Saint Michael’s SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE MAGAZINE | FALL/WINTER 2017
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FOUNDERS HALL 2 Art is Real Work A Letter from President John J. Neuhauser STORIES 3 Sliding into Home by Mark Tarnacki 4 Preaching as an Art Form by Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04
20 Artists Find a Way by Mark Tarnacki 24 Gallery 30 Simply Beautiful: A Father-Son Conversation by Mark Tarnacki 31 Unwavering Support by Lauren Read 32 Chuck Tobin’s Dream Job by Susan Salter Reynolds
6 Art is Everywhere by Susan Salter Reynolds
34 Peter Harrigan: All Hands on Deck by Susan Salter Reynolds
10 At the Heart of It by Kaylee Sullivan ’16
IN BRIEF
14 Work with Worth by Lauren Read
36 Happy Fiftieth by Lauren Read
16 The Art of Dialogue by Susan Salter Reynolds
38 Presidential Search Update 38 Solaris Vocal Ensemble 39 The Alien by Greg Delanty
photo: “Mirror Drops” by Jon Hyde & Kimberly Sultze
40 Dr. T by Mark Tarnacki 42 Julia Colasanti ’18: Serious Comedy by Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04 44 Books PROFILES IN IMPACT 46 The Goods Celebrate Greatness by Jennifer Conetta ’09 CLASS NOTES 47 Message from the Alumni Association President Annie Rosello ’94 48 Class Notes 57 In Memoriam
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SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE MAGAZINE Fall/Winter 2017 Volume 17, No. 2 smcvt.edu/magazine EDITOR Susan Salter Reynolds CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mark Tarnacki Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04 Kaylee Sullivan ’16 Lauren Read Jennifer Conetta ’09
PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHER Jerald Swope DESIGN Harp and Company Graphic Design Douglas G. Harp Jennifer Fisher MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD Angela Armour ’99 M’09 Alessandro Bertoni Lindsay Damici Rev. Raymond Doherty ’51, S.S.E. Sarah M. Kelly Josh Kessler ’04 Jerald Swope Mark Tarnacki
Saint Michael’s College Magazine (ISSN 0279-3016) is published by the Office of Marketing and Communications twice a year. The views expressed in the Saint Michael’s College Magazine do not necessarily represent the official policies and views of Saint Michael’s College. POSTMASTER Please send address changes to: Saint Michael’s College One Winooski Park, Box 6 Colchester, VT 05439
EDITORIAL OFFICE Saint Michael’s College One Winooski Park, Box 6 Colchester, VT 05439 802.654.2556 SMCMagazine@smcvt.edu ©2017. All rights reserved.
FOUNDERS HALL 2
Art is Real Work
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hen I arrived at Saint Michael’s a decade ago I was surprised by the large and varied foothold the arts had at this small liberal arts college. At first it seemed disproportionate to our size, but soon the sheer variety
of what is done, what students and faculty do, led me to conclude that this was just about right, an unexpected feast. And since then I have been to messy studios, visited backstage as a play was coming together, attended rehearsals, watched
exhibits being hung, stumbled upon work from members of our community at venues far from Winooski Park, and followed the student founder of Turtle Underground as she carves a beautiful living doing art. And this is only the back-ofthe-house stuff. Some of the performances, senior recitals, plays, exhibits, readings from Onion River, and more are now events I plan my schedule around as much as I would a redstockinged team appearing in a World Series. I have long been a spectator in the world of art, but now I have very different and surprising (to me) understandings. Certainly the arts intend for us to see things, feel things, comprehend things, be puzzled by things, hear things, and occasionally be angry at things. We are asked to balance bliss and confusion, understanding and deep puzzlement, joy and grief on some kind of Hegelian scale. On a human level this is a profoundly useful skill. And that is the second thing I learned, that this profoundly abstract way of being and making is surprisingly useful in domains far from art,
because to see carefully, write well, listen carefully, speak with clarity and intent, and keep a song in the background are amazingly practical skills. When Tolkien said, in essence, “The world is a dangerous place. Be careful out there,” he meant for us to be sure to carry arts in our satchel. And finally, I learned that making art is real work. One must learn how to measure and cut, convince through argument, clean up messes, build a team, fail and get back up, practicepractice-practice, all the things that are now fashionable to speak of as “soft skills.” Yet these are the everyday backbone of making art. What a surprise. Peter Harrigan is right when he says that it’s important to be able to tell a good story. Inside you will find some very good ones and maybe be inspired to write a few of your own.
John J. Neuhauser President
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Sliding into Home by Mark Tarnacki
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ance Richbourg taught painting, drawing, and art history at Saint Michael’s from 1975 until 2006. He showed his paintings of baseball players at the O.K. Harris Gallery on West Broadway in Manhattan for 30 years. Tom Simon, a Burlington lawyer and baseball historian, has served on the Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Veterans Committee”
and is close friends with Lance. The Hall of Fame knew of Tom and Lance’s friendship and asked Tom if he had a work of Lance’s baseball art that he would be willing to donate to the Hall’s collection. Tom said yes, called Lance, and suggested he give Tom a significant painting of Lance’s father, who was a professional baseball player for 30 years starting in 1916. Lance Richbourg Sr. played eight years in the major leagues, mostly with the Boston
Braves, and had a .308 lifetime batting average. “This way we can get your father into the Hall of Fame,” was Tom’s thinking. The 33" by 51" watercolor above depicts Lance’s father sliding into home during a 1928 game in Boston. It now resides in the collection of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Find a link to Richbourg’s website at: smcvt.edu/magazine
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Preaching as an Art Form “I by Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04
t is my personal opinion that preaching is, or should be considered, an art,” says Father Ray Doherty, SSE. “It may fall short of this in practice and perhaps too often does, but I firmly believe that preaching deserves the talent, reflection, training, study, love, and preparation that any work of art requires, with the utmost important addition of sincere prayer.”
Fr. Ray is well-loved by the campus community for his constant, comforting presence. This coming May will mark his 60th anniversary as an ordained priest. (Fr. Ray became a member of the Society of Saint Edmund when he took first vows in 1954.) As Senator Patrick Leahy ’61 told the United States Senate this past February, “[Fr. Ray’s] leadership on campus focuses on setting a good example through actions rather than words.” Father Michael Carter, SSE is a member of the Class of 2012 and was ordained an Edmundite priest just this fall, though he has been a member of the Society of Saint Edmund since 2012. A Burlington native, Fr. Michael says that he had a notion to join the priesthood during his undergrad years at Saint Michael’s College. Though he is shy “in everyday life,” he says his enjoyment when giving presentations helped him make the decision. Both priests have a background in theatre, an art form that engages an audience with speech and movement. Preaching comes naturally, but both say that developing one’s style is a lifelong endeavor. What many people may not realize is that writing and delivering a good homily requires a lot of preparation and inspiration from different sources. While Fr.Ray studies the words and styles of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Pope Francis, Fr. Michael draws from more contemporary influences, such as stand-up comedy and the Orson Welles film Citizen Kane.
“The more you read, the better you write, so I am always trying to read a variety of things and that helps me with my writing process, as well,” says Fr. Michael. Here, he taps into his theatre background, planning repetition and emphasis to communicate his message. “Any art form requires, I expect, talent, reflection, training and study, love for what you are doing, time, and downright hard work (however you might define ‘work’),” explains Fr. Ray. When those efforts pay off, the experience is extremely rewarding. “When you’re standing up in front of a congregation and you’re talking to them, you can kind of feel the reaction, the reception,” says Fr. Michael. “You can definitely tell when you’re not connecting, and that can be painful.” But, he adds, when the audience is engaged, “You can sense that and feel it rise within you.”
Any art form requires, I expect, talent, reflection, training and study, love for what you are doing, time, and downright hard work (however you might define “work”).
Despite their different approaches and perspectives, there is no doubt that the art of preaching is deeply personal to both priests, as they strive to connect with the St. Mike’s community. “There’s no one right way to preach,” says Fr. Michael. “There’s no one right way to connect with people. It is fair to say we have different styles, and I think it’s good that different styles can be offered to the people who come to church.” “It is vital that God’s word reaches contemporary people ‘where they are at,’ and that is a constant challenge for any preacher,” says Fr. Ray. Find a link to the new Edmundite Show on YouTube at: smcvt.edu/magazine
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n the spring of 2017 President Trump released his proposed 2018 budget calling for a $9 billion, or 13.5 percent, cut for the U.S. Department of Education. Colleges and universities, already facing enrollment shortfalls and already feeling the pressure to favor STEM classes over the arts, amped up efforts to cut costs. Discussions of the value (primarily in the job market) of certain majors (humanities vs. science, for example) took on a new ferocity. In September, the Senate Appropriations Committee rejected President Trump’s proposed cuts to education funding for fiscal year 2018, but the debate continues. In her book, Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, Martha Nussbaum, professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago, argues for the importance of the arts in a liberal arts education. A shortsighted focus on profitable skills, she claims, has eroded our ability to criticize authority, reduced our sympathy with the marginalized and different, and damaged our ability to deal with complex global problems. “All over the world,” she writes, “programs in arts and the humanities, at all levels, are being cut away in favor of the cultivation of the technical.”
ART EVE
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IS RYWHERE The Arts in Higher Education by Susan Salter Reynolds
ART IS EVERYWHERE 8
Professor Collier and a visiting art curator discuss plans with students for installing a Cuban art exhibit in the McCarthy Art Gallery.
ART IS A POWERFU The people who argue to cut arts programs in schools and colleges have good reason, she writes, to fear the arts. “A cultivated and developed sympathy is a particularly dangerous enemy of obtuseness, and moral obtuseness is necessary to carry out programs of enrichment that ignore inequality….Artists are never the reliable servants of any ideology, even a basically good one. They always ask the imagination to move beyond its usual confines, to see the world in new ways.”
WHY ART?
Brian Collier teaches several classes in fine arts at Saint Michael’s, including Digital Imaging, Digital Video Art, Sculpture: Subject and Object, and Sculpture: Site and Installation. When we catch up with him, he’s just installed and opened his own show, “Unlawning America,” at Burlington City Arts and is helping students install a show in the McCarthy Art Gallery on campus, “‘El Yuma,’ Contemporary Cuban Art”, curated by Sachie Hernández and A.D. Guerra, professional curators who were invited to bring this show to Saint Michael’s, funded by the
vanderHeyden Fine Arts Endowment (see page 42). Collier didn’t sleep much the night before — 5-year-old. But he’s not too tired to answer the questions, “Why art? Why liberal arts?” “Turn 360 degrees,” he says. “Art is everywhere.” He’s right. Clothing, landscape, bus tickets, sheets of music, class notes, photographs, tilework, sculpture — it’s everywhere, demanding visual engagement. “Art is not a cloistered discipline. In the 1980s, there
was an increasingly strong commercial market for art — the commodification of the art object. Art was seen as separate from our lives.” No more. Art, according to Collier, is fully integrated into our lives, so much so that often it is not even recognized as art. ART AND ADVOCACY
“Art is a powerful thing to wield,” he adds happily. “Artists are change agents, awareness raisers. Art students learn how to make sense of the world.
They have a critical vision, they know when they are being manipulated, they have a healthy skepticism, they engage in creative problem solving, they understand the arc of production — from creation to presentation.” In his 20s, Collier recalls, he kept his art separate from his life. “I realized I was not using my skills as an artist to work with materials and ideas I cared about.” His current work is a form of environmental activism. “Unlawning America” is a “call to inaction, a project designed to shift people
Kimberly Sultze, professor of digital and media arts, encourages advocacy as part of her students’ projects. “It would be strange, after they complete their research, if they didn’t have a point of view!” she says. Fundamentally, Sultze acknowledges, storytelling and story structure are critical to engaging your audience. Sultze’s students will likely use both their storytelling and their digital media skills at some point in their work lives. Several students have gone on to work in communications at foundations — jobs in which a critical message
also enable us to see new the study of music, for worlds, to imagine and example, is also the study of express a vision of the world ratios and proportions akin as it could be. Professor to those found in math, Collier’s installations science, and the world they challenge us to imagine an describe. Music makes these environmentally responsible, general principles audible. lawn-free North America. As we learn to recognize Being able to imagine this them, we learn to appreciate beauty’s many manifestations, possibility brings us that much closer to realizing it. whether in the natural world or in other peoples and cultures. The arts, then, have “Often, we rely on our artists to express what cannot yet value because they reveal be said.” to us what might otherwise remain hidden.” L’Hote continues “The arts enable us to see the world and ourselves anew. But they
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Find more faculty art at: smcvt.edu/magazine
L THING TO WIELD. away from harmful landscaping practices by advocating for a healthy ecosystem through active passivity.” Small changes, he reminds a listener, have a huge effect. There is, at Saint Michael’s, a great deal of interdisciplinary collaboration between the arts and other majors. One-third to one-half of all art majors are double majors with other disciplines, working on, Collier explains, “non-linear creative problem solving in areas they care about.” Collier loves his double major students. Often, they are translating ideas from science and other disciplines, using art to tell a story or explain new research.
must be conveyed to an audience. “False visions of the future are not sustainable,” says Collier. “I tell my students to do something they are passionately driven to do because it matters. Art is everywhere. You can be a professional furniture maker and an artist.” “The arts,” says philosophy professor Crystal L’Hote, “cultivate our imaginative capacities so that we can see more deeply into the world as we find it and envision the world as it might be. Classical educators note that
“I’m a senior Art major — my focus is in digital arts. Digital Imaging, a class I took with Brian Collier, really stuck with me. I interned/worked for a company called Brickyard VFX in Boston, a video effects company that also does some work in CG. While most of my duties consisted of attending to clients that came through, they actually asked me for a little bit of artistic help on one job. I had told them about my work in Photoshop, so they asked me to apply these skills on a project they were working on. It was a more high-profile job, and while I can’t say which company it was, just know that it was very exciting to be given the opportunity to help out. I was asked to make a texture layer for a CG project. I would not have been able to complete this job if it weren’t for the skills I had learned in my Digital Imaging class. That class has been instrumental in both learning the program and sparking my interest in using Photoshop as one of my main art mediums. Actually, it also inspired me to pick Art as my major.” Sophia Caravella ’18
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AT THE HEART OF IT STUDENTS, ALUMNI SHAPE THE BURLINGTON ARTS SCENE AND BEYOND by Kaylee Sullivan ’16
photo: Stephen Mease
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photo: Stephen Mease
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photo: Stephen Mease
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t the center of all relationships is heart. So when it comes to Saint Michael’s relationship with Burlington’s arts scene, faculty and students weave compassion into all the arts: theatre, music, and visual arts.
