGRATH ’73 passed away in December. BILL MACLEOD ’73 writes: “It took more than the Class of ’73 to celebrate the life of Ken Magrath. On Saturday, June 1, a rag-tag team – DAVE BUNTEN ’73, CHRIS DOHERTY ’74, THOMAS “FUZZ” FREESE ’74 and ANN GUNDERSON FREESE ’74, RICK GLAD ’74, BRUCE GRAY ’71, BILL HICKEY ’74, ROB LEITSCHUH ’73, DAN PINS ’72 and GEORGE STEVENS ’74 – all came to Darien, Connecticut, where JULIE FENWICK MAGRATH ’73 and her family hosted a ceremony and party in Ken’s honor. BILL HICKEY ’74 captivated the congregation with a eulogy that recalled Ken’s wit, warmth, wonkiness – and countless folks Ken counseled back to health and happiness. Then we all retired to a bar that we immediately rechristened ‘The Spot.’ With brews in hand, we told tales about ourselves, each other, and mostly all you who weren’t there.

“For the PG version of those tales, DAVE BUNTEN ’73 (Dr. Bevis) is still teaching high school in the north suburbs of Chicago. CHRIS DOHERTY ’74 (Cleanhead), is still dabbling in real estate in the north ’burbs of Boston, but we’re more likely to find him on the Gulf Coast of Florida, where he claims his handicap is lower than ever.

He and Sheryl are heading to Pebble Beach to catch the U.S. Open, where they hope to see RICK GLAD ’74. (Sounds like a party at the doctor’s house on the course!) THOMAS “FUZZ” FREESE ’74 and ANN GUNDERSON FREESE ’74 are still the unlikely entrepreneurs of New Hampshire, where their business has morphed from selling camping gear to trading in cargo containers and truck trailers.

RICK GLAD ’74 and BRUCE GRAY ’71 are busy as ever, with Rick replacing knees, hips and shoulders in Wisconsin and Bruce on call in Ohio for every injury and illness that comes through the hospital doors. They cast sideways glances at health insurer BILL HICKEY ’74, who collects premiums from rich patients and doles out payments to poor doctors. ROB LEITSCHUH ’73 (“Rat,” for those who remember him only by the nickname) has a contracting business that keeps buildings from Dartmouth College to Florida’s coast in tip-top trim. A (finally married) DAN PINS ’72 is still buying and selling real estate in Summit County, Colorado. If you’re looking for a mansion on the slopes or a condo in Keystone, he

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CLASS LETTERS can make a deal. And GEORGE STEVENS ’74 could have passed as Class of ’83, if we hadn’t been there and didn’t know better.

“Forty-five years out, we still revert to Ripon form when we gather. Fortunately, the statute of limitations has run on all the Ripon misdemeanors — the epic cream puff food fight, fake IDs, underage purchases from Uncle Milt, etc. — and we managed to avoid any new infractions all evening. Like our college days when hardly anyone could afford a car, we walked to our watering hole. There would be no driving home after someone announced, as Daryl always did at closing time in The Spot ...

“Spoiler alert: I was the one who gave Daryl’s benediction. Then we all returned to our hotel, motel or wherever we had to go.”

GARY LEDERER ’72 and I may run into CHRIS DOHERTY ’73 and RICK GLAD ’73 as we are headed to Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open as well. Of course, by the time you are reading this that event will be long over. We are actually headed to California to see our 6-monthold granddaughter, Emily. From Facetime — which we think is the greatest thing ever — we can tell she has grown so much since her visit to Florida in March. We are keeping very active with our three guardian ad litem cases, spending a lot of time waiting in the courthouse for hearings, trials and mediations, as well as doing are monthly visits and then some. We are playing lots of golf, too, though neither one of us seems to be lowering our handicaps by much.

Thank you all so much who answered my plea for news.

I do appreciate it. I also know everyone likes to hear what classmates are doing. So till the next time ...

JEAN

1974 Jan Petrovski MacLeod 630-920-2450 / Bookmaven105@gmail.com Our 45th reunion is in the books and was blessed with good weather and, as always, great company. Everyone had fun renewing friendships and admiring the campus updates. We are already talking about our 50th and pledging to get as many of you back on campus as we can. I’m going to kick off this effort right now by asking you to please make sure we have your current contact information. It was heartbreaking for our committee to reach out to you only to have emails bounce back and phone numbers go unanswered. We truly want to be able to reach you, say “Hi”, and include you in the plans. You won’t regret staying in touch and coming back for a visit, I promise!

In other reunion news, we raised more than $61,000 for the College, and a huge thank-you goes out to everyone who helped. It’s always true that the size of the gift isn’t as important as the fact that you remembered to contribute. And, finally, I want you all to know that SCOTT DICKS ’74 recently was named an Honorary Life Trustee, joining JANE RUNKEL FREDERICK ’74 in this important group. That’s right! Our class has TWO! And Ripon has recognized their many years of selfless and diligent work by naming them trustees for life. A truly impressive achievement. We are, and always have been, very fortunate to have them as classmates and friends.

It has been a very busy spring and summer at our house.

Our youngest daughter, Mary, got married in early June on the lakeshore in Delavan, Wisconsin. It was a perfect day in every way, the memories of which will stay with us forever. My husband, Andy, retired after a long distinguished career, and he’s having a good time

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R Connections

being a grandpa, polishing his golf game, catching up on his pleasure reading and dealing with home projects.

We’ve been taking some road trips and have more in the planning stages, so we have lots to keep us busy. My book group is going strong at the library; keeping up with new books, choosing titles for future meetings, and handling the circulation desk on Thursday afternoons has my attention most days. Our granddaughters are growing quickly and we are trying to spend as much time with them as we can. Most evenings still find us relaxing on our deck, so if you are ever in our area, please drop by!

GEORGE BOOTHBY SR. ’74 of Montvale, New Jersey, was among the Scoutmasters chosen to participate in the 2019 World Scout Jamboree in July at the Bechtel Summit in West Virginia. He was responsible for providing guidance and supervision to 300 Scouts and Scoutmasters. He got involved with the Boy Scouts of America in 1992 as an assistant den leader. His wife, LOUISE BOOTHBY RENIER ’75, volunteered with the Girl Scouts of America for 12 years. Their son, George Jr., is an Eagle Scout, and daughter, Catherine, is a Gold Award recipient.

WILLIAM BRENNER ’74 of San Francisco, California: writes: “Catching up on hundreds of books I wanted to read for the 35 years I worked with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.” Bill, you are a man after my own heart.

SELMA BAYDOUN CEMAN ’74, of Green Lake, Wisconsin, tells me she is still unpacking from her move, but she loves her new house. Her kids and grandkids live in the area now and they are all planning to be together for Green Lake Harvest Days in September. Other family, including her brother, aunt and uncle, will be arriving from California, New York and Boston. It will be quite a reunion.

TERRY HOFFER ’74 and KATHY WILLIAMS HOFFER ’74 of Danville, Vermont, took a fabulous trip to Scotland this spring. Their pictures showed lovely weather and lots of smiles, so what could be better? Come back to Ripon one of these days, you two!

ROBYN MACKIEWICZ LAKE ’74 and BILL LAKE ’73: “So much has recently happened in Robyn’s and my life and we thought this would be a great time to recap the highlights and share them with you. To begin, we are proud grandparents to our granddaughter, Aria, who is about to turn 4 years old. What a bundle of energy! Next, we just celebrated our daughter, Jessica’s, wedding in New Orleans, complete with a ‘second line’ parade; and then we went off to the 50th anniversary of Jazz Fest. Of other significance, Robyn retired from her retail job and after 40 years, I retired from our family business at IMS. We now are doing a 50/50 split of our retirement time between the Eastern Shore, Cambridge, Maryland, and Ajijic, Mexico (crazy, yes?). And yes, golf plays a big part in both places. We welcome anyone who is interested in exploring Maryland’s Eastern Shore or has an interest in visiting us in Ajijic.”

MARY BREESE RAY ’74 of Plainfield, Illinois, is newly retired! Keep us posted on your new endeavors, Mary.

ERIC SORENSEN ’74 of Marengo, Wisconsin, continues to perform in a variety of venues around the Midwest, taking his character Mustafa Ali to Renaissance fairs and festivals from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, (where he was named Entertainer of the Year) to Bliss, Michigan, and Angora, Minnesota; and for the first time this year, to the Bristol Faire in Wisconsin. He also has rejoined his brother, with whom he was in a rock band 50 years ago, and they are part of the Hawkins Creek Band. As he says, “Still looking for that Big Break, hoping it’s not my hip ...”

1973-75 Which brings me to the unfortunate news that CHRIS OVERLY WALLACE ’74 and LINDA LANDIN KAROW ’74 had to cancel their trips to Ripon due to fractures they sustained (separately) in the days before the reunion.

By the time this letter is published, I trust they will be recovered and back on their feet. We certainly did miss them — as we missed all of you who weren’t there.

Please stay in touch and DO take care of yourselves. If you have relocated, or are retiring and moving to some exotic locale, remember to send me (or the College) your new address, phone number(s) and email address. I am really going to be trying to get us all together for a huge party for our 50th, so be ready!

JAN

1975 Jondi Gumz 831-461-1120 / jondigumz@yahoo.com Dear Classmates, Have you seen the new R Connections online? You can find it at ripon.edu/rconnections.

Basically, Ripon College is taking advantage of technology that didn’t exist back in 1975 to help alumni connect.

You can submit your news and photos, report alumni sightings and obituaries, and read class letters from all the classes. I posted a photo from my visit with BECKY HADLEY ’75 in San Antonio, Texas. That’s where I read about LOIS VAN LEER ’78 pastoring the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene, Oregon, the mayor of Indianapolis honoring journalist WILL HIGGINS ’78 for his 26-year career with the Indianapolis Star/USA Today, and Mr. Basketball, Coach DICK BENNETT ’65. So check it out. Your news will make it a valuable resource.

Next, our 45th reunion is coming up in 2020, believe it or not. Dates are June 25-28, 2020, the last weekend in June. RICK ESTBERG ’75 of Severna Park, Maryland, has agreed once again to put together his Ripon Jeopardy game, which I am sure will be a highlight for everyone! Of course, there will be a class gift. One idea I have is a treasure hunt for classmates to visit special spots on campus — some you have not seen because they are new and some might not be recognizable because they have been renovated.

What would you like to see or do? Which classmates do you want to see? Let me know. The folks on campus invited alumni to campus July 12 for a reunion planning get-together, but I was in Detroit with one of my sisters. If you want to participate, use the online form. AMY GABRIEL GERRETSEN ’04, gerretsena@ripon.edu, is our campus contact for conference calls starting in September.

Oct. 1: Deadline to request a campus venue for our reunion. Great Hall in Harwood Memorial Union can fit 200; Heritage Room in Pickard Commons can fit 80; Lane Library, 60; West Hall, 60; Rodman Center, 60; and Bovay Terrace, 60, for a reception only. All the others are big enough for a dinner. The library or West Hall could be fun but I am leaning toward Great Hall or the Heritage Room. Why? Each has a sound system, which we’ll need for Jeopardy. Size matters, so if we have a big turnout with spouses attending, we’d need the bigger location. Do you have a preference?

If the College has your current email, you should have gotten an email inviting you to volunteer to help with 2020 Reunion planning. I did!

If you can help me with planning the reunion, or email me directly at jondigumz@yahoo.com. Got questions?

The College has put together a nifty nine-page PDF reunion planning guide with more details on timelines, and I can forward that to you. Just let me know!

I have good news to share: My integrative oncologist

looked at my thermogram and my blood and urine tests in June and said, “Your numbers look fantastic!”

I’ve been following the “Radical Remission” approach.

No chemo, radiation or drugs with side effects. Less stress, more movement and healthier nutrient-dense food. Left my reporting job after 26 years, which gives me more time to do Jazzercise, yoga and Qi Gong, go to farmer’s markets, make more meals at home with fresh veggies, fruit, pastured organic eggs, wild salmon and grass fed beef. No more coffee but lots of tea and Vitamin D, Vitamin Bs and C, plus zinc and selenium to reach optimum preventive levels. I have so much energy I have started a six-month program to become a health coach.

WARREN BLUHM ’75 of Luxemburg, Wisconsin: “My goal for 2019 was to resume my life as a publishing mogul. This week I published Myke Phoenix: The Complete Novelettes for Kindle and print; in July I plan to publish a collection of 101 reflections called A Bridge at Crossroads; and sometime this summer I’m going to launch The Roger Mifflin Collection, a series of editions of vintage books recommended by the proprietor of The Haunted Bookshop in the classic Christopher Morley novel I found a year ago and fell in love with. My Kewaunee County Comet news website continues to build momentum, but not so fast that I can leave my day job as editor of the Oconto County Times Herald. So I spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen these days! CJ, on the other hand, is fully engaged in retirement, helping plan her son, Lee’s, Aug. 10 wedding and pitching in as Lee and Sarah build their dream home.”

LOUISE RENIER BOOTHBY ’75, of Montvale, New Jersey, volunteered with the Girl Scouts of America for 12 years.

Her husband, GEORGE BOOTHBY SR. ’74, was among the Scoutmasters chosen to participate in the 2019 World Scout Jamboree in July at the Bechtel Summit in West Virginia. He was responsible for providing guidance and supervision to 300 Scouts and Scoutmasters. He got involved with the Boy Scouts of America in 1992 as an assistant den leader. Their son, George Jr., is an Eagle Scout, and daughter, Catherine, is a Gold Award recipient.

GEORGIANNE BRAVICK ’75, of Appleton, Wisconsin, who has been teaching middle school students in De Pere, Wisconsin, traveled in June to Atlanta, or as she calls it “Hotlanta,” for some sister fun.

DORN CARLSON ’75, of Saint Leon, Maryland, who retired in February after nearly 19 years at the National Sea Grant College, is working on his garden. He reports on Facebook that his ornamental peach tree is growing actual peaches.

SUE CHAPMAN CARLTON ’75 and her husband, Ray, have a new home address: 246 Olive St., Fort Mill, SC 29715, not far from Charlotte, North Carolina. She writes, “We are enjoying it very much, meeting many new friends and participating in numerous activities: water aerobics, golf, bocce ball, chair yoga, wine club, Metro NY club etc. Our kids are visiting now from New Jersey and Florida, and we’re renting a pontoon boat on Lake Wylie.”

JIM CURTIS ’75 and his wife, Cindy, of Clinton, Connecticut, hit a milestone when their son, Sam, graduated from high school with plans to attend Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Services to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Their daughter, Alena, is pursuing her dreams as a freestyle skier.

DENNIS FRAHMANN ’74 of Cambria, California, has written a new book, The Long Table Dinner, available on Kindle, about a cranky old rancher with grass-fed cattle who allows his coastal property to be the venture for a $250-a-plate dinner for 200+ people. “A finely

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CLASS LETTERS crafted story about late-in-life regrets,” according to Kirkus Reviews. Dennis started with our class in 1971 and graduated in three years. When JAN PETROVSKI MACLEOD ’74, 1974 Class Agent, asked if Dennis and husband Robert were planning to come to Ripon for the 2019 reunion, Dennis said they definitely plan to be back on campus for the 50th.

RUTH GALES FRECHMAN ’75 of North Hollywood, California, participated in the inaugural Plant-Based Nutrition Leadership Symposium. She gave her assessment of the trendy low-carb diet for a report on NBC-TV New York.

BECKY HADLEY ’75 of San Antonio, Texas, and her husband, Peter Szermach, enjoyed a visit to Chicago to see family and art.

KAREN KUCKHAHN KEHL ’75 of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, retired in June. She spent 28 years teaching at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran School, specializing in third and fourth grade with duties as co-athletic director. She was recognized with a big reception, and her mom flew in from Florida for the celebration.

JULIE OLSON KEILMAN ’75 and her family saw “Hamilton,” the smash musical, at the Kansas City Music Hall.

KATHY KURKE ’75 of Ormond Beach, Florida, and husband Richard Davis celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this year. Since retiring in 2007 from NASA as chief legal counsel, Kathy has become an artist. In February, one of her abstract pieces, a mixed media work titled “On the Verge,” won a Merit Award at a show in Daytona Beach, Florida.

MICHAEL REES ’75 of Lakewood, Colorado, retired a year ago after 27 years as a planner with the National Park Service in Denver and 6½ years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska and Washington, D.C. He writes, “I’m now keeping busy volunteering, in the NPS Technical Information Center, at Saint Anthony Hospital, as a trailhead steward at the Jefferson County open space parks, and as an usher for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. I’m also doing lots of hiking. Enjoying my retirement!”

STEVE RUGO ’75, principal at Rugo/Raff Ltd. Architects in Chicago, provided design input for a new restaurant, Virtue, with Southern soul food by award-winning chef Erick Williams, and was just named by Eater as “one of the hottest restaurants in Chicago.”

PETER SWAN ’75 who lives in Hollywood, South Carolina, with his wife, Alexis, went back to work as a special education teacher.

I hope you will put June 25-28, 2020, on your calendar.

Join us for all the fun!

All news welcome!

Your Class Agent, JONDI GUMZ ’75

1976 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

STEVE PUGH ’76 and his wife, Barbara, of Amherst, New Hampshire, went sightseeing in June in Portugal. For photos, check Facebook. Last year, he took first place in his age group at the Merrimack Sparkler 5k.

1977 Alan Lawrence 920-730-9515 / alan_lawrence99@yahoo.com With help from MARYJO MACSWAIN ’77, we have a Facebook page for our class. Please visit it. Then like or follow so that your news feed will include items about your classmates. Please also leave a posting about yourself. facebook.com/RiponCollegeClassof1977 My wife and I participated at Alumni Weekend this past June 29. It is a multi-day event, but I’m fondest of the Saturday part of the program. I’ve been informed that I really should consider the Friday evening parts in future years.

Classes formally celebrate their “reunions” every fifth year, but many alumni make a practice of attending more frequently. Our next fifth anniversary reunion is in 2022.

I was joined this year by MARYJO MACSWAIN ’77, JEAN BLACK ’77 and CONNIE JESS ZOLKOSKE ’77 for the Class March that walks from Todd Wehr Hall to the big tent beside The Commons for lunch and speeches. This space is called Memorial Lawn these days and is the site where Memorial Gym stood when we were students.

My daughter, JENNIFER RESCHKE ’14, was also present for Alumni Weekend because her class was celebrating its fifth reunion. It is not unusual to see two generations of alums in the same family coming together for the weekend.

On May 1, our College held its second annual #OneDayRally to raise funds in a single day. Thanks to MARYJO MACSWAIN ’77 for offering a matching pledge and recording a video of herself asking classmates to participate. MaryJo summarized the event with these words, “Congratulations to Ripon College and to the Class of 1977! We had 23 donors and contributed almost $25,000, a significant improvement from last year. We ranked 18th in number of donors and 14th in dollars contributed.” Overall, the College raised $1,085,314 in the successful fundraiser.

Last spring LAIRD DECRAMER ‘77 and LINDA GLAUBITZ DECRAMER ‘89 of Princeton, Wisconsin, informed us that both of their children are currently Ripon students. “The Ripon tradition continues. Although our kids are polar opposites, CALLISTA DECRAMER ’20 (suave, sophisticated and likes to tango) and SULLIVAN DECRAMER ’21 (overzealous, long-haired and always looking for cash) both work tirelessly towards their goals.”

LARRY MALCHOW ’77, former executive director of development at Ripon College, has been receiving honors for his creative writing. “Wash the Crying River,” a short story won the John Steinbeck Award For Fiction, sponsored by Reed Magazine of San Jose State University.

His first short story, “Trapped,” was a semifinalist in the Machigonne contest sponsored by the New Guard Literary Review. His second short story, “Liberty Motel,” was a finalist for the Portal Prize in Speculative Fiction and will be published in Easy Street magazine. His latest story, “Molecular Music,” can be read for free online at cagibilit. com. Click on Issue 7: July 2019, scroll down and click on “Molecular Music.”

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1975-78 SUSAN LENNON SOLBERG ’77 and Curtis Solberg of Greenville, Wisconsin: “We have been enjoying a new granddaughter this year! KELLY SOLBERG WILHELME ’06 had this baby this last June. Life is busy and blessed!”

Please send news about yourself either to the College or to me to be shared in our next class letter. We’d love to hear from you.

Remember that your financial help is very important to help keep Ripon a competitive and quality institution.

Your donations are important every year. Your participation is very important.

Always for Ripon, ALAN

1978 Gregg Petersen 410-884-0407 / Sig29@aol.com Dear Classmates: Welcome to summer, or rather fall, everyone! While this will appear in the fall, I am again writing it in June for the second year. First let me say thanks so much to our classmates who participated in the second annual #OneDayRally on May 1. While the current Ripon senior class led participation this year, we once again led all alumni classes. My most heartfelt thanks to those who gave generously and helped to remind the Ripon Office of Constituent Engagement of how well our class comes together when we choose to do so.

Make sure you read the latest general updates from Ripon. Our enrollment numbers are looking much better this fall for the second year in a row!

I am thrilled to tell you that this has been the best class letter input you have provided in some time! You made my task of pulling this together probably the easiest it has been in the 12 years I have been doing this. Thanks to all who provided an update!

What updates? Well, we have the classmate who lives in a major city and had a day named in his honor by the mayor! We have another classmate not named Christopher George who has been leading a crucial “Rat Patrol” for 30 years. Another classmate aspires to be a “Road Scholar,” while another builds his own airplanes and the crafts actually fly, too. Other classmates traveled to jolly old England to visit our one of our published authors, while another classmate plans to become an author. Another classmate escorted a pilot who bombed his targets with 23 tons … of candy, without permission from his superiors, and won the Congressional Gold Medal. One classmate retired from the desert to the mountains, but not completely, another was just installed in a church along the Gulf Coast, and another will soon have in-laws in Myanmar. No, I did not make any of this up, we are just interesting people. Read on …

DANNI CALDWELL ’78 of Henderson, Nevada: “Advancing age is making itself known to my husband, Alan Potratz, and I, even though we don’t feel our ages!

Alan had a hip replacement in May, and I had a cataract removed from my right eye in early June. The left eye cataract will be removed on June 26. We both have had easy recoveries from our respective procedures, for which we are thankful. Our oldest son, Sam, announced his engagement this Christmas. His fiancée, Sui Lynn, is a citizen of Myanmar, and in January, we will travel there for a Buddhist wedding ceremony. He has applied for a fiancée visa for Suyi and is awaiting word on that application. We continue to enjoy our lives in Nevada and keep active in our new 55-and-over community in Henderson.”

BECKY GALLOWAY ’78 of Shoreline, Washington: “Here’s a quick update from Shoreline (first cousin to Seattle) — I’ll retire from the other UW in August and am looking forward to .... still getting up early Monday through Friday to walk to my volunteer job at Whisker City, a kitty rescue shelter. Rick and I are looking forward to some “Road Scholar” trips (volunteer-run railroads are top of the list) and visiting friends and family from Portland to Pennsylvania.”

DAVE HANUS ’78 of Salem, Oregon: His wife, Ann, notes that Dave was, “… honored for his 30 years of volunteer service with the Marion County Search and Rescue Jeep Patrol. He serves as the Commander of Jeep Patrol. Over the years, he has been involved in countless searches to rescue stranded and injured people, transport emergency medical personnel during storms, find missing Alzheimer’s patients, teach kids wilderness survival skills, and assist in evidence searches.” I sent Dave a note that said, “(So you were) like a modern-day Christopher George in charge of a rescue Rat Patrol.”

Dave responded, “Ha, ha. Funny you mention Rat Patrol.

We have an upcoming training in helicopter hot loading and need eye protection. I asked our QM (quartermaster) if he could find some AN6530 goggles and included a picture of Christopher George with them. Ha. You (must be) reading my emails :). Oh, only jumped a dune in my FJ40 (jeep) once — too much damage and I ended up an inch shorter! Class letter, you bet. But the stories from the 600-odd missions over the years are more interesting than me.”

WILL HIGGINS ’78 of Indianapolis, Indiana: “Not to sound like a jerk, but Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett did proclaim Jan. 18, 2019, Will Higgins Day, which was nice except there was a blizzard with slide-offs, power outages etc. It was the last day of my 26-year journalism career with Indianapolis Star/Gannett/USA Today. Have some writing and video projects in the works and am doing some absurd art-type stuff of a dada nature (see American Society of Presidential Urine Collectors, see LinearBocce.com). I still play tennis and paddle tennis and am decent but can feel it slipping away — but so what? My wife, Dorothy Stites Alig, an actual artist, and I plan to split our time between Indianapolis and Northport, Michigan, and to also do some traveling and goofing around with our two grandsons.”

