ONE OF OUR LOSSES TO COVID-19

A special member of the Ripon College family, Barbara Anne Lloyd Nickels ’54, died of COVID-19 at the ageof 87, April 21, 2020. Her husband was the late Raymond Nickels ’54.

She studied art and elementary education at Ripon and had a long career in education in Evanston, Illinois. She was a forceful advocate for civil rights and the “team-teaching” approach.

“She loved Ripon College and always went to her reunions whenever she could,” says her son, Douglas Lloyd Nickels. Although he attended a different school, “having brought my mom to all of the alumni events at Ripon, I feel at times that I attended the campus, too.

“Ray was a veteran and Barb was a girl from Chicago whose mom grew up in Wild Rose (Wisconsin). They loved the school so much they retired to Green Lake. They always told us they met while working at Norton’s (in Green Lake).”

Before his retirement, Douglas Lloyd Nickels was an adjunct instructor at Lake Forest College in Illinois and says he attended many Ripon College/Lake Forest basketball games there.

“I am sure, like most people, we are taking on new and unexpected roles. I have taken on the role of teacher to two children and personal shopper for my dad and motherin-law. Both are elderly and we are trying to help them be able to stay home. I am also making masks for friends and family members in my spare time. An unusual thing for me was starting a new job amid COVID-19. I had been with my previous employer for 11 years. A new opportunity presented itself in January. As I went through the interview and hiring process, there was no way to know my first day on the job would be at such a critical time. I gave my notice with a planned start date of 3/16. As that date got closer and closer, things just got worse. It was a little nerve-wracking, especially as my last day was a Friday, my first a Monday. On those two days of unemployment and no medical insurance and more things shutting down, I just hoped that onboarding wouldn’t change. Fortunately, I went in on Monday and things went smoothly. However, as the day wore on, more changed. I knew by the end of the day the office would close indefinitely. I was left to learn a new company and all their programs remotely. I am about two months in and things are going well. But I will forever remember starting a new job amid a global pandemic!”

Erika Houlberg Guyer ’99 Enfield, Connecticut

“There have been a lot of ups and downs since COVID-19 escalated. I was working as a stage manager in Door County, Wisconsin, and had our show cancelled in the middle of our rehearsal process. After I prepped the show to be restaged whenever it’s safe to gather again, I was laid off from the company. I took this opportunity to move out to Minneapolis and move in with my wonderful fianceé, Sophie Widman ’18. While we unfortunately had to cancel a trip to see our wedding venue and see Sophie’s family in California, we’ve really loved getting to spend time together and make the best of the situation.”

James Balistreri ’19 Plymouth, Wisconsin

“My wife and I were fortunate to remain safe and sound in Concord, California, during these challenging times. As a rather late-in-life avocation, I have become an acoustic guitar singer/songwriter, even co-writing some songs with another Ripon alumnus, Jeffery Charles McAndrew ’81, who is still based in Wisconsin. As shelter in place was invoked in the Bay area, music venues have closed for live performers. I was invited to participate in a virtual concert series debut called Concord Couch Concerts. The first episode aired May 1 on Facebook. The event was a smashing success with thousands of viewers. The event has the support of the city mayor, and the debut raised funds for local support of the most vulnerable in the area. I have continued my role on the event planning committee. The recording for Episode #1 is available on the Concord Couch Concert Community page.”

Fred Hersom ’82 Concord, California

“I work at SSM health. Our mission is to reveal the healing presence of God through exceptional healthcare services. I love working for an organization with a Godfocused mission. I am an RN and work as a quality and safety specialist. My job duties have changed to be very infection preventionfocused. I am not on the front lines of patient care, but I am behind the scenes taking care of those on the front lines: communicating changing guidelines and policies-operationalizing processes and answering questions.”