THEATRE: CARING COLL ABORATION
Theatre at Saint Michael’s is unique: While the profession is known for its competitive ethos, the culture here embodies caring and compassionate collaboration. The result? People feel valued. Sophomore Beth Parsons learned this while interning at Vermont Stage, a Burlington-based professional theatre company. Professor Peter Harrigan encouraged Parsons to take advantage of the opportunity, which she says solidified her career interest in administrative arts. Parsons reports that she knows that Professor Harrigan is available for “advice or anything that I need in the future.”
1. McCarthy Art Gallery opening 2. The Vermont Mozart Festival returned to the Trapp Family Lodge and Meadow this summer 3. Outdoor art is created at the Annual South End Art Hop in Burlington 4. The Bread and Puppet Circus performs in Glover, Vt. every summer
Such relationships are fostered in the theatre program. Julia Parise ’10 met her husband, Andrew Parise ’09, during a college production of Closer Than Ever. The show’s director, Professor Emerita Catherine Hurst, officiated the couple’s wedding. Husband and wife both volunteer and act with Burlington’s Lyric Theatre Company, which performs on the mainstage at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts. Parise credits her well-rounded Saint Michael’s education with her ability to appreciate all roles. “The lessons you learn while you’re [at Saint Michael’s], even if just immersed in the theatre program … you remember those moments, and you really take them with you.” Burlington is a good place for students who wish to go beyond volunteer performances, says Harrigan, as budding actors can build a resume here before migrating toward a more theatrecentric city like Seattle or Chicago. That resume-building begins as an undergraduate in on-campus productions, he adds. Like Parsons, some students expand upon that work at Vermont Stage, Lyric Theatre, Vermont Shakespeare Company, or Vermont Comedy Club, or in productions at local schools.
AT T H E H E A R T O F I T 12
This exposes them to the pressures of what Harrigan calls “real-world conditions.” “We’re proud of our productions here, but it’s great for people to branch out,” he adds. Saint Michael’s students, Harrigan reports, are known in the local theatre scene for their work ethic, flexibility, and positive attitudes. “This is very gratifying. We really try to not just focus on the work, but doing good work under good circumstances, so that everybody feels supported and included.” MUSIC: INDIRECT INFLUENCE
Burlington is a city, according to Music Professor Nathaniel Lew, full of Saint Michael’s graduates “doing wonderful things” in the arts. Much of that success is owed to the community connections they cultivate as students.
VISUAL ARTS: COMMUNIT Y CONNECTIONS
A few neighborhoods away, Judson Browning ’16 welcomes newcomers to Burlington City Arts: “Hello, how are you? Have you been to BCA before?” Now a Sunday gallery attendant, assistant preparator, and events coordinator, Browning says his journey with the Church Street gallery began after his sophomore year as a volunteer and curatorial intern. “It’s just been a blast. I’ve grown so much as both an artist and a person,” Browning says, emphasizing the importance of using community resources and indulging in experiential learning.
At Saint Michael’s, senior Art and Business double major Melanie Castillo is in her second year interning with professor Brian Collier in the McCarthy Art Gallery. Here, her student status allows her to be deeply immersed in the gallery process on a personal level, including learning which artists to showcase, While Lew notes the music department lacks a dense “internhow to professionally interact with them, and how to intriguingship mill,” students who seek a broader stage can find one, be it ly portray their work. “The art at Radio Bean, at Higher Ground, department is a pretty small or with local choirs like Solaris. department, and we’ve been able to The latter’s sound includes voices establish close-knit connections,” of both present and past Saint We really try to Castillo says. “I think we [students] Michael’s choral students. really are able to mold our experinot just focus on the work, ences because of it.” That said, Saint Michael’s students are immersed in on-campus but doing good work Collier and Castillo say they’ve commitments, Lew says. Course curated a working relationship of work, wind ensemble, orchestra, a under good circumstances, confidence and trust. Thanks to the cappella groups, private lessons, ample responsibility and tasks liturgical choir, and more prepare so that everybody feels entrusted to Castillo at the on-camthem for the “the real world.” pus spot, Collier says the senior supported and included. could work in any gallery upon Senior Greg Rose’s post-grad graduation and instantly make an preparation is a peaceful blend of his impact. two majors: Music and Religious Studies. On Sundays, the Mansfield, MA, native plays electric According to Collier, channeling community connections and bass guitar in the North Avenue Alliance Church worship between students and galleries — both on and off campus — band in Burlington. The ensemble provides a place to recharge is a necessary networking tool. Locally, students and alumni and feel close to God, Rose says, while also helping others relate have also worked at Generator Makerspace, New City Galerie, to God’s message. That message is close to his heart: Rose and Helen Day Art Center in Stowe; as assistants for professionrecently realized his calling to become a worship pastor. Rose’s al sculptors; and as studio assistants for Collier in his exhibits professors, he says, push him to explore new ideas, offering at Shelburne Museum and Burlington City Arts. According to heartfelt guidance. Lew says he’s fascinated by Rose’s ability to Collier, if a student wants to get involved in the area art bring his education to the church and vice versa. scene, he or she will find a way. “[Class] has always indirectly helped me within my music,” Rose “We don’t know how immersed we are in art,” Castillo adds. explains. “Music is compounding by its very nature. Anything you learn in one musical aspect can always be applied elsewhere.” “Because essentially, art surrounds us.” The guidance he’s received at Saint Michael’s, he reports, has After all — their hearts are in it. “always been far more personal — which is part of the reason I’ve come to love Saint Michael’s so much.”
1. Jeh Kulu Drum and Dance performs at the annual Dance Showcase in February to benefit Puppets in Education 2. Yoga on Church Street Marketplace by Stephen Mease 3. A Vermont Mozart Festival performs at Shelburne Farms Coach Barn 4. Artistic Bike outside Sloane 5. “El Yuma” – Contemporary Cuban Art exhibit 6. The Lake Champlain Maritime Festival features Waterfront Park concerts in July (View is from Battery Park) 7. Julee Parise ’10 auditioning 1 2
photos 1, 2, 3, 6 by Stephen Mease
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Work with Worth S by Lauren Read
aint Michael’s has its own Renaissance Man.
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Sure, Italy has Leonardo da Vinci, but the Purple Knights have Jerome Allen.
“Everything that I try to do is work with worth,” says Allen from his campus office. “I don’t see it so much as being busy as I am paying my rent for what it costs to walk this earth, and that is service to others.”
work with music that has always been a part of his life.
“Music inspires emotion,” Allen says. “Whenever I am getting to know someone, I always ask what their five favorite songs are. That tells me almost more about them than anything else could because the music that someone listens to says a lot.” From performing with his brothers as a kid, to performing at parties as a college student, to now owning a wedding DJ business, Green Mountain Beats, Allen has always been surrounded by music.
Allen, a 2009 graduate of St. Mike’s, is a busy guy. He serves as an instructional technologist for the information technology department for the College, runs a DJ business, recently launched a meal prep and food service business, attends the graduate Education program at St. Mike’s, and regularly volunteers on campus with MOVE.
He adds, “It is a lot of work but the reflection is what turns the work into service.” While his work for the IT department, graduate courses, and volunteer service keep Allen busy on campus, it is his after-hours
“It was an accident of nature,” Allen says of his transition into being a DJ. “The path that I have taken in music has really helped me connect with people and get to know people.” While Allen has surrounded himself with music, he has also immersed himself in the Saint Michael’s tradition of service. Whether chaperoning MOVE trips, or
donating meals from his food prep business, the Mattapan, MA, native is all about philanthropy.
“I’ve always wanted to do my part while I am here,” Allen says. “When it comes to service and philanthropy, I don’t think it is something we have to wait for, it is something we can do now.” Saint Michael’s has been an important part of Allen’s development — whether it’s been in his volunteer work or his success in music and business.
“I have been (at Saint Michael’s) for 12 years now and I thought I was just going to college. I really went somewhere and gained a family,” Allen says. “The community has always put me in the best position to learn more, to do better, and to grow up.”
To learn more about Green Mountain Beats visit: smcvt.edu/magazine
“The path that I have taken in music has really helped me connect with people and get to know people.”
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The Art of Dialogue (and other life-saving skills)
by Susan Salter Reynolds
photo: “Flight of the Cranes” by Jon Hyde & Kimberly Sultze
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re there life-saving skills embedded in an arts education? Yes.
Empathy, critical response, authenticity, problem solving, collaboration, visual literacy, the ability to
productively discuss differences in vision and opinion—good, oldfashioned dialogue. Has there ever been a time in history when these skills were needed more than
we need them now? Simply interpreting our environment requires increasingly sophisticated visual skills. “We live in a visual culture,” says Will Mentor, professor of fine arts. “We have to go out
on a limb—be alive now and imagine tomorrow.” Artists, he says, “are researching everything all the time. They learn how to describe what they see and acknowledge that others see differently—a source of lifelong delight.”
THE ART OF DIALOGUE 18
Jonathan Silverman, chair of the education department and coordinator of the Arts in Education Program at Saint Michael’s, has approached life in the arts from several directions: studio potter, guidance counselor for arts students, art teacher, a Ph.D. in aesthetic education and interdisciplinary learning, and, at Saint Michael’s, teacher of how to integrate arts into curriculum with integrity. This year, he was recognized as the Vermont Art Educator of the Year for inspiring many Vermont art educators over his years coordinating the Arts in Education Program at Saint Michael’s College and his commitment to visual literacy and the expressive power of the arts.
the purpose of education and how arts literacy contributes to a caring society.” The creative process pedagogy is profound, and it depends on feedback and support from peers, professionals, and professors: “What is the intent in what you are trying to create?” Then peers respond to helping their peers enhance their work based on intent. Silverman reminds us that “while the arts as a discipline has its own vocabulary, internal standards, and progressive learning of skills and content, all of us can use such terms as line, texture, space, shape to analyze and respond to an image, whether an advertisement or a painting. Before the printing
“Our biggest thank-you is always reserved for Will Marquess. You’ve taught us, inspired us, laughed with us, and kept us moving and grooving when we were wont to stay still. Without your ‘boom-shacka-lackas’ we wouldn’t have half the fun, and we wouldn’t get half the hard work done either.”
by Jon Hyde & Kimberly Sultze
photo: “Winter Wyoming, Coyote on the Move”
From the Editors of the Onion River Review 2017 to Will Marquess.