DAVE JUNG ’78 of Purcellville, Virginia, was invited to travel to Berlin, Germany, on May 12 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Blockade. He was photographed with Col. Gail Halvorsen. According to Wikipedia, Halvorsen “is best-known as the Berlin Candy Bomber or Uncle Wiggly Wings and gained fame for dropping candy to German children during the Berlin Airlift from 1948 to 1949. During (the Berlin Airlift) he founded Operation Little Vittles, an effort to raise morale in Berlin by dropping candy via miniature parachute to the city’s residents. Halvorsen’s operation dropped over 23 tons of candy to the residents of Berlin. Halvorsen has received numerous awards for his role in Operation Little Vittles, including the Congressional Gold Medal.”

DOUG KINGS ’78 was installed June 23 as pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in the Gulf coast town of Holmes Beach, Florida, on Anna Maria Island. He says, “It’s hot now but beautiful November through April. If you’re ever vacationing in the area, be sure to drop by.”

The Rev. PAUL NANCARROW ’78 of Staunton, Virginia, will retire from parish ministry at Trinity Episcopal Church this fall. After 11 years at Trinity, and 33 years in the ordained ministry, Paul and Lee will move to the Twin Cities of Minnesota, where they will be close to Paul’s family and where Paul will take time to write up some of the theological ideas that have been incubating over three decades. There will also be bicycling!

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CLASS LETTERS JEFF OREAR ’78 of Peshtigo, Wisconsin: “I’ll put my two cents worth in for the class newsletter. As you have seen on (Facebook), I sold my dental practice/building and retired at the end of April. I’m currently experiencing the ‘what day of the week is it’ syndrome, as every day seems like Saturday to me now! I’ve been doing a bunch of ‘binge’ flying because now, if it’s a nice day, I can literally take off and fly. Also have been spending more time with airplane project number 2, my Hatz Classic Biplane. So, as you see, I’m trying to adapt to this retirement thing as best I can.

“Our second oldest daughter, Kelly, blessed us with the birth of our fourth grandson, Ronan Edward Callahan, on March 6. He’s quite the chubby-cheeked cutie. He will no doubt enjoy get-togethers with our oldest daughter Melanie’s three boys Colon, Aidan and Bennet. One more grandson and we’ll have a heck of a basketball team! This July, we will welcome another son-in-law, Josh, into our family as our youngest daughter Megan is getting married on the 13. Per usual, being an experienced father of the bride, I’m staying out of the planning and will show up where and when I’m told. So, as you can see, we’ve had a busy start to 2019.”

JOE O’SULLIVAN ’78 of Tacoma, Washington: “Still enjoying semi-retirement as just received another trauma research grant. Decided on moving from San Antonio, Texas, to south of the Tacoma, Washington, area. Found a beautiful house on forested 20 acres with stunning mountain views. Also, my children have been busy over the last few years as I am now a grandpa times three.

They are adorable. Looking forward to seeing everyone the next time our paths cross!”

BARB ROMANELLO ’78 of North Prairie, Wisconsin: “In January, GREGORY ROMANELLO ’77 and I traveled to the UK. We spent an incredible weekend visiting TAMMY BODEN-ELLIS ’78 in Taunton (three hours southwest of London). While Greg went off to work in London, I spent a week with Tammy fully immersed in the English culture.

The Boden-Ellis’ homestead sits on Crown property with the original house dating back to the 1400s and a newer edition from the 1600s. I truly enjoyed catching up with her and reliving stories of Ripon College days.”

Class of 1978 Again Leads Alumni Participation for #OneDayRally May 1: As you may recall, our class topped all other class year groups in participation in the first-ever Ripon #OneDayRally last year by nearly 10% with 48 donations.

This year, we AGAIN topped all alumni classes for participation! Although this may sound odd, we were the only pre-turn-of-the-century or pre-2000 class to be in the top 10 for participation. Thanks to this year’s participants in our leading #OneDayRally showing: JOSE ALEMAN ’78, DENISE BAIRD ’78, BETH BENEZRA ’78, DANNI CALDWELL ’78, DANNY DAVIS ’78 and JUDY REISINGER DAVIS ’76, PATRICIA GARDNER ’78, MARLA FULLER GARFIELD ’78 and HORACE GARFIELD ’78, MARK HEBDA ’78, ALAN HODKIEWICZ ’78 and SUSAN HIGBY HODKIEWICZ ’77, HELEN HOLTER ’78, MARY HOLTROP ’78, MEREDITH VALENTINE JOHNSON ’78, LOUISA GEBELEIN JONES ’78, CARLA OLSEN LARSEN ’78, AMY ORR LARSON ’78 and KEVIN LARSON ’76, LAWRENCE LAUX ’78 and NINA WULFF ’77, KAREN ANDRESEN LEAHY ’78, ROBERT MEYER ’78, PATTI KRUG MORRELL ’78 and EDWARD MORRELL ’77, PAUL NANCARROW ’78, JUSTIN NIEBANK ’78, JOSEPH O’SULLIVAN ’78, JEFF OREAR ’78, BILL OTTO ’78, LIZ PECHA-POELKER ’78, GREGG PETERSEN ’78, GRETA PORTER ’78, BARBARA JANSSEN PUGH ’78 and STEPHEN PUGH ’76, LINDA REMICK ’78, TOM RITSCH ’78, DONNA HANSEN SCYMANSKI ’78, SUSAN FEITH SHANNON

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’78, JON VERSON ’78 and JOAN BALAUSKAS VERSON ’78, LAURIE MEYER WAGNER ’78, JIM WILKES ’78, LISA WOLLAN ’78, JOHN ZINDAR ’78 and Anonymous x3.

Special thanks to LOUISA GEBELEIN JONES ’78 who does outreach like this for a living and worked hand-invirtual hand with me on our outreach and in coaching me. Many of you heard from her as she supported the #OneDayRally for 18 hours & 51 minutes (1851, the founding date of Ripon) in addition to performing her responsibilities at the Pomfret School on a normal workday, and refereed a lacrosse game on May 1.

So, it’s time to start planning for next year’s #OneDayRally — if you are planning to give to Ripon, you might consider waiting for May to make your contribution so we can continue our dominance. One other nuance is that if you are busy, travelling or otherwise unable to call in or do a web contribution on the day of the #OneDayRally, you can earmark or annotate a contribution given in the days before the Rally to count for Rally purposes. My wife and I give from a charitable trust, so it takes some time to send in the check. So, we gave in advance with special instructions for our contribution to count on the day of the Rally.

Class Letter Updates: I am so very encouraged by the strong response you all (or ya’ll if you are south of the Mason-Dixon Line) provided for this letter, so morale is high here in Columbia, Maryland, today! I wonder what the rest of you folks have been doing. Please solve that mystery for me and your classmates and send in your updates and pictures for the spring ’20 letter and please continue to have a healthy, happy 2019!

Best wishes and warmest regards, GREGG

1979 Kevin L. Warmack 773-220-5360 / kwarmack@gmail.com / kwarmack@ sbcglobal.net Greetings All, it’s a little over a week since the 40th Reunion. Quite a few hardy souls showed up, and in the immortal words of BOB GRANT ’79, “Damn good time was had by all!”

For all, here is a recap of the Weekend: Thursday, June 27 After checking in, who should I meet but PAUL “MOSES” SHLIEN ’83. Paul started with us in 1975, roomed with JON “CORNFLAKE” HELLAND ’79 but left mid-year. Paul eventually finished with the Class of 1983. We headed downtown to Roadhouse and who’s holding court but BILL SCHNESE ’79! I hadn’t expected him this year (his son got married the week before), so it was a pleasant surprise. I also got to see GAIL GOODRICH TRACY ’79 and MIKE TRACY ’79.

Friday, June 28 The Courses of Lawsonia and the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble. Yes, I did tee it up along with BILL SCHNESE ’79 and BOB SCHMITT ’79. It was my first time out since last August when I got my bionic equipment. I played with BLAINE GIBSON ’81 and KEN PINCKNEY ’81. We shot an 80 but it was a good 80!

Dinner at Norton’s. Usually I go to the Alumni Dinner but this year since we had no one getting any awards, I skipped the event and went to dinner at Norton’s with SUZY MEIER ’79, LEE POTTER ’79 and SANDY LUNDEEN MEYER ’79 and her husband, Jim. Good food, good drink, great conversation!

1978-80 Saturday, June 29 After the usual “That was Then,” BOB SCHMITT ’79 and I took part in the All-Campus March to lunch and the presentation of the Class Gift. Of course, I held up the Class of 1979 sign with my usual “4 Beers” salute!

But I also got to run into and have lunch with KAREN STEFFES DRISCOLL ’79 and TONY PONCE DE LEON ’79.

As to our Class Gift, here are the immortal words: “Mr. President, we are proud to share that in the five years since our last reunion, the Class of 1979 has raised $340,122!

We also have added one new Partner in the Legacy in that time! With 42% of our class participating, the Class of 1979 is pleased to present to you our Class Gift in the amount of $72,335!”

On behalf of our gift chair, MIKE TRACY ’79, let me express my thanks to all of us who participated in the Class Gift!

The Alumni Lacrosse Game. On Upper Sadoff, I went down to the Alumni Lacrosse Game to watch the stars – BILL SCHNESE ’79, TED SHALLER ’79, JON HELLAND ’79, TONY PONCE DE LEON ’79, ART PETERS ’79 and members of the Ripon Lacrosse team play a select team of 15-year-olds. ANDY DICKSON ’79 and I stayed on the sidelines and watched as these old men barely got by the Wisconsin Select team by a score of 5-4.

The Reunion Dinner. The 40th Reunion of the Class of 1979 was held in the atrium of Willmore Center (Storzer).

In addition to most of the souls that I mentioned earlier, RUTH HOLLINGER PETERS ’79, KIM GOSSO LAUE ’79, ALAN LOVELL ’79, STORS DOWNEY ’79, DEB MARNOCCA ’79, HEIDI HASTINGS ’79, MATT DACY ’79 and LEA COLQUHOUN DACY ’79, BETH PALMBACK NEMECEK ’79 and JAY MCDONALD ’79 showed up and enjoyed each other and took a look at our yearbook. The highlight of the night was that we got to go to the team locker room to see the locker that a few of us contributed to in the name of NATE BOYA ’79. There was a small parting gift for those who attended; and some of you who didn’t make it just might receive one in the mail.

So the 40th Reunion is in the books and now it’s time to look forward to five years from now when we celebrate 45 years! I plan on being there and I hope that a few more of you will come home to Ripon one last time!

MARK COLEMAN ’79 – Mark had a good excuse, too.

Mother-in-law birthday. We husbands do understand, Mark. Let’s just say, we missed you!!

MATTHEW D. DACY ’79 of Rochester, Minnesota, was featured in Ken Burns’ latest documentary, “The Mayo Clinic: Faith-Hope-Science,” which debuted on PBS in September 2018. At Mayo Clinic, he is the director of the Heritage Hall historical museum, assistant professor of the history of medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and also works in the development department.

ROYCE DUNBAR ’79 – Royce was down in St. Louis at the Elks Convention. But we all know, he just wanted to get close to the Stanley Cup! MICHAEL GIBBS ’79 of San Antonio, Texas, has been promoted to executive vice president of the Whataburger restaurant chain. He also is continuing in his role as general counsel.

TOM OAKLEY ’79 – Congratulations are in order. Per a press release from February, “Bioanalytical Systems Inc. is pleased to announce that D. Thomas “Tom” Oakley has been appointed as chief operating officer of the company, effective as of Feb. 11, 2019. Mr. Oakley will be responsible for leading operations among BASi’s three sites located in West Lafayette and Evansville, Indiana, and St. Louis, Missouri.” Tom and his wife were off in Ireland on the “three-hour tour.”

DIANE MOY QUON ’79 of Lake Forest, Illinois, earned an Academy Award nomination as producer of the documentary film “Minding the Gap,” released by Kartemquin Films. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018 and won the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking in U.S. Documentary Competition. It also recently won the prestigious Peabody Award.

MIKE ZAHN ’79 – Mike had a good excuse for not attending – he had to walk his daughter down the aisle.

Having done that honorable task twice, I know Mike was full. Congratulations! By the way, Mike also retired in June.

As always, it is a pleasure to write to y’all. Special thanks to BETH PALMBACH NEMECEK ’79 for those Facebook posts from the College. Let’s plan to get together soon. By the way, I may be in your neighborhoods (work travel).

So watch out for a reach out for a beer or three!

Also, when you got news, don’t hold on. Drop me a note so I can make your class letter the best!

Love Always, KEVIN L. WARMACK ’79

1980 Margaret “Peggy” Gero DaValt 608-658-3779 / gorsetr@gorsetr.com “History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again.” ~Kurt Vonnegut Greetings to all of you in the Ripon College Class of 1980! Happy summer 2019. As I sit here writing this on the “last hour” before it’s really due (and I mean really due), I’ve been reflecting on so many things that have affected all of us associated with Ripon College and then with a more thorough thought process. It made me realize that it is mainly about life and how life truly is cyclic. What came to mind was the notion of Apply shampoo. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Mr. Vonnegut’s quote does look to the positive and says just be prepared to be surprised again.

SAVE THE DATE (don’t forget … write this down) The Ripon College Class of 1980 will celebrate their 40th class reunion the last weekend in June in 2020. WOWZA. CAN. YOU. BELIEVE. IT??? Please join me and anyone else willing to work on the Reunion Committee as we look forward to renewing and rekindling friendships and reliving memories (oh, there are so many … right friends??) I hate to beg … but please come back! It will be a blast!

Question for all of you – sharing is caring – go to the Class of 1980’s Facebook page and list three of your top favorite memories of Ripon College – go all out!!

• Was it the Toga Party at Merriman House?

• Was it a great speaker we had in – like James Doohan (Scotty) our last week of senior year?

• Was it meeting that special friend (who became your life partner?)

Be brave. Plus, if I see this on the Facebook page, then I’ll know you read this letter.

News in and Around Ripon News Flash – Just in Today (July 17, 2019) Important update from Ripon College and the Office of the President (for those of you who don’t know, President Zach Messitte was on sabbatical in Italy during the spring semester and former Vice President and Dean of Faculty Ed Wingenbach served as acting president).

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CLASS LETTERS Dear Alumni and Friends, I write to share news that Ed Wingenbach, vice president and dean of faculty, has been named the eighth president of Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. His last day on campus will be Aug. 1.

Hampshire has made a phenomenal choice to lead them through this important period in their history. I have no doubt Ed will do great things for them as he has for Ripon since arriving here in 2015.

We are grateful for Ed’s significant contributions during his tenure at Ripon, which include working with faculty to create our innovative Catalyst curriculum and, most recently, serving as the acting president while I was on sabbatical last semester.

I look forward to meeting with members of Ripon’s Faculty Advisory Council immediately to start the process of identifying an interim dean from amongst the Ripon faculty. This will be followed by the creation of a committee to lead a national search for Ripon’s next vice president and dean of faculty.

Please join me in thanking Ed for his incredible work at Ripon College and this milestone achievement. We wish Ed, his wife Susan and their children all the best in their journey ahead.

Regards, Zach Messitte, president and professor of politics and government Julie Johnson, former athletic director, passed away June 13, 2019 Julie Johnson, the former athletic director (after our time at Ripon College) passed away having lost her battle with cancer. Please take a moment to check out this incredible tribute to her and her tenure at Ripon College. In her 24-year career at Ripon, she really made a difference.

While I did not know Julie personally, I wish I had. Her incredible spirit was infectious and launched a whole new era in women’s sports at Ripon College. Having worked at Storzer for three of my four years at Ripon, I loved that place and all the sports did for each of us as individuals as well as the College. Thank you, Julie Johnson, for your zest for life and for your joie de vivre. May your successes on this earthly plane be remembered for years to come.

Visit go.ripon.edu/qt8 Class News As many of you may have heard, our class co-agent, JEFF PENNEY ’80 resigned from his post. He helped me by providing another spin to life’s journey rather than mine (which is good). I would like to extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude for Jeff’s contribution(s) to Ripon College through his volunteering to be a co-class agent. I wish you all the best in your life endeavors, Jeff, and THANK YOU! I appreciate the difference you made for the Class of 1980.

“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” ~John F. Kennedy Jeff shared this with me when I quickly asked for Class News and Notes: “My son just got engaged in the hills of Colorado. Although he was accepted to Ripon, he chose to go to, faceless, mega university MSU. In addition, my daughter is going to Africa to serve a foundation that serves orphans through AIDS. Proud of both of them.”

JENNIFER FISCHER ’80 of Holyoke, Massachusetts, a registered nurse with a degree in law as well as in management, was named to the new position of chief experience officer at Holyoke Medical Center in February 2019.

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JAMES D GREENEBAUM ’80: “My dog, Sparky, is 15 years, 9 months old.”

BILL QUISTORF ’80 of Everett, Washington, chief pilot with the Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team in Washington state, received the German-American Friendship Award, presented by Honorary German Consul Uli Fischer. Quistorf was among the crew who rescued a stranded hiker and German citizen on the Pacific Crest Trail on Oct. 27, 2018. The hiker was hypothermic, frostbitten and in trouble in the Glacier Peak Wilderness in the Cascade Range. The story gained national and international news attention.

SUSAN ANGEL SCHMIDT ’80 went back to school this year. She attended dog obedience class with her new dog Topaz. Susan was the student while Topaz was her sidekick. She is happy to report that Topaz’ behavior is getting better. Both can be taught!

JENNIFER SPARROW ’80: “My youngest is at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Checked “find my missing son” app to see his phone in a house kitty-corner to Tri-Dorms. One of his best college buds was throwing a party. Closest he ever got to Ripon.”

Thank you all for the information you share! As always, there is the Facebook group (here’s the link again, in case you really do want to sign-up and join us). It’s FREE! The link to ours is here: facebook.com/ groups/283209381878413 Don’t forget: Our 40th Class Reunion will be one year from now.

SAVE. THE. DATE. June 25-28, 2020!

I hope to see lots of you there!

To Ripon College, JEFF PENNEY ’80 (One. Last. Time.)

PEGGY GERO DAVALT ’80

1981 Larry Nikolaus lnikolaus@mitre.org Class of ’81, belated or early happy 60th. From the pictures I’ve seen and stories I’ve heard, we are doing OK. Each time I have the chance to meet with one or our classmates it seems like only yesterday that we were in Ripon.

My wife, KATHERINE HARBUT NIKOLAUS ’81, and I had two Ripon visitors this summer. TOM ABENDROTH ’81 and his wife, Terri, visited Colorado Springs and joined us for dinner in June. Tom and Terri are living near Chicago and working as partners for their respective law firms.

In July, DONNA LESLIE ’81 was touring Colorado and we had the chance to take her to the top of America’s mountain (Pikes Peak) and enjoy some kayaking in local reservoir. Donna has retired from the Army as is currently living in Greensboro, North Carolina, with plans to move to Charlotte, North Carolina, when her house is completed.

THOMAS ABENDROTH ’81 of Evanston, Illinois, is featured in the 26th edition of The Best Lawyers in America, a peer-reviewed ranking recognizing lawyers for their professional excellence across the United States.

MICHELE JAROSZ BATTLE ’81 is working in regulatory affairs at a plasma collection company, Octapharma Plasma Inc., at the corporate headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. She deals with FDA, Europe, State and local regulatory agencies on all aspects of the business.

Her husband, Tom, is working as an extractive metallurgy consultant so they do a lot of traveling to meetings all over the USA. Their son, Daniel, is working at Amazon

1980-82 as a programmer, and their daughter, Sarah, is getting ready to graduate from North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a degree is sports medicine. Michele is keeping busy and likes to stay in touch via email or messaging.

DIRK WILKIN ’81 and KAREN JOHNSON WILKEN ’84 moved from Brookfield to Delafield last year, “so we’ve been spending a lot of our spare time figuring out which household project to tackle next! Dirk celebrated 26 years at Harley-Davidson this summer with plans to hang on for a few more years before retiring. Seems like we have a culling of senior employees on an annual basis, so nothing is guaranteed.” Karen is still working at a charitable foundation, a job she’s had since 2002. Both their girls are out of school and out of state. Their older daughter lives in Indianapolis and their younger one lives in Durham, North Carolina. Both are gainfully employed and mostly liking their jobs. No news of romantic entanglements yet.

LARRY

1982 Catherine Lothrop Hager 925-984-6713 / cathager@comcast.net Peter Hintz 920-229-4399 / hintzp@gmail.com Kristen Rasmussen Olson 507-279-1091 / kolsonc21@yahoo.com BILL FIEDLER ’82 of Winnetka, Illinois, was inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame during Alumni Weekend in June.

He was the 1993 National Platform Tennis Champion and now works for Skyline Asset Management.

Hello classmates: Your Class Agents send you greetings as we enjoy these warm days of summer!

The last weekend of June is a special time every year, as Ripon College puts together a bash that is enjoyed by 500 or more alumni. For those of you who were able to attend Alumni Weekend at the end of June, we thank you for your efforts to stay connected. For those who could not attend, we hope to see you another time. Enjoying the reunion this year from the Class of 1982 were PETRA JONES-TRUJILLO ’82, LISA MURPHY STAMOS ’82, LAUREL STEWART ’82, KRISTEN RASMUSSEN OLSON ’82, PETER HINTZ ’82, NANCY BUCK HINTZ ’82, LINDA JENSEN HALL ’82, BILL FIEDLER ’82, TOBY STORZER ’82, ASHLEY COOPER ’82, DAVID WOOLF ’82 and KEVIN KING ’82. I apologize if I have missed the names of others who were there.

Over the weekend, various classmates from our graduating class enjoyed the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble on Friday, the 12th Annual All-Alumni Reception at The Spot (formerly The Pub) on Friday evening, the Rally Run on Saturday morning, and other events throughout the weekend, including the “That Was Then” memory sharing, the Class March and All-Campus Lunch, the Alumni Lacrosse Game, the State of the College address, the Saturday evening All-Alumni Party and the Farewell Brunch. Other great activities offered included the Farr Hall Seminar, tennis, Frisbee golf, cycling, Greek socials and a Walk on the Prairie with Professor of Biology Emeritus Skip Wittler. There were more events than a single person could attend, but there was something for nearly everyone! One of our classmates, BILL FIEDLER ’82, was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday evening! Classmates from 1982 (and a couple of extras) gathered at Christianos in Green Lake for dinner on

Saturday evening, and many stories were shared!

SIOBHAN CHAMP-BLACKWELL ’82: “STEVE SHEA ’82 and I have been working together, virtually, to assist in a workshop that will be offered in Madison, Wisconsin, in October 2019. The Midwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association is holding a full-day workshop so that librarians in Wisconsin, Illinois and surrounding states can learn more about being part of the disaster response and preparedness efforts in their communities. It’s been great fun to reach out to Steve for assistance in locating local speakers. His position on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors provides him insight into the emergency response workforce in the Madison area. You never know when a fellow alum will have the exact answers that you need!”

Class Financial Update June 30 was the end of the fiscal year, and our class held strong with 33% participation and a total of $55,464 in giving. This is just down from our reunion year of $62,000, but well over the trend of previous years (30K-45K range). Thank you all for stepping up and remembering Ripon College in your annual giving. #OneDayRally (May 1) brought in more than $1 million dollars to the Ripon Fund. Alumni support for this event was overwhelming. As a matter of fact, the College said that they saw more Ripon Fund donors this year than in the past five years!

Additional opportunities to participate in giving include the 1851 Club, which includes members who are philanthropic leaders at Ripon, committing to a gift of at least $1,000 a year. Members are honored with special 1851 Club ribbons at events and receive exclusive invites to presidential receptions. Ripon relies on the foundation these lead donors provide as their generosity helps plan for current and future needs of the College.

Alumni who commit to including Ripon in their will or estate plans are named “Partners.” They also are noted as such by a ribbon at events. Ripon College honors the reunion class with the most new Partners each year during the big check presentation during the Alumni Weekend Saturday picnic. For more information on planned giving, call 920-748-8351 or visit ripon.edu/ give.