Jeri Belongia Loewe ’96 Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

“I am working in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as I have since 2009. There is a country-wide curfew from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. I am working from my apartment in a secure compound. I go to the office about once per week to take care of paperwork and critical issues. There are no scheduled flights in, out or within the country at this time (mid-May). There have been irregularly scheduled repatriation flights to multiple countries. There is no projection on when regular air travel will resume.

“I have been diagnosed with a neuromuscular autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis. It is currently under control and I am not interested in pushing my luck by taking one of the flights back to the U.S. where compliance with safe travel procedures seems to be spotty at best with travelers not taking appropriate precautions and airlines overloading flights.

“I am very busy with my job and plan to retire at the end of this year. Caution is key right now, and I am doing my best to minimize/ avoid risky situations. Rule enforcement here is more strict than the U.S. and the fines are massive for breaking them. Otherwise, I am safe and maintain daily contact with family via FaceTime and Facebook. It is far from ideal, but it works for now.”

Joe Sandrin ’73 Bayside, Wisconsin

“It has been tough. Being divorced and by myself is hard. I go to work every day, and am grateful for that. But I feel so isolated. I hear from my girls, who are only a few miles away.

“I really miss Ripon. As an Alumni Board member, it broke my heart to cancel our spring activities. Ripon College is my other family. It hurts to hear what we are all going through. Very emotional and heartfelt response.”

Kevin Dykstra ’83 Glendale, Wisconsin

McKenna Meza is a medical scribe in an emergency department. She starts charts and documents a patient’s emergency room stay for the doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner. She then accompanies the provider into patient rooms to document histories, physical exams, reevaluations or procedures. “Since COVID-19, the time medical scribes spend accompanying providers in patient rooms has decreased. Since I work in a hospital, I have been very careful about social distancing with the understanding that I could be a carrier of the virus. As a result, I haven’t seen some of my family in several weeks which has been difficult, but I want to protect them.

“It can be frightening to think about the unknown, but I keep reminding myself that I work in healthcare because I have a passion for helping others. I’m in my last few semesters of nursing school, and working during the pandemic has only solidified that I want to care for people and be part of a healthcare team. During these uncertain times, it is important to remember that perspective can be everything.”

McKenna Meza ’19 Appleton, Wisconsin

“I work at Epic in Verona. We make electronic medical records for health systems. Our jobs have been very different lately. We’ve had to figure out how to install software in field hospitals that didn’t exist a week ago (as of mid-May). We’ve had to scale telehealth programs from a dozen visits to hundreds of visits in a single day. We’ve had to learn how to keep the world’s largest health systems updated with ever-shifting policies, guidelines and best practices. But, our jobs have largely remained the same. Each day, we have to figure out how to deliver the right information to doctors and nurses at the right time to give the best care for patients.

We need to discern how a vast array of technologies can come together to save someone’s life. We have to solve evolving problems whose solutions make our world a better place.”

Matthew Switzler ’12

Madison, Wisconsin

“I recently graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with my master’s in leadership education. Being forced to become creative and innovative with my students was something I felt I was overwhelmingly unprepared for. I served as a graduate teaching assistant, and my department did everything they could to best prepare us. But quite a few of my students still struggled.

“I hardly took the time to process what had happened in relation to my role and experience until graduation day. I didn’t realize what I was going to miss out on. But my friends and family made the weekend special for me. I have so much to look forward to moving forward and have so much support. While I felt that I missed out on a lot, I did gain a lot. My relationships with friends and sorority sisters have grown deeper via online gaming (something I would have never done preCOVID-19), I have written letters to friends and family, I have invested more intentional time and devotion to my relationship (and isolating together for some time). Ripon has given me a lot of skills and connections that not even an international pandemic can take away!”