Students interested in teaching art need two majors— one in the arts and one in Art Education. As Silverman notes, “our education program at Saint Michael’s College emphasizes sustainability, social justice, and diversity.” He says proudly, “Our graduates get jobs; in addition to learning skills, they thoughtfully examine
press, members of society ‘read’ mosaics and stained glass; in fact, the story of the Bible was often told through stained glass windows.” “So much of our work is about storytelling,” says Peter Harrigan, professor of fine arts and theater. “And so many careers depend on good storytelling. We hope our Fine Arts students
learn flexibility, confidence, and patience, and that they acquire a willingness to investigate problems from a variety of angles. We know that they will learn how to work with others. In theatre, even if you are the only person on stage, there are dozens of relationships supporting your work. “The arts,” says Harrigan, “deepen experience. Our students are encouraged to reach and fail. They learn more about collaboration than becoming stars. There’s a lot of cross-disciplinary pollination — when students performed the play Dead Man Walking, panel discussions on the death penalty included philosophy and political science students and professors. The play was performed just after the Boston bombings in 2013, which added yet another interpretive dimension. When they performed The Crucible, parallels between the colonial context of the play, McCarthyism, and the lives of Muslim-Americans were explored.” Kimberly Sultze teaches digital and media arts. In her class on nature and outdoor writing students build on their powers of observation using digital photography, illustration, and animation. “I want my students to be perceptually absorbed in the environment. I want to help them develop environmental sensitivity. Do they
spend long hours in front of screens? Yes.” She laughs, acknowledging the paradox. Students work with Sultze on their capstone projects in their senior year. They propose a socially significant issue, research that issue across three different disciplines, and create a project that explores and explains the issue, using a variety of media, such as books, documentary films, and websites. Will Marquess is a professor of English — currently teaching two fiction writing workshops and a First Year Seminar course, in which students read fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. “I’m encouraging them to be a triple threat,” he says, only half joking. “When I studied English,” he recalls, “I never had the opportunity to take a workshop. As an undergraduate I was taught English
“I love going into a classroom and asking ‘What is beauty?’ ‘What influenced your sense of beauty?’ and then engaging a discussion on how our sense of beauty connects to how we care for the environment or learn to live together.”
almost exclusively by lecture.” Times have changed. The seminar/workshop format, most professors agree, is more effective pedagogically, and it prepares students for a world in which they will work (most often) in groups, not alone. Do writers write alone? “Part of the writing life is solitary. But most writers also hope to please and provoke more than
one person.” Marquess also helps students organize and edit the literary review, Onion River, which has been published annually for 40 years. He is careful with his authority in classes. “I try to give limited responses to work, adding to their efforts, not correcting them.” These classes provide critical training for life in the world—reading ability, stretching the moral imagination, understanding
different viewpoints. While few students, Marquess says, will go on to become writers or continue in MFA programs for creative writing, almost all will depend on their writing and reading skills throughout their lives. Several will go into journalism and publishing.
“I love going into a classroom and asking ‘What is beauty?’ ‘What influenced your sense of beauty?’ and then engaging a discussion on how our sense of beauty connects to how we care for the environment or learn to live together,” he says.
See more faculty work at:
For Silverman and others, this is thrilling work.
smcvt.edu/magazine
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ARTISTS FIND A WAY
Lives inspired by art by Mark Tarnacki
above: From the exhibit, Six Months of Consumption, Judson Browning ’16
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rtists we talked to among Saint Michael’s alumni and employees include a sculptor, musicians, painters/sketchers, and visual artists in other media. A lucky few manage to pay the bills with their art. Others, just as passionate, make a living at something else that still allows them to do their art in a satisfying way. All seem to agree on one thing: It’s hard work, and it’s worth it. JUDSON BROWNING ’16: Visual artist
I was an Art major with minors in Philosophy and Art History. … My senior thesis project was definitely my most formative revelation …. It has also proven to be a lasting focus in my professional and artistic pursuits. I work a few part-time jobs both for
Pottery by Christopher Vaughn ’08
Burlington City Arts (BCA) and Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD). Together, they offer me a wide variety of ways to learn and engage with the community in the context of my personal artistic pursuits. My work with CSWD … has been incredibly educational, and allows me a platform for artistic research, observation, and community outreach through simply being involved in the waste management industry. I feel fortunate that my jobs are so relevant to my personal artistic direction, and see this as key to making it all work. I’d tell current student-artists it’s important to focus on school — but finding a balance to make lasting connections and gain life and professional experience along the way is invaluable. CHRISTOPHER VAUGHN ’08: Potter
I majored in English Literature and minored in Art. My understanding of
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what it means to be an artist changed drastically at St. Mike’s … while taking darkroom photography and pottery courses … where I developed an appreciation for photography and ceramics having seats at the table in the scope of fine art — after that, though still not being able to draw or paint a realistic portrait, I started to view myself as an artist. Throughout senior year I volunteered at the Burlington City Arts Clay Studio, which partners with St. Mike’s for pottery classes. After graduating I was hired by a mental health organization working with at-risk youth, but continued volunteering at BCA and began my first paid employment in the arts as a pottery instructor.
In 2012 I was hired as BCA’s Clay Studio manager, my current position, and was able to make the shift into full-time work in the arts, and have continued to develop my own artwork and studio practice, and have built an independent business selling my pottery. Making a living in the arts is absolutely possible, but can be extremely challenging — often a balancing act of traditional employment, seasonal work, and, for many, a studio practice. It took a great deal of hard work, persistence, and patience, and some luck, but after almost six years of working exclusively in the arts I can say that yes, it’s possible. MARIA RINALDI ’00: Musician, singer, choral conductor
When I was 12, I suffered a spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed from the chest down … one thing I could still do that brought me great satisfaction was sing. My family began attending Mass at St. Mike’s well before my college years. I joined the Liturgical Choir and have been singing with them for 25 years now — they have become a second family to me. Maria Rinaldi ’00
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My senior thesis as a Spanish major was on Victor Jara, a folk singer from Chile murdered during the 1973 military coup. I researched and prepared a senior recital where I performed Victor’s songs. It was one of the most satisfying things I have done in life.
Art major. In the art department at St. Mike’s, I found my strength and purpose in life and I found my tribe. A family member asked, “What can you do with an arts and crafts degree?” My answer: I will bring to life issues in the world through my art and force others to Jerome Monachino ’91 JEROME MONACHINO ’91: Jazz and liturgical guitarist, composer, chorale director, singer
Shavon Kenney ’15 After college, I began working for the Office of Admission … One day, I was asked to start a community chorus in Winooski. I laughed and said I had no experience, but they insisted. I agreed to help until the group could find a more qualified person. Well, this is my ninth year directing the Winooski Community Chorus! It’s a lot of work, but I am continually fulfilled by the community spirit and friendships that are made. SHAVON KENNEY ’15: Visual artist
I started as a Math major but found I was passionate only about my art class. I took time off in the face of some life adversities. After that, I felt the need to follow my passion and return as an
discuss these problems by viewing my work; I will bring beauty to life and personify the pain and corruption that others, and myself, experience. I will change the world. While making art has always been my career motive, I’ve worked in customer service, social work, lab science, and landscaping — but also volunteered in a Burlington gallery, gaining an artist residency/gallery manager/co-curator position. Currently, art isn’t my main source of income. It is exhausting to work a full-time job and then find the focus, energy, motivation, and creativity to complete artworks. However, it’s not my experience that anything in life worth getting is easy.
I was an Environmental Science major. … didn’t officially minor in Music, but probably had enough credits. Looking back at what really brought me joy in college, it was singing in the Chapel folk group and playing guitar in the jazz band. Science was challenging for me academically, and I’m glad I went through that discipline because it helped shape the way I think, even about music. But my heart was in the music. After college I worked for a year as an analytical chemist until the director of liturgical music position at St. Mike’s opened up about a year into my chemistry “career”; I applied and to my surprise, they hired me. The transition from chemistry into the music ministry was kind of harsh, and it took me a while to adjust. I tended to bring my work home — thought about it all day, sometimes all night. I was also playing in a band, and teaching a little guitar on the side, in order to try to make a living. It is definitely possible to make a living, but the tough part about music is that you’re only as good as your last gig … still, an ordinary day with music becomes an extraordinarily-ordinary day. That’s why it’s worth it.
JONAH KESSEL ’06: Senior video journalist with The New York Times
I majored in Journalism with a minor in Music. I had a strong interest in the arts from a very early age … but my
nine-to-five job. Sometimes an idea comes to me right when I sit down at the dinner table with my family. Sometimes the solution to a problem comes to me right when I get to the playground with my son. Sometimes it feels like every project includes reinventing the wheel.
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Alex Bertoni needed to get a career in finance, where I could earn a living. Over time my career evolved away from finance back toward my creative side as I was drawn more toward marketing. Years after I left art to pursue a more “practical” career in finance, I realized that many of my friends who were artists were actually more successful. They enjoyed their work more, they were more fulfilled, and many were actually making a better living than friends I had working for investment companies.
Johnah Kessel ’06 education at St. Mike’s specifically taught me how to “vocationalize” that interest and passion and turn it into something that I hope is practically useful for society. In college I began freelancing pictures to the Burlington Free Press ... and that led directly to my first staff position at a newspaper in California. That was about 12 years ago and I still work in visual journalism today. For better or worse, art and work are completely integrated into my life. Neither seems to stop or start. For me, being paid to be creative is not a
This is a great challenge and it makes my job continually interesting, which I think is a great privilege. But that privilege comes with a cost, because I’m always working. But simultaneously, I’m also always not working. That’s what working in the arts is about. ALEX BERTONI: Saint Michael’s Director of Marketing and Communications, visual artist
I attended an arts high school in New York City where I did quite a lot of painting and drawing. However, when it came time to go to college I figured I
Though I don’t find as much time as I’d like to do my art today, I get inspired by the arts and creative people. I am surrounded by creative people at home. My wife is a potter, and both my children are performers and musicians. Art is often thought of as something that is consumed or experienced. For me, it is about a way of noticing and thinking about the world around us… interpreting those experiences in a personal way, and sharing them. That really applies to everything. To see more works from these artists, visit: smcvt.edu/magazine
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ART IS EVERYWHERE A gallery of works from the Saint Michael’s community.
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1. “The Path to Nirvana” by Emily Higgins ’17 Indonesia | April 2016 2. Student art hanging in the Alliot Dining Hall, artist unknown 3. “Peek Out, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Costa Rica” by Jon Hyde & Kimberly Sultze
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4. Sloane popup art show, artist unknown 5. Sloane Dark Room by Jerry Swope 6. Shavone Kenney ’15 7. Jerome Monachino, Associate Director Campus Ministry Liturgical Music
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8. Techzilla, Acrylic on Canvas 2017 by Julia Morrison 9. “A Tail’s Detail, Blue Jay” by Jon Hyde & Kimberly Sultze 10. Cricket in Bromeliad by Ruth Fabian-Fine 11. “The Golden City”, Spain 2016 by Matthew Nachatelo 12. Water lily, Nymphaea odorata by Peter Hope
13. Senior Project by Danielle Valyou ’18 14. Woodworking Class, by Jerry Swope 15. Art on campus, artist unknown 16. Mill Girls, play with music photo by Andy Duback 17. Art Class by Jerry Swope
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1. Students critiquing artwork by Jerry Swope 2. Transgenic zebrafish with sensory neurons in green & motor neurons in red. Image by Jennifer Uribe ’19 3. Star-Ship Alpha-Omega: A Bookish Icon by E. Thor Carlson , In Memory of John Caswell, 1959 - 1979, Class of 1981
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4. Liam Rademacher ’19 in Art Class by Jerry Swope 5. Bathroom in Sloane Art Building 6. Project by Valeria Matias ’18 7. “Caught In The Now” Indonesia 2016 by Emily Higgins ’17
8. Italian Flag, (hung in Durick Library) Francis R. Lewitt, 1988 9. Mill Girls, play with music photo by Andy Duback 10. “Learning to Fly, Osprey” by Jon Hyde & Kimberly Sultze 11. Fluorescently labeled fibroblasts by Ruth Fabian-Fine
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1. “Standing Tall” by Jon Hyde & Kimberly Sultze 2. “Spirit in the Sky” Bhutan 2016 by Dana Scheffler ’18
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3. Associate Professor Will Mentor and Student doing art research by Jerry Swope 4. Bathroom in Sloane Art Center, Jerry Swope
5. In Memory of Christopher Todd Garrett, 1968-1992, Sculpture by Paul D. Spaulding 6. Raindrops on Banana leave by Peter Hope
7. “Communal Chaos” Vietnam 2016 by Lindsey Rogers ’18
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Simply Beautiful: A Father-Son Conversation by Mark Tarnacki
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ill Ellis of the Saint Michael’s music faculty (guitar) and his father Tony Ellis (banjo) performed together at the 2017 Academic Convocation in McCarthy Arts Center on September 28. Their lifetime collaboration began when Bill, a young natural on guitar, began following his banjo-picking and fiddling bluegrass legend dad to fairs and festival gigs around Ohio and neighboring states as his accompanist. Father and son reveal gentle but undiluted admiration and organic understanding about each other. Bill is a scholar of traditional and popular American music from blues to early rock and roll, a professional guitarist, and a lecturer on folk art. Tony, who used to play with Bill Monroe, is admired by Steve Martin
“It’s not about flash or
and has stories about Elvis and being part of the Johnny Cash Review. TONY: When Bill was 8 or 9 years
old he got interested in the guitar and then he lost interest in the guitar … then about two years later he got inspired to try again and he really stayed with it. I just left that entirely up to him — I wanted him to come to it on his own. BILL: It was great because my first
teacher was my dad. He showed me the chords and off I went! I just started backing him up at festivals, bluegrass contests, learning to back up a banjo and a fiddle — and it must have done the trick.
TONY: He learned well! The tunes we
played at Convocation are tunes we’ve been doing a long time.