One final note: for those of you who have college-age children (or grandchildren, not too far in the future), please remember that Ripon’s curriculum and liberal arts education are as strong as ever! It is wonderful to see the legacy of two or more generations of a family attending Ripon. I (Kristen) am proud to see the legacy sticker on my nametag at each reunion! When looking at colleges for our daughter, we found Ripon’s cost to be very comparable to the state schools that were under consideration. Please email Admission@ripon.edu for more information, or contact EMILY SHEEKS INGEMANN ’12, assistant director of admission, ingemanne@ripon.edu, or call 920-748-8744.

Thank you all for your support this year in giving, attending events and promoting Ripon College to your respective networks. So many of us feel fortunate to have made lifelong connections with classmates and remember our years at Ripon College very fondly.

We gratefully accept any class news you’d like to provide for our next newsletter. Please contact Kristen at kolsonc21@yahoo.com, Peter at hintzp@gmail.com or Cathy at cathager@comcast.net.

Respectfully submitted, Your Class Agents, KRISTEN RASMUSSEN OLSON ’82 PETER HINTZ ’82 CATHY LOTHROP HAGER ’82

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CLASS LETTERS 1983 Barb Williams Clay 612-749-5010 / jbemtclay@msn.com Greetings, Class of 1983. We have reached the end of an era with the last of our professors, “Doctor Bob” Wallace and Professor Paul Schoofs, retiring. It is with a sad heart that Ripon had to say good-bye to Julie Johnson, coach and athletic director, who lost her battle to cancer. A court in Weiske Gymnasium in the new Willmore Center recently was renamed the Johnson/Gillespie Court in her honor, along with former coach Bob Gillespie.

Spring in Paris was a highlight and I was able to meet up with PAUL EVENSEN ’83 for dinner (which happened to be the day that Notre Dame caught fire). My travel mates and I were thankful that we had the opportunity to see Notre Dame on the Saturday before it burned. Paul sends a big hello to his Ripon friends.

K. PATRICK YARBROUGH ’83 of Rockford, Illinois, will retire as associate circuit judge of the 17th Circuit Court on Aug. 31, 2019.

Thank you, Class of 1983, for an excellent demonstration of support for the May 1 #OneDayRally. Our class topped the chart with a donation of $129,259 and provided 12% of the total $1,085,314. Increasing our participation rate to be in the top 10 will be our next goal.

It’s fun to read class notes, so please contact me with updates to share.

Thanks, BARB

renovations of first floor of Lane Library that is being transformed into collaborative space); and some joined us at the many festivities the College had to offer.

We capped off the reunion Saturday night at the Blues & BBQ dinner where DAVE SHOGREN ’84 and his band entertained us and invited Kurt Dietrich, Ripon’s big band jazz director, GREG HALVORSEN ’84 and Mike Kennedy to join them. THANK YOU to Dave and the band for wonderful music and camaraderie. Also, Paul Schoofs, recently retired economics professor, stopped by to catch up and relax with the Class of 1984. Paul, thank you for all that you have done and given to the College over the years, and we wish you the best in retirement.

Finally, while at the BBQ, we asked the attendees to write down their favorite memories or most fun part of the 35th reunion. Here are their responses: • Gooseblind in Green Lake • Golfing at Lawsonia • 35 years of catching up with friends • Reconnecting with all • I don’t remember (of course we had to put this comment in there MIKE GALVAN ’84) • Touring Willmore • Tray ball behind the Phi Delta lounge • Ripon fans rolling half barrels down the hill at the baseball field during the game with Lawrence • Experiencing a perfect Wisconsin weekend • Old “war stories”

1984 Virginia Vicha Erickson 847-546-2775 / vericks@gmail.com Connie Herbon Moser 847-372-5410/ clmoser24@gmail.com Wow, our 35th college reunion has come and gone. What a weekend! So many highlights to mention. Many started the weekend playing in the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble. Highlights of the golf scramble: a) JAYNE RASMUSSEN EMORY ’84, KEVIN KING ’82 and their golf partners won first place. b) KEVIN and LORI JONES KING ’84 hosted the after-party. THANKS Kevin and Lori. c) CONNIE HERBON MOSER ’84 won the Yeti cooler. And d) all of us mortal golfers came in somewhere south of Jayne and Kevin but had an awesome time! Other golfers included SUE SHEPHERD ’84, LINDA ANDERSON ’84, CINDY BEHNKE ’85, DONNA REARDON GOLDBERG ’84, VICKI VICHA ERICKSON ’84, MIKE FRANCOLUCCI ’84, GREG HALVORSON ’84, MARK SPRAGUE ’84, SCOTT MILLER ’85, MIKE ALBERTSON ’84, JAY HYUCK ’84 and GEORGE POULETTE ’84. The golf tournament raised more than $40,000 and including more than 250 golfers!

Between the golf tournament and the Blues & BBQ party on Saturday night, many groups caught up, talked about college memories and enjoyed each other’s company; most frequented old haunts like the Goose Blind (sorry we missed you BRIAN BAXTER ’84), Norton’s and new restaurants like Thunderboss in Green Lake; many were in awe of the new Willmore health and wellness facility; some ran/walked in the 5k (alright 2.6 miles, but who’s counting … ); some attended the awards ceremony where the class of 1984 were represented well with more than $67k in donations for the reunion year and more than $300k in the last five years (THANK YOU for supporting Ripon College); some boated and thoroughly enjoyed the tour of Green Lake with TODD ANDERSON ’84; some took in the lacrosse game; some saw the amazing

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• Playing music with my former big band jazz director – DAVE SHOGREN ’84 The most frequent comment/question of all was “how do we motivate more people to attend the reunion weekends”? Now, some reached out but could not attend for various family reasons; TOM HORVATH ’84, MIKE SCHULTZ ’84, ANNE WILLIAMS LUNDBERG ’84, MIKE ’84 and KAI HELLAND MULFORD ’83, ERIC LUSTY ’84 and BRIDGET ROWLEY SARNO ’84. We would like to hear what would bring you back to Ripon for a reunion.

We already are planning for our 40th, so we encourage you to go online and update your info. We will reach out in the coming years to hear your thoughts around our 40th reunion. In the meantime, be well.

DAVE SHOGREN ’84 of Maplewood, Missouri, a Trustee of Ripon College, has been appointed to a two-year term on the U.S. Trade Finance Advisory Council by the U.S. Commerce Department. The council is the principal advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce on finance options for U.S. exporters. Shogren is president of U.S. International Foods LLC. KAREN JOHNSON WILKEN ’84 and DIRK WILKIN ’81 moved from Brookfield to Delafield last year, “so we’ve been spending a lot of our spare time figuring out which household project to tackle next! Dirk celebrated 26 years at Harley-Davidson this summer with plans to hang on for a few more years before retiring. Seems like we have a culling of senior employees on an annual basis, so nothing is guaranteed.” Karen is still working at a charitable foundation, a job she’s had since 2002. Both their girls are out of school and out of state. Their older daughter lives in Indianapolis and their younger one lives in Durham, North Carolina. Both are gainfully employed and mostly liking their jobs. No news of romantic entanglements yet.

1983-87 1985

1986

Heather McFadden Barrie 262-628-1377 / heather.barrie@acllab.com

Dan McNaughton 612-209-2996 / dan@egpinc.net

The Powerful Impact College Has on Our Life Beyond Graduation

HENRY ALAN LEONARD ’86 of Cape May, New Jersey, is the new rector of Church of the Advent. He began officiating at services Feb. 3, 2019. He previously served in Boiling Springs, South Carolina.

While we may reminisce about our high school years – sporting achievements, academic successes, first dates, first break-ups, homecoming, prom, graduation, etc.

– those memories represent a chunk of time in our life that is finite. It’s four years, surrounded by four walls, that left a stamp on our lives forever between the ages of 14 and 18.

Reminiscing about our college experience, however, has no border. Our college experience resonates within our daily lives from the moment we graduate to the day we die. Our college experience shapes our lives forever.

Ripon College has … in some shape or form …

• Developed our independence • Made us our own best self-advocate • Sharpened our risk-taking skills • Tested our ability to negotiate • Mastered our problem-solving abilities • Forced us to be excellent communicators • Armed us to persevere during any headwind And most importantly ...

• Set the stage for us to become lifelong learners Our college years tug at our heart strings, too, as classmates respond to “The thing I miss most about college life is ... ” • S eeing all my best friends from Ripon every day! – JULI WELK JENSEN ’85 • Playing cribbage with friends. – JOHN SHORT ’85 •H anging out with RUTH ANNE GERO ADAMS ’85 every day. Talking to Dr. Schang. – KATHIE BRINKMAN ’85 • ... feeling I was actually in control of my schedule! – JIM ESTEN ’85 Ahhhh, to go back to our college days … not necessary.

We live those days every day by the person we’ve become because of our college experience.

However, if those heartstring memories of your college experience are tugging at you more and more, then it’s time, my fellow classmates, to mark your calendar for our 35th Ripon College Reunion – June 25-28, 2020!

Stay tuned for more information! And, if you’re interested in serving on the 35th Ripon College Reunion planning committee, let me know! I know I’m looking forward to next year’s reunion.

Here’s to memories – living them every day!

HEATHER MCFADDEN BARRIE ’85

DOUGLAS COLE ’86 was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. He is a partner at Organ Cole LLP in Columbus, Ohio, representing clients in complex litigation and intellectual property matters.

JOE CULLEN ’86 has been named chief investment officer at Penn State University in Pennsylvania, with his duties beginning Sept. 16, 2019. Cullen will be responsible for managing the investment portfolios of Penn State’s more than $4 billion long-term investment pool. He previously was the chief investment officer for the Montana Board of Investments and head of institutional portfolio management at Fidelity Investments in Boston.

CONNIE REDMANN JARVIS ’86 of Caryville, Florida: “Retired from the city of Cape Coral, Florida, in January 2018. Moved to north Florida to be in the country.”

PAUL WITT ’86 of Eagle, Colorado: “Living in Eagle, Colorado, for 22 years now and still loving it. I’m finishing up my fourth year of teaching fifth grade (career #4!) and I think I’ve finally found what I want to do when I grow up. I do still work part time for Vail Resorts as well, and just hit my 25th anniversary with them which means a lifetime ski pass! My oldest son, Ben, graduates from the U.S. Naval Academy this May and is commissioning into the Marines as a 2nd lieutenant, heading to flight school in Pensacola. My middle son, David, is finishing his second year at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and will be playing with tanks and armored vehicles this summer. Youngest son Sebastian (currently a sophomore in high school) has been named to the AAU National Karate team and will be heading to Budapest and Slovakia to compete in June before heading off on a service trip to Nepal in July.

If anyone ever gets up to the Vail/Beaver Creek area, let me know!”

1987 Dorrie Smith Scranton 860-455-6108 / dsscranton@gmail.com Chris Templeton 312-402-6207 / ChristineTempleton17@gmail.com Hello, Class of 1987! As always, we hope this note finds you well. As we write this letter, other classes are celebrating their reunions, so let the countdown begin: three years until our 35th Ripon College reunion. Or is it our 25th? 40th? Save the date!

We’ve seen a lot of you celebrating anniversaries and graduations. Takes us back to our graduation so many years ago on that hot spring day.

DORRIE and CHRIS GEOFF BLANCO ’87 is president of Riggs Outdoor Power Equipment, an established retailer in northwestern Indiana. Check it out if you’re need for tractor supply equipment.

MICHAEL BROSE ’87 of New Richmond, Wisconsin, was appointed to Gov. Tony Evers’ Governor’s Judicial Selection Advisory Committee, responsible for interviewing and recommending candidates to the governor for consideration when he fills judicial

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CLASS LETTERS vacancies. Brose practices civil litigation with an emphasis on plaintiff’s personal injury at Doar, Drill & Skow, S.C. in New Richmond. Brose is a contributing author to The Wisconsin Rules of Evidence: A Courtroom Handbook.

JENNIFER BROWN FRY ’87 celebrates her daughter’s graduation from medical school – what an amazing accomplishment!

BETSY MEYERS KNIGHT ’87 shares a proud Mom moment as her son, David, is off to Minneapolis for a summer internship at Collins Aerospace. How exciting!

SCOTT MULLIN ’87 is enjoying his summer and looking to lead a group of local classmates on a spring 2020 hiking and canoeing trip in the Wisconsin north woods.

Contact him if you’re interested.

1988 David Jonas 202-251- 9640 / djevents@aol.com Kathy Wade 248-470-4336 / wadekas@sbcglobal.net Greetings classmates from David! I was just reminded that 35 years ago we were just celebrating our proms and graduation from high school. Several of my classmates from high school have posted a Facebook page and posed the question of getting together, but when I asked on the page what was already planned it was like “radio silence.”

Having gone to a school with 400 students in my class, you would think there would be someone out there with some ideas (besides me). Of course, who doesn’t want to visit Chicago in the middle of the summer (HEAT WAVE). I don’t think I have been back to a high school class reunion ever!

Social media has made the connection of classmates from Ripon and high school seem like we just saw each other yesterday. I feel more connected and am able to follow professors, classmates and the school itself. But Ripon with its small class sizes and location made the friendships formed while in school more lasting and the draw to stay connected easier.

I would like to share an invitation to the first-ever (or at least since I have lived in D.C./Baltimore, 19 years) Ripon Rally Hour at my house Nov. 21 in Baltimore. The D.C. region was looking for locations and if you are in Philly, New York, D.C., Delaware or visiting from out of town, please stop by it really is just a short Uber/drive (or train ride to Penn Station). Really! Email me if you would like to rsvp at djevents@aol.com.

MICHELLE EBERT WITT ’88: “I’m still keeping in regular contact with MARIE MATTIA ’88, PHIL TROBAUGH ’88 and PAT GONYO ’88. Coming back for Alumni Weekend was special this year to see KATHRYN SCHULTZ ’89 receive a Distinguished Alumni Award. Being invited to sing the Alma Mater at the Saturday luncheon with her and other folks from ’89/’90 was a real treat! It was my first time back not on a class reunion year and it was just as interesting to see people I spent at least three years with at Ripon. I highly recommend coming back for a visit if it has been a while.”

In closing, we want to thank everyone who contributed to the 2018-2019 Ripon Fund.

1989 Nikki Zens Lindberg nicolelindberg67@gmail.com Mitch Rosin mitch.rosin2@gmail.com KATHRYN SCHULTZ ’89 received the Ripon College Distinguished Alumni Citation during Alumni Weekend. She has spent 22 years in government service, first in the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and then in the U.S. Department of State where she currently is senior advisor on South Asia, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, U.S. Department of State.

JAMES CZARNIK ’89 received the Ripon College Distinguished Alumni Citation during Alumni Weekend in June. He is a colonel in the U.S. Army and for more than 30 years has served as a soldier, officer, physician and commander in special operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Dear Class of 1989 and Riff-Raff, by the time you read this, we should all have recovered from our 30th Reunion. It was hard to imagine Bovay Terrace as the former Beta Sig basement (and that’s a good thing, a very good thing). Thanks to all who made the trek! Our attendance was an all-time high, with more than 50 of our classmates in attendance — plus lots of Riff Raff!

MARCIA LIBBY NACHREINER ’88: “I have been teaching elementary music to grades 1-5 for the past three years in Poynette, Wisconsin. Next year it will be grades K-4 in preparation for the move to our new school in 2020.

I have two children in college now. Randy is at UWParkside and Libby is at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. My youngest, Linnea, will be a junior in high school this fall.”

Other notable changes around campus: two of the former Bovay lounges and several rooms now make up a large game space on the first floor called The Nest. It wasn’t open, but there was a familiar smell of recreational behavior nearby.

Some buildings have new names, like Middle Hall is now Smith Hall and Smith is now Anderson. The gym formerly known as Storzer is amazing (and I think called Willmore).

CARL TOMPKINS ’88: “I quit my job last year and used my GI Bill to get a paramedic license. I am almost done. If you want to reach me, my email address is carl. tompkins@sbcglobal.net.”

There is a hole downtown where Bender’s once stood, but across the street was a great new brew pub. Roadhouse is very clean and well-lit, but the cheese puffs and mozz sticks are still the best, especially since they come with BBQ sauce, and not ranch or marinara!

WADE WICKUS ’88: “We live in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Almaluna is 5 and Mateo is 7. Maryliana and I are having a blast in Ohio with the kids. We go to Wisconsin every Fourth of July. My email is: wadewickus@mac.com should anyone want to be old-fashioned and email me versus Facebook.

Thirty years of changes didn’t stop us from lots of reminiscing, reconnecting and memory-making. Be sure to keep in touch with us via the ’89 and Riff Raff Facebook page! Hope to see you all again in five years if not sooner!

“I created a Brockway Bash page on Facebook to keep those memories alive. There are some great nuggets out

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there. If anyone has other pictures or other things to post, please let me know. I am happy to do so.”

R Connections

NIKKI LINDBERG ’89 MITCH ROSIN ’89

1987-89 SARAH ALMQUIST ’89: “Thank you to everyone who brought their needles and balls to the ‘Happy Hooking’ event! What a great turnout, and a great big thank-you to Gigi who helped us all to yarn bomb that darn tree in the Quads. I swear, I was just waiting for Hiroshi to come running out of Beta Sig and light that darn yarn ablaze!”

ALICE GALLAGHER ARCHIBAL ’89: “Thank you to everyone who contributed to Ripon College this spring.

It has been a great honor raising money for the College and every penny counts toward something — even if it doesn’t go to buying new furniture for the dorms or carpeting or paint or anything else we saw at Alumni Weekend. We raised more than $40K!”

CALLISTA DECRAMER ’20 (suave, sophisticated and likes to tango) and SULLIVAN DECRAMER ’21 (overzealous, long-haired and always looking for cash) both work tirelessly towards their goals.”

PAUL DONALDSON ’89: “Well, I wanted to attend Alumni Weekend, but if I have any chance of beating Mitch on the number of nights in hotels and flights for the year, I need to keep traveling. My stallion, however, was indeed ridden hard and put up wet. Also, my belt buckle is larger than described. Yippie Ki-Yay!” OUSSAMA EL-HILALI ’89: “I smiled. AND I went to the reunion!”

TRICIA POTTER BAUER ’89: “Well, I won again. Yes, I won the cheese curd-eating contest at Roadhouse on Friday night of Alumni Weekend for the 53rd Annual Cheese Curd-Eating Contest. I am proud to say that I successfully defended my title as Miss Ripon Curd, having eaten 112 cheese curds in five minutes at our 30th reunion! Burn, baby, burn! (the next morning, of course).”

PAT FLORENCE ’89 didn’t attend Alumni Weekend. He also has no cell phone, avoids social media, and lives the life of a hermit in the mountains outside Albuquerque, where he grows Hatch Green Chilies and mumbles incoherently about how New Mexico chilies are better than anything Marc A. Healy or Craig Casper could ever grow. Way to go, Pat, we will all wave on our way to the balloon festival!

CAL BERGMAN ’89: “I wish everyone would take college life more seriously. Topics such as ‘Rubbers or Galoshes: How to Choose,’ ‘Fraternity Life: A Brief History of the Naked Beer Slide’ and ‘Rugby: How to Pop Pass Your Balls’ are important topics facing the youths of today. Be serious, people. Great reunion!”

GREG FRASIER ’89 cooked up a storm at Alumni Weekend bringing P.J. Clarke’s famous Crispy Haystack Onions at our 30th Reunion! Greg’s expert use of herbs and spices made mouths drool and eyes pop as we sidled up to the cooker with our Black Label Lights!

ROXANNE OVERSHINER BOWENS ’89: “It was such a joy to host a Sunday morning walk through the trees on the Ripon College campus during Alumni Weekend. Those of you who joined me, I’m sure, had a wonderful time as we hugged trees, took selfies with trees, and, of course, posed for the best glam shots while looking around trees.

I hope to do this for our next big reunion, too! Nothing like wood on a Sunday morning!”

AMY WALDER CARRINGTON ’89: “Screw the White Sox. I’m a G-D CUBS FAN!” CRAIG CASPER ’89: “Having recently moved to Mount Juliet, Tennessee, I realized that my dream of moving to another nowhere place isn’t all that. Maybe I should have looked at San Luis Obispo or Boston? Oh, what am I saying?? No place will ever compare to Mount Juliet!”

TOBI CAWTHRA ’89: “What a great Alumni Weekend and 30th Reunion! I had a wonderful time and hope to see everyone again soon.”

SCOTT CHAMBERS ’89: “It was a true honor to share my family slides from our trip to Washington, D.C., in the Shaler Lounge at Alumni Weekend. Thank you, DONNA DRAKE MUNSCH ’89, for watching the entire show! I didn’t expect it to take 5.5 hours, but your enthusiasm for the bland pushed me to show every single slide from our trip. Thank you, also, for offering to share your family’s vacation to Tipton, Kansas, on Dropbox. … I can’t wait to see your pics! With a population of only 200, I’m sure you captured everyone in town!”

CAROLYN CLARK ’89: “As the local Marco Island chapter president of the Barbara Bush Foundation, sponsoring a tea during Alumni Weekend in MLK Lounge to discuss pearl clutching was a highlight of my weekend on campus.”

GIGI HICKS DECKER ’89: “Wow! As a lifelong ‘Happy Hooker,’ I could not be happier with how our yarn bombing went at Alumni Weekend! I loved throwing open the kimono and sharing my swatches, tassels and that sultry garter stitches! See the pics on the ’89 Facebook page! Including the yarn bombing of Mitch’s head!”

LINDA GLAUBITZ DECRAMER ’89 and LAIRD DECRAMER ’77 of Princeton, Wisconsin, report that both of their children are currently Ripon students. “The Ripon tradition continues. Although our kids are polar opposites,

DARLENE HONIE-LOYER GERICK ’89: “Wow! What a WONDERFUL 30th Reunion! I loved seeing everyone and the event on Saturday night at Bovay Terrace was fantastic. Of course, with the 18 pounds of coke I brought, we were guaranteed to have a special night.

Keep on breaking bad!”

SCOTTIE NICHOLS GIROUARD ’89: “Performing for Doc Woolley at the Alumni Weekend was wonderful. My interpretive dance ‘A Tribute to Doc Woolley: A Short History of Everything,’ was well-received. I look forward to our next reunion!”

JIM GLADE ’89: “I’ll learn to work the saxophone. I play just what I feel. Drink Scotch whiskey all night long and die behind the wheel.”

JULIE TAYLOR GONDAR ’89: “I hope everyone had a wonderful time at the reunion. Sorry I couldn’t attend but can’t start early enough on the work needed to get T-Rump out of office!”

KRIS PEHLE GRASSE ’89: “What an amazing weekend we had at the reunion! I loved seeing everyone and getting my fingers in everyone’s hair! Thanks to everyone who let me fluff, streak and Brazilian!”

BEN GUZMAN ’89 and RAMON GUZMAN ’89: “OK, so fine. We are really the same person. What of it, Healy??”

CHRIS HANNES ’89: “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and, doggone it, people like me. Oh, and I did attend the reunion with Jess!”

TED HARWOOD ’89: “Yes, beluga whales. Do you really have to ask? #belugachip Come on, people. This is 2019!”

KATHY HAYEVSKY ’89: “I was totally thrilled to join the festivities at our 30th Reunion. As someone who has spent my entire life in Oak Park, Illinois, getting away for a weekend represented a departure from Ernest Hemingway reading circles and Frank Lloyd Wright house tours that consume my time and attention.

Granted, living in the same town that gave us Betty White and Kathy Griffin has produced a little bit of a wild side, but I loved my fancy-free time in Ripon! Ooohh, I still have goose bumps from driving through Fond du Lac!” KURT HEUSER ’89: “Wow. Alumni Weekend was AMAZING! What a great experience. Of course, it would

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CLASS LETTERS have been better if someone hadn’t bumped my car, but then again, my pals at Dean Sellers Ford fixed the ding and repainted it! “

HEATHER JONES WELLS ’89: “There’s nothing so tragic as seeing a family pulled apart by something as simple as a pack of wolves.”

DON KOCH JR. ’89: “I am NOT Donald Trump Jr.”

DAVID WEMETT ’89: “I am so proud of my ‘Pumpkins Painted with Seahorses’ art exhibition! As you all know (because I can see how many of you follow the show online), the show officially opened at the Caestecker Art Gallery during Alumni Weekend. Thank you all for your wonderful comments about the octopi and starfish, also painted on pumpkins. The pumpkins were my favorite. I am excited to announce that the inspiration for my next show came from Alumni Weekend and will be titled, ‘Clamato! Squirt Clams and the Roma Tomato.’”