Megan Ringo ’18 Lincoln, Nebraska

“Being retired for nearly two decades, finances are stable and the need for staying at home has not been a challenge. But I was so busy that the first couple of weeks of COVID-19 restrictions flew by before I even noticed. For a number of years I have been helping a friend who lives in the Netherlands. Jacques and I, along with a worldwide group of friends, are connected by our interest in mechanical puzzles. Jacques runs an online auction of collector puzzles. As I have done for a number of years, I spent nearly two weeks with detailed reviewing, fact-checking and proofreading the pages of puzzle descriptions.

“It is ironic that I do proofreading. Our physics professor at Ripon, Dr. Dino Zei, had sayings that he would quote to us. Fundamental Metaphysical Presupposition #25 was “If a word can be misspelled, Mr. Snyder will do so!” My world is so much better with spellcheckers! (And puzzles.)”

Mike Snyder ’74 Rochester, Minnesota

“I started not just a new job, but a new career on March 9. I worked for eight days before my new leader switched to full-time work-from-home. I’m learning the job from home. Now nine weeks in, I’m in charge of a handful of tasks, and a few people have come to me with questions. A lot of pieces contributed to my success, and among those are my balanced critical-thinking, problem-solving and communication skills I developed at Ripon.”

Paul Larson ’05 Green Bay, Wisconsin

“I am profoundly saddened and deeply sorrowed because of the many fellow Americans who have been killed by the virus and the many other Americans who have been infected and are struggling to survive. We must pray for them daily. As for me, before the virus I have been crippled and cannot walk due to the negligent surgery wherein the surgeon cut nerves to my legs. And I have COPD, requiring me to use oxygen 24/7. At age 85, with those medical conditions I am a very susceptible target for the virus.

“However, for several years, I have been living alone in my home in San Antonio and only go out of my home for doctor’s appointments. Therefore, I was already doing what is now advised that we do — stay at home. In summary, I have not been adversely affected by the virus, for which I am very grateful. All of us must be patient and focus our priority on finding ways to combat the virus, especially by intensive medical research for a vaccine.”

Ray Besing ’57 San Antonio, Texas

“I work in the construction industry and so we are still working every day! Going to the office every day, keeping our social distance from our co-workers as much as possible, cleaning surfaces multiple times a day, washing hands, wearing masks, etc. ....

“My hubby and I are restricting going to stores unless absolutely necessary for groceries and such. We haven’t seen our parents in months, and we are getting LOTS done around the house on the weekends!

“I was asked to make a few masks for my mother-in-law who works in a nursing/ assisted living home up north in Wisconsin. So I did that for her and then realized that I could be making these for many other nurses, frontline workers, family members, elderly church parishioners, etc. So that is just what I have been doing!

“I have made 250+ masks so far (as of mid-May) and will continue to make them as I can. I even have made nurses’ caps (wraps for their hair). I am self-taught at sewing (well, YouTube videos have helped a lot), but I felt I could do some good for our community by helping out where I saw need. I have donated everything I have made. I am not selling these items.”

Rebecca L. Nowak Enders ’06 Omro, Wisconsin

“I am currently serving with the Resource Assistance for Rural Environments AmeriCorps Program with the city of Florence, Oregon, on the beautiful Oregon coast. My whole job has totally changed in the last three months (as of midMay). Now, I am primarily working to support businesses, especially because our community primarily is supported by the tourist economy.

“One of the main things that I’ve continued to think about throughout this time is something that was said to me in my American Politics 101 class in 2011: ‘Think Globally but Act Locally.’ This coronavirus is literally a global pandemic, but my work is making a difference at such a local level. It’s so important to think about what changes we can all make at the local level, and I know that I am making a difference in my community.”

Sarah Moehrke ’13 Florence, Oregon

“When I studied sociology at Ripon College and learned about the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, I never imagined I’d be living through something with so many parallels. Since mid-March, my husband, 2-yearold daughter and I have been sheltering in place at our home in Michigan (as of midMay). We are both fortunate to be working remotely. My husband works in marketing for an electrical engineering firm, and I work as the manager of analytics for the central market of Henry Ford Health System.