[you are] — it’s finding
BILL: I share a lot of his wisdom in my classes in terms of what it means to play music and be a musician. Something that stuck with me was that, early on, he said “Just play every note as if it’s your last” … the idea being, put intent into what you’re doing, and be present in that moment.
that inner voice on
TONY: Bill’s the perfect accompanist
how fast you can play or how technically strong
your instrument and conveying it.”
for me — he knows exactly where I’m going and he just fits right in there. The melodies I play are very simple, but Bill lifts those melodies up to another level and it makes a world of difference.
BILL: I know how he phrases something,
so I can anticipate, I can hear the phrase and the cadence and I do my best to add as much color and variety [as I can] without getting in the way and being obnoxious with it — just complementing the melodies. TONY: Tunes just come to me as a
composer. Something will pop into my head and I’ll pick up a fiddle or a banjo and it’ll come out my fingers and there it is. “Father’s Pride” is a piece I wrote for Bill when he was just a little tot — he was my pride and joy. Steve Martin chose that to play at Lincoln Center. I’ll read about famous musicians — in one interview, Irving Berlin was asked what makes great music, and he said “simplicity.” BILL: Every master musician has one
thing in common and that’s identifiable tone. It’s not about flash or how fast you can play or how technically strong [you are] — it’s finding that inner voice on your instrument and conveying it — that’s the true testament of a master musician, which my dad happens to be, I think. I talk about these things to students. He has no idea, but I’m spreading his wisdom. Watch a video of Bill and Tony playing together: smcvt.edu/magazine
Unwavering Support by Lauren Read
“I composed my very first piece over a summer
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ave Volpe ’05 never intended to be a music composer when he first set foot on campus. But with encouragement from faculty, Volpe composed his first piece and the direction of his life changed.
at Saint Michael’s College and while I was
Now Volpe is a composer living in Los Angeles, where he works as a film composer, choral arranger, singer, and actor.
How did Saint Michael’s College help you pursue your dream?
We reached out to the accomplished musician to ask him about his time at Saint Michael’s and how it influenced his successful career. Why did you want to be a music composer? DV: It’s hard to explain, but I feel like it’s
my calling. I composed my very first piece over a summer at Saint Michael’s College and while I was doing it, something ignited in me like nothing I had ever felt before. Up until then I planned to pursue a career in psychology/ counseling, but everything changed with that first piece — it was like I caught a glimpse of my entire future. I knew right then that I couldn’t do anything else, and that is still true 14 years later.
doing it, something ignited in me like nothing I had ever felt before.” 31
DV: Saint Michael’s has an incredibly dedicated music faculty who were committed to seeing me succeed. Since there was no formal composition curriculum, both Susan Summerfield and Nat Lew did several semesters of independent study with me to make sure I received all the instruction I needed. Nat found a local composer, Erik Nielsen, who I took lessons with in my last year of school — they proved to be an invaluable part of my development as a composer. I also played piano and sang with Jerome Monachino in the church choir all four years I was in school, which had a tremendous effect on my musicianship skills. I was asked to compose and perform for numerous college events, I got funding to record and produce an album in my senior year, I had so much support and encouragement from faculty I wasn’t even in class with — all of these things would be unheard of in a larger school or conservatory. Not only did it make for an incredible learning experience, it allowed me to grow as a person, which was vital for me.
Do you have a favorite professor or memory from St. Mike’s that heavily influenced you? DV: By far my favorite memory is of
my senior recital on December 4, 2004. It was the culmination of both my music studies and my personal growth and place in the community. I had 250 people attend my recital — my family, my friends, many teachers, staff, and faculty I had encountered in all my years at school including the president of the College and his wife. When I tell this to my professional musician colleagues out here in LA, their response tends to be something along the lines of “if I could get 20 people to come to a recital it was a miracle.” That’s the core of St. Mike’s — the unwavering support of a dedicated and loving community. Unbeknownst to me, Marilyn Cormier of the president’s office arranged a catered reception that took place in the lobby of McCarthy right after my performance. Everyone stayed and ate and talked and celebrated. It was overwhelming, affirming, magical…and so quintessentially Saint Michael’s College. For more information about Volpe and his work, visit davevolpemusic.com. To listen to Dave Volpe’s work visit: smcvt.edu/magazine
CHUCK TOBIN’S by Susan Salter Reynolds
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e tried selling real estate, but it was just a phase.
Now, after 32 years, it’s hard to imagine Chuck Tobin ’80, artistic director of the Saint Michael’s Playhouse, doing anything other than producing theater. For a while, after graduating, he admits that he expected a career as an actor. But he kept getting drawn to the “bigger picture, beyond the point of view of the performer.”
Tobin met his wife, Sarah Carleton ’80, now an associate professor and resident director at the University of Vermont department of theatre on the very first night of college. The two went on to the MFA program at Catholic University; Tobin left, Carleton stayed. Tobin spent the next year and a half creating his own MFA— in small theatre companies working on theatre from several angles—lights, props, set design, etc. Producing eclipsed acting. The couple moved to Burlington, where Carleton had been offered a job at UVM, and Saint Michael’s Playhouse founders Donald and Joanne Rathgeb asked Tobin to come to the Playhouse, where he worked as actor for six years, then associate producer, managing director (1997), artistic director (2007), and institutional memory. Tobin watches many students come to the conclusion: “Oh my God, I love this.” But perhaps even more interesting are the students who realize that this is not for them. “The work is so very hard,” he sighs. Something’s working. Ticket sales have been strong at the Actors’ Association theater, now entering its 71st season. In 2017, it had its biggest-selling summer ever. Tobin chose plays that would help soothe his public’s frazzled nerves. “Theatre is love in action. This is how I produce. I create a safe, loving environment for the artists. Everyone works together and helps each other. This work can be so ego driven. Not here.”
THE WORK OF “THEATRE IS LOVE IN ACTION. THIS IS HOW I PRODUCE. I CREATE A SAFE, LOVING ENVIRONMENT FOR THE ARTISTS.”
DREAM JOB
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“Being easy to work with is a virtue. You get a unique product from this process. There’s no such thing as too many cooks.”
photo: Andy Duback
Peter Harrigan:
All Hands on Deck by Susan Salter Reynolds
Peter Harrigan, professor of fine arts, Theatre, seems unusually relaxed, despite the fact that his play, Mill Girls, opens in a week. Harrigan, creator and director, calls the project “a collage of primary sources,” an original play based on the lives of 19th-century girls who worked the mills of New England towns like Lowell, MA, and Winooski, VT. Harrigan took a sabbatical to work on the play—“one of those rare times in life when you get to focus on one thing.”
Peter Harrigan and John Devlin discuss the production at a preview panel on October 19th
The 14-member student cast began work on the production on Labor Day. The musical score was written by Tom Cleary, whose band includes his wife, vocalist and teacher Amber DeLaurentis; Saint Michael’s fine arts professor Bill Ellis on guitar, and Stan Baker on cello.
half-upholstered armchair in his office, beneath an almost life-size black velvet painting of Elvis. “Many places, it can be quite competitive—everyone wants to be a star. Here, students learn how to collaborate. Being easy to work with is a virtue. You get a unique product from this process. There’s no such thing as too many cooks.”
Like many other productions at Saint Michael’s, Mill Theatre students at SMC Girls called for all hands on are expected to be inclusive deck. Theatre majors at Saint and to positively contribute Michael’s are asked to to the community, to, as explore all aspects of production—stage managing, Harrigan puts it, “actively engage each other. We say a shop, costumes, scenery, prayer before each perforlighting. Students do mance to Saint Genesius— work-study at the Saint a prayer used throughout Michael’s Playhouse and the history of theatre to the internships at various venues patron saint of theatre. in Burlington, at Vermont Stage, in the Flynn Center, “It goes something like this: and in the Lyric Theatre Intercede for your fellow actors Company. Many have gone before God that they may on to theatre companies faithfully and honestly perform in Burlington, Boston, and their roles and so help others New York. to understand their role in life, thus enabling them to attain Harrigan graduated from their end in heaven.” the Saint Michael’s theatre program in 1983. He Amen returned in 1991 to teach and run the program. “Theatre at Saint Michael’s has always been a little See more about Mill Girls at: different than programs at smcvt.edu/magazine other schools,” says Harrigan, tucked into a
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Happy Fiftieth IN BRIEF
The Durick Library will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2018. by Lauren Read
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The Durick Library certainly had a colorful beginning 50 years ago. In the winter of 1968, as Saint Michael’s prepared to transition the library from its location in Klein Hall to the newly constructed building, the school decided the best way to celebrate was to move the first load of books by…dog sled. So the sled was loaded up, and that first load of books slid its way to its new home in the Jeremiah K. Durick Library. John Payne, the director of the library, says that the library is planning a variety of activities throughout the year to mark the anniversary occasion.
“It only comes once,” Payne says. “Fifty years is a significant milestone that is still in some people’s memory. Many of the students who were here in 1968 will be here for reunion. “But mostly it’s just an opportunity for us to celebrate the history of the library and the College and have some fun.” Reunion 2018 will be getting in on the fun as well, with special activities planned at the library throughout the weekend, including the Leadership Reception. For more information, go to smcvt.edu/ reunion.
The dog sled story is not the only quirky thing about the Durick library, which was named after a longtime faculty member, Jeremiah K. Durick, who taught English at the College for 30 years. ROUND, ROUND, GET AROUND There’s also the shape. Fifty years ago, someone thought the best way to make a new, ultra-modern library was to make it round. The shape of the original building makes it unique, with hidden study spaces, but it is certainly rare and probably for a reason.
LIBRARY MEMORIES? Remember a favorite study spot? Was there a time a librarian’s help saved your GPA? Or maybe something you found in the library that you didn’t expect? To celebrate Durick Library’s 50th anniversary, we are collecting alumni’s favorite Saint Michael’s library memories, anecdotes, and stories to share with the community. If you have a recollection that you would like to share, go to www.smcvt.edu/Durick50 and look for the Library Memories link.
“Circles are not really great for libraries, which are intrinsically linear,” Payne says, with a smile. “It makes it unusual and unique. It makes it special.” The round shape is visible throughout the main areas of the library, with the sloped brick walls a welcome space for art and exhibits and the distinct shape making wandering through the stacks a maze-like endeavor. GOING RECTANGULAR Twenty-five years ago, with the campus expanding and Durick in need of more space, the College
added to the unique nature of the library. The rectangular façade that dominates campus views today was built, leading to some of the prettiest parts of today’s Durick. “The juxtaposition of the rectangle on the circle creates some interesting spaces, some nooks and crannies and unusually shaped spaces you might not otherwise expect,” Payne says. “The architects clearly played around with that idea and used those as architectural spaces.” With beautiful rooms like the Special Collections Room, the Dailey Room, and study mezzanines, the addition to the library brought some different spaces. Combining
the two shapes created the study experience the students and alumni still rave about. And the library is not done changing. With a special gift from an alum, Payne and his staff have embarked on a number of projects, including an Archives Research Room, which will include exhibits on the history of the College and the Society of Saint Edmund.
For more information about the library’s 50th Anniversary celebration and the programs planned throughout the year, go to www.smcvt.edu/Durick50.
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IN BRIEF
PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH UPDATE
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On May 26, 2017, Saint Michael’s College President John J. Neuhauser publicly announced his plans to leave the College in June of 2018. This will coincide with the end of the two-year extension of his contract, requested by the Board of Trustees in 2015. This announcement began the official process of the search for a new president for Saint Michael’s College. The Board of Trustees organized a search committee made up of trustees, faculty, staff, and students to serve in this critical endeavor, and contracted with AGB Search to aid in the national search. Since then the committee has provided regular updates to the community via its website, which can be found at smcvt.edu/president-search. In a recent update the committee shared that it had received more than 60 resumes of highly qualified candidates
and has been able to narrow the search to three accomplished sitting presidents. Board Chair Mary-Kate McKenna wrote in her update of December 7 that the search is still in a highly confidential phase and that the committee plans to have the candidates in the area to meet with representatives from all constituencies in January. Shortly after those visits, the Board will evaluate feedback from the committee and the community and make a decision on who will be the next President of Saint Michael’s College. The committee invites you to learn more about the search and share your thoughts via a community input online form on the presidential search website, which can be found at: smcvt.edu/president-search
The Solaris Vocal Ensemble: Carmina Burana Solaris Vocal Ensemble is a new and highly regarded classical singing group with numerous ties to Saint Michael’s College; alumni, current students, and faculty are all represented among its ranks. Based in Burlington,
VT, this choir of 24 to 30 auditioned singers is led by Artistic Director Dawn Willis, with Assistant Conductor, Frank Whitcomb. Solaris performs a wide variety of choral literature ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st
century — from evocative and introspective a cappella selections to more expansive dramatic works involving a variety of instrumental forces. Solaris will be capping its fifth anniversary season and celebrating the Saint
Michael’s retirement of its accompanist, Susan Summerfield, professor of fine arts, music, with a performance of Carl Orff ’s amazing Carmina Burana on April 7, 2018 at the McCarthy Arts Center.