DAVID LUONGO ’89 reports that he had an amazing Alumni Weekend! He read his favorite selections from “Musings: The Ruminations of Doogie Howser” on Sunday morning at Alumni Weekend. This special event took place in Evans Lounge. Milk was served and a great time was had by all.

JOHN MATHEWSON ’89: “The Alumni Weekend Annual LAX game on Upper Sadoff Field was great! This year we served beef and Guinness hand pies! I also had haggis, but I didn’t share that with anyone. It was just for me.”

DON MCCREATH ’89 attended Alumni Weekend. Yup. He was there all right — photobombing pics, streaking through the Quads, and handing out those damn forsythia blooms.

ANNE BURCHMORE MIES ’89: “I can’t thank my photo therapist enough for preparing me for Alumni Weekend.

I look fabulous in all the pics and was ready with totally flattering poses. Thank you all for making our 30th Reunion so much fun!”

KRISTIN ADOMEIT MOORE ’89: “I am so sad that I couldn’t attend our 30th Reunion. But I continue to troll airports for old people in Ripon sweatshirts. It is amazing how many old people wear these things. Of course, none of them actually attended Ripon, but it seems that the sweatshirts are very popular at Goodwill stores.”

DONNA DRAKE MUNSCH ’89: “I attended Alumni Weekend. Got a problem with that?”

BARB THOMPSON PAMPERIN ’89: “Now that I have won BOTH the bean bag tourney at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church AND the Frisbee golf tourney at Alumni Weekend, I plan to focus on tatting doilies! I love those intricate designs, and they look so wonderful on my window sill.”

PHILIP ROBINSON ’89: “What a great 30th Reunion and Alumni Weekend! While I had planned to have my hair join me for the festivities, it turns out that my hair booked a separate trip to the Maldives and had a great time on its own.”

AMY ROSNER ’89: “A Lattice Theory Approach to the Structure of Mental Models is selling so good, I was able to take a cruise to Alaska! It was also great to see everyone at Alumni Weekend. Please buy my book!”

PATRICK SCHMIDT ’89 writes that he is still Wally. This was confirmed by his behavior at Alumni Weekend.

KATHRYN SCHULTZ ’89: “I cannot confirm if I was at Alumni Weekend.” But, she did present the class check, sign the College song, and represented ’89 amazingly well! She also cannot verify that she actually wrote this update for the ’89 newsletter.

DAVE STAPELFELDT ’89: “It was great seeing everyone at our 30th Reunion! Sorry about the smell, but you know I just can’t help myself sometimes. Farting is in my blood, and ya gotta follow your passion. Hope to see all of you at the next World Fart Championships which will be held in January 2020 in the beautiful city of Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä, Finland.”

TIM TOPOREK ’89: “As a lifelong pin-pusher, had an amazing time at Alumni Weekend.” He shared his bowling passion by hosting the internationally acclaimed league team, The Bowling Stones, in a rousing game of lawn bowling on the Tri-Dorms lawn. He also showed off his huge trophy and tournament-winning balls.

RACHEL WALSTAD ’89: “It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine.”

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BARB WHITSTONE ’89: “I love my blue flannel shirt. I wore it at Alumni Weekend. Every day. Even slept in it!”

TIM WIEDMEYER ’89: “Thank you all for supporting the launch of my HGTV show, ‘Tim’s Tools: How to Screw, Grind, and Butt-Weld Like an Expert.’ I am sad to report that the show was short-lived, but will now appear as reruns on TLC (Sundays at 3:30 a.m.). Please watch, I’m hoping to get a new show soon!”

1990 Robert E. Corkery Jr. bcorkery@aol.com Christina L. Maggio-Kellerstrass christinacl27@aol.com Hello, Classmates! As always, we hope this greeting finds you doing well!

As we pen this letter, Alumni Weekend 2019 is now a past happening. It’s our turn next summer, and we certainly hope to have a great turnout for our 30th Reunion weekend! Hard to believe that 30 years have gone by … oh where did the time go? Stay tuned for more information via social media, email and snail mail.

JESSICA THOMAS HANNES ’90 of Kenosha, Wisconsin, is a senior director of global advocacy for Zendesk, a Madison, Wisconsin-based customer service software and support ticket system firm.

SUSAN MORGAN-LAPPE ’90 of Riverwoods, Illinois, is the senior director, Oncology Research and Anti-Cancer Drug Development, for AbbVie Inc. If you have news that you want included in the class letter, please send it our way so we can make sure it’s shared with all of you.

Fondly, BOB and CHRISTINA

1989-92 1991 Tracy Maher 401-225-9189 / tramtime@att.net Samantha Bailey 612-978-4124 / Samantha@baileysorts.com Greetings, Class of 1991! Welcome to the fall 2019 class letter. I think we may be in a fallow period — fewer exciting weddings/births/job changes but not yet time for announcing retirements or updates about children moving into the weddings-and-births phase. Updates are a bit sparse — not sure if the switch to the electronic in the spring/paper in the fall has thrown us off our rhythm, but I opted to duplicate the updates from spring so the messages below are a mix of a few you may have seen online in the spring with a couple new. Please take this as a cue to do some sharing even if you’re experiencing mid-life stasis.

SAMANTHA BAILEY FAST ’91: “Marking a year at Optum.

Grateful for challenging work and a steady paycheck; less so for a nasty commute fighting the Minneapolis traffic.

Spouse and kiddo will leave soon for their annual road trip to Canada, giving me several weeks of solitude that I look forward to more than I actually enjoy. We’re deep in the season where I neglect housework in favor of yard work and I have the mosquito bites to prove it. By the time this letter is published, the vegetable garden will have been harvested and put to bed but at the moment the plants are still spindly and it’s hard to imagine that lush end of summer bonanza.”

KARL FELD ’91: “It’s summer in the Carolinas. I’m planning a weekend getaway with all three daughters to the Carolina beach for Father’s Day and a big trip out to LA for the Fourth with my kids still living at home. Moved into a new home last month but still in North Carolina and working for Ipsos Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. The move put my studies for Ph.D. exams on hold, but planning to get back to that in the fall. Best to everyone!”

BECKY HUSTAD FREY ’91 and BRIAN FREY ’91: “We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Arizona in October, including Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona and many points in between. It was unseasonably cold and rainy, but we managed to have a great time anyway, hiking and seeing the sights.”

CHARLIE MERWIN ’91: “Ellen and I are doing great in Barrington, Illinois, where I am still overseeing the Chicago northwest suburbs for a national financial services firm. We had a lot of travel this year with trips to Italy, France and England. Our son, JOHN MERWIN ’16, was in Mozambique with the U.S. Army but is back at Fort Drum, New York, now with his wife REBECCA MCLAIN ’16.

Our youngest, Katherine, has graduated from college and lives in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Our latest Ripon “reunion” was at ESA KIRRIKKI’S ’91’s wedding last fall in Massachusetts.”

MAURA MURPHY ’91: “I am doing well; still living in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, with my husband, Steve, kids Truman and Claire, and dog Benji – and still working at General Mills. I am looking forward to taking a trip to the Azores this summer with JULIE ARMATOSKI ’91, HEATHER THIEME ’91, RONA HENDERSON PARSONS ’91, KRISTEN GRAY ’91 and VICKI HAAS SYMONDS ’92.”

LORI STITCH ’91: “No earth-shattering news here, since I’ve been staying closer to home lately to dote on our nearly 19-year-old kitty. With being around more, we decided to undertake some fairly significant homeimprovement projects (adding several guest suites at our place in Park City — come visit!). We’ve taken a little

time off here and there: managed to catch a few of the Sundance Festival films and some skiing in between (15 minutes from sitting in our living room to sitting on the lift!), and we took a four-day mini-break to relax on St. Maarten for Bernie’s 55th birthday. Christmas week in Amsterdam (airline trip), and yesterday I caught a flight to Paris last night to spend a day with him during an airline layover there before returning to the construction.

But the most exciting thing lately was petting this moose when she strolled up to me as I was returning with a load of 2x4’s from Home Depot yesterday morning!”

Don’t Forget About Our Facebook Group If you’re on Facebook, please ask to join our Class of ’91 group for updates and Ripon news. Alternatively, send your email address to samantha@baileysorts.com or text me at 612-978-4124 and I can add you to the group that way.

Warmly, SAMANTHA BAILEY FAST ’91

1992 JuDee Stojsavljevic Fischer 262-681-8509 / fofastoj@gmail.com Bonni Dembroski Fredrick 262-796-1531 / jfredrick1@wi.rr.com Erin Marie McCormack erinmack2002@yahoo.com Greetings, Class of 1992. I am writing to you on this occasion from the hallowed halls of Ripon College, the nice lounge area in the lower level of Pickard Commons to be exact. It’s a beautiful space and very peaceful in the summer months. I can imagine that the energy of the students just brings it alive during the school year.

And this fall, Ripon will welcome 223 new first-years to campus bringing even more energy to the student body, which is why I’m on campus right now. It is summer orientation for those incoming students and I have a new role in the Ripon family: as a parent of a student.

Jonathan and I are thrilled that our daughter has chosen Ripon as the place that felt like home and where she will be spending the next four years.

While on campus, I had the opportunity to speak to our classmate TARA LACHAPELL ’92, executive director of information technology services, following her presentation to incoming students and their parents. I learned then that Tara’s son, AUSTIN VOTIS ’17, also had attended Ripon. I am also aware that JASON ZANCK ’92 and STACY SEEFELDT ZANCK ’93 are the parents of a current student at Ripon, BAILY ZANCK ’22. It got me wondering how many of us have sent legacy students on to Ripon as well.

So if you have a child who has either graduated from Ripon already or is a current student, reach out and share that news. We’d all love to hear from you.

There is actually an amazing new alumni website portal, ripon.edu/rconnections, that allows us to each individually post our updates and you can even post pictures. You can search the portal by class year and other criteria and see all the latest happening with your classmates. It’s a great tool for staying in touch with Ripon and connect to the vast alumni network we have. Check it out today, and while you are there catching up on what is going on with your old Ripon friends, be sure to make your own post by clicking on the “Add My Story” button and let us all know what is new in your world or share some pictures from your latest gathering with Ripon friends.

On the subject of class updates, congratulations to AMIE DOUGHTY ’92 on her promotion to full professor of English at SUNY Oneonta. You can read more about what is going on with Amy and her involvement with

Fall 2019

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CLASS LETTERS the Popular Culture Association. Thank you to Amie for using the new R Connections site!

TARA LACHAPELL ’92, executive director of informational technology at Ripon College, was part of the panel “Women in Leadership: Driving a Culture of Inclusivity” June 25, 2019, at the ACUHO-I 2019 Conference & Expo in Toronto, Canada.

LISA MAHNKE ’92 of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, has joined Bicycle Therapeutics as senior vice president and head of clinical. Bicycle Therapeutics is a biotechnology company pioneering a new class of therapeutics based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide product platform.

Warm Regards, BONNI DEMBROSKI FREDRICK ’92

1993 Melinda Trainor Hutchinson 651-259-3459 / triangularfield@yahoo.com Hi, All. I hope you are all doing well and keeping busy.

I know I have been! Busy enough to make this quite a short letter. Make sure that you’re checking in on ripon. edu and/or social media for the latest College updates.

CHAD LOWERY ’93 was back on campus this spring since his son was selected to be a Badger Boy. Chad says, “It was wonderful to see the campus as well as stop by Roadhouse for my very favorite chicken sandwich with cheese puffs. The food tasted the same and brought back memories of some very good times.”

TERRI MORGAN ’93 earned her graduate certificate in real estate development from Portland State University (December 2018) and her Economic Development Finance Professional Certificate from National Development Council (spring 2019).

Send your updates — we’d love to hear from you! Make sure you keep your contact information updated so you don’t miss any Ripon news. Contact the Alumni Office directly with changes at alumni@ripon.edu or via U.S. mail to the Alumni Office, Ripon College, PO Box 248, Ripon, WI 54971.

Thank you!

MELINDA

1994 Kimberly Woolley berly@fastmail.com / facebook.com/kimbo.woolley / linkedin. com/in/kimberly-woolley-a903959 TODD JOHNSON ’94 of Powell, Wyoming, received the Ripon College Distinguished Alumni Citation during Alumni Weekend in June. He is retired as a lieutenant colonel after a 22-year career in the U.S. Army and now is a park ranger with the National Park Service.

KATRIN HERBOLSHEIMER LINDBERG ’94 of Hastings, Minnesota: “I am being recognized in the top 10% of Farmers Insurance agents for the eighth year in a row.”

MICHAEL BASILE ’94 retired as the coach for the Pewaukee High School boys’ basketball team after his twins graduated from Pewaukee and headed off to college.

MICHELLE BENEDICT ’94 of Honolulu Oahu, spends up to 20 hours a week teaching tricks to puffer fish at the Dolphin Quest in Hawaii. She has taught more than 15 species and more than 50 individual fish impressive cognitive games

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that can take between a few sessions and a few months. Her video of a trained puffer fish has gone viral with more than 13 million views. Read more at: go.ripon.edu/v9l TODD JOHNSON ’94 also was featured in a short documentary film about veterans working in the National Park Service. He works as a park ranger and social media coordinator for the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Lovell, Wyoming. Todd also wrote a blog, “President Trump Needs to make some Huuuge Changes, and Soon.” My favorite line from the blog is: “The Trump decision-making matrix seems to have more in common with an Etch-A-Sketch than a deliberative process.” You can read the full blog at: go.ripon.edu/jg1 DREW PETERSEN ’94 of Middleton, Wisconsin, was elected president of the University of Wisconsin System’s governing board June 7. He will determine committee memberships, sign contracts and represent the Regents in front of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the state Legislature during his one-year term.

1995 Angela Keith 928-380-1880 / azee11@gmail.com Vince Padilla vincepad@gmail.com Amy DeKeyser Padilla amypadilla@gmail.com Dear Class of 1995: There are so many exciting things to report in this fall letter, so let’s jump right in!

First and perhaps the most exciting, next summer we celebrate our 25-year reunion! I’m a little in awe of that number. When I used to volunteer at Alumni Weekends, I’d look at those coming back for their 25th and think “Wow, they’re getting old!” Well, now I’m just hoping nobody thinks the same about us. This is a big one, so PLEASE consider planning your summer vacation around coming back to Ripon for Alumni Weekend 2020, which will be June 25-28.

Lodging already is available at Comfort Suites under the Alumni Weekend block, while other hotels are still in the works. If you want to really take a trip down memory lane, you also can reserve on-campus housing in the dorms. More detailed information will be available closer to the date, but again, we’d really love to see so many of you come back and reminisce with us! If anyone wants to help with reunion planning, let us know!

A new addition to the Ripon website has been created!

Check out ripon.edu/rconnections. Here you will find news, alumni gatherings, obituaries, class letters and photos. You also can submit your own news and information.

On May 1, Ripon College held its second annual #OneDayRally, where alumni banded together on social media to support our alma mater. There were 1,446 alumni who made donations to the Ripon Fund, totaling $1,085,314. What a fantastic fundraising effort! Thanks to all of you who donated to the College in the last fiscal year, whether it was during the #OneDayRally or another time. The College and its current students truly appreciate our support.

In some personal news, Vince and I are taking life on the road! For those of you who may not be Facebook friends with us and know this already, we have decided to take life in a non-traditional direction. Before another long Wisconsin winter sets in, we hope to purge most of our belongings, sell our house, move into our RV and travel the country. It is a concept called full-time RV’ing, and an estimated one million people are already doing it.

1992-98 We look forward to new adventures, and also plan to share our journey on social media under the brand “We Could Be Lost.” We hope you will follow us!

We’ll be in touch with more reunion information as soon as possible. We’re already looking forward to seeing everyone next summer!

AMY DEKEYSER PADILLA ’95 GREGORY “GREG” FLEGEL ’95 is a senior revenue analyst with Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division. He also serves on the board of directors of Woodland Pattern Book Center.

1996 Jason Wood jlwood3773@gmail.com Happy fall, Class of 1996! 2020 is right around the corner, can you believe it? Summer seems to just zoom by. I hope that everyone had a great past couple months enjoying the sun and warmth while we have it. Speaking of warmth, for work I had to attend a conference down in Los Angeles and was fortunate enough to make a leisurely trip up the California coast ending up in San Francisco.

While in that city, I was able to spend some quality time with ELKE SPORSEEN BETONTE ’96 and KIM PHU ’96, catching up on everything old and new.

I am still making it out to Wisconsin a couple times a year to see my family, and it is always great to do a mini-reunion with fellow alumni while I am in the “motherland.” This past June, I was able to head down to Chicago to see KARI LEE ’96 and JOAN GRZESINSKI ’96, enjoying the offerings of the Parkway Bank Park Entertainment District.

JERI BELONGIA LOEWE ’96 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, is project manager in Performance Excellence with Agnesian Healthcare. “I hope to use my skills in process improvement and my passion for prevention along with a love and empathy for people to continue to make our healthcare systems better and our communities stronger.”

I know it seems far away BUT remember that 2021 is our 25th anniversary. Start planning now because I would love to see you all there! Meanwhile, please go out and support Ripon College in any way you can. Not only donating monetarily, but always promoting and recommending the College to friends and family.

Have a great winter – hopefully it won’t be too cold out there this year.

Regards, JASON WOOD ’96

1997 Kristin Bazzoli Piotrowski ’97 414-841-8577 / kbazzoli@yahoo.com Hello, Class of 1997. I hope this newsletter finds all of you well and enjoying the summer. It started late in Wisconsin, but it has turned out to be a beautiful one.

For those of you who attended Alumni Weekend at the end of June, I hope you enjoyed your time back in Ripon and on campus. I heard it was a fun weekend!

Great things continue to happen on the Ripon College campus, as you will read in this edition of R Connections.

I encourage you to visit ripon.edu/news often to learn about what is happening at our alma mater. You can also go to class pages through ripon.edu/rconnections and see updates from alumni from around the world and from every class year. Another wonderful way to stay connected is through local alumni events. There are a lot of fun

outings planned over the next few months. Check them out at ripon.edu/rally-hours-regional-events.

Don’t forget to send along any news or updates to your contact information to me anytime. You also can connect with our class on Facebook via the closed group “Ripon College Class of 1997.”

Wishing you a wonderful summer, fall and winter!

KRISTIN DAWN STOLLFUS HART ’97 and her husband, Isaac, have opened Hart Mercantile in downtown Ripon. The store features handcrafted decor and functional pieces for the home.

CHAD HENDEE ’97 of Oxford, Wisconsin, was elected Marquette County judge in April 2019. He officially took his new seat at the bench Aug. 1 at the Marquette County Courthouse in Montello. He previously served as Marquette County’s district attorney since he was appointed in 2011.

He’s been an attorney for 19 years after graduating from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2000.

GAVIN ZASTROW ’97 published a book, A Marshland of His Own, through Orange Hat Publishing, in November 2018. Summary: A Marshland of His Own is author Gavin Zastrow’s first experience with death. Twenty-six years ago, Gavin’s friend committed suicide. One year later, Gavin decided at the urging of his friends, family and teachers to turn that experience from a short to a book. This book was written from the point of view of a high school student.

Outside of grammatical changes and minor edits, all the thoughts and events hold true to that high school voice. A Marshland of His Own is divided into three parts: mourning, mending and moving on, which follows the grief process Gavin went through and how through that process he learned to heal and move on with his life. This event marked a turning point between the end of the naivety of childhood and the complexity of adulthood.

1998 Sarah Eng 312-404-6732 / saraheng@gmail.com Leilani Kupo 419-308-8574 / deli_by_the_pond@yahoo.com Hello, Class of 1998! As it turns out, our 20th reunion last year was just the kickoff event to my own Ripon reunion tour. I returned to campus last fall on an Eng family vacation, and then again this spring with JOHN HINDS ’96 to attend the retirement celebration of Professor Kurt Dietrich. We were delighted to see TRISHA STOMMEL LYNCH ’98 there and meet her family; Trish was among the alumni who returned to perform with the Symphonic Wind Ensemble for Professor Dietrich’s final concert in Demmer Recital Hall.

Thanks to all of you who sent in updates for the letter — the updates are the best part of class agenting, and we are always happy to read them and share.

CHRIS ANDERSON ’98 recently was selected for promotion to colonel in the U.S. Army. He is currently on the team developing the cutting-edge Long Range Hypersonic Weapon system, and splits his time between Huntsville, Alabama, and the National Capital Region. His next assignment is as a student at Senior Service College.

JASON “PEABODY’ BROWN ’98 is assistant manager at Shepherd and Schaller in Wausau, Wisconsin.

WILLIAM DEPPIESSE ’98 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was promoted to a senior business banking officer at the start of 2019.

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CLASS LETTERS KRISTIN DODDS ’98 of Greendale, Wisconsin, started a new position in August 2018 with Komatsu Mining Corp. in Milwaukee as a senior EHS specialist. She also reenlisted for six more years with the U.S. Army Reserves and is currently a staff sergeant with the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion in Green Bay. DAVID HENRY ’98 has been the director for enrollment and student success at Florida State University Panama City since July 2018. “Family is growing every day, happy and healthy.”

STEPHEN KENNELLY ’98: “This year has been busy; my family and I moved to North Dakota in March. In April we welcomed our second child, James Patrick, into the world. In the last year I have started a new job with BNSF Railways and promoted within the Army National Guard.”

TRISHA STOMMEL LYNCH ’98: “Shelly and I just celebrated four years with the dynamic duo and two years post-adoption. Isabella will be in second grade and Emmalaine first.”

SHANNON MCKINNEY-FREEMAN ’98 lives in Germantown, Tennessee, with her husband, Kevin, and four children (ages 4-13). Shannon recently was appointed interim director of experimental hematology in the Department of Hematology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Memphis, Tennessee) and chair of admissions in the new St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, where she also co-leads the developmental biology course. Shannon was also awarded a Scholar Award by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and a large grant by the National Institutes of Health to study the basic science of the blood-forming stem cells of the bone marrow. In other news, her 13-year-old daughter recently discovered K-pop, which has taken over the household, her 10-year old’s Calico Critters collection continues to grow, her 6-year-old is excited to be an independent reader and her 4-year-old loves practicing taekwondo on his brother.

JOSHUA SATZER ’98 of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, has entered his 20th year in the financial services industry with Prudential Advisors. He also enjoys coaching his 9-year-old daughter’s winter league basketball team through the Sun Prairie YMCA. Until next time, SARAH and LEILANI

1999 Mike Berens 617-512-5753 / mikeberens2@hotmail.com Trista Moffat-Larco 920-257-4800 / tlmoffat@yahoo.com Class of 1999: greetings from Trista and Mike! We hope this letter finds you enjoying the fall. We did not receive any updates to include as class notes this time around.

Back in the day, the class notes likely proved to be a fun way to keep up with the accomplishments and lives of our classmates. In a world of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and more, it seems class notes fall by the wayside for many of us. If you have any updates you’d like to share, we’d love to include them in the spring letter. Please send them to Trista, Mike or the College!

The summer came and went quickly for many of us. For those able to attend the 20-year class reunion, we hope you were able to enjoy some of the highlights like the seminar, 1851 Awards Dinner, class lunch, all-alumni parties, golf and the Sunday brunch.

A noteworthy accomplishment from the past few months is the #OneDayRally. Kudos to the staff that supported

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the outstanding collection of more than $1M in 18 hours, 51 minutes! Thanks to each of you who were able to contribute to the #OneDayRally or via other means. The 91% student satisfaction rate touted by Ripon College is a fine example of the Ripon College staff putting alumni donations to great use! Let’s see if we can beat that number in 2020.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the passing of Coach Julie Johnson. A great leader, mentor and friend to so many of us from the Class of 1999. Coach Johnson passed away on Thursday, June 13, 2019, at the young age of 53. She set records and impacted the lives of countless Ripon grads. Coach Johnson will be dearly missed. She was an exceptional person.

Trista and Mike wish you a wonderful fall and holiday season. We look forward to seeing some of you at future Ripon College events. Thank you for your continued support to Ripon College.

TRISTA and MIKE

2000 Andre Miksha andre.miksha@gmail.com Planning is under way for our 20th – has it really been that many? – Reunion. It was great to see so many folks during our 15th Reunion, and 20 years is significant enough to bring in an even bigger crowd!

KAREN FISCHER ’00 is enjoying her recent retirement and is splitting time between Wisconsin and northwestern Washington state to see her grandchildren, Peter and Liam.