“I am not a frontline worker, but I feel like this experience has been unique for me for two reasons. First, my team and I have been providing a ton of data — very quickly — directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic for the last several weeks.

“Second, I am 33 weeks pregnant with our second child. It is interesting to watch data come in on COVID-19 cases, while also watching my belly grow. I have to admit I am a little fearful because so much around the virus is unknown. It is recommended I take extra caution to keep myself and my baby safe, so I have only left my house for prenatal care. (Baby Georgia was born June 23).

“When I think back on how what I learned at Ripon shaped this experience, I am not lost for impact. I know the Spanish flu impacted every part of society, as COVID-19 has. However, I also know there will be an end to this. This pandemic will shape our lives, and we will learn and grow so much from it.”

Stephanie Klomsten Belcher ’07 Spring Arbor, Michigan

“As the chief supply chain officer for the northern Arizona VA healthcare system, the COVID-19 emergency has been a trying time, but also rewarding knowing that keeping our medical facilities supplied and equipped enables our clinicians to save veteran lives.”

Steven Woods ’82 Prescott, Arizona

“I’m afraid it’s still too early to see how we WERE affected. Being retired and living on some acreage (OK, hobby farm), it’s easy to keep busy and outdoors and do careful grocery gathering with all the desanitizing as anything comes into the house.

“So far, none of our extended family have been ill or tested positive. All have been hyper-alert even though I do have some essential workers in the mix. One is a nurse practitioner at Mayo with two children in their daycare. Her husband procures for the Rochester prison system.

“My personal contribution, besides financial support wherever possible, is delivering meals for housebound seniors through Meals on Wheels. I have also lent my sewing skills and my quilting stash to making cloth masks and filters for the volunteers in that program and to all the members of our family.”

Sue Thomson Knueppel ’70 Beloit, Wisconsin

“Fortunately, my family has remained unscathed despite my physician husband working every day at the Phoenix VA Medical Center and leading their Incident Command Team, and my daughter working as a nurse practitioner at UCLA Medical Center. However, as I am Class of 1975 and fit neatly into the high-risk group, as do most of my neighbors, I have formed an email help list of everyone in our neighborhood (roughly four square miles). I walked my neighborhood depositing letters inviting people to participate, and of the 60 homes I visited, more than 30 families responded favorably. Now everyone who responded has a spreadsheet of their neighbors’ addresses, phone numbers and email addresses so they can reach out for help if needed. They also have a list of grocery stores offering special hours for shoppers over age 65 (like me) and a really great article describing best ways to avoid contracting and spreading COVID-19.

“I have to admit, I enjoy having my groceries (and everything else) delivered. My cooking skills have dramatically improved, and my cat is thrilled to have me around all the time! This is also a great time to reach out to our Ripon friends to whom we haven’t recently spoken.”

Susan Schreyer Stander ’75 Paradise Valley, Arizona

“Retirement became even more distant as my heart felt the burden of families coping with a mentally ill family member who was suddenly turned out of residential care or who was not able to access needed mental health care, even when hospital support was needed. I collaborated with a New York Times reporter on this article: see ripon.edu/care.

“Also, just yesterday, we pushed forward and published a Guide which takes COVID-19 into consideration: A Family Guide to Mental Health Recovery: What You Need to Know from Day One: see ripon.edu/recovery.

“New hobbies? During the shutdown, I am trying to find more time to play my Native American flutes and my saxophone.”

Virgil Stucker ’74

Tryon, North Carolina

Uplifting Messages For The Whole Neighborhood

Dave made 28 drives between Appleton and Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee for radiation treatments for prostate cancer.

Sue kept up spirits around the neighborhood with creative porch displays and humorous/ uplifting messaging. “Sue’s rule was to draw upon things from our house for the porch displays,” Dave says.

An interview with the couple aired on WFRV-TV.

A full gallery of her displays can be viewed at ripon.edu/Sue2.