I’m back again scrutinizing the Milky Way of your ultrasound, scanning the dark matter, the nothingness, that now the heads say is chockablock with quarks and squarks, gravitons and gravatini, photons and photinos. Our sprout, who art there inside the spacecraft of your Ma, the time capsule of this printout, hurling and whirling towards us, it’s all daft on this earth. Our alien who art in the heavens, our Martian, our little green man, we’re anxious to make contact, to ask divers questions about the heavendom you hail from, to discuss the whole shebang of the beginning and end, the pre-big bang untime before you forget the why and lie of thy first place. And, our friend, to say Welcome, that we mean no harm, we’d die for you even, that we pray you’re not here to subdue us, that we’d put away our ray guns, missiles, attitude and share our world with you, little big head, if only you stay. From Selected Delanty, 2017 Greg Delanty is a Professor of English at Saint Michael’s. He has won many awards, including a Guggenheim for poetry. He was born in Cork, Ireland, and lives in Vermont.
IN BRIEF
by Greg Delanty
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IN BRIEF
Dr. T by Mark Tarnacki
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usy and focused, 87-year-old William Tortolano hardly seems to have lost a step as a performer and musical leader after 57 years actively immersed in the Saint Michael’s College community — a “founder” several times over in the College’s art world. Coming to Saint Michael’s in 1960
THE VANDERHEYDEN FUND The Marc and Dana vanderHeyden Endowment in the Fine Arts (2006) honors the legacy of Dana and Marc vanderHeyden while enhancing the understanding and enjoyment of the fine arts at Saint Michael’s College and in the surrounding community. The fine arts include the graphic arts, generally including drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, literature, music, dramatic art, dancing, and photography. Marc vanderHeyden served as college president from 1996 to 2007. Each year, faculty apply for grants from the vanderHeyden Endowment to fund public art, events, speakers, workshops, and visiting artists. “Marc and Dana are passionate about the arts,” says Karen Talentino, vice president of academic affairs. “This fund spans so many disciplines, and also connects the College and the wider community. It brings working artists to campus, where they interact with students and with the community. This program provides our students with experiences that help them to better evaluate space and images and artistic expression and bring those skills to all of their classes. We don’t know what the future holds for our students in terms of careers and life experiences. The arts can provide understanding, enrichment, and perspective. The more skills students have, the better prepared they will be to confront unknowns.”
to teach music and direct the Glee Club at the then-allmale College, “Dr. T” started the fine arts department as its first chair in 1964, launched the College Chorale in 1970 with the arrival of women, taught in four departments (fine arts, humanities, history, and religion) and oversaw selection and installation of the fine two-manual Quebeccrafted Casavant pipe organ in the College Chapel, which he personally helped finance, amid roily Vatican II currents that required its last-minute 1965 placement, downsized, in the Chapel’s front rather the traditional (and originally planned) back gallery. In 2000 Tortolano started the Vermont Gregorian Chant Schola in residence at Saint Michael’s, which he still directs, when not performing as organist collaboratively or solo around the region, or on the Casavant for periodic campus organ concerts. He hasn’t missed leading some manner of campus Christmas concert in all his years here, and still keeps an office in the library. Here he is shown by the Chapel organ this November. “I’ve done about 125 concerts and liturgies,” he says.
To listen to Tortolano play visit: smcvt.edu/magazine
IN BRIEF 41
JULIA COLASANTI ’18:
Serious Comedy* by Cherise (LaPine) Threewitt ’04
or some reason, I felt most comfortable when there were 500 people staring and laughing at me, stuff that would make an average kid sick to their stomach,” says Julia Colasanti. This senior has earned a reputation on campus for her ability to light up a room, whether the audience is her volleyball teammates or total strangers.
Colasanti, a native of Northville, MI, chose St. Mike’s because of its environmental science program, volleyball, and its proximity to Bentley University, her sister’s school. Colasanti says her family has always supported her various pursuits. “My family is far from perfect, but we always find a way to laugh at our flaws and get through the tough times,” says Colasanti. “[People] in my family, even my grandmas, are always ready with a witty one-liner on the tip of their tongue, so you need to be funny just to keep up.” As a child, Colasanti developed a serious interest in theatre; in high school, her focus shifted to volleyball.
Colasanti has been juggling ever since she took a juggling class at age nine. She still enjoys the hobby and shows off this neat party trick whenever possible. She can juggles balls, rings and clubs.
photo: Collen Doyle
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Colasanti performs during a showcase at the Woolen Mill Comedy Club in Bridgewater, VT. calls “the happiest school in America.” She loved the small campus, tight-knit community, and mountain scenery. Colasanti couldn’t dabble in open mic nights in high school simply because clubs don’t admit minors, but an open mic night at the Dion Student Center, with encouragement from her teammates, got her hooked. Now she enjoys performing in front of friends and family when she visits home, and finds inspiration in her hobbies’ similarities.
“Ironically, it was my senior volleyball banquet that got me back into performing and comedy,” explains Colasanti. “I procrastinated writing a captain’s speech for the banquet, but somehow, “Being on the court during a volleyball game and being I cranked out a hilarious on stage at a comedy club speech right before I walked might seem different, but for out the door. Afterwards, one me, they feel the same,” she of my coaches told me that explains. “Both are places I had great timing and I where I can free my mind and should do comedy, so I did.” forget about everything going on in my crazy life. A lot When Colasanti first arrived at St. Mike’s, she felt that she’d of comedians you see at open mic nights don’t take comedy found her place, which she
seriously because it’s supposed to make people laugh, but the best comedians are the serious ones. It takes a lot of work and time to craft a joke.” After graduation, Colasanti plans to return to the Midwest, with her sights set on Chicago. It’s a great city for aspiring journalists (another area of Colasanti’s studies) and a haven for comedic talent. “I would love to get to the point where I can use comedy as my main source of income and travel around performing,” says Colasanti. “It’s a difficult industry to break into, but so is college volleyball when you’re 5'2" like me. If I focus enough and work hard enough, I really do think I can make something of it.”
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SERIOUS COMEDY
Being on the court during a volleyball game and being on stage at a comedy club might seem different, but for me, they feel the same. Both are places where I can free my mind and forget about everything going on
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BOOKS
The Robot and the Ballerina by Amanda Woods ’09 (Mindstir Media)
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Here is an adventurous and playful story about a little girl named Belle. Belle is a bright, fun, and bold girl. She loves to dress as a ballerina who pirouettes and chassés her way through her everyday life and adventures. One morning when she wakes up early and wanders around the house to see what fun she can stumble upon, she finds a box and her imagination runs wild. The book is available on Amazon, where it has been ranked the #1 New Release in Children’s Dance Books and Robot Books.
Tonic to the Nation: Making English Music in the Festival of Britain by Nathaniel G. Lew (Routledge) Long remembered chiefly for its modernist exhibitions on the South Bank in London, the 1951 Festival of Britain also showcased British artistic creativity in all its forms. In “Tonic to the Nation,” Nathaniel G. Lew tells the story of the English classical music and opera composed and revived for the festival, and explores how these long-overlooked components of the festival helped define English music in the post-war period.
Extraordinary Ordinary Woman: The Journal of Phebe Orvis, 1820-1830 by Susan M. Ouellette (State University of New York Press) In 1820, Phebe Orvis began a journal that she faithfully kept for a decade. Richly detailed, her diary captures not only the everyday life of an ordinary woman in early 19th-century Vermont and New York, but also the unusual happenings of her family, neighborhood, and beyond. The journal entries trace Orvis’s transition from single life to marriage and motherhood, including her time at the Middlebury Female Seminary and her observations about the changing social and economic environment of the period.
Remembering Flo: The Vermont Years by Richard C. Henneberry ’59 (DayDreamer Press)
BOOKS
At the funeral services for his college roommate and longtime friend, Florian Menninger Jr., the author reminisced about their adventures in Vermont in the 1950s, to the delight of family members. At their urging he promised to record more stories, most involving skiing, and pass them on. This book is the result.
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Sink or Swim: Tales from the Deep End of Everywhere by Brenda Kelley Kim ’86 (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform) A bright, happy little book about staying positive when life is like a crashing ocean storm. Kelley Kim weaves quotes and stories into a collection of moments about staying afloat in high water and being present and grateful when the tide recedes, the waves tickle the toes, and the journey is revealed in footprints left in the sand.
O T HER BO O K NEWS Christy Ottaviano ’89, an editor at Henry Holt/ Ottaviano Books, and Michael Tougias ’77 have teamed up to produce a series of nonfiction books for middle readers. “Christy and I worked together for two years before I even knew she too was a graduate of St. Mike’s. She has been the perfect editor for me, and one of our books landed at #3 on The New York Times children’s bestseller list,” Tougias says. Michael Tougias ’77 is a New York Times bestselling author and co-author of So Close to Home, The Finest Hours (a Disney movie), Ten Hours Until Dawn, Fatal Forecast, Derek’s Gift, The Cringe Chronicles, and A Storm Too Soon.
P R O F I L E S I N I M PA C T 46
THE GOODS CELEBRATE GREATNESS by Jennifer Conetta ’09
G
lenn T. Good ’56, a successful Texas businessman with a strong belief in the liberal arts and Saint Michael’s College, returned to campus with his wife, Susie, recently to meet with two 2017 graduates who benefited from the couple’s generosity.
Susan C. Good Prize for Excellence in History, each accompanied by a $500 cash prize. In the company of their family, friends, and faculty mentors during a ceremony in the Pomerleau Alumni Center, Snair and Brophy
students and collaborate on a team because of my experience as a student,” she said. “My professors modeled for me what it looked like to be a good educator and provided me with the knowledge to be ahead of new educational trends.” Snair, a double major in Business Administration and Environmental Studies, with a minor in Education, used her prize to travel to Iceland, where she learned more about sustainable culture, knowledge she has used while teaching preschool this fall.
The Goods proudly pose with the first two winners of their prize, Abbey Brophy ’17 (left) and Kassidy Snair ’17 (right). The Goods’ visit on May 14, 2017, was to honor these two graduating seniors for their commitment to academic excellence. Kassidy Snair ’17 was awarded the Glenn T. ’56 and Susan C. Good Prize for Excellence in Business Administration, while Abbey Brophy ’17 received the Glenn T. ’56 and
heard recognition for their hard work and impressive accomplishments. Brophy, a History and Secondary Education double major with a minor in Spanish, accepted a teaching position in Vermont after graduation. Her education prepared her well: “As a first-year teacher, I feel well prepared to work with
Professor Susan Ouellette of the College’s history faculty says she feels the prize is an impactful way to honor top students. “History students work very hard, often writing and reading far more content than almost any other major on campus,” Ouellette says. “Their senior thesis capstone project is a 40-page, original research project, which is presented to a public forum for comment. The Good Prize is a wonderful way to recognize the extraordinary effort required to be the absolute best of a very dedicated group of students.”
Business Administration Professor Karen Popovich echoed this sentiment: “We were honored by the Goods, and their recognition of the outstanding academic achievements of our students.” Snair plans to pay it forward. “Mr. and Mrs. Good instilled in me the value of investing in future generations. They believed in me and invested in my passions, and I want to pay that kindness forward.” Following the awards, Glenn Good, who worked for six years for the formerPresident George H.W. Bush at the Resolution Trust Corporation, shared his Saint Michael’s story and his motivation for giving back, explaining how he and Susie established the prizes with a $50,000 gift last winter after visiting campus to celebrate Glenn’s 50th Reunion. Their intention is to honor Glenn’s lifetime as a successful businessman in banking and mortgage services, and his belief in a true liberal arts education. These awards also celebrate Susie’s studies at Stanford University and her passionate interest in and commitment to the fields of history and business administration.
Message from the Alumni Association President
I
recently returned home to the D.C. area after a weekend on campus. The Alumni Board hosted the 10th Annual Career Symposium, which is an excellent opportunity for students to meet, network, with and learn from dozens of alumni in a wide variety of professions and industries. It’s one of my favorite events of the year — I get to meet alumni who possess tremendous enthusiasm for helping current students find internships and jobs, and I meet so many students who are extremely motivated, incredibly, smart and hopeful for the future. Each member of the Alumni Board recruits other alumni to serve as panelists. The panelists speak about their time at Mike’s and their” career path since, and have great conversations with the students — for example, about the fact that a liberal arts education creates well-rounded thinkers and strong writers, or the importance of networking and taking opportunities as they come along. I asked three friends from the classes of ’89, ’91, and ’94 to participate in the event — within minutes, each of them said yes. They each took a Friday off from work and traveled to Vermont on their own dime, in order to
participate in the symposium. They were thrilled to be asked. I was more thrilled by their enthusiasm. 47
Alumni Board members are often asked by other alumni, “What can I do to help?” There are so many opportunities, large and small, in Vermont, Boston, New York, and anywhere else you find yourself. But wherever you are — geographically, professionally, or financially — you have much to offer the students who are just starting out on their own paths in life. Our beloved former VP of enrollment, Jerry Flanagan ’71, agreed to come out of his well-deserved retirement to lead Institutional Advancement by sharing what he’s learned from 50 years on campus. His mantra? “We need alumni to give of their time, talent, and treasure.” Here are just a few examples of ways that you can assist and get involved: • Nominate a Future Knight or a Book Award recipient • Support SMC athletics by attending sporting events at home or away — wear purple and gold! • Represent SMC at a college fair
• Participate in the Career Symposium on campus or career events in NYC and Boston • Attend an alumni club event in your city — or create your own • Help bring back your classmates for Reunion • Make an annual donation of any size or become a Heritage Circle member • Contact the Career Education and Alumni Engagement Office for career help Information about these opportunities and more can be found on the website: smcvt.edu, or feel free to contact me at the e-mail address below and I’d be happy to put you in touch with the right people on campus.