Red Hawk forever, ANDRE

2001 Nicole Baumann-Blackmore 608-513-9078 / Baumannn10@hotmail.com Dante A. C. Houston 414-378-4937 / houstondante@hotmail.com Hi, Class of 2001. While the College gears up for students to return to campus, it is our time to start thinking about our 20-(!!!!) year Reunion! In less than two years, we hope to see many of you return to campus and reconnect with old friends. If you have ideas or would like to be a part of the planning, please let us know!

MARK BECKER ’01 of Delavan, Wisconsin, was honored by the Milwaukee Business Journal as one of this year’s 40 Under 40 Award recipients. He is co-founder of Geneva Supply Inc. DANTE HOUSTON ’01 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been promoted to manager of Predictive Index Services (PI) with his employer, Titus Talent Strategies. He also recently was appointed to serve as Alumni Trustee for Ripon College.

KATIE BUFFUM VISSERS ’01 of Appleton, Wisconsin, is working on her master’s of nursing and going through the college application process with her son, Trent, whose first choice is Ripon.

CANDACE PLENCNER VONDRA ’01 of Chicago, Illinois, got married in 2014 in Maui, Hawaii. In 2016, she received her Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and had a baby girl! She continues to work at William Blair & Company in Chicago as a senior portfolio associate, where she has been for the last 13 years.

Keep in touch, and hope to see you soon!

DANTE and NICOLE

1998-2003 2002

​2003

Leigh Mlodzik MlodzikL@Ripon.edu

Liz Matelski lizmatelski@gmail.com

Corryn Siegel Greenwood Corryn.Siegel@gmail.com

Elayne Monnens Norweb enorweb@gmail.com

Dear Class of 2002, Here is your class letter. It was great to hear from a few more people this time around! To keep the updates coming, send us an email or a Facebook message!

ERIK JOHNSON ’02 of Huntersville, North Carolina, is now principal at East Albemarle Elementary in Albemarle, North Carolina, for the 2019-20 school year. He previously had been principal at G.W. Carver Elementary School in Kannapolis, North Carolina.

KEVIN KITSLAAR ’02 has accepted a new position as high school principal of Waukesha South High School. “I am excited about the diversity in the high school and the new challenges it will bring, going to a bigger high school of about 1,300-1,400 students. Waukesha is a great district as well. One of the teachers there is a Ripon College grad as well, BILLY SWARTZ ’99.”

STEVE KOHL ’02 and his wife, Becky, welcomed their fourth child, Nelly Barbara Kohl, on 4/27/18.

ANNMARIE IBIS KREITZER ’02 lives in Delafield Wisconsin, with her husband, Greg. They have three daughters, Elsa, 8, Greta, 6, and Hanna, 3. AnnMarie has been with Kohl’s Corporate for 12 years and is the human resources HR Director for Technology, Digital and Strategy.

ZACHARY MORRIS ’02 of Madison, Wisconsin, received a prestigious scientific award of $200,000 to advance highly innovative research projects with implications for human health. The Greater Milwaukee Foundation presents the awards to early career faculty to advance highly innovative research projects with implications for human health.

NADIA STOYANOVA-HALL ’02 will be starting a Ph.D. in space policy through the University of North Dakota this fall.

DOUG WILEY ’02: “You can pretty much mark me down as ‘still a consultant’ until I die.”

EMMYLOU HOEFT WILSON ’02 celebrated nine years at her private practice in Verona, Wisconsin, this year. She has been appointed to the Optometry Examining Board for the State of Wisconsin (the regulatory board in the Department of Safety and Professional Services for Optometrists and Opticians) and will be sworn in and confirmed by the Senate shortly. She continues to travel and enjoy time outside with her husband, Tim, and their dog.

We hope you are doing well and would love to see an update from you in the next newsletter!

Sincerely, LEIGH MLODZIK ’02 and CORRYN SIEGEL GREENWOOD ’02

SANDRA DEVRIES ERNST ’03 of Redding, California, was inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame during Alumni Weekend in June. She works at the University of California, Davis.

Happy fall, Class of 2003! The Class of 2023 will soon be stepping onto campus to start their new adventures at Ripon.

The College looks much different than when we first arrived at school, but the important things have stayed the same.

A big thanks to all who participated in the #OneDayRally in May. The Class of 2003 had a strong showing and finished third out of all graduating classes in the number of individual donors!

BRITT STEIGER FRANK ’03 completed the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World this January, running 48.6 miles over four races on four consecutive mornings.

The race challenge consists of a 5k, 10k, half-marathon and ending with a full marathon. Britt stays at home with her 5-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. She plays tennis and runs when she can.

AMIEE PIERSTORFF HANSEN ’03 of Eldorado, Wisconsin, runs her own photography business, Glass Menagerie Photography.

JEAN GARNER-STEEL ’03: “I rise each day at the last possible moment to have a practice run of getting teenagers to stop ignoring me at home before going to work, where I am professionally ignored by more teenagers. I’ve accidentally made some athletes that compete at high levels in obscure sports and spend the evenings and entire weekends driving different sets of hulking, sweaty, bellowing youths across the country.

I’ve devised a system of locks, bolts and chairs propped against things that stops my suspiciously clever/dumb lurcher from opening every door in my house and breaking all my stuff. Honestly, that alone must be deserving of some design and innovation prize. There are people and dogs everywhere. They’re always hungry and the fridge is always empty. Please send snacks.”

ANDY LAST ’03 and RACHAEL SMITHBACK LAST ’06 of Ripon, Wisconsin, are happy to announce the arrival of their son, Oliver Andrew, just before Mother’s Day on May 10, 2019. What an amazing gift! Everyone is happy and healthy and feeling beyond blessed to have welcomed such an amazing little man into the family.

ELIZABETH MATELSKI ’03 was granted tenure this spring. She teaches American history at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. She and her wife continue to enjoy their Boston adventures and vow never to become New England Patriots’ fans.

LACEY JONES SCHADRIE ’03 graduated from Rasmussen College in June 2018 with a bachelor of science in nursing.

MELISSA YORK SNELLING ’03: “Hi, I just wanted to let everyone know that I just finished my 10th year teaching special education students. I also recently ran my first half-marathon up in Green Bay in May and I signed up for another 1/2 in September. I still live in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, with my husband, Rick, and our two children. William is now a second-grader and Laura is in

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CLASS LETTERS kindergarten. This summer, you will find me shuffling my kids to all of their various summer activities and sports. In my spare time, I love to go on long runs and spend as much time outside as possible.”

ERIN TRADER STROT ’03: “I am still working as a training specialist for the Donor Testing Lab at Memorial Blood Centers in St. Paul. When I’m not training the next generation of lab techs, I’m chasing around my two kids, Veronica, 4, and Madeleine, 2, or training for some kind of distance race. Last year I completed my ninth halfmarathon and hope to someday add marathon to this list.

For now, I’m just enjoying taking my running adventures off-road and exploring local trails in the Twin Cities.”

Thank you again to everyone who continues to send updates. Remember that you don’t have to wait for the twice-a-year call for updates in order to share your latest news. Be sure to check out the new online version of R Connections (ripon.edu/rconnections) where you can upload updates, photos and more!

LIZ and ELAYNE

2004 Nick Spaeth 262-227-6097 / nick.spaeth@gmail.com Greetings, Class of 2004. While we each share a good number of similarities when it comes to our Ripon College experience, it was also clearly something different for each of us. Our individual understanding of what college meant to us undoubtedly changed over time, too. As a good number of us reflected on our personal experiences while on campus for our 15th Reunion this past June, it became clear to me that no matter who you are, where you ended up, or what you thought college was, there is something we each liked about our time at Ripon. Below is what a few of your classmates shared about they liked most about college.

A small favor to ask: if you’re a member of our class Facebook group and have classmate friends who are not, send them my way or encourage them to request to join. In the push for our 15th Reunion this year, a few surprise misses presented themselves (sorry, Jenny!).

Thanks for taking the time to read. Be sure to pass along your updates to 2004classletter@gmail.com.

MICHAEL COLES ’04: The friendships made. The multiple activities to be involved in. The parties.

JEREMY COOPER-SPERBER ’04: Studying abroad.

CAROLYN DUVEN ’04: Being myself and making lifelong friends.

LISA HENKE GRAF ’04: The people I’ve become lifelong friends with!

AMANDA PHILLIPS GROSS ’04: Spending time with friends.

SARA WICHLACZ HANEY ’04: Dr. Bob and Skip Wittler’s bio courses and field schools.

KATE HERSEY ’04: The amazing people and professors.

Kate, of St. Paul, Minnesota, is the executive director of Minnesota Tool Library, a nonprofit that lends tools to members, offers classes to the public and has workshop space. She was featured in an article about the library published in July 2019 in the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis.

TAMMY JOHNSON ’04: The thing I liked most about college was my involvement with my co-ed fraternity and my sorority. I had many opportunities to express my individuality through these organizations.

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DIANE KEELING ’04: The thing I liked most about college was residential living; everyone was isolated in a small town together, figuring out what to do.

MAX KELLN ’04: The friends we made along the way.

KATE PETERSEN KINGREE ’04: The Ripon College community that makes you feel like family then and now.

ROZ KORF VANDAALWYK ’04: Meeting my husband, JACOB VANDAALWYK ’06.

MELISSA LUND LUNDT ’04: The thing I liked most about college was the small-town feel/atmosphere. No matter where you were on campus — class, party, sporting event, commons, etc. — you knew someone.

LIZ KOEPNICK MILLER ’04: The lifelong friendships I made, the small class sizes and personalized attention from professors, and the flexibility to explore other interests — art, music, theater — outside my major (biology).

JARED NELLIS ’04: I hadn’t yet realized the true burden of crippling debt!

JILL SUNDERLAND POHLMEIER ’04: Living just steps away from my friends and the random fun that comes with that.

Having so little responsibility. Finding my people.

RACHEL SCHMIDT PUFALL ’04: Lasting friendships formed in Tri-Dorms and the Bov. NICK SPAETH ’04: Having the opportunity to do so many unique and “only-in-college” things that helped define the rest of our lives.

PAULA RICHARDSON TOMPKINS ’04: Small, intimate class sizes with engaging, interesting professors and obtaining degrees in things I have a passion for. Meeting new people, many of whom are now my best friends.

Thanks, NICK

2005 Daphne Meyers Leigh 414-841-7210 / Daphne05@hotmail.com Amanda Zahn Przybyl 920-299-1081 / PrzybylA@ripon.edu Hello Class of 2005! As I write this, I am finalizing all my Alumni Weekend plans — not because it’s OUR reunion year, but I’ll be there celebrating with the Class of ’04 as a spouse and as a scout for our own reunion in June 2020.

Speaking of our 15-year reunion next year, we are still looking for more input to make next year’s event the best it can be! If you’re interested in helping out, reach out to Amanda or me or contact the Alumni Office.

Finally, we didn’t receive any personal updates this time around, probably because we are all so connected already. Ripon has set up a more interactive, user-friendly platform for sharing updates right on their website atripon.edu/rconnections.

Feel free to contact myself or Amanda, or use the R Connections page to share your exciting news and updates.

All the best, DAPHNE MEYERS LEIGH ’05

2003-2007 ​2006

2007

Nicole Klaas Hands nicolemariehands@gmail.com

Lindsey Kreye Heil lkreye9509@gmail.com

Ed Hansen hellowilbur@gmail.com

Stacy Krusa Teachout krusast@gmail.com

Andrew Kitslaar andrew.p.kitslaar@gmail.com

Liz Leach Morrell lizmorrell@outlook.com

Hello, Ripon Red Hawk Class of 2006! Well, those of you living in Wisconsin had to wait a little longer than you might have liked for warm summer temperatures this year, but as we all know, a chilly start to summer in Wisconsin is nothing new. It simply serves as a reminder that 13 years after graduating from Ripon College, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Adam Krueger krueger.adam@gmail.com

Willmore Center (formerly Storzer) shines as a bright example of change on campus, for example, but when the rain unexpectedly comes on Mother’s Day, you’ll still need to move graduation into the gym — just like ours was. Most of us are less likely now to stay up into the wee hours of the night than we were in 2006, but those of us who are parents of young children often find ourselves burning that familiar midnight oil once again. Many of us have scattered throughout the country and the world, and we don’t always get a chance to chat as much as we’d like, but when you get that call or a message from an old college friend, I bet you can pick up the conversation from precisely where you were the last time you spoke.

These are feelings that we can all relate to, of course, but there is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you go back to Ripon. The campus might look a little different, and some of our favorite professors have left, but it still feels like home. If you haven’t been back to campus lately (or even if you have), we encourage you to visit and see for yourself. In the meantime, we’re always excited to hear from you, so please continue to send in your updates! Here is what’s been happening lately: JEFFREY DODSON ’06 has returned to Ripon as minister at First Congregational Church of Ripon.

ROSE MCNULTY EBEL ’06 and SHANE EBEL ’07 of Monona, Wisconsin, met their second daughter, Frida Pearl Ebel, in late May. The whole family is in love, and their first daughter, Lucette, is especially excited to be a big sister.

NICOLE KLAAS HANDS ’06 relocated from North Carolina to the greater New York City area in April. She’s changed jobs and is now the product marketing manager for The Financial Revolutionist, a financial innovation platform with editorial and software as a service offering.

ED HANSEN ’06 and his wife, Megan Deichen Hansen, of Tallahassee, Florida, had their first child, Owen Michael Hansen, on St. Patrick’s Day this spring. His birthday is especially fitting, as he visited his Irish relatives last summer while in utero.

ALISON NOWAK RISSE ’06 of Slinger, Wisconsin: “My husband, Troy, and I welcomed our first baby into the world in April 2019. We are so in love. Ty Edward Risse and family are doing well!”

RACHAEL SMITHBACK LAST ’06 and ANDY LAST ’03 of Ripon, Wisconsin, are happy to announce the arrival of their son, Oliver Andrew, just before Mother’s Day on May 10, 2019. What an amazing gift! Everyone is happy and healthy and feeling beyond blessed to have welcomed such an amazing little man into the family.

No van-related news to report in this class letter, which can only mean one thing. Something big (or mini) is on the horizon.

ERIN COURTNEY BOELHOWER ’07 and husband Matt of Woodstock, Illinois, welcomed their rainbow baby girl, Scottie Elizabeth Mae, on Sept. 19 via gestational surrogate.

SHANE EBEL ’07 and ROSE MCNULTY EBEL ’06 of Monona, Wisconsin, met their second daughter, Frida Pearl Ebel, in late May. The whole family is in love, and their first daughter, Lucette, is especially excited to be a big sister.

BOB FAULDS ’07 and STEPHANIE SOMMER FAULDS ’08 welcomed their newest child, Loretta Grace, on June 30, 2019.

JASON JAHN ’07 and HANNAH EMANUEL JAHN ’09 announce the birth of daughter Miranda Rose Jahn on Dec. 16, 2018. Hannah is an assistant city attorney for the City of Milwaukee, and Jason is a network architect at Rockwell Automation.

LIZ LEACH MORELL ’07 is the executive director of The Arc Fond du Lac, a not-for-profit organization serving individuals and families in Fond du Lac, Dodge and Winnebago counties.

ZACH NORTON ’07 has started a new position as a client associate with Wells Fargo Advisors and passed the series 66 examination last July and November, respectively.

RACHEL STORLIE PEDRAJA ’07: “After teaching fourth grade for seven years in northern Wisconsin, my husband’s job transferred our family to northwest Ohio. I am now the children’s ministry director at our church and spend time reading, exploring and playing with our 4-year-old son, James. Our family is buzzing with excitement as we wait for our second child due in November.”

JODI RABAS ’07: “I bought a house and got married in January, and we are expecting our first baby around Halloween!”

JOLENE RUEDEN SCHATZINGER ’07 has joined the advancement team at Ripon College as the leadership gift officer for annual giving. She is loving the opportunity to connect with fellow alumni and friends of the College throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. Jolene welcomes all classmates to contact her if and when they make it back to Ripon any time of the year — she’d love to connect with you.

MARY STERRETT ’07 graduated Johns Hopkins in May with her master’s of public health degree. She has one year left in her Maternal Fetal Medicine fellowship in Charleston, South Carolina. Mary hopes to move out West after graduation next June. She just had a maternal/ fetal thyroid physiology chapter published in June, and she has a couple more research projects in the pipeline.

Mary also joined a cycling team in Charleston and races cyclocross.

ALEX WENTE ’07 of Chicago, Illinois, is an enterprise account manager for Upwork, the world’s largest global freelancing website.

We hope you had a lovely summer!

ED, NICOLE and ANDY

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CLASS LETTERS ​2008 Stephanie Sommer Faulds 608-630-3369 / Stephanie.Sommer@gmail.com

KYLE UNGER ’08 of Miami, Florida, is stationed at the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Miami where he works as a fixed wing search and rescue pilot. In addition to flying, he also serves are the Air Station’s external affairs officer.

Leah Hover-Preiss 608-432-2399 / leahhover@yahoo.com

​​2009

Zac Schwandt 920-291-5685 / SchwandtZ@gmail.com

Emily A. Meyer emilyannmeyer@gmail.com

Greetings, Class of 2008! We hope you had a chance to relax this summer and enjoy time with family and friends.

Maybe you were even able to attend an event at Ripon College like Alumni Weekend or just a stroll around the campus as you were passing through town. If you have not had a chance to visit recently, make plans to come to Ripon soon! There are so many things to do — reconnect with some classmates during a weekend visit, participate in Homecoming festivities or check out the fall colors on campus. Remember to share pictures on the Ripon College Class of 2008 Facebook page so they can be submitted to be included in the R Connections publications!

JENAN KHARBUSH ’09 of Arlington, Massachusetts, received the Ripon College Outstanding Young Alumni Award during Alumni Weekend in June. She is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. She is a member of the Harvard Earth and Planetary Science/Environmental Science and Engineering Department’s Diversity, Inclusion and Belong Committee; and a mentor for Harvard Graduate Women in Science and Engineering.

As usual, our classmates have been up to some amazing things!

Check out the class notes listed below. Remember, if you would like your life event (engagements, marriages, births, continuing education, new jobs or promotions, moves, starting a business, and so on …) shared in the class notes, contact one of the class agents at any time during the year. We would love to hear from you. Keep in touch! You also can submit these notes online at ripon.edu/rconnections.

As always, Go Red Hawks!

LEAH, STEPHANIE and ZAC ART BRATTON ’08 and EMILY HOFFMAN BRATTON ’10 of Ripon, Wisconsin, welcomed a baby girl, Clara.

STEPHANIE SOMMER FAULDS ’08 and BOB FAULDS ’07 welcomed their newest child, Loretta Grace, on June 30, 2019.

MEGAN ANDERSON KAUTZER ’08 is now an associate principal at Merrill (Wisconsin) High School. She previously taught and then was associate principal and activities director at Nekoosa High School. In 2014, she completed her master’s degree in educational leadership.

KIMBERLY LARSON ’08 of Apple Valley, Minnesota, is the president of Ripon College’s Alumni Association Board of Directors.

TYLOR LOEST ’08 of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, recently completed a master of arts in arts administration from Goucher College. He works at the John Michael Kohler Art Center.

BILLIE JEANNE LOWE ’08 of Brooklyn, New York, is now the client care coordinator at Women In Need Inc. (Win) ALEX ROYZEN ’08 of Lindenhurst, Illinois, was featured in the cover story about OpticsPlanet, “Focusing on the Details,” in the August 2019 issue of Boss Magazine.

Royzen is director of supply chain management for OpticsPlanet’s parent company, Ecentria.

ZACHARY SCHWANDT ’08 of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, married EMILY KIJEK SCHWANDT ’13 on campus this past May. ADAM SONNTAG ’08 is city administrator for the City of Hillsboro, Wisconsin. He was among 20 people younger than 40 honored by the River Valley Media Group and the 7 Rivers Alliance as having made a positive difference in that area of Wisconsin. He also is a regional director for the Wisconsin City/County Management Association and a member of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Lobby, the Monroe/Vernon/Crawford Growth Fund Board, Hillsboro Library Board and Hillsboro Lions Club.

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JOSH KRAEMER ’09 of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, was inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame during Alumni Weekend in June.

He is a regional personal training director for Anytime Fitness.

BRITTANY DICK ’09 of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame during Alumni Weekend in June. She is a world-ranked ultra runner, USA Triathlon All-American and Champion Burro Racer. Her daughter, Clover Sue Kyhl, was born June 12, 2019, and weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces.

Hello, everyone! First of all, thanks to everyone who was able to come back to attend any part of Alumni Weekend, and a special thank-you to those of you who attended our dinner. Congratulations are also in order for JENAN KHARBUSH ’09 who received one of the Outstanding Young Alumni awards, and BRITTANY DICK ’09 and JOSH KRAEMER ’09 who were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame! It is so exciting to have three of our classmates recognized for their accomplishments in the same year.

I also had a lot of fun catching up with a lot of you who came for some or all of the weekend; I hope you had as much fun as I did! I also enjoyed introducing our son, James, to a number of you throughout the weekend (Lily stayed with grandma and grandpa and played in the pool, which was more exciting for her than hanging out with mom). I hope those of you who came had as much fun as I did, and that you’ll plan to return for our 15th Reunion in what will feel like just a few short years. Of course, you’re more than welcome to attend Alumni Weekends between our formal reunions. There are always lots of people to connect with and things to do.

Our family has been quite busy since my last letter; we bought a house in Fargo, North Dakota, (and within two days had to buy a snow blower ...), moved (during the threat of an ice storm), spent several days at home because of campuses being closed due to the bitter cold, welcomed James to our family, and have just been generally busy since 2019 started. I hope that things will slow down in the next few months.

CHARLES BELT ’09 was named men’s basketball coach at William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri. He previously spent two seasons at Beloit College and six

2008-2010 seasons with the NCAA Division II Northern Michigan University Wildcats.

TANYA LISKO BLATY ’09 of Golden Valley, Minnesota: “I graduated from an endocrinology fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in June 2018 and am currently working as an endocrinologist in the Twin Cities. My husband and I welcomed a daughter, Charli, into our family this past December.”

HANNAH EMANUEL JAHN ’09 and JASON JAHN ’07 announce the birth of daughter Miranda Rose Jahn on Dec. 16, 2018. Hannah is an assistant city attorney for the City of Milwaukee, and Jason is a network architect at Rockwell Automation.

HALEY MOERER MADSON ’09 of Ripon, Wisconsin, was named the new director of communication and special events for The Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership.

She will serve as the primary contact for media relations, organizational communication and special events. Madson brings more than 10 years of nonprofit management experience in addition to her knowledge of communication, social media, web development and relationship management to the DFP. She holds a bachelor of science in psychology from Ripon College with an emphasis in nonprofit management.

THOMAS MILLER ’09, on the staff of the University of Minnesota Crookston football program for the past three seasons, has been promoted to defensive coordinator. He also retains his title of assistant head coach.

BRYAN NELL ’09 of Morris, Minnesota, is an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Minnesota, Morris.

BRITTANY KAUFMAN PRATT ’09 lives in Nixa, Missouri, with her husband, Jeremy, and 2-year-old daughter, affectionately nicknamed “Tiny Human” on social media. TH is thrilled to become a big sister in November 2019! Brittany recently was voted president-elect of the Missouri Psychological Association and will serve as president during the 2021-2022 term.

ANGELA TWAROSKI ’09: “I’m about a month away from being with United Healthcare (UMR) for five years, the last three as an account manager/customer specialist. I work with one of UMR’s largest and most unique customers.

Every day is a challenge, but most days I love what I do. Late last year, I was selected as one of UHC’s 2018 Service Heroes. Out of the approximately 400k UHC employees eligible, only about 400 are selected. We got an all-expenses paid trip to Florida, staying at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club for three days. The mornings were spent collaborating with other Service Heroes and UHC leadership about new directions to take the company in order to better serve our members, building bookshelves to benefit an Orlando nonprofit supporting families of kids going through cancer treatment, listening to a few speakers, and being celebrated for our hard work and dedication. And the afternoons were spent exploring Disney parks and Universal Studios with my sister, REBECCA TWAROSKI ’13, and my brother’s girlfriend.”

A friendly reminder: If you are on Facebook, please make sure you’re a part of the Ripon College Class of 2009 page. Please also remember to keep Ripon College updated if you move or if you have exciting news to share with our class.

Take care!

