What is your personal COVID-19 story?

The COVID-19 pandemic and the experience of sheltering at home have affected everyone around the world in many ways — from being on the front lines to coping with new family dynamics. Ripon alumni share some of their experiences.

“I live on the upper east side of Manhattan. I have basically been in my apartment for two months (as of mid-May). During that time, I have made a lot of paintings and some of them have been featured on Airmail, the online magazine. Since March 10, I have made more than 40 paintings while we were on lockdown. My gallery is Richard Taittinger Gallery in New York. I had a show there in January — you can see it at www.richardtaittinger.com.”

Charlie Scheips ’81 New York, New York

“I work at a Madison biotech company, Promega Corp. We’ve been an essential business supplying the key materials for Pharma companies who are developing and producing COVID-19 tests. Our operations team has been working nonstop since March, and I’ve never been more proud of them. My family is doing well, including our daughter and her husband in New York City. I hope this finds everyone safe and healthy.”

Mary Froh Doers ’81 McFarland, Wisconsin

“I am employed by a mental health clinic that provides services to the schools in the community for mental health therapy for schoolaged children. Throughout the school day, I would see a variety of elementary-aged school children (ages 5-6 to about 12) and counsel them with their concerns. When COVID-19 hit, our schools were closed, but the kids still needed to be seen. Many, if not all, of the children were from socioeconomically disadvantaged homes, minority children (African American/ Hispanic) and low-income. The children were now home in chaotic home lives trying to do their schoolwork online. We became frontline workers, doing ‘telehealth’ counseling through video apps on their iPhones to be able to continue to work on their therapy sessions. What it did provide was a look into their world, their homes, their rooms, their lives, to see just how incredibly blessed and privileged we are, as many of the kids I work with have barely enough food to eat, clothes on their backs, and homes in ill repair. By being in video sessions for counseling, all of that hardship was right in front of our eyes. It is life-changing.”

Erin Maguire ’08 Hot Springs, Arkansas

“Both my husband and I are essential workers. He works security at Kohl’s distribution, and I work in the trust department at Hometown National Bank in LaSalle, Illinois. Luckily, neither of us has much contact with the public. The bank closed our lobbies, and any time we are within 6 feet of other employees or customers who come in by appointment, we’re wearing masks. We also had been rotating working at home in our departments, so about half the staff is in the bank at any time. That was quite an experience and adjustment.

“Another big adjustment was that I was pregnant and just had my baby boy, Bruce, on May 16. Our birth classes transitioned to online halfway through the four-week course, which was a bumpy adjustment for the teachers, but it worked out. Because of the novelty of the virus, we didn’t know if being pregnant makes you a higher risk. We had two miscarriages before this; as you can imagine, I had even more anxiety than normal for an expectant parent and am glad I was able to see a therapist to help with that stress.

“Since we’ve been home, we have been strict with visitors. We let our family see the baby through our front door or if it’s nice out, from about 10 feet away outside. We have allowed the grandparents, who have been isolated, to hold the baby if they wear masks and a blanket over their clothes, after washing hands and slathering on sanitizer. But when my mother-in-law goes back to work, she will not be able to hold him, as hard as it is. It’s been very hard on her as a first-time grandma to not be able to soak in that new baby smell or kiss him. As first-time parents, it’s been very hard not having the assistance we were expecting, and it’s hard on the first-time aunt and uncle to not be able to hold him. We’re very thankful that we have all stayed healthy so far and remain vigilant so that we stay that way.” has made sure that we are taken care of, but that hasn’t stopped countless flight attendants across the U.S. from contracting COVID-19. In the past month (since midMay), I have heard of at least 10 younger (around 30 years old) flight attendants who have died from the disease. Not only are flight attendants nervous about contracting COVID-19, but we are also nervous about our jobs being taken away from us because of the decrease in airline travel.”

Coral Eakins ’19 Margate, Florida

Providing Protective Gear

“For the last two years, I have been battling end-stage kidney disease and was on track to have a living donor transplant (and the biggest gift was my living donor is my wife — married well!) But the COVID-19 hit and UCLA shut down all elective surgeries, and that included ours. April 1 was our date, then April Fools’: no transplant could be scheduled. Days later, the doctors and surgeons decided that they might be able to sneak in a few folks into the schedule but only if several precautionary steps could be overcome. All fell into place and on April 22 they rolled my wife in, harvested a great kidney and then by the end of the day, I had a new functioning kidney. COVID reared its head in the heart of Los Angeles, but we are so grateful to the hard-working and sacrificial healthcare workers at UCLA’s Ronald Reagan Medical Center. They risked their own health and safety to save a life. There are some silver linings.”

Christopher Leland ’86 Upland, California

“My COVID-19 experience is controversial and different to share. I am a working flight attendant for a major U.S. airline, and while I’m not on the frontlines as a healthcare worker, I am considered a first responder for any health or safety issue in the sky. Since the whole COVID-19 epidemic has come to America, my specific airline

“Unfortunately, I have not been able to become a hero in the outbreak because of my health and eyesight problems. I must shelter in place and just make masked once-a-week trips to the grocery store. I never imagined that the U.S. would look like masked China that we see on the nightly news!

“When this outbreak of COVID-19 started in January in China, I was reminded of my father’s mother’s death in 1918 at the age of 50 (during the Spanish flu pandemic), so I prepared for an outbreak as I’m one of the vulnerable. I had no doubt that it would encompass the world as it did. I just hope that the deaths in the U.S. do not reach the 675,000 that it did back then when the population was far less than now.

“My father, John W. Liska ’28, and his brother, Joseph Liska ’29, lost their mother in 1918. I regret never asking them if they had gotten the flu and their mother caught it from them. They were teenage boys living in Chicago in tenements and probably thought that they were invincible as most youngsters do.”

Dorothy Liska Hunter ’65

Lawrence, Pennsylvania

Chad Cleveland ’00 of Potosi, Wisconsin, used 3D printers to create personal protective equipment. Cleveland was a studio art major at Ripon and now teaches middle and high school art in Fennimore, Wisconsin. He has printed more than 1,100 ear savers and more than 760 face shields. His hometown is Menasha, Wisconsin.

Jamie Hawley ’88 of Halifax, Massachusetts, shifted production of his one-man business from creating fishing tackle bags to creating mask kits. Hawley had recently purchased a new fabriccutting machine remotely for Flatlander Surfcasting. He was assisted in setting up the machinery by himself.

He created kits of 25-50 masks for volunteer sewers to complete at home and distribute to individuals and non-healthcare workers on the front lines — such as firefighters, grocery store workers and postal carriers. He continues to ship out kits and plans to do so at least through the fall.

Brandi Gaspard Mans ’10 of Minneapolis, Minnesota, used stitching skills she learned as a theatre major at Ripon to create masks. She and her colleagues at the Minnesota Opera turned to creating masks when the opera was forced to shut down their last two shows of the season. Her team produced more than 10,000 masks.