Frankly, it is imperative that alumni continue to be supportive and enthusiastic about the school that helped form who we are and what we’ve become. Let’s commit to serving as great role models and mentors for current and future students. Whenever I get back to campus and see the beautiful facility improvements and brilliant, eager, interesting students, it fills me with gratitude for the gift of this place, and strengthens my commitment to it for years to come. Annie Rosello ’94 smcalumnipres@smcvt.edu
1950 EDWARD JAMES CASEY, M.D., Bronx, NY, was the
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2017 honoree of the Morris Park Community Association at its April gala dinner. Ed was featured in an elaborate keepsake program with a full-page biography: Growing up in Connecticut and western Massachusetts, playing sports, working the tobacco fields, and eventually graduating from Cathedral High School are all part of the story, as are Ed’s Navy service in WWII, his years at Saint Michael’s, his time at Georgetown Medical School and subsequent medical career, along with a later specialization in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Ed has eight children, and has served at hospitals in New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Bronx, NY. JOHN REID, Gainesville,
FL, and his wife, Josephine (“Jo”), were pleased to attend their grandson’s graduation from Saint Michael’s College on Sunday, May 14, 2017. John writes that Colin Reid Ebneth ’17 had a very successful experience majoring in Computer Science, and he became a leader in the Fire & Rescue Squad. Today, Colin is employed by the Bayer Corporation in New Jersey.
1956
(MSF) as its international president, and for her advocacy for the protection TOM O’NEILL, Jay, NY, of healthcare workers in was inducted into the 2017 conflict zones. Also in 2017, AuSable Valley Athletic Skip served as one of 12 Hall of Fame and is the first world experts in the developcommunity member to be ment and writing of the inducted into the Hall of Fame. Tom and his wife, Kay, National Academy of Medicine’s 2017 report celebrated 60 years of “Global Health and the marriage on June 1, 2017. Future Role of the United States.” He also was elected to the National Academy 1961 of Medicine in 2007, which represents the highest award FREDERICK “SKIP” presented to scholars and BURKLE JR., Kailua, HI, has another honor: In April 2017, scientists in medicine. in Toronto, the World Association for Disaster & HAROLD C. LLOYD, JR., Emergency Medicine Venice, FL, writes, “My wife, (WADEM) christened “The Jane, and I finally sold our Frederick ‘Skip’ Burkle Jr. house in Toms River, NJ, Award for Global Leadership after living there for 45 years, in Emergency Public Health,” and have settled in our two which is presented every locations in Florida (Islamtwo years to an individual for orada and Venice). We are his or her distinguished now true Floridians as we global leadership in advanchave spent an entire summer ing the science of emergency here. I just completed five public health and improving years as district deputy of the humanitarian relief efforts. Knights of Columbus for the The award was named in Florida Keys and have taken honor of Professor Burkle for on the district warden’s his outstanding contribuposition to help the new tions to emergency public deputy get up to speed. Prior health. The Burkle Award to that, I was the Queen of had two recipients in 2017: Mercy council grand knight Dr. Ian Norton was recogfor five years. I have been the nized for his role in the founding president of the development of the World Florida Keys chapter of the Health Organization’s Military Officers Association Emergency Medical Teams of America (MOAA) since (EMT) Initiative, and Dr. we started five years ago. We Joanne Liu for her leadership meet for luncheons with our of Médecins Sans Frontières spouses periodically. During
the last three years, four of us classmates have held a mini SMC luncheon reunion in Sebring, FL, with our wives. (JACK and Ann O’BRIEN, JOE and Mary HART, DICK and Mary LARKE and [me and Jane]. Jack, Dick, Joe, and I shared an apartment off campus during our junior year at St. Mike’s.”
1965 WILLIAM MCGRAIL, Clinton, MA, in May was honored at the Chocksett Inn in Sterling, MA, by the UMass Hospital Family for his 20-year commitment and service to UMass Clinton Hospital as chairman of the Board of Directors (see photo).
1967 RIT DIVENERE, Essex Junction, VT, has a new granddaughter (see 1999 notes). RICH FEELEY, Burlington, VT, and his wife, Theresa M’81, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with family and friends on September 9, 2017, on the Spirit of Ethan Allen. The Feeleys’ two sons, Brad Feeley ’91, Washington, D.C., and Seth Feeley, Fairfield, CT, along with Seth’s wife, Shawna, and their two daugh-
ters, Mollie and Summer, assisted with the party. Terri and Rich met in 1966 when they were students at Trinity College and Saint Michael’s, respectively, and they were married on September 9, 1967, at Saint Michael’s Church in Pawcatuck, CT. Terri is a former Vermont state representative from Colchester and worked as a legislative lobbyist with DRM, LLC. She and Rich have been active in the Chittenden County community for many years. They are currently owners of Coburn & Feeley Property Management in Burlington.
1968 GERARD BAUMBACH, Granger, IN, recently wrote a book, published by Ave Maria Press, titled The Way of Catechesis: Exploring Our History, Renewing Our Ministry. Gerard is emeritus founding director of the Echo Program at the University of Notre Dame, where he joined the faculty after a distinguished career in publishing, writing, and parish catechetical leadership. He and his wife, Elaine, have three married sons and six grandchildren. For the book, Gerard drew on more than 40 years of experience as a catechist, parish director of religious education, and textbook publisher.
1969 BOB DELLINGER, Sierra Madre, CA, in May 2017 met with Chris Sariego ’89 at Philippe’s Hot Dip in downtown Los Angeles for their annual Saint Michael’s Alumni Lunch. Bob is feature editor of Angelus, the weekly magazine of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. (See photo, and 1989 note on Chris.)
1971 JERRY FLANAGAN,
Colchester, VT, has a new granddaughter (see 1998 notes).
1975 MIKE DOWLING, Fairfield,
CT, made a skiing-related cross-generational connection recently and shared some news about a 2010 alumnus (see 2010 notes).
1977 DAVE ONDRUSEK, Lancaster, PA, had another successful year as head coach of the Palmyra (PA) High School boys lacrosse team. He reports “many firsts for this team” including an 18-0 regular-season record and being league division winner, district champion,
Bill McGrail ’65 recently was honored at the Chocksett Inn in Sterling, MA, by the UMass Hospital Family for his 20-year commitment and service to UMass Clinton Hospital as chairman of the Board of Directors. “Over that time Bill has devoted himself to making sure the hospital not only survives, but thrives and continues to maintain its own identity as it moves forward in providing the best possible healthcare to our community,” Judy McGrail wrote in sharing this photo, which, she says, shows three of four family member who are alumni: Seated, from left, are Walter J. McGrail ’63 and attorney William T. McGrail ’65; standing is Bill’s son, Patrick A. McGrail ’88. In May 2017, Bob Dellinger ’65 and Chris Sariego ’89 met at Philippe’s Hot Dip in downtown Los Angeles for their annual Saint Michael’s Alumni Lunch. Bob is feature editor of Angelus, the weekly magazine of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Chris is director of PR and Marketing for St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles, a Catholic nonprofit serving the poor and homeless. Rich Feeley ’67, Burlington, VT, and his wife, Theresa M’81, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with family and friends on September 9, 2017, on the Spirit of Ethan Allen. They were married on September 9, 1967, at Saint Michael’s Church in Pawcatuck, CT, and this old photo that Rich shared shows them on that day. Read more about the anniversary celebration under 1967 Class Notes. What happens when three unrelated couples get entangled in a home grown terrorist plot bent on using biochemical warfare against the United States? Jackie, a rockstar legend, meets Ken backstage after one of her concerts: Leila meets John while landscaping his property, and James, a retired chemist on a long awaited trip to Europe with his wife, is confronted by an old girlfriend, Brenda, posing as a flight attendant who is hell-bent on recruiting him for a covert CIA mission. As their paths cross sparks begin to fly, but who is the real culprit behind this potential catastrophic plot?
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CLASS NOTES 50
George Keady ’79 sent along this photo of a July 2017 alumni golf outing held over the weekend in Pittsfield, MA. From left to right: Dan Holmes ’80, George Keady ’79, Tim Guidera ’80, Tom Anderson ’79, Chunky Burke ’79, Steve Cronin ’80, and Brian Rooke ’80. Richard Gallerani ’86 is at it again, skillfully sculpting memorable and meaningful religious art from wood. Of this photo, he writes, “Set to begin a three-foot statue of Saint Benedict for the 150th anniversary of St. Benedict’s Prep School where I’ve been teaching for the past 16 years. I have plans for a Saint Edmund for the College next!”
Friends gathered at the home of Steve Flynn ’93 on Saturday, August 5. Front row, Amy Stanton McCarthy ’93, Joe King ’93, Jenny Frame Falcone ’93, John Berry ’90, David Berry ’93, Kristen Charters Berry ’93. Back row: Jeff Stebbins ’93, Steve Flynn ’93, Brian Murphy ’93, Liz Wood Mosher ’93, Scott Mosher ’93, Brad Sweeney ’93, Sean McDaniel ’93, Bill McCarthy ’93, Kate Flynn Costello ’97. Missing from picture: Adam Wansiewicz ’94, Suzanne DuMont Perez ’93. Second photo is a roommate picture. Townhouse 217: Jeff Stebbins, Steve Flynn, Bill McCarthy, Dave Berry. Judge Charles Conroy ’93, an English major while at Saint Michael’s, had two of his former professors in attendance during his swearing-in as a federal immigration judge in Washington, D.C., on August 11: Lorrie Smith (left) and Bob Niemi (right).
state qualifier, and ranked number one in central Pennsylvania. This is Dave’s second year as head coach for this team, and he was selected for the second year in a row as mid-Penn coach of the year and also second year in a row as central Pennsylvania coach of the year.
1981 FRANCIS MACDONNELL, Lexington, VA, professor of history at Southern Virginia University, published “If I Only Had a Brain: Yip Harburg, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Failure of FBI Intelligence Work” in Intelligence and National Security. He was also recently quoted at length in time.com in regard to the controversy surrounding the removal of Confederate monuments. MARY (ROY) FASANO, Providence, RI, has begun a tour of service with the Peace Corps in Ukraine and recently met up there with another Peace Corps volunteer, Matthew Fahey ’14. (See photo with more information.)
1982 MIKE PETRIDIS, Dallas, TX,
has written and published a book titled Fighter Pilot Follies (www.fighterbooks. com), a series of humorous anecdotes about flying fighter jets during the Cold War, available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
1984 MARC ARCHAMBAULT, Bowling Green, KY, who earned his St. Mike’s degree in physics and English, recently accepted the position of senior vice president for development and alumni relations at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He and his wife, AMY MCGOUGH ’84 (biology), planned to be relocating to Ormond Beach, FL, in November. Amy’s father and St. Mike’s alumnus John Martin McGough ’53, died in June 2017 at the age of 85.
1986 RICH GALLERANI, Roseland, NJ, is working on a new wood sculpture (see photo).
1988 JACK MURPHY, Duxbury,
MA, was recently appointed president of business banking for Citizens Bank, based in Providence, RI. A news release notes that Jack is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, and previously served as head of business banking sales: “In his previous role at Citizens Bank, Jack managed more than 400 bankers and contributed to the evolution and growth of the business. He joined Citizens in April 2016 from Santander Bank where he held a number of executive positions in global banking, auto finance, and SME banking.” Jamie Pitney ’95, who worked with Jack at Santander, shared the news.
PLANNED GIVING: A LIBERAL ARTS LEGACY
“We wanted to do something more substantial than our yearly gifts, so we included the College in our revocable living trust,” says Carl. “A college education, especially in the liberal arts, is a lifelong gift. The value lies in what you do with that education and what kind of person you become as a result of it.”