EMILY

​2010 Nicholas Baker nbaker756@gmail.com Tomissa Porath Freisleben tomissa.porath@gmail.com As the summer winds down and fall’s welcome weather approaches, we find ourselves reflecting on the past nine years we have spent “adulting.” Whether it has been accompanied with various careers, marriages, children, moves or unfortunate events, we can say we have all grown since we walked past the Union more than nine years ago. With that being said, it is time to begin planning for our 10-year reunion! Both of us, along with many of our classmates, are excited for the challenge of planning our reunion, and we hope many of you join in on the festivities next June 25-28, 2020. We all experienced our own journeys the last few years, and we look forward to sharing this over some delicious dinner and drinks in the near future.

P.S. Make sure to try and take time to donate back to Ripon College — your support makes events like these possible and helps shape the future in the best way!

Regards, NICHOLAS BAKER ’10 and TOMISSA FREISLEBEN ’10 CONSUELO VANESSA ARBOLEDA ’10 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is enrolled in the master’s program for nonprofit leadership and management at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to advance her nonprofit, La Casa Del Perro Corp. She also just got engaged to the love of her life, Jesse Holmes!

NICHOLAS BAKER ’10 of Carol Stream, Illinois (fountain town to his brothers), recently relocated back to the state of Illinois after spending time in Nashville, Tennessee, and started as an auto damage appraiser II for Farmers Insurance Group.

SARAH ELLEFSON BAUMGARTNER ’10 of Green Bay, Wisconsin, finished her postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration and has taken a staff adult neuropsychologist position at Bellin Health. She works with fellow graduate TIFFANY BORN ’10. Sarah and her husband, Kevin, look forward to making Green Bay home with their dog, Elle.

BRAD BOGENSCHUTZ ’10 is a software engineer for Covetrus. Brad, his wife and two children recently moved to North Carolina to get out of the cold Wisconsin weather and enjoy the ocean life.

EMILY HOFFMAN BRATTON ’10 of Ripon, Wisconsin, welcomed a baby girl, Clara, with fellow alumnus ART BRATTON ’08.

LUCY BURGCHARDT ’10, an assistant professor of communication studies at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, will receive a Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award in November 2019 from the National Communication Association.

DAVID CHRISTENSEN ’10 has been a Level 3 tech support analyst at Amcor since November 2017.

JEFF DAVIS ’10 and GWENDOLYN CASEY DAVIS ’10 of Stoughton, Wisconsin, are celebrating multiple milestones in life. Jeff started a new position just after the new year running the Super Target in Fitchburg. As for Gwen, she has started Little Whisk Bakery which started as a baking challenge at the beginning of the year, but being a stay-at-home mom always comes first. As for her little children, Clyde is as wonderful as ever and Fionnoula is growing so fast!

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CLASS LETTERS MATT DWYER ’10 and AIMEE PRUDHOMME DWYER ’13 now reside in Marshall, Missouri. Matt is the assistant baseball coach and recruiting coordinator at Missouri Valley College, and Aimee is a special education teacher.

They welcomed their first child in May! THERESA KEDINGER ’10 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, is living in Costa Rica as a community economic development promoter for the U.S. Peace Corps.

LINDSEY KUEHL LAMB ’10 of McFarland, Wisconsin, is surviving parenthood. Her kids are 3 and 7. She loses her mind a few times per day, but that’s nothing a fine Miller Lite can’t fix. In her free time, she vacuums, does laundry, cooks, grocery shops, and carts her kids around to their activities and sports in her sweet minivan. She is successfully running her own family photography business in the greater Madison area and recently moved into a new studio space. She often finds herself asleep on the couch by 9 p.m. while her husband, Ryan, watches shows about drug cartels and prison. What a time to be alive!

CHELSEY FOSTER LODERHOSE ’10 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, married Jake Loderhose on June 8, 2018, and they happily reside in Milwaukee.

BRITTANY PREISCHEL STEIN ’10 has relocated to Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, Izzy (married Sept. 29, 2018) after living and working in the outdoor recreation industry in Washington State for the last nine years. She now is an account coordinator for an international digital marketing agency. Brittany and Izzy adopted a shelter pup and named him Atlas! Together, they are all enjoying their latest adventure in the southwest.

​2011 The role of Class Agent is currently vacant. If you have an interest, know someone who might be interested or want to learn more, email alumni@ripon.edu.

ELIZABETH MCHONE ALVEY ’11 and CORY ALVEY ’11 married Sept. 12, 2015, in Libertyville, Illinois. They currently live in Wauconda, Illinois. Elizabeth is a naturalist at the Pringle Nature Center, and Cory is a senior scientist at AbbVie, a biopharmaceutical company.

LIBBY RUSSO ECKLER ’11 and JERRY ECKLER ’13 welcomed a baby boy, Grayson James, on March 8! Dad, Mom and baby are all doing great!

SAM SONDALLE ’11 of New Haven, Connecticut, received his Ph.D. in genetics from Yale University in December 2018. He had a significant publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Fanconi anemia protein FANCI functions in ribosome biogenesis” was published Jan. 28. Sondalle is the first author. He is in his final year of the M.D./Ph.D. program at Yale, will be applying for residency this year and graduate in May 2020 with his M.D.

​2012 Katlyn Lee Schumacher 608-558-9073 / kate020812@gmail.com Erin Schaick 603-513-9965 / Erin.Schaick@gmail.com Brandon Taylor 406-274-4708 / Brandon.J.Taylor.2012@gmail.com Hello again, Class of 2012! Thank you to everyone who submitted news notes for our fall letter. It is always nice to see what classmates are up to these days.

Be sure to check out R Connections (ripon.edu/ rconnections) – this is a great place to submit your story (news notes, obits, alumni sightings and class letters), check out your class page, view classmate news notes, photos and more.

KATHARINE SHADLE GAILS ’12 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and her husband, RYAN GAILS ’13, got a golden doodle puppy!

CEZAR MUNOZ ’12 of Charlotte, North Carolina, is an OLI facilitator with OCHIN Inc. ERIC SCHUMACHER ’12 of Delafield, Wisconsin, and his wife, Sarah, welcomed their first child, Jack, in May. BRANDON TAYLOR ’12 of Arlee, Montana, spent last Christmas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is now a technology consulting manager with Accenture.

SARA VANSTEENBERGEN ’12 of Pullman, Washington, is the new director of student activities and orientation at Ripon College.

Thank you to everyone who shared these updates! Feel free to send those to us via email or our Facebook group anytime. Hope everyone has a great year!

ERIN, KATLYN and BRANDON

2013 Alexandra Peltier alipeltier13@gmail.com Charlotte Lee Wahle charlotteeslee@gmail.com Lauren Ott lauren.a.ott.42@gmail.com ORNELLA UMUBYEYI ’13 of Charlotte, North Carolina, received the Ripon College Outstanding Young Alumni Award during Alumni Weekend in June. She is a hospital chaplain for CaroMont Health in North Carolina and became a certified life coach in 2013.

Hello, everyone! I hope you’re all soaking up some warmer weather and taking things a little easier. We’ve certainly earned it after the winter we had, at least here in Minnesota!

In Marshall, where I’m living these days, we have a record snowfall in February. Let me tell you, having a newborn when there’s record snowfall and day after day of below zero temperatures is not exactly the most fun. But we survived!

Alumni Weekend at Ripon is just around the corner, and I’m looking forward to catching up with some of you and showing off my little guy (sorry, proud mamma here!). If you haven’t been to an Alumni Weekend yet, you need to!

Doesn’t matter if it’s a reunion year for us. It’s a relaxed weekend of catching up with classmates and seeing what’s changed and what hasn’t at Ripon. The College hosts two

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2010-2014 socials with free beer, wine and snacks, so bare minimum you should come to those!

If you haven’t heard, Ripon is doing something new and our updates and class letters will now be available online: ripon.edu/rconnections. Hello 21st century! So, if you aren’t using Facebook much these days or you just don’t want to send your notes to Lauren, Ali or I, you now can post your updates there. You can also look at other people’s updates and our class letter, and even check out our senior class picture (bet you forgot about that gem, didn’t you?). Congratulations on whatever your latest milestone has been. Keep sharing, posting and reaching out – it’s great to hear from all of you.

CHARLOTTE LIZABETH BARANCZYK ’13 and her puppy, Chevy, moved to Green Bay at the beginning of June. She has accepted a third-grade teaching position at St. John the Baptist School in Howard, Wisconsin.

JENA ROSCIZEWSKI CLUKA ’13 and KEVIN CLUKA ’13 welcomed their first child, Declan, on June 15. Just in time for Father’s Day! Another future Red Hawk for the Class of 2042!

AIMEE PRUDHOMME DWYER ’13 and MATT DWYER ’10 now reside in Marshall, Missouri. Matt is the assistant baseball coach and recruiting coordinator at Missouri Valley College, and Aimee is a special education teacher.

They welcomed their first child in May! JERRY ECKLER ’13 and LIBBY RUSSO ECKLER ’11 welcomed a baby boy, Grayson James, on March 8! Dad, Mom and baby are all doing great!

RYAN GAILS ’13 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his wife, KATHARINE SHADLE GAILS ’12, got a golden doodle puppy!

PAUL HAUSCH ’13 of Madison, Wisconsin, was one of five students nationwide to be selected to have design work included in the exhibition “The Road Ahead: Reimagining Mobility” at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. He is pursuing a master’s degree in industrial design at Arizona State University.

AMANDA FENSKE JOHNSON ’13 is now a licensed practical nurse after having worked briefly at Winnebago Mental Health and then Wisconsin Resource Center over the last five years as a psychiatric care technicianadvanced. She plans to return to school for her RN degree in the near future.

EMILY KIJEK ’13 and ZACHARY SCHWANDT ’08 of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, married on campus this past May. JESSIE LILLIS ’13 received her master of literature degree from Mary Baldwin University this past May and will spend this year completing her master of fine arts degree, also from MBU. Jessie also got engaged at the end of April!

JACQUELYN MICHALAK MADDEN ’13 and her husband, Patrick, celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary May 31, and Jacqui celebrated her fifth year working at Aurora West Allis Medical Center as a histologist. They have three kids and a cocker spaniel dog.

ADAM ORTH ’13 purchased a home in Oconto, Wisconsin, on Valentine’s Day 2018. This year, he got a “new-to-him” Equinox and is a business cash management officer for Stephenson National Bank & Trust in Marinette, Wisconsin.

He is also an active member of Oconto Lions Club, Oconto Copperfest Committee and Section 7 Project for Trail of Terror. Way to make the rest of us look lazy, Adam!

LAUREN OTT ’13 is program director of YMCA Camp Icaghowan in Amery, Wisconsin. So if you haven’t heard from her in ages, that’s why. She will come out of

hibernation in the fall. In the meantime, she says we’re all welcome to visit her any time, and if you know any 18-year-olds, send them to go work for her!

ALI PELTIER ’13 has moved to Des Moines, Iowa, with her boyfriend, Jonathan, to take on a role as a national account manager for Meredith Corp. Ali is now responsible for media related to the titles of: Successful Farming, Living the Country Life and Country Gardens.

KATIE JO STUMBRIS ’13 is still the lead dental assistant at Jackson Family Dentistry in Mayville, and NICK WEISS ’13 has become the head of the science and physics departments at Sussex Hamilton. Their daughter, River Jo, just turned 2 and is running them ragged!

OLIVIA WETZEL ’13 of Watertown, Wisconsin, is a school counselor for Rossman Elementary School in Hartford, Wisconsin.

ZACHARY WIELAND ’13 and his wife, Rebecca, bought their first house in Appleton at the end of April. So far they are enjoying it, even the commute to Green Bay for work! Baby #2’s due date is fast approaching – hopefully the nursery gets set up in time!

ANDREA SLOSSER WORTH ’13 is now a doctoral candidate at the University of Wyoming, still studying clinical psychology. She’s also taken up mountain biking!

​2014 Tim Holme 608-333-9526 / holmet77@gmail.com Mara Jensen Poullette 952-412-1420 / marajensen1992@gmail.com Naomi Jahn Skulan 920-342-7288 / naomiskulan@gmail.com JILL VANEPEREN BEILFUSS ’14 and MITCHEL BEILFUSS ’15 of Fremont, Wisconsin, were married Dec. 15, 2018.

JEREMY BROUWER ’14 is a lighting artist in the Montréal location of Moving Picture Company, a major visual effects (VFX) studio. He recently worked on the Walt Disney film “Dumbo.”

JENNIFER GRANUM CARLI ’14 and KEVIN CARLI ’14 of Schiller Park, Illinois, were married June 3, 2018.

NATHANIEL DAVIDSON ’14 is an assistant state’s attorney in Macon County, Illinois, where he handles primarily misdemeanor DUIs. EMILY DOZIER ’14 is an adult education transition coordinator at John Wood Community College in her hometown of Quincy, Illinois. She assists adult students who are working toward their GED, improving basic education skills or improving their English. She then helps them find career and/or higher education opportunities.

BENJAMIN FIRGENS ’14 is one of just 10 graduate students to receive the Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Award at Penn State University. The award is sponsored jointly by the graduate school, through an endowment of the same name, and the Office of the Vice President and Dean for Undergraduate Education.

ANNA GALLE ’14: “I decided on a career change and moved to Milwaukee to pursue a nursing degree at Marquette. I’ll be graduating in December 2019 with a master’s in nursing as an RN!” ELIZABETH GREVER ’14 started a new job in global customer success at LinkedIn and became an awareness speaker for the Selah Freedom organization.

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CLASS LETTERS AMANDA FINN HAGGERTY ’14 of Chicago, Illinois, is the Illinois editor and venue relations for Footlights, theatre contributor and social media for Scapi Magazine and a freelance writer. She has won a few WNA awards in her 2½ years with the Wisconsin State Journal and has had bylines in American Theatre Magazine, Isthmus and BroadwayWorld.com.

BRITTANY LAHAIE ’14 got engaged to Nathan Martlett in June 2018 and got married in May 2019. She still is living in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

CHRISTIAN MARTINEZ ’14 got engaged to SOPHIA KLINGENBERGER ’14 and will be getting married in June 2020.

DAN MILES ’14: “I am working for a company called Right at School as a program manager at Eisenhower Elementary in Wauwatosa.”

CASSANDRA BILOTTO PASBRIG ’14: “We had a baby!

We also moved back to Wisconsin from Kentucky. I got promoted to performance operations analyst within Conifer Health.”

MICHAEL RAUSCH ’14 of Deerfield, Wisconsin, is pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

DAVID “TRES” REDEMANN ’14 moved to Spokane, Washington, and started working in the marijuana unit of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. He took Company Command of a U.S. Army Reserve Unit located at Fort Lewis.

TYLER RUTKOWSKI ’14 has continued his employment as a state trooper with the Michigan State Police and recently purchased his first house.

KATIE DREW SCHUMACHER ’14 and BRIAN SCHUMACHER ’15 moved back to Wisconsin and bought their first house. They love their new home and are saving up for some exciting new renovations — windows!

Katie recently started a new position as a marketing coordinator. Brian is a research and development associate scientist in the materials science group at Millipore Sigma. His research has moved to graphene and derivatives for biosensors and drug delivery. In June, Brian and Katie visited BRAD ’15 and SHELBY DUKES CHOJNACKI ’13 at their home in Washington, D.C. NAOMI JAHN SKULAN ’14 and NICK SKULAN ’14 of Morris, Minnesota, welcomed baby Charles Xavier Skulan to the world July 21, 2018. Nick also started a new position as a one-stop counselor at the University of Minnesota Morris this fall.

LIZ WALSH ’14 of College Station, Texas, received the 2019 Department of Entomology’s Outstanding Graduate Student Award at Texas A&M University.

RACHEL WEDEWARD ’14: “In addition to my job, I will be teaching a course at the University of Chicago Graham School starting in March.”

MARK YOCIUS ’14 and JENNIFER RESCHKE ’14 relocated to the Chicago area for his job in May. They got engaged and will be married in the spring of 2020.

RACHEL ZEMAN ’14 of Chicago, Illinois, is a labor and delivery nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and works with women and their families through the process of childbirth.

2015 Sam Kay kaysamantha9@gmail.com Kaylie Longley kaylielongley@gmail.com Picture this: I grab a plastic bag and stuff it with half an egg carton and my favorite reusable bottle. I toss clothes in my gym bag, leftovers in my lunch bag, and check the content of my purse, lastly securing my phone with a zipper. I slip into flip-flops and head out the door, teetering because the weight is clearly not balanced. I have the tricky plastic bag in one hand and everything else in the other. I figure I can balance everything from Point A to Point B. Instead of using one overnight bag, I have separated all the next day’s activities by vessel. This was my mistake.

I stumble out of a flip-flop, and the plastic bag falls to the ground. OK, so my precious bottle, with a fraying plastic cup, has another dent. So what? But the eggs?

I temporarily forget about them until I get inside my car. Not only have I further destroyed my Morning Joe enabler, all the eggs have cracked. Onto my hands. There goes tomorrow’s breakfast, and all my hope for coffee from a 10-cents-saving-bottle to come. I decide to throw away both. I’ve wanted to buy a French Press or Aeropress for a long time. Why I haven’t, when my favorite coffee requires no sugar or cream, is beyond me. Tonight’s incident surely wasn’t Kaylie’s finest hour, but it reminds me that I’m working on consumption.

It’s funny, I’m a marketer, and one of my core functions is influencing buying decisions (and I know all the variables have to be met to really succeed). And outside of work, I’m a creative, often fueled by caffeine. But I’m also a minimalist and am consciously aware how our culture applauds consumerism as success or “making it” and considers convenience necessary, no longer a luxury.

Straddling all of these roles is no easy task. I don’t need a bag for every element of my life. And I don’t have to worry if my ideologies seem contradictory. Instead, for the first time in my adult life, I’m intentionally working on what matters to me. I’m getting reconnected to my people and creating just for its own sake again. What are you working on? If you’re looking to stay connected, read on. Our classmates are doing great things. As for me? I’m buying that coffee maker tomorrow.

Cheers!

KAYLIE and SAM JAMES ALLEN ’15 of Rochester, Minnesota, is working in medical device research in the Twin Cities.

RAYMOND ALLEN ’15 of Durham, North Carolina, a Ph.D. candidate in developmental and stem cell biology, has been awarded a Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring. He has formally mentored two undergraduate students. He also has “demonstrated his dedication to mentorship through his activism and leadership in several on-campus organizations.”

MIKE ANDERSON ’15 is completing Air Force Commissioned Officer Training and will report to his first duty station, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska in September.

CHELSEA GRAHN ANDREWS ’15 of Maryville, Illinois, is a doctoral candidate in the psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is examining how researchers study attention and its changes as we age, specifically in preschool development.

BROOKE BEHNKE ’15 of Brillion, Wisconsin, will be getting married this fall.

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2014-2015 KATIE BIEDLER ’15 of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, has only two classes and a comp exam left for her master’s degree at Saint Cloud State University’s College of Liberal Arts and School of the Arts. She has started working as an eyewear specialist cross-trained as an optometric technician at Visionworks.

SAM KLEIN ’15 and SERGE FEDOROWSKY ’15 are loving Denver. Serge got his master’s and is starting a new job as the head librarian at a Montessori school. Sam still the lead massage therapist at Spa Universaire. She loves training new teammates and organizing the schedule and such. She enjoys prepping her team for success — it’s fun stuff!

CAT CARBAJAL ’15 passed the Hawaii Bar.

CAROLINE KORDES ’15 is attending Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas.

ANDREW CARBALLO ’15 of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, has been traveling with his girlfriend Emily and his family.

ZACH CONNERS ’15 of Freeport, Illinois, and his boyfriend, Weston Dixon, are loving their new home.

They are making small renovations but they won’t be painting any fireplaces yellow again. Zach is still working at CorTech International Staffing, and he is working on opening a new branch of the recruiting office in the Freeport area.

ELLY DAVIS ’15 continues to grow in the recruiting industry and recently accepted a position for a work-athome job with Kelly Services. Her hobbies are basically the same: horseback riding, skiing, yoga, hanging out with her cats, drinking beer and brunching. However, she’s recently also added swag grabbing at job fairs and wondering why she’s the only person with six+ hobbies during corporate meet-and-greets.

EMELIA ERICKSON ’15 had surgery on April 9 to donate her spare kidney. The recipient has survived 20 years of kidney disease. They hope her kidney will last him another 20 years. The entire experience was amazing, and Emelia would do it all again tomorrow. A lot of people have questions about the process of becoming a donor or want to share their experiences of donation and receiving with her. If anyone is interested they may contact her at ericksonerae@gmail.com. Shortly after choosing a surgery date, she was promoted to run her department at the Lodge Retirement Community after two years with the company.

JEREMIAH HARGIS ’15 of Fitchburg, Wisconsin, is a software test engineer at Epic Systems Corp. in Verona, Wisconsin. His work focuses on performance, data integrity and automated testing.

PETER HAYES ’15 of Chicago, Illinois, is still with Envestnet on the Portfolio Management Consultant team as an investment product management specialist.

HANNAH HERZOG ’15 of Nashville, Tennessee, adopted an 8-year-old lemon beagle named Clover! She finished her first year of graduate school at Belmont University for her master’s in sports administration. She is spending her summer working and interning with the Nashville Predators NHL team.

HAYDEN HOERDEMANN ’15 of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, took a job with State Farm in Tempe, Arizona. He moved there in July. Hayden will be an insurance claims specialist in property complex.

SAMANTHA KAY ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was promoted to advocacy manager for the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT). In May, she successfully planned four full-day, scientific workshops with 81 speakers and more than 1,000 attendees. Now, she is helping plan the Policy Summit, specifically a day of programming focused on global regulatory agencies.

Sam is helping craft ASGCT’s global advocacy program and starting a new initiative to facilitate bringing potentially curative treatments for sickle cell disease to Africa. She is planning a trip to San Diego in the fall for a genetics conference, but also to relax on a beach. Sam spends her free time worrying about who will win the Democratic nomination for president and encouraging everyone she knows to vote, volunteer and donate to ensure that we save democracy in 2020.

HOLLY KORTEMEIER ’15 lives in Edgerton, Wisconsin, with her dog, Hooper. She is working as a school counselor at Community Elementary School in Edgerton.

CHRISTIAN KRUEGER ’15 has completed the second year of her Ph.D. in early American history at Marquette University. She will spend the summer preparing for doctoral qualifying exams, which she plans to take in the fall. In November, Christian will present her paper “Battle for the Bluegrass: Racers, Raiders and the American Civil War” at the second annual Equine History Conference at Cal-Poly Pomona.

EMILY LENSMIRE ’15 of Reedsville, Wisconsin, has been promoted to director of traditional recruitment, and she continues to serve as the head women’s volleyball coach.

Her daughter, Charlotte, recently was promoted to big sister. Emily’s baby girl, Savannah Jane, was born June 25.

MARK LISOWKSI ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has completed his master’s in journalism from Marquette University. He is spending his summer relaxing and searching for a job in his field. Mark has been visiting the South Shore farmers market on Saturdays and avoiding frozen Stoffer’s meals.

KAYLIE LONGLEY ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, still is working with Bardon Bowling Centers, where she now consults with three locations across Wisconsin on their marketing strategies. She’s also working on a project to inspire creativity for its own sake with ANDREA SCHULNER ’16. She’s tracking her habits every week, like balancing bier gartens with treadmill time, on kaylielongley.com. If you have a creative project you’d like to work on, contact her. She’s helping 19 people shift their schedules to focus on good personal and professional work.

RAQUEL MACSWAIN ’15 of Stillwater, Minnesota, will be starting her second and final year of her school counseling program at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Her yearlong placement will be at the high school level and she looks forward to staying in Portland after graduation.

NICOLE MALLI ’15 of Washington, D.C., still is working for the Slave Wrecks Project. Over the summer, Nicole traveled through South America for a few weeks and was detained at each border because of her overall Threatening Escobar vibes. In the fall, for her 27th birthday she will be traveling to Las Vegas to see Lady Gaga and Magic Mike XXL for a true sensory experience. Meanwhile, Nicole’s cats will treat themselves to a staycation full of self-care and catnip.

They have been catching up on their favorite shows such as Squirrel in the Tree and the sci-fi thriller, Laser Pointer.

EMILY MENGERT ’15 bought a house with BRIAN KOLLATZ ’14 in Maricopa, Arizona, and started a new job as a payroll specialist with Aerotek.

BRI MILROY ’15 and NATE SUIDAK ’15 got engaged in Myrtle Beach in June. Bri finished her master’s in school counseling at Marquette University and will be working as a school counselor in West Allis, really putting that degree to work. Nate started a new job with Titus Talent Strategies in the spring and loves his new role because he gets to work with EMMA BRONSON ’17, ERIN CANON ’17 and DANTE HOUSTON ’01.

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CLASS LETTERS JESSICA MORGAN ’15 of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, in enjoying married life with LUKE MORGAN ’14. Jessica is working with Gorman Co. as their digital marketing manager for the Brewhouse Inn & Suites in Milwaukee, Stella Hotel & Ballroom in Kenosha and The 1844 Table & Mash. Soon she also will be getting another location in Rockford. She is still managing websites and social media and making promotional videos and other creative material. She enjoys the flexibility of being remote.

JONATHAN NEWBERY ’15 of Oak Park, Illinois, continues to enjoy his career in the Navy. He is now living in California.

KORRIN PETERSON ’15 of Burlington, Wisconsin, is excited to marry Stephen Covalt on Sept. 28, 2019. She went back to school to get a master’s in special education and is still working for the Burlington School District and coaching softball.

JAY PETTENGILL ’15 of Medicine Lake, Minnesota, married Taylor Rush on June 29, 2019.

BRISTOLE RYFF ’15 is in her first semester of grad school at Purdue University going for her master’s in special education. She’s planning a trip this summer to Arkansas.

As always, she’s keeping up with her adorable dog, Dante!

LAURA SAVALL ’15 of Ridgeland, Wisconsin, has taken up residence in Vermont and is now a staff attorney with Have Justice-Will Travel, a nonprofit focused on helping survivors of domestic and sexual violence with various legal issues that may arise while escaping abuse. She is pleased to announce that she is officially esquired and admitted to the Vermont bar.

KARENA SCHROEDER ’15 of Lakeville, Minnesota, celebrated her son, Aiden’s, first birthday in July. Karena and her boyfriend have been amazed as first-time parents at all the new things their son learns each and every day.

In career news, on June 1, she celebrated another year as a manager at Sam’s Club. After four years with the company, she has begun slowly searching for a new career opportunity to continue her professional growth in an area outside of retail management. Karena is open to new possibilities, intriguing careers to explore, or opportunities available in the Twin Cities area. Please feel free to reach out to her at kschroe393@gmail.com. She looks forward to hearing any suggestions from Ripon alumni!

BRIAN SCHUMACHER ’15 and KATIE DREW SCHUMACHER ’14 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, love their new home and are saving up for some exciting new renovations — windows! Brian is a research and development associate scientist in the materials science group at Millipore Sigma. His research has moved to graphene and derivatives for biosensors and drug delivery. In June, Brian and Katie visited BRAD ’15 and SHELBY DUKES CHOJNACKI ’13 at their home in Washington, D.C. KARLYN SCHUMACHER ’15 of Ripon, Wisconsin, is a librarian at Ripon College in fall 2018. She married David Porfirio in June 2019.

ERIC SEILER ’15 and SAM PETROSKI SEILER ’15 bought a house in Ohio. Sam graduated from medical school June 2 and has residency for family medicine.

LAURA SHIVELY ’15 celebrated two years with Pre/3 Real Estate, a national leader in commercial investment, development and management, in March. She continues to be a leader with the integration of RentCafe with in the company by helping to incorporate the nationwide listing service into the company’s now online portfolio. In her personal time, she runs a zero-waste lifestyle blog and on Instagram to create an honest conversation about and promote eco-friendly swaps and sustainable lifestyle choices.

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LOGAN SOICH ’15 of Chicago, Illinois, passed his last exam and is now a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society.

ZACH SPACIEL ’15 recently purchased a house in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. He got engaged to his girlfriend, Ivana Karabegovic, in June.

JOHN SPADONI ’15 and KRISTY OGLESBY SPADONI ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, are enjoying the summer. John recently went to New Orleans for Jay Pettengill’s bachelor party, and Kristy took a girls’ trip with her mother-in-law to Florida.

ANTHONY TAUSIG ’15 and ALLISON MACKNICK ’17 of Chicago, Illinois, continue to find the best burger in the city and show off their dog, Tula.

CASEY VERCAUTEREN ’15 of Chicago, Illinois, was promoted to senior analyst at Accelerated Growth Advisors.

KAITLYN WELZEN ’15 continues to work at Woodland Park Zoo and is waiting for construction to finish so she can test out the new compositing system. She and her dog also recently moved in with her boyfriend, and Sirius loves the big yard! As if that wasn’t enough, she is also completing a master’s degree in sustainable management through the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh’s online program.

KEVIN WHITENEIR ’15 will be starting his master’s program in library and information science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It is fully funded through the American Library Association’s Spectrum Scholarship.

ANTHONY “A.J.” ZAYIA ’15 of Eagle River, Wisconsin, was honored by Ripon College and the Wisconsin Association of Colleges for Teacher Education with the Early Career Educator Award, presented to educators within the first three years of their careers based on their positive effect on schools or communities, their innovation in designing learning experiences and their advocacy for students.

2016 Sara Driebel Driebelsara@gmail.com Elizabeth Konieczny Yamat elizabeth.ann.yamat@gmail.com Zachary Peterson zacharyjpeterson@icloud.com Hello, Class of 2016! For me, welcoming fall always brings with it memories of my time in Ripon, especially those first few weeks on campus unpacking in a new dorm room, starting new classes, and reconnecting with friends, classmates, professors and other beloved campus staff.

As the years since our graduation from Ripon accumulate, the anticipation of a new school year and those closely held memories do not seem to fade. These letters keep those memories and shared experiences close to our hearts and keep us connected as a class.

Of course, it was easier to stay connected and in touch with each other when we spent most of the year on campus together, but these letters are vital in our continuation of those relationships and bond as a Class of 2016!

As my fellow Class Agent, Sara, so poignantly stated in our spring letter, we love hearing from and reconnecting with each of you! What you are doing is important, and we want to hear about it. We don’t expect for you to have a major change in your life every time we reach out to you. Those things are always wonderful to hear about, but we didn’t have a major life event happening every day we spent together on campus, and that is part of what

2015-2017 made it so special! It’s those little, everyday things we shared with each other that will keep us connected in our many different places. Those are the things we want you to share with us, sprinkled with those major life changes and events when they happen to you.

We hope you will continue to share these things with us and your fellow 2016 classmates in the many letters we will share with each other in years to come.

Thank you for all you do to make the Class of 2016 the amazing group of individuals it is! Enjoy this change in the seasons, and I hope it brings to you the same fond memories of Ripon College that it brings to me.

Sincerely, ELIZABETH KONIECZNY YAMAT ’16 SARA DRIEBEL ’16 ZACH PETERSON ’16 RAE BRIXIUS-FAHNRICH ’16 is spending the summer soaking up ALL the sun while in Arizona for her final stretch of officer school. In September she will (finally!) get to move back to Arlington, Virginia, with Nick and will be stationed at Fort Belvoir.

CAMERON CASS ’16 and his wife, Stacey, brought into the world their first-born baby girl in June.

SARA DRIEBEL ’16 is excited to spend her first summer as a homeowner! She is living with two lizards, two fish tanks, a JENNIFER NIGGEMEIER ’16, and hopefully a dog soon. Sara recently discovered how fun plants are and is now actively looking to turn her new home into a jungle.

MICHAEL GABLEMAN ’16 of Greendale, Wisconsin, is a Ph.D. student at Purdue University, studying computer engineering in the school’s robotics vision lab. His research is in the field of computer vision and focuses specifically on analyzing images taken from cameras. After graduating, he will work for the Air Force research lab at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

EMILY GARY ’16 got engaged in March and has been enjoying both being engaged and starting to plan her wedding! She plans on spending the summer enjoying the weather and playing some sand volleyball.

LOGAN JENSEN ’16 is a personal trainer in Menasha and loves it!

JEN KELLER ’16: “Living my best life as a low-level bureaucrat and busybody in Mequon, Wisconsin!

Aside from my growing affinity for working in local government, I’ve also been elected as the president of the board of directors for the UW-Milwaukee Master’s in Public Administration program, a challenge I am thrilled to take on. P.S. If Ripon College has a surplus of free student planners laying around for 2019-2020, consider me interested.”

ALYSSA KENNEDY ’16 has started her fourth (and last) year of medical school! She is still at BroMenn Hospital in Bloomington, Illinois, doing her clinical rotations. She is taking her second round of board exams in June.

JOHN MERWIN ’16 was in Mozambique with the U.S. Army but is back at Fort Drum, New York, now with his wife REBECCA MCLAIN ’16.

JORDAN POLK ’16 still is working for CSC in Indianapolis. He recently was promoted to head event manager and is the youngest person to hold that position in the company.

ELIZABETH PETERS ’16 accepted a part-time third-grade teaching position at St. Edward School in Mackville for the 2018-2019 school year. She also teaches adaptive aquatics at Neenah High School and is loving both teaching positions! She is looking for a full-time

teaching position for the 2019-2020 school year. Lizzie will be teaching summer school again this year and is anticipating finding out the subject that she will teach.

She stays busy by lifeguarding a few nights a week and teaching swim lessons as well. Lizzie hopes to have more time to teach private swim lessons for students of any age, which she has started herself.

ZACHARY PETERSON ’16 graduated with his master of arts in English-writing from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He moved from the Midwest to Greenville, North Carolina, to pursue his Ph.D. in rhetoric at East Carolina University and currently is learning the ropes of being a first-year college instructor teaching foundational writing.

RACHEL ROKUSEK ’16 has such an exciting update — she and her boyfriend recently adopted the most dog-like cat possible named Larry.

KAY LULING SENGLAUB ’16 traveled to Iceland for a week in February for her honeymoon. She and her husband drove around the island, tasted the cuisine, and were awed by the glaciers, waterfalls and overall gorgeous scenes that encompass the nation. They adopted their first dog, whom they have lovingly nicknamed Bran, from his racing name Firebrand. He is the most precious 45 mph couch potato Kay could have asked for — she and Kyle adore him! Kay is continuing to keep up with the Milwaukee Irish Dance Company and they are gearing up for another Irish Fest. Overall, Kay is looking forward to all the hustle and bustle of summer and exploring new places with her little family.

FRANK STELTER-HOGH ’16 and HANNAH METZ ’17 are engaged and have set the wedding date for June 13, 2020.

KATLYN TROISI ’16 was trained in dialectical behavior therapy this year. She also visited the old state hospital where Shutter Island was filmed, and she has plans to go to Canada for Labor Day weekend.

KATIE WARCZAK ’16 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is attending Pennsylvania State University, working toward a Ph.D. in English literature.

ANDREW WOOD ’16 and ELEANORE MUELLER ’18 are engaged.

ELIZABETH KONIECZNY YAMAT ’16 and her husband, Brady, are expecting their first child in November. They have been enjoying owning their first home and getting to know the neighborhood and are having fun getting the nursery ready for their new arrival! Their two dogs, beagle, Charlie, and lab mix, Bear, are excited to become big brothers.

2017 Konner Feldhus 303-280-5835 / konnerfeldhus@gmail.com Winona Holmes Robbins 650-274-9231 / winonamay94@gmail.com Erin Canon 414-469-5945 / erinc2456@gmail.com Dear Class of 2017, it seems every community has a central figure that transcends themselves to lift their community to a higher place. Ripon College recently lost such a figure. Julie Johnson, longtime athletic director, touched more than just the athletic program at Ripon College. During her years as an integral part of the Ripon community, she helped Ripon athletics strengthen its presence in the DIII community. In addition to this, she forged a path for Ripon College athletes to be studentathletes that excel on and off the court, and that could be felt by those of us not involved in athletics. Julie’s

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CLASS LETTERS hard work and passion for life and her community is something all of us felt at Ripon and something that lives on within all of us. We hope all of you can take inspiration from Julie and be passionate about improving the community you are part of and bettering those around you.

EMMA BRONSON ’17 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is “killing it at work, moving to the Third Ward in April, and still enjoys beer.”

HANNAH DAVIDSON ’17 recently moved to Madison and is working as a baker and cake/pie decorator at Hubbard Avenue Diner in Middleton, Wisconsin. She is the proud new cat owner to Kit Kat! She is looking forward to taking culinary/hospitality classes at Madison Area Technical College.

VERONICA DELISLE ’17 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is engaged to PAT “PATCH” HOFFMAN ’18.

KONNER FELDHUS ’17 of Des Moines, Iowa, is somehow surviving medical school and recently joined the Advisory Council for the Iowa Chapter of The American College of Physicians.

AMY FELS ’17 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin: “I am in year two of three of my history and library and information studies graduate program at UW-Milwaukee. I have a wonderfully fun and challenging job working as a research assistant for a digital humanities project called the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. I’m looking forward to the summer because I’ll get to spend more time in Ripon completing a fieldwork experience in the college archives.”

HANNAH MACKENZIE GALLIMORE ’17 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is wrapping up her second year as an internal auditor for Oshkosh Corp. She also recently got married and held her wedding reception at Great Hall in Harwood Memorial Union!

JORGE GUTIERREZ ’17 and JOSH SCHUBRING ’18 have teamed up to reboot the Green Lake Area Young Professionals.

WINONA HOLMES ROBBINS ’17 of Valparaiso, Indiana, recently moved back to the Midwest to embrace her new title as an aunt to a wonderful little boy. She is working at a fitness center and enjoying her life as a cat mom.

NOELLE KORZENIEWSKI ’17: “I graduated from Luther Seminary in May with a master of arts degree in Bible.

My significant other, MARCUS LOWTHIAN ’23, our dog, Grace, and myself recently moved back to Ripon so that Marcus can attend Ripon College. Marcus is a military veteran and is thrilled to be joining the Ripon College community for his education. I now work at Ripon College as the retail and activation manager of the school apparel store, Bovay’s Mercantile, newly located in the Campus Apartments. I am also the mascot coordinator, working once more with one of my best buds, Rally the Redhawk. Marcus and I are so happy to be back in the Ripon community. This is certainly a place we call home.”

ALLISON MACKNICK ’17 of Chicago, Illinois, is a professional actress, currently on tour with “The Jungle Book: The Musical” with Alphabet Soup Productions.

She and ANTHONY TAUSIG ’15 continue to find the best burger in the city and show off their dog, Tula.

HANNAH METZ ’17 of Naperville, Illinois, will be a school psychology Intern for the 2019-2020 school year in the Valley View District in Romeoville, Illinois. She is done with her graduate school classes in June 2019! Hannah and FRANK STELTER-HOGH ’16 got engaged and set the wedding date for June 13, 2020!

ANGELA PAMPERIN ’17 of Ripon, Wisconsin, recently began a journey as a worship leader at Immanuel

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R Connections

Methodist Church in Ripon. They will be starting a new contemporary service that she will help lead. She also launched a blog in early January, “kind of telling my story in a way.” The blog is called “Heartbeat’s Echo.” “All fun stuff that is challenging me as a person to be who I am.”

SYDNEY RADANT ’17 of Namibia, Africa, has been working as a secondary math educator for the Peace Corps. She will be in Africa until 2020!

ZACH RINEHART ’17 of Grand Haven, Michigan, is working at Grand Haven High School teaching children with autism in a self-contained classroom. He is also the assistant varsity coach in wrestling and football and is working toward his special education certification.

DANAE TESCH ’17 bought a house in Covington, Washington, and is expecting a baby boy in April!

BENJAMIN VORPAHL ’17 of Detroit, Michigan, is attending dental school at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry.

ALEXANDRIA WILBER ’17 of Bonduel, Wisconsin, recently had her work published in the nationwide edition of America’s Emerging Writers: An Anthology of Fiction.

We wish you a wonderful summer and hope that you think of your happy memories from Ripon often.

Sincerely, KONNER FELDHUS ’17, WINONA HOLMES ROBBINS ’17 and ERIN CANON ’17

2018 Lauren Hince 763-706-7473 / laurenehince@gmail.com Holly Erickson 262-497-7796 / hollyerickson96@gmail.com Eleanore Mueller 920-539-2935 / elmueller50@gmail.com Happy summer, Class of 2018. It’s hard to believe that it has been a little over a year since the last time that all of us were gathered together to receive our diplomas, but here we are! As I sit down to write this letter, puppy snoring happily on my lap and all, I am blown away where everyone is in their life. A little over a year ago, I could have walked down the sidewalks on campus and waved to most of the Class of 2018. Now we are scattered once again, all over the globe making our own paths. Ripon College brought us all together our first year and began to teach us not only in the classroom, but also to navigate our way into adulthood. Our connections that we made in Ripon will last us all a lifetime.

By now we have mostly settled into our adult lives in one way or another. Adulthood has taken on a new meaning for each of us, some of us are continuing our education, some have gotten engaged, bought a house, started their 9-to-5 jobs, gotten pets, and some of us are still finding our path to what adulthood will mean to us. Our class letters are a way for us to stay connected to each other that we would not otherwise be able to! I, for one, enjoy reading what we have accomplished in our short time from graduating. I hope to see at least a few familiar faces at Alumni Weekend. Please feel free to reach out to any of us (Lauren, Holly or El) with any life updates.

JONALEE ELLIOT ABEL ’18 moved to Norfolk, Virginia, with her husband, Tony, and is a mental health technician. The couple are heading back to Wisconsin in June 2019.

EMMA ALLEN ’18 is spending her summer in Ghana investigating the presence of parasitic species around Lake Bosumtwi in Kumasi.

2017-2018 JAMES “JIMMY” AMEDEO ’18 is pursuing his master’s degree at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. ADRIANNE ANDING ’18 is working at Planet Fitness in Madison, Wisconsin, and was recently promoted to assistant manager. He will be attending Manchester University of Indiana where he will pursue his master’s degree in athletic training.

They live in Milwaukee with their elderly cat. He also is enrolled in the physician assistant program at Marquette University, working toward his master’s degree.

HARRY HILLMAN ’18 moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is an ordained minister.

ZACH BART ’18 moved back to the Chicagoland area and is a field sales representative at Burndy LLC.

LAUREN HINCE ’18 is working at GrouponLive helping promote tickets for the live events division at Groupon.

She also coaches debate for New Trier High School on the side.

MICHAEL BAUMHARDT ’18 was accepted into a master’s program in clinical psychology at Cardinal Stritch University. He is in his second semester.

ELLIOT HOERDEMANN ’18 recently moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, and started a new position with MillerCoors as a sales representative.

JAKE BAUS ’18 is attending graduate school in the doctor of physical therapy program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

PATCH HOFFMAN ’18 is engaged to VERONICA DELISLE ’17 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

COREY BEECHER ’18 is an athletic department intern at Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, He has accepted a position as their assistant director of athletics and student activities. He also will represent Wisconsin soccer referees at the Midwest Region at Presidents Cup Nationals this summer.

LEAH BLAZKOVEC ’18 is a rehabilitation assistant at Door County Medical Center.

AUSTIN BORCHARDT ’18 is a night shift production supervisor at Menasha Packaging in Hartford, Wisconsin.

CEANNA CAELWAERTS ’18 is spending the summer traveling and working full time before starting the last year of her master’s in social work program.

MOLLIE CARLSON ’18 has been working for CDK Global as an implementation consultant which has given her the opportunity to travel across North America every week on new projects. She just wrapped up a trip to Greece with fellow alumna ALEXA BECK ’18.

ROSE HOGMIRE ’18 moved to Chicago and started a new role as a global operations associate at Flexport.

ERIKA ISAACSON ’18 is excited to spend another summer at Wisconsin Badger Camp in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

DAVID KNAPP ’18 is attending Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., with an emphasis on international law.

RACHEL KOLODZIEJ ’18 is a chef for Sodexo at Ripon College. She really loves what she cooks and is learning a lot through the leadership of the executive chef.

KAT KULAS ’18 is attending Elmhurst College and working toward a master’s entry in nursing degree with a clinical nurse leader certificate.

JESICA LATTIMER ’18 is an accountant for Columbia County, bought a house, adopted a dog and gotten engaged.

DAVID DAUGHERTY ’18 ran the Chicago marathon in October to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society charity. The following month, he was hired as an analyst programmer at Mayo Clinic.

HAILEY MATTHEISEN ’18 participated in a summer research internship at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, where she was one of only 10 students chosen out of the entire country to conduct scientific research. She will be presenting her findings at the American Chemical Society Conference this March. During her internship, she was offered a research associate position at the Center of Musculoskeletal Health. Currently, she is working on multiple research projects that look to identify preventions for cancerinduced cachexia. Overall, she is making major steps to turn her dream of becoming a surgeon into a reality.

BRADLEY DREW ’18 has been studying for the MCAT and preparing for medical school applications.

EMMA MCDONALD ’18 is pursuing a doctor of physical therapy degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

COLLEEN ELZINGA ’18 has started school at the University of Illinois in the doctor of veterinary medicine program. In her very limited free time, she volunteers at the Wildlife Medical Clinic.

ELEANORE MUELLER ’18 is engaged to ANDREW WOOD ’16.

Congratulations, El and Andrew!

TAYLOR CORKRAN ’18 is being deployed to Afghanistan with the 2-127 IN. Once he returns to the United States, he will work as a deputy for the Dane County Sheriff’s Department.

EFRAIN GARZA ’18 is a client services technician for Northland Laboratories in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Since graduating, he has made some “big boy” purchases such as a car and a new place.

SAM GEORGESON ’18 of Windsor, Wisconsin, is a software engineer at RateLinx, an integrated data intelligence company specializing in supply chain and logistics software solutions. He designs and implements software for clients and their internal systems.

NICHOLS HENNING ’18 bought a house and moved to Washington State where he is an engineer officer with the United States Army. He is serving as a medical officer.

AVERY HERBON ’18 was promoted to associate QA specialist at Medline. She also recently moved to Waukegan, Illinois, with her boyfriend.

DREW HETZ ’18 married his now-wife, Amanda, in the summer of 2018, surrounded by friends and family.

MEGAN RINGO ’18 just wrapped her first year at the University of Nebraska in the leadership education program. Her dog and hamster are still doing great.

She will be spending the summer working at the New Student Enrollment office as the orientation intern where she is helping plan, organize and execute the first Big Red Welcome week!

TENE ROBINSON ’18 is pursuing a master’s of social work degree at the University of St. Francis. She, along with fellow alumna JESSICA KOBELT ’18, is coaching a youth traveling softball team. Additionally, she also juggles two part-time jobs. “Busy, but worth it!” she says.

CLAIRE SCHAIBLE ’18 is attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School with an emphasis on public interest.

EMILY STANCZAK ’18 is at Indiana University School of Medicine. So far she has studied coxsackievirus and Toxoplasma gondii. Her next rotation will be studying Chlamydia trachomatis. Emily also adopted a loving 8-year-old dog.

Fall 2019

49

CLASS LETTERS JOSH OSWALD ’18 works at Geneva Laboratories. He plans to pursue his master’s in business administration.

2019

WILLIAM PENTERMAN’18 married ABBY HILKER ’19.

Tyler Sturzl 715-889-3672 / sturzltyler@gmail.com

SAMANTHA RAYGO ’18 is pursuing her Juris Doctor degree at Marquette University alongside fellow classmate RANDY FINGER ’18.

Rachel Hawley 224-688-3049 / rhawley2@wisc.edu

MERRANDA SCHMID ’18 is studying for a Ph.D. in chemistry at Colorado State University.

JOSH SCHUBRING ’18 is a development manager for the Green Lake Association. In addition, he has teamed up with alumnus JORGE GUTIERREZ ’17 to reboot the Green Lake Area Young Professionals.

TENZIN TSEPHEL ’18 is a social media marketing coordinator at Beacon Technologies; she also is involved with 360 Magazine.

KATELYN VAN SWOL ’18 is a customer service representative at Uline.

CARYSSA WAITE ’18 is the website and marketing manager at Gysbers Jewelry.

CORDELL WALKER ’18 is a graphic designer in the publications department at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

SOPHIE WIDMAN ’18 is living in Minneapolis where she is pursuing a career in theater. She is engaged to JAMES BALISTERI ’19.

DELOU WILSON ’18 started a new position as a records program associate with the Department of Financial Institutions in Madison, Wisconsin.

ANDIE WINTERS ’18 is working at Divine Rehabilitation and Nursing in Lodi, Wisconsin. In August, she will move to Miami, Florida, to begin the physician assistant program at Barry University.

JUSTINE JACOBSEN WOZNICZKA ’18 and BEN WOZNICZKA ’18 got married this past October and are expecting their first child in September.