1989 RICH NAPOLITANO, Methuen, MA, who is senior vice president of external relations and chief development officer with Greater Lawrence Family Health Center in Methuen, has been honored by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) with the Elizabeth K. Cooke Most Valuable Player Award, named after the late Ms. Cooke, “whose constant effort and unflagging persistence as an advocate for America’s Health Centers and their patients set an example for advocates to follow.” The award was presented at the 2017 NACHC Policy and Issues Forum in Washington, D.C., attended by more than 2,500 health center leaders. Rich joined the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center in January 2014, and oversees communications, public relations, development, and fundraising, as well as legislative and community affairs. Rich holds a certificate
Carl recounts how Saint Michael’s broadened his view of the world, gave him a thirst for knowledge, and introduced him to a wide range of new cultural experiences. Both Carl and Joyce, a Trinity graduate, have fond memories of Saint Michael’s. This planned gift is an opportunity to put their values into action, and leave a lasting legacy at the College.
CLASS NOTES
Motivated by their belief in educational opportunities for all students, Carl Roof ’68 and his wife Joyce included Saint Michael’s College in their estate plans.
You too can make a difference with a gift in your estate plan. To learn more, please contact Ms. Phung Pham at 802.654.2646 or ppham@smcvt.edu. Also visit: www.smcvt.edu/plannedgiving.
in leading product development from Harvard University as well as his bachelor’s (psychology) and master’s (administration) degrees from Saint Michael’s. CHRIS SARIEGO, South Pasadena, CA, in May 2017 met with Bob Dellinger at Philippe’s Hot Dip in downtown Los Angeles for their annual Saint Michael’s Alumni Lunch. Chris is director of PR and marketing for St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles, a Catholic nonprofit serving the poor and homeless. (See photo, and 1969 note on Bob.)
1991 JOHN WHITE, Winston-
Salem, NC, recently was in touch with Ingrid Peterson of the College’s Office of Career Development, with both some news about his own career, and a potential opportunity for recent graduates. His message: “I lead a specialized master’s program
… at Wake Forest University, designed for recent graduates who are looking to build on their undergraduate degree with a 10-month master’s in business analytics.” He was encouraging Saint Michael’s students to apply for scholarships available to study in the program that he leads — another example of the College’s strong alumni network that benefits graduates in their job and graduate school ambitions.
1992 MATTHEW ENGELS, St. Albans, VT, recently accepted an interim position as a corrections service specialist for the Vermont Department of Corrections. Previously, Matthew served as a correctional facility shift supervisor for seven years. He has been employed by the department since 2008. KRISTEN BUNNELL, Rumson, NJ, is the CEO of RiverRoad, which bills
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itself as “the nation’s leading specialist in waste and recycling solutions.” The firm’s publicist reports that the firm has “a top-line revenue” of $105 million. The company recently celebrated seven years of success in the environmental sector, and last March, Kristen bought out her equity sponsor of six years and officially became a woman-owned business, a rarity in the waste industry. Now, Kristen says, she is most excited about bringing a family-oriented culture back into business “by inspiring employees to give more than they take from each other, customers, and community,” according to the publicist.
1993 JOHN R. “ROB” KENNEDY,
Monmouth, ME, writes that “starting in October, I will be the voice of Dartmouth hockey on the Big Green Sports radio network in NH.
CLASS NOTES 52
My first hockey broadcasting experience was with WWPV at St. Mike’s from 1991 to 1993, and I’ve continued to broadcast on a part-time basis while continuing my full-time career as a high school social studies teacher. I’m looking forward to being involved in Division I hockey and seeing some of the great rinks around the ECAC and Ivy League.” CHUCK CONROY, New York, NY, has been appointed an immigration judge by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He is assigned to the Immigration Court in New York City. Two of his former Saint Michael’s English professors attended his August swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C. (see photo).
1995 DIANNA LEAHY KOBAYASHI, West Roxbury,
MA, continues to remember and honor her late classmate CARI WIDMYER ’95 in different ways, recently volunteering to be the “Saint Michael’s ambassador” for a campaign noting the first anniversary of Cari’s passing. This particular effort is raising funds for a scholarship in Cari’s name at the Ivy League business school where she earned her MBA. Classmates who know Dianna can be in touch with her for more information.
1996
‘The Way Frances’ or French Way starting in Leon, making our way to the Iron Cross, the MANDY MLADENOFF HEADRICK, South Hampton, highest point on the Camino where pilgrims leave a stone NH, this past April shared from their homeland with an news of a ’96 classmate she inscription, and onward in a greatly admires: LISA continuous walk from Sarria, MCDERMOTT KELLY in Galicia to the famed (Centerville, VA). Writes Compostela de Santiago, the Mandy of Lisa, “she is once Cathedral of St. James with its again running the Boston Pilgrim’s blessing and the Marathon for Dana-Farber in enormous Botafumeiro memory of her sister-in-law wafting incense over us. and for fellow [alumna] While I was not aware of it at Kamie Huston Fessenden’s the outset, we arrived on the little girl Riley. This year eve of the Feast of the alone she has raised more Ascension. We were able to than $17K! Here is the link attend liturgy at the Composto Lisa’s page — it’s imprestela for Ascension — a sive and she is an inspiration packed church with standing and simply a good person room only at noon that day. who embodies what Saint Michael’s College is all about.” Ascension is a big holiday in Santiago and the festivities http://www.runDFMC. continued all day and night in org/2017/lisakelly the cathedral plaza. Walking the path through Galicia, an AARON KUNTZ, Vestavia, ancient Celtic world, then AL, in 2017 received the Roman, and later populated Presidential Research Award with great monasteries of the and was promoted to full Benedictines and Cistercians professor at the University of was an incredibly moving Alabama. Aaron currently experience — as well as a serves as chair of the Educarugged and at times arduous tional Studies Department experience. This is the and is at work on his latest Camino once patrolled by the book project, examining the Knights Templar, the Knights implications of Michel of Santiago, and the Irish Foucault’s lectures on ethics, Knights of Saint John to truth telling, and citizenship protect pilgrims and act as on higher education. bankers along the way. Today many have a new awareness of the Camino thanks to the 1997 movie The Way that Martin Sheen and his son Emilio MARYELLEN O’BRIEN Estevez made a few years ago. VALENZUELA, Albuquerque, The Camino is alive again NM, walked the Camino de with pilgrims from all over the Santiago in Spain in May world. It was the pilgrimage of of this year — the renowned a lifetime … made together pilgrimage route, also known with my husband Gregg, a as “The Way,” that has been physician in Albuquerque. We trekked by pilgrims for 1,200 walked with a group of 12 years. She writes: “I walked
hardy souls and in some cases tourists became pilgrims and pilgrims found deep meaning and joy. The Camino is nothing less than a metaphor for life. Buen Camino!”
1998 JEFFREY DOUCETTE,
Boston, MA, this past April ran the Boston Marathon, officially memorializing late classmate ANDREW PYWELL and the late Fr. Mike Cronogue with his effort (see photo).
PATRICK FLANAGAN, Los Angeles, CA, and his wife, Melissa (Paladino) welcomed a daughter, Riley, on May 8, 2017 (information from Riley’s grandfather, Jerry Flanagan ’71). KATHERINE SHEA, Milton, VT, and Steven Bessette were married August 20, 2016, at the Isham Family Farm in Williston, VT. Both the bride and groom work for Global Foundries and reside in Milton, VT. Katherine’s mother, Michele Shea, is a 1994 graduate of Saint Michael’s (see photo).
1999 HEATHER CARNEY, Shelton, CT, and ALLIE (LAVOIE) JOHNSON ’99, Harshaw, WI, traveled together to Ireland in the summer of 2016 (see photo). THE REV. RANDY P. ORSO,
Hawley, PA, earned a 98.6 final grade and a certificate from Nanjing University/
BRETT DIVENERE, Essex Junction, VT, and his wife, Stacy, on April 30, 2017, welcomed a daughter, Grenna Frances. Grenna’s grandfather, Rit DiVenere ’67, reports, “she is a beautiful bundle. ... Stacy and Brett are thrilled and Stacy is doing well.” LAURA UZZI, Mahwah, NJ,
married Steven Dykstra in
New Jersey on September 30, 2017. ERIN LOWERY JOHNSON ’99 was a bridesmaid and Erin’s daughter Kayla, Laura’s goddaughter, was a flower girl (see photo).
Katherine Shea ’98 and Steven Bessette were married August 20, 2016, at the Isham Family Farm in Williston, VT. Both the bride and groom work for Global Foundries and reside in Milton, VT. Katherine’s mother, Michele Shea, is a 1994 graduate of Saint Michael’s.
2000 LAEL OLDMIXON, Fairbanks, AK, has been recognized as one of Alaska’s “2017 Top 40 under 40” by the Alaska Journal of Commerce. This annual list recognizes the state’s top professionals younger than age 40 “who have demonstrated professional excellence and a commitment to their community.” Lael works as the University of Alaska (UA) College Savings and UA Scholars Program executive director. She was honored at an awards dinner in April in Anchorage. JENNIFER M. CLARK,
Esq., Scituate, MA, has been named to the 2017 Super Lawyers List, a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Jenn, an attorney with the Boston firm Casner & Edwards, was named to the list as a “New England Rising Star.” She focuses her practice on family law. She graduated from Suffolk Law School.
2001 PAUL FRAIL, Cherry Hill, NJ, a senior engineer/ research and development chemist for GE Power &
Jeffrey Doucette ’98 wrote in April: “Yesterday I completed my fourth marathon and second consecutive Boston Marathon. For the past two years, I have been a member of ‘Team MGH’ (Massachusetts General Hospital), and I help raise money for their Pediatric Cancer research team, in memory of my friend and classmate Andrew Pywell ’98. This year I ran for both Andrew AND Fr. Mike [Cronogue]. Here are my certificates of appreciation from MGH. Jeffrey sent the Fr. Mike certificate to the Edmundite Community at the College.” To celebrate 20 years of friendship, Heather Carney ’99 and Allie (Lavoie) Johnson ’99 traveled to Ireland in July 2016. With stops in Killarney, Galway, and the Erin Islands, they hiked, biked, and explored all the beauty and culture that Ireland had to offer. Heather is currently a pathologist in Connecticut and Allie is English Department chair at Rhinelander High School in Rhinelander, WI.
Laura Uzzi ’99 married Steven Dykstra in New Jersey on September 30, 2017. Erin Lowery Johnson (Class of 1999) was a bridesmaid and Erin’s daughter Kayla, Laura’s goddaughter, was a flower girl.
CLASS NOTES
Coursera in the Jewish Diaspora in Modern China course, taught by renowned China Judaic Scholar Prof. Xu Xin, author of Legends of the Kaifeng Jews, among other works. Randy has spoken with staffers at Senator Patrick Toomey’s (R-PA) office about the plight and persecution of the Kaifeng Jews in modern China and what the United States can do to advance religious freedom in China. This non-credit-bearing MOOC (massive open online course) provided detailed information on the scholarly interest in China’s Judaic studies as well as the historic role of Jews in modern China. He sent a copy of Legends of the Kaifeng Jews to Professor Amy Werbel, his former Saint Michael’s College American art history professor and a former Fulbright Scholar in Guangzhou, China, and currently professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. During his studies at Saint Michael’s College, Randy tutored a Chinese international student in the Old Testament. Randy is an online member of the China Judaic Studies Association and shared his progress in the MOOC with his fellow members on social media.
53
Meg Currier ’07 married Matthew Mitchell on August 6, 2016, at Jay Peak Resort. Saint Michael’s alumni in attendance in this photo: (back) Jeff Harris ’07, Kelly (Brooks) Ziner ’10, Lindsay Bernard ’10, Shannon Kynoch (varsity Women’s Basketball coach), Robyn Newton (varsity Softball coach), Ryan Dulude ’07, Meggan (Roberge) Dulude ’07; (middle) Jake Previte ’09, Elizabeth (Clemente) Harris ’07, Matthew Mitchell, Meg (Currier) Mitchell ’07, Jamie (Brigante) Mulcahy ’07, Julianne (Ireland) Boissonneault ’07, Kelly (Bourgea) Ryan ’08, Skyler Bryan ’09; (front) Casey Brooks ’07, Caitlin McHugh ’07.
Ashley Wheeler, class of 2008, married Patrick Ruddy Jr. of London, England, at the home of Michael and Donna Wheeler in Lyndonville, VT on July 22, 2017. The couple reside in Notting Hill, London, England. Left to right: Jayne Boyle ’78, Andrea Gosselin ’08, Jill (Ohrenberger) Malcolm ’08, Megan Bookless ’08, Kimberly (Bookless) Thibodeau ’08, Rick Boyle ’78, Ross Thibodeau ’09, Ashley (Wheeler) Ruddy ’08, Patrick Ruddy, Edward Fennessey ’08, Aimee (Boyle) Duffy ’08, Hunter Gaiotti ’07, Brooke (Odell) Johnson ’08, Michael Duffy ’06, Tracy (MacGregor) Westcott ’08, Leah (O’Brien) Palone ’08, *Present but not pictured; Michelle Bookless ’08.