DAN ZIPPERER ’18 has obtained his real estate license and is now a licensed Realtor in Wausau, Wisconsin. He works for Amaximmo.

Eric Fels 262-365-9726 / ericfels13@gmail.com Olivia Heck 262-408-3785 / oliva.heck5@gmail.com BRENT ANDERSON ’19 of Crystal Lake, Illinois, is pursuing his master’s degree in nonprofit management at North Park University.

NICHOLAS BOLIN ’19 of Arlington Heights, Illinois, is a health fitness specialist at Midtown Health.

TARYN BOSQUEZ ’19 of Omro, Wisconsin, will be attending Indiana University in the Ph.D. program in neuroscience.

RACHEL BRAND ’19 of Stratford, Wisconsin, is the collections account manager at the Alliance Collection Agency.

JACK CLOUGH ’19 of New Rochelle, New York, is enlisted in the U.S. Army.

BRIE CLARK ’19 of Spooner, Wisconsin, is a caregiver at the Oak View Assisted Living.

HAYLEE CONRADT ’19 of Shiocton, Wisconsin, is student teaching at Woodland Intermediate School.

CORAL EAKINS ’19 of Margate, Florida, is a shift supervisor at Starbucks.

RILEY ERICKSON ’19 of Nekoosa, Wisconsin, is attending St. Thomas for a master’s of social work.

MCKENZIE FARR ’19 of Markesan, Wisconsin, is the store assistant manager at Kwik Trip in Ripon, Wisconsin.

NATHAN FAUCET ’19 of Marinette, Wisconsin, is enlisted in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant infantry officer.

ERIC FELS ’19 of Hubertus, Wisconsin, is on the hospitality crew at Xanterra Parks & Resorts in Yellowstone National Park.

CRYSTAL FERCY ’19 of Appleton, Wisconsin, will be attending Louisiana State University in scenic design and technology.

JUSTIN FILTER ’19 of Janesville, Wisconsin, is enlisted as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

ETHAN FREIERMUTH ’19 of Prairie Farm, Wisconsin, is pursuing his master’s in international affairs at Texas A&M University.

KIMBERLY FRISQUE ’19 of Menominee, Michigan, will be pursuing her master’s in library and information science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

JOSEPH GARZA ’19 of El Segundo, California, is an analyst at Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City, Utah.

RACHEL HAWLEY ’19 of Madison, Wisconsin, is pursuing her pharmacy degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

OLIVIA HECK ’19 of Waukesha, Wisconsin, is pursuing her Ph.D. in psychology at Indiana University.

KENDRA HOLTE ’19 of Clinton, Wisconsin, is attending Kansas State University in kinesiology.

NAOMI JITER ’19 of Kenosha, Wisconsin, is pursuing her master’s in epidemiology at the University of Minnesota.

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R Connections

2018-2019 DAKOTA JORDAN ’19 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is a private in the United States Marines Corp.

BRIAN KENNEDY ’19 of McHenry, Illinois, is pursuing his master’s in accounting at Northern Illinois University.

ELIZABETH KIMBALL ’19 of Berlin, Wisconsin, is an enrichment club leader at the Boys & Girls Club of the Tri-County Area.

KATHERINE KING ’19 of Farmington, Minnesota, is a safari zookeeper at the Topeka Zoo in Topeka, Kansas.

STACIE KLIKA ’19 of Berlin, Wisconsin, is a physical education teacher at Berlin High School.

PAUL KREMER ’19 of Muskego, Wisconsin, is pursuing his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Georgia.

AUBREIGH LAFLEUR ’19 of Ripon, Wisconsin, is a second lieutenant in the Signal Corps of the U.S.Army.

JUSTIN LAFLEUR ’19 of Belvidere, Illinois, is enlisted in the U.S. Army.

MARIANNE LASKA ’19 of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, is student teaching fourth grade at NCES Rhinelander.

REBECCA LEUENBERGER ’19 of Chicago, Illinois, is pursuing her master’s in nursing at Rush University.

CRISTOPHER MAGANA ’19 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is in sales at Crusade Capital Management.

ANTHONY MALISCH ’19 of Waunakee, Wisconsin, is on short-term staff at Kandersteg International Scout Center.

DIANA MEREDITH ’19 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is pursuing her master’s in clinical mental health counseling at Marquette University.

MCKENNA MEZA ’19 of Appleton, Wisconsin, is pursuing her nursing degree at Bellin College.

WYATT MCGILLEN ’19 of Neenah, Wisconsin, is the customer care representative for Jewelers Mutual Insurance in Neenah, Wisconsin.

CHRISTIAN RYAN ’19 of Caledonia, Wisconsin, is a second lieutenant in the Wisconsin Army National Guard. He also is pursuing his master’s of divinity at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

CALAHAN SCHULTZ ’19 of Waterford, Wisconsin, is the ticket sales representative for the Milwaukee Brewers.

SHANE STRABLEY ’19 of Waterford, Wisconsin, is attending law school at Marquette University.

TYLER STURZL ’19 of Madison, Wisconsin, is an associate software implementation analyst for Insperity Time and Attendance in Madison, Wisconsin.

ALEC SUTTON ’19 of Los Gatos, California, is pursuing his master’s in athletic training at Montana State University in Billings.

NICHOLAS TARANTO ’19 of Ellsworth, Wisconsin, is the game day intern for St. Paul Saints.

KYLE TURNER ’19 of Ripon, Wisconsin, has accepted a position as a biology teacher at Ripon High School.

NICHOLAS VANDEVELDE ’19 of Oostburg, Wisconsin, is pursuing his MBA at Marquette University.

STEPHANIE VERBOCKEL ’19 of Grand Chute, Wisconsin, is pursuing her master’s degree in counter-terrorism and homeland security at American University.

SAVANNAH WHITE ’19 of Carol Stream, Illinois, is pursuing her master’s in clinical mental health and counseling with specialization in drama therapy at Lesley University.

DAKOTA WILCOX ’19 of Redgranite, Wisconsin, is pursuing his doctor of chiropractic at Northwestern Health Sciences University.

KAYLA ZARINS ’19 of Appleton, Wisconsin, is a claims specialist at Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group.

JARED ZEMAN ’19 of Van Dyne, Wisconsin, is attending Marquette University.

MELISSA MICALE ’19 of Neenah, Wisconsin, is a patient services representative at Aurora Healthcare.

CAMERON MIGNONE ’19 of Peru, Illinois, is a management trainee at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. AUSTIN MILLAY ’19 of Fountain Hills, Arizona, is a product specialist at Sisense.

TEARA MORGENROTH ’19 of Greenfield, Wisconsin, is pursuing her master’s in school counseling at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

RYLIE MORRIS ’19 of Madison, Wisconsin, is pursuing her Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

AMELIA NIEVINSKI ’19 of Eland, Wisconsin, has a museum curator internship in Clintonville, Wisconsin.

MARGARET OIMOEN ’19 of Barneveld, Wisconsin, is a lab tech at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

THOMAS PHILLIPSEN ’19 of Appleton, Wisconsin, is an inside sales representative for J.J. Keller & Associates in Neenah, Wisconsin.

ELIZABETH RIGDEN ’19 of Ripon, Wisconsin, is pursuing her master’s of education in student affairs and higher education administration at Marquette University.

KYLE ROGERS ’19 of Fox Point, Wisconsin, is pursuing his master’s in sports management at Cardinal Stritch.

ROBERT ROSNER ’19 of Madison, Wisconsin, is pursuing his master’s degree in water resources management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Fall 2019

51

S TAY I N G C O N N E C T E D W I T H R I P O N

‘Wonderful experience’ at Ripon College leads Barb Clay ’83 to maintain strong ties When she was searching for colleges to attend, Barb Williams Clay ’83 of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, really didn’t know what she wanted. She knew she wanted to go to a smaller private liberal arts college, but she didn’t know if she wanted to continue to play sports, what she wanted to study or how she could accomplish her goals.

She was “sure” she would attend a college that was closer to her Hopkins, Minnesota, home, but representatives from the school were not as supportive in working with her to explore both academics and sports.

Being introduced to Ripon College by her mom at the Minneapolis college fair, she visited Ripon and was given a very different answer.

“John Corso was head of admission

currently, re-insurance. She credits

then,” Clay says. “He said, ‘We really

her success to her liberal arts

feel strongly about our academics,

background. “I would apply skills

but we also want well-rounded

and knowledge garnered from one

students,’ including athletes,” Clay

position to the next,” she says.

says. “I visited the campus right after a snowstorm and it was beautiful. I said, ‘Yes, this is where I’m going.’”

much and developed several deep

In addition, Clay’s parents also grew

friendships, so she wanted to stay

to love Ripon College and had a

involved. “I had a lot of ties and Ripon

special place in their heart for Coach

got their hooks in me!” she says.

able to write. Those

Elaine Coll.

She also met her husband, John Clay

things immediately

Clay appreciates the well-rounded education she received at Ripon

’83, at Ripon, and they enjoy going back to Ripon together to visit.

College, “all the things we tout about

She has served as Class Agent for the

thinking critically and being able

Class of 1983 for more than 15 years.

to write. Those things immediately

She also serves on the Alumni Board

assisted me in my career. The liberal

with fellow classmates Lexie Shepard

arts background gave me the ability to

Kermani ’83, Robert Brandfass ’83

really understand transferable skills.”

and Kevin Dykstra ’83. And she

She majored in psychology and educational studies. She also worked in the Office of Admission, was a resident assistant, belonged to a sorority, played three sports and served on different committees.

Professionally, she has worked served in various types of roles in

52

All the things we

She enjoyed her time at Ripon so

was honored as an inductee into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993. One of her closest friends remains Regional Director of Admission Lyn Rosenberg McCarthy ’83.

She also will host a regional holiday alumni event at her home Dec. 5.

several different industries, including

“This is a good time in my life to get

mortgage banking, financial services,

involved, and I feel like I can truly

healthcare, nonprofit work and,

give back,” Clay says.

R Connections

tout about thinking critically and being

assisted me in my career. The liberal arts background gave me the ability to really understand transferable skills.”

BARB CLAY ’83

David McMullen ’07 shares real-world perspectives with Career Discovery students

David McMullen ’07 came to Ripon

of people. I was able to share my

College from the much larger city

experiences, and it all kind of fit

of Houston, Texas. The lessons he

right in together.”

learned here and was able to apply to his professional life made him eager to participate when the Career Discovery Tour visited Texas in spring 2019.

Basketball has always been a part of McMullen’s life and he was

I told the students to

recruited to come to Ripon College

take advantage of all

by basketball coach Bob Gillespie.

“He guaranteed I was going to play,”

“I was in those shoes — I was one

McMullen says. “From my freshman

of those students,” McMullen says.

through senior years, I played every

“Not everyone knows how the real

game and had a blast.”

world works. Not everyone has a connection to get into the first job that they want. I was in that boat.

I had a great education, but I once had no connections.”

He said Ripon’s welcoming culture was a plus. “It definitely helped prepare me for pretty much anything,” he says. “I fit right in. Coming from the city of Houston with a ton of culture,

McMullen majored in business

there were not as many things to do

administration and economics. He is

in Ripon, but the people were diverse.

now executive director of business

Everyone is able to adapt. Everyone

operations, College of Technology, at

was very welcoming.”

the opportunities you can. You never know what they might lead to and experience different lines of work.”

DAVID MCMULLEN ’07

the University of Houston. He says he most wanted to impress upon

McMullen has been at the University

Ripon students the importance of a

of Houston since he graduated. He

mindset coming into any job. He says

also does coaching and training

they should recognize the importance

in basketball on the side and

of relationships, making a name for

participates in “opportunities” such

yourself, how you present yourself and

as project management for a friend’s

how you want people to receive you.

contract business in the field of

“Those are the things that came

construction and large event services.

out of the liberal arts education,”

“I told the students to take advantage

McMullen says. “They became a

of all the opportunities you can. You

part of you and how you interact

never know what they might lead

in the real world. Those are the

to and experience different lines of

things you really want to home

work,” McMullen says. “Many large

in on and also just sticking to the

operations built from the ground up

roots of the liberal arts education

grew from things people originally

and keeping yourself educated and

did on the side because they have a

open to working with different types

passion for it.”

Fall 2019

53

S TAY I N G C O N N E C T E D W I T H R I P O N

Leslie Paulsen ’90 comes full-circle in her support for Ripon College Leslie Paulsen ’90 of Newnan, Georgia, found Ripon College to be a safe haven during a difficult time in her life. She came from a single-parent home in Plymouth, Wisconsin, and was attending Stetson University in Florida on a four-year Army ROTC scholarship when she became pregnant at the age of 20.

She returned to her home state where family could help. She was able to transfer her ROTC scholarship to nearby Ripon College. At the age of 22, as a single parent of an infant son, she earned a degree in business management and received a U.S. Army second lieutenant commission.

“Financially, emotionally and physically,

Leslie Paulsen ’90 on her most recent mission trip.

being a single parent is a very challenging situation,” Paulsen says.

“The individualized attention I received

Her son, Benjamin Paulsen, played

at Ripon was uniquely special.” In

186 games with the Colorado

gratitude, Paulsen established the Leslie

Rockies and now is the director of

A. Paulsen ’90 Endowed $10,000

player development in the baseball

Annual Scholarship on Jan. 1, 2014, to

program at Clemson University.

benefit a single parent, male or female, or a child of a single parent seeking a college degree.

Paulsen’s success. Paulsen believes

“I came from a family where no one

creating a platform for those less

had yet to graduate college,” Paulsen

fortunate to alter the cycle in which

says. “I discovered early on that

they were raised. She supports

when you have your college degree,

the Goshen Valley Boys Ranch in

it increases by 10-fold what you can

Georgia through an annual $5,000

do and how quickly you can do it.

educational scholarship for at-risk

My college degree empowered me to

teens. She feeds the homebound

make my own decisions and my own

through her church food ministry

choices in life. It opened doors that

on Tuesdays, reads to elementary

otherwise would have been closed.”

school students on Thursdays, and

In August 1991, Paulsen took

volunteers on annual medical mission

a job in Atlanta, Georgia, as a

strongly in giving back, while

trips to Nicaragua, amongst other

commercial bond underwriter with

philanthropic endeavors.

Wausau Insurance. She was one of

“I want my scholarship at Ripon

very few women in the southeast

College to survive me,” she says.

in this industry, much less as a

“This is where I got started at a

single mother. Four years later, she

critical turning point in my life.

accepted a job with a boutique style

This is where my future was

commercial insurance agency, H & H

established, encouraged, promoted

Insurance, where she now is senior

and ultimately sustained. The

vice president. “I have used 100%

support I received from the staff was

of my Ripon degree throughout the

the catalyst for my future success.”

course of my career, everything from philosophy to corporation finance and economics,” Paulsen says.

54

Ripon is not the only benefactor of

R Connections

I discovered early on that when you have your college degree, it increases by 10-fold what you can do and how quickly you can do it. My college degree empowered me to make my own decisions and my own choices in life.

It opened doors that otherwise would have been closed.”

LESLIE PAULSEN ’90

Multi-faceted education for Roger Mills ’64 inspires multi-faceted endowment for Ripon College For all of his life, the love of music and mathematics were intertwined for Roger B. Mills ’64 of Glenview, Illinois. At Ripon College, he was able to major in both, and this only enhanced his appreciation.

“I began to really understand the relationship between music and mathematics,” he says. “Both exhibit a high degree of structure and form, recurrent patterns, and similarities in both scope and beauty.”

He credits his liberal arts

“Now, I’m sort of retired from formal

education at Ripon for the success

employment,” he says. “I still tutor

he has had during his lifetime,

many students in mathematics. I

and he now has established a

keep going.”

major multi-faceted endowment at Ripon to support both music and mathematics. He and his wife, Joanne, have created, in perpetuity, the endowed visiting artist and Performing Arts Artist and Event Fund. In addition, endowed full scholarships in both music and mathematics were created, also

With these new endowments, Mills hopes to provide future Ripon students with many of the benefits he enjoyed here. “There are a number of things I think Ripon does very well — its small setting, individual attention, personal relationships with professors,”

education. One of the things is exposure to ideas. Ripon exposed me to a lot of different

When he was a teacher, Mills says,

things. As I developed

he wanted to instill in his students These will provide scholarships

the idea that a prime purpose of a

for students studying music and

college education is to learn how to

mathematics, as well as funding to

learn. “Ripon gave me the tools to

bring distinguished artists/lecturers-

continue my education,” he says.

in-residence and performing artists

“One of the things is exposure to

to the Ripon College community.

ideas. Ripon exposed me to a lot

Student representatives will be

of different things. As I developed

involved in many aspects regarding

through life, Ripon was right there

the selection of the artists who will

with me. Ripon is the place where it

visit campus, and they will benefit

all started. This was a special place

from the required interaction with

to do something special.”

the artists.

tools to continue my

he says.

in perpetuity, for well-deserving students in those fields.

Ripon gave me the

through life, Ripon was right there with me. Ripon is the place where it all started.

This was a special place to do something special.”

ROGER MILLS ’64

After earning a master’s degree in music from Northwestern University, Mills had a long career teaching both music and mathematics at New Trier High School and establishing programs at schools in his home state of Illinois. He left teaching in 1994 to open his own successful business in computer work. He sold that business in 2015.

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T H E RI P ON F U N D R ELI E S ON YOU R S U PPO RT Ripon’s rich philanthropic culture does not exist without the Ripon Fund, formerly the Annual Fund.

The Ripon Fund helps to maintain our top-value, accessible and excellent liberal arts education by supporting areas of greatest need: scholarships, faculty and instruction, campus spaces and student life.

Most importantly, it continues to depend on your contributions. This culture has been created and nurtured by so many who have given quietly, graciously and generously throughout the course of Ripon’s history. It continues to depend on your contributions. It requires an effort that ultimately is fueled by love, passion and a desire to pay it forward so future generations may enjoy an education that inspires and encourages. It requires the unwavering support of our annual donors.

If you wish to make your gift online and want to learn more about the impact of your generosity, please visit ripon.edu/ripon-fund.

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R Connections

CAMPUS SNAPSHOTS

Associate Professor of Biology Memuna Khan, right, shares her knowledge of eastern bluebirds with MICA RIVERA ’21 of River Falls, Wisconsin. Rivera spent her summer in Ripon working with Khan to band and study the birds who make nests in the more than 85 nest boxes Khan and her students have installed throughout Fond du Lac and Green Lake counties.

Great Hall was filled for the first Catalyst Day, April 24. Catalyst Day is designed to showcase Ripon College’s new Catalyst curriculum and celebrate the achievements of the students who are completing the capstone seminar in Applied Innovation. The theme for this year’s Catalyst Day reflected Ripon’s institutional commitments to sustainability and innovation.

ADAM WRONSKI ’20 of Red Wing, Minnesota, left, and ANDREW JOHNSON ’20 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, work for a solution to a problem presented during Catalyst Day’s Applied Innovation Hackathon. Student teams competed to present the most innovative solution in an energetic, bracket-style competition.

BRIANA BARTZ ’20 of Brandon, Wisconsin, speaks while team partner COURTNEY HALL ’20 of West Allis, Wisconsin, listens on Catalyst Day. The women and their fellow teammates presented “Mending the Achievement Gap” during the morning session in Great Hall.

Marc Edwards, who helped lead investigations into high-profile drinking water crises in Washington, D.C., and Flint, Michigan, received an honorary degree and delivered the address at Ripon’s 153rd Commencement inside the field house at Willmore Center May 19.

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CAMPUS SNAPSHOTS

PAYTON BLESSING ’19, a communication and English major from Appleton, Wisconsin, shows her enthusiasm after receiving her class pin from KIMBERLY LARSON ’08, president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors.

JAIRO JAVIER ’19 of Chicago, Illinois, a business management major with a minor in sociology, unveiled the wings of a monarch butterfly hidden beneath his graduation gown.

CALLISTA DECRAMER ’20 of Princeton, Wisconsin, finished a record-breaking track and field season by representing Ripon at the NCAA Div. III outdoor championships in Geneva, Ohio, in May. DeCramer placed 14th in the heptathlon competition. In February, she competed in the indoor national championship in Boston where she placed 13th in the pentathlon and 17th in the triple jump. Proving her mettle in the classroom as well, DeCramer was named to the 2018-19 All-Academic team by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Former director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion Kyonna Henry, right, presents the 2019 Emerging Leader of the Year Award to JESSICA REYES ’20 of Chicago, Illinois, during the College’s first Diversity Awards this spring. Reyes is president of La Unida.

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SHREEYA GAUTAM ’20 of Kathmandu, Nepal, and Director of Sustainability Alice Reznickova plant flowering perennials in one of eight new flower gardens established as a “pollinator pathway” along the main pedestrian mall of campus. Reznickova says the native plants will provide a habitat for valuable pollinators like butterflies and bees.

Brett Barwick, associate professor of physics and the Harrison E. Farnsworth 1918 Chair in Physics, works with sophomores LYDIA WILEY DEAL ’22 of Whitewater, Wisconsin, and GARRETT RADTKE ’22 of Watertown, Wisconsin, to align an ultrafast laser beam to produce a very intense laser focus for use in experiments. Lydia and Garrett spent their summer on campus conducting research with Barwick.

Paul Schoofs, who retired this year after 45 years of teaching economics — including the economics of professional sports — at Ripon, received a Green Bay Packers game ball thanks to CRAIG BENZEL ’86, vice president for sales and business development with the Packers. The memento was given “in recognition of 45 years of making a difference to so many students.”

Four retiring faculty members were honored during the College’s annual Employee Recognition Breakfast May 16. Retiring after 45 years of service was Professor of Economics and the Patricia Parker Francis Professor of Economics Paul Schoofs, left; after 39 years of service was Professor of Music and Barbara Baldwin De Frees Chair in Performing Arts Kurt Dietrich; after 30 years of service was Professor of Music, College Organist and the William Harley Barber Distinguished Professor Sarah Mahler Kraaz; and after 42 years of service was Professor of Biology and the Patricia and Philip McCullough 1969 Professor in Biology Robert Wallace.

JOHN DALZIEL ’02, associate professor of theatre, right, and Jean Rigden, director of teacher education (not pictured), each received May Bumby Severy, Class of 1908, awards during the annual spring Awards Convocation. The award, established by an estate gift in 1956, recognizes faculty for excellence.

PARKER CAMPANA ’23 of San Diego, California, takes a selfie with Rally and his mother, Jodi Barnett, during Summer Orientation. One hundred and seventy-eight incoming students and their families participated in one of three two-day orientation programs on campus in June.

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CAMPUS SNAPSHOTS RYAN HANRAHAN ’19 of West Bend, Wisconsin, center, and MELISSA MICALE ’19 of Neenah, Wisconsin, discuss their Senior Showcase poster with Assistant Professor of Business Management Tom Hamami. The students’ poster was titled “Typicality as Reality: The Role of Availability in the Context of Supernatural and Paranormal Beliefs.” Hanrahan majored in psychology with a minor in business management. Micale majored in psychobiology with a minor in sociology. More than 30 seniors participated in the annual event, giving presentations and sharing research posters.

Construction on the new Franzen Center for Academic Success, located inside Lane Library, was completed in mid-August.

The project started earlier in the summer through a gift from Class of 1983 alumni MARK FRANZEN and JANICE HEINZ FRANZEN. The center house all campus academic support offerings, including one-on-one contract tutoring, drop-in quantitative tutoring, and writing and presentation services. It is managed by a full-time professional director, staffed by highly trained student tutors and supported by faculty advisors. Centralizing all academic support services will ensure students have easy access to resources and allow Ripon College to better meet student demand and expand student success programming.

ROBERT ROSNER ’19 of Phelps, Wisconsin, right, discusses his poster, “The Effect of Well Depth and Septic Tank Distance on Coliform Contamination in Wells,” with Associate Professor of Educational Studies Touorizou Hervé Somé at Senior Showcase. Rosner majored in biology with minors in mathematics and English. He will begin graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies this fall.

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RACE ROHDE ’20 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and MACKENZIE SWART ’20 of Brookfield, Wisconsin, received Irene Ryan Acting Award nominations for their roles in the theatre department’s spring production of Molières “Tartuffe.” Rohde portrayed Tartuffe and Swart portrayed Elmire in the department’s contemporary revival of the comedy, originally written in 1664.

SAVE THE DATE ALUMNI WEEKEND AND CLASS REUNIONS

JUNE 25-28, 2020 RIPON.EDU/ALUMNI-WEEKEND

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R Connections

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