Aimee Boyle ’08 and Michael Duffy ’06 were married in Wellfleet, MA, on October 8, 2016. Here’s the “wild and rowdy” crowd, as Aimee puts it — many alumni among them. Gabrielle Blow ’08 shared this photo from the Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival on Sunday, August 6, 2017, on the Burlington Waterfront. Her team, composed of St. Mike’s alumni, was called “Soaring On” and took first place for fundraising and second place for team name at the festival. Alumni/students on the team, from left, were Graham Kaigle ’18 (current student), Aaron Kaigle ’08, Dave Heney ’06, Jenna (Lyman) Heney ’08, Melissa (Gagne) Falzone ’07, RJ Blow ’08, and Gabrielle (Bourgeois) Blow ’08. Missing from photo: Nate Laber ’04 and Holly Brandl-Laber ’05.
Elizabeth Hawkes and Patrick Wall, both members of the Class of 2010, were married in Jackson, NH, on December 3, 2016. Alumni in attendance were Sarah Sawyer ’10, Whitney Wildes ’10, Jolie Frechette ’10, Elizabeth (Hawkes) Wall ’10, Emily Wright ’10, Lauren Levy ’10, Ryan Walker ’10, Tom Sawyer ’10, Chris Barrett ’10, Christian Jevne ’10, Eric Westin ’09, Patrick Wall ’10, Matt Sjoblom ’10, Christine (Amorisano) Gallager ’11, Danielle Segal ’10, Tom Hicks ’10, Erick Gallager ’10, and Dan Purcell ’10. Left: Michael Ryan Fecher ’11 and Kathryn Cassesse ’11 were married on April 20, 2017, at the Echo Center, Burlington, VT. Alumni in the wedding party included Will Wilcox ’11, Matthew Stillman ’11, Courtney Ilacqua ’11, and Claire Whitaker ’11.
2002 JAIME ANDREWS,
Wilmington, NC, welcomed a healthy baby boy, Jaxon Francis, on May 15, 2017.
RACHEL PURDY SCOTT, Rochester, NY, recently started a new role at Rochester Institute of Technology as the assistant registrar for transfer credit management. Rachel has been at RIT for 10 years now, first as program coordinator for the study abroad program, then as an advisor, and most recently as associate director for student services in the College of Liberal Arts before moving into this new position in the Registrar’s Office.
2003 MARIUSZ MISIASZEK, Wellington, FL, and his wife, Kimberly Ho Misiaszek, welcomed their daughter, Hanna Faustina, on January 4, 2017.
2006 MICHAEL DUFFY, Aspen, CO, got married. (See 2008 notes and photo.)
2007 MEG CURRIER, ESSEX JUNCTION, VT, married
Matthew Mitchell on August 6, 2016, at Jay Peak Resort (see photo). Meg is the director of loan operations for People’s United Bank in Burlington.
2008 ARIANA WAMMER,
Westford, VT, and her husband, Erik, welcomed a second daughter, Inga Lucienne Wammer, on February 23. See 2010 notes to learn of a cool recent ski-related connection for JEFF DOWLING, Fairfield, CT, and his alumnus dad Mike Dowling ’75.
AIMEE BOYLE, Aspen, CO,
and Michael Duffy ’06 were married in Wellfleet, MA, on October 8, 2016 (see photo).
GABRIELLE BLOW, South Burlington, VT, was part of a St. Mike’s alumni Dragon Boat team that competed on the Burlington Waterfront in August (see photo). Gabrielle works as pricing manager for Green Mountain Electric Supply in Colchester. ASHLEY WHEELER, London,
England, married Patrick Ruddy Jr. of London at the
Elizabeth Siekman ’11 and Paul Sapia ’12 were married on October 29, 2016, on Cape Cod. Saint Michael’s people in attendance in this photo were Dave Landers of the faculty, Bill Moore ’74, Mary Kate Oliver ’06, Mairead Moore ’09, Molly Moore ’11, Nora Moore ’13, Max Zuccarini ’12, D.J. Dauria ’13, Meghan Hayes ’12, Sandy Palumbo ’12, Eliza Scoba ’12, Margaret Adams ’11, Matt Stillman ’11, Sarah Gilroy ’11, Kat Bangs ’11, Hannah Archibald ’11, Meg Herrick ’11, Emily Paquin ’11, Garrett Clark ’12, Allie Clark ’13, Kimmy Thevenet ’11, Liz Siracusa ’11, Alana McGrath ’10, Rudy McGrath ’10, John Stage Fleury ’10, Dan Elliot ’10, Peter Hanson ’12, Paul Sapia ’12 (Groom), Elizabeth (Siekman) Sapia ’11 (Bride).
CLASS NOTES
Water in Trevose, PA, recently was awarded the Emerging Engineer Award, which recognizes technical achievements based on creativity, state-of-the-art advances and long-term impact, according to a story in the local weekly newspaper of South Burlington, VT, where Paul attended high school. He received the award from his employer, a water company that primarily deals with water treatment of industrial systems, with a focus on corrosion, salt deposition, and microbiological control.
55
Benjamin Mitchell ’12 married Rachel Kutcher at the Stage Neck Inn in York, ME, on August 26, 2017. Alumni present included (top, left to right) Lucas Wickles ’12 and Alexander Fornaciari ’12; (bottom, left to right) Bryan Geary ’12, Chadwick Estey ’12, Amanda (Willett) Geary ’11, Timothy McDonnell ’12, and Benjamin Mitchell ’12. Alison Lajoie ’13 and Petr Soustal ’13 were married at the Inn at Shelburne Farms, in Shelburne, VT, on August 20, 2017. Alumni in attendance included Leisa (Locicero) Lajoie ’80, Connor Logan ’13, Tim McAuliffe ’13, Colby MacDonald ’13, Dan Evarts ’13, Brianna Allison ’13, Natalie Zimmer ’13, and Anne Burnham ’13. Mary Roy Fasano ’18 writes, “You meet alumni in the most interesting places! I and Matthew Fahey ’14 met up with each other as we began our Peace Corps experience in Ukraine. We were officially sworn in at a ceremony on June 2, 2017, in Kiev, Ukraine.” For the next two years, Matthew will be a volunteer in the youth development sector, working with “Professional Lyceum-Internat for Social Rehabilitation and Vocational Training.” Mary, working in the community development sector, will be working with the “Educational and Analytical Center for Community Economic Development.” Mary says that “Ukraine is safe, culturally interesting, and on the brink of dramatic change as they strive to align themselves with the western part of Europe. The people here are welcoming, educated, and open to new ideas. We are very happy to serve in this region.”
CLASS NOTES 56
home of Michael and Donna Wheeler in Lyndonville, VT, on July 22, 2017. The couple reside in Notting Hill, London (see photo).
2009 MICHAEL STEFANOWICZ
and Nicole Marshall Stefanowicz, Jericho, VT, on October 4, 2017, welcomed a son, Patrick Finn. This is their first child. Mike is the College’s director of admission.
2010 ANDREW LANOUE,
Orleans, VT, appeared on the cover of Ski Area Magazine for June 2017. The news came to us from Mike Dowling ’75, who wrote, “I learned via … Facebook post that Andrew … is on the cover …. I met Andrew at Jay Peak several years ago when I noticed his highquality media for the mountain, and that he was a SMC alum like me and my son Jeff ([Class of] 2008).” CASEY KEEFE, Bronxville,
NY, this summer participated in the Miami University (Ohio) Earth Expeditions global field course in the Amazon. HEATHER STRASSEL,
Contuit, MA, received her master of public administration degree from Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School on May 20, 2017, and she was inducted into the National Honor Society of Public Affairs and Administration. Heather is working at Pine Street Inn in Boston as
part of the permanent supportive housing leadership team working to end chronic homelessness in Boston.
2011 ELIZABETH SIEKMAN and Paul Sapia ’12, Brighton, MA, were married on October 29, 2016, on Cape Cod (see photo). MICHAEL RYAN FECHER and KATHRYN CASSESSE,
Brighton, MA, were married on April 20, 2017, at the Echo Center, Burlington, VT (see photo).
2012 PAUL SAPIA got married (see 2011 notes and photo).
LE TTE RS T O TH E E DITOR Hello! I am a Saint Mike’s alum and received my SMC Magazine and was excited about the Purple Knights in the State House part of it, however the guy I was most looking forward to seeing in it was missing! Matthew Valerio, defender general and SMC Class of (I believe) ’86 or ’87 was not featured! He is the longest serving defender general this state has seen, so I just wanted to let you know for the next issue should you include that section again!
need of a manager and my uncle, Brother Romuald Therrien, S.S.E., notified my father of this opportunity. Through the help of Father Gokey, S.S.E. my father became the last manager of the farm, which closed around 1963. He then took a position as manager of the campus grounds under the direction of Mr. John Buchan. My parents and I lived in the large clapboard farmhouse which was located adjacent to the east entrance to the College near the present-day Chapel. We lived at this residence along with three farm hands and two nurses in training at Fanny Allen Hospital. I do have a picture of that farmhouse with partial views of the barn on the right and the tool shed on the left.
BENJAMIN MITCHELL, Manchester, NH, married Rachel Kutcher at the Stage Neck Inn in York, ME, on August 26, 2017 (see photo).
Thanks!! Erin Keefe SMC Class of 2017 Erin.Keefe@vermont.gov
I also have a few photos of the campus as the college developed over the years. I would be happy to share them with the staff.
2013
Dear Editor,
Always, Philip Roy Saint Michael’s Alumnus Class of 1967
ALISON LAJOIE and PETR SOUSTAL, Lowell,
MA, were married at the Inn at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, VT, on August 20, 2017 (see photo).
2014 MATTHEW FAHEY, Milton, VT, recently started a tour of service with the Peace Corps in Ukraine and met up with another alumna beginning service there, Mary Roy Fasano, by chance. (See photo for more information.)
After receiving the latest edition of the Saint Michael College Magazine (Spring/ Summer 2017), I began reading various articles in no particular order. When I turned to page 36 I was pleasantly surprised to see the picture of my father feeding three of the many dairy cows that were part of a fairly large herd that supplied the pasteurized milk for the students. My father arrived at St. Mike’s in 1943 after spending some time working for the farm at UVM. The college was in
C AL L F O R L ETTE RS T O TH E E D I T O R Send us your thoughts, reactions to stories, memories, dreams, and reflections. We’ll get back to you, and let you know if we’d like to publish them.
In Memoriam 1943 DR. WILLIAM J. “BILL” CLARK, Danvers, MA, died
July 22, 2017. He was deeply involved with the Boy Scouts in his youth and helped establish Sage Hill Camp in Jamaica, VT, a summer scout retreat. After graduating from Saint Michael’s with honors, he completed medical school at the University of Vermont. Bill served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Japan as the lead dermatologist with the occupying Allied forces. He tended to numerous Japanese citizens, including at a leper colony off the coast of Japan; among his notable patients was former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, whom he treated while he was in prison awaiting trial for war crimes. In this period, Bill traveled throughout Southeast Asia, visiting China, India, and the Philippines. After discharge he completed his residency in Port Chester, NY, and at Carney Hospital in Boston. He eventually settled with his family on the North Shore of Boston, where he established a practice in internal medicine and cardiology, working for more than 30 years at the Malden and Melrose-Wakefield Hospitals, making house calls and serving for a time as chief of staff. He retired in 1985 to pursue his passions for golf, sailing, bridge, and travel, spending summers in Scituate,
MA, and winters in Naples, FL. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. Bill is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; three sons, including William J. Clark III ’75 and Stephen Clark P’02; six daughters, including Mary Clark ’81 and Maura Gomes ’83; and extended family, including granddaughter Alyssa Barnes ’02. DR. WILLIAM “BILL” FLOOD, Bennington, VT,
died September 8, 2017. In early years he looked toward a vocation in the priesthood, attending Saint Augustine Seminary in New Jersey, and graduating as salutatorian. At Saint Michael’s his career focus shifted to medicine, and he graduated from the University of Vermont College of Medicine in 1947, moving back to Bennington, where his home served as his family practice office for many years. During the 1950s Bill also worked as the regional medical examiner for southern Vermont. He joined the U.S. Navy as a medical officer during the Korean War, and after returning became interested in obstetrics and gynecology, completing his residency at Albany Medical Center in 1961 while continuing his general home practice. He opened an office in Bennington and continued to practice OB-GYN for several decades. He belonged to the major professional
societies in medicine and his specialty, and in 1997 the Vermont Legislature recognized his 50 years of medical service. He retired in 2003 after 55 years in practice. Bill’s wife of 54 years, Shirley, died in 2002. He is survived by two sons, two daughters, and extended family.
1946 DANIEL K. O’ROURKE, Whitehall, NY, died August 16, 2017. After Saint Michael’s he received a degree in education administration from St. Lawrence University in New York and a degree in guidance from SUNY Albany. Dan taught English at Minerva High School for 13 years before moving to Bolton Landing to become the guidance counselor for the school district there, serving four area schools. In 1967 he became a guidance counselor at Whitehall Junior-Senior High School and worked there until his retirement, after which he owned a family business, the Jewelry Hut. Dan was an avid Red Sox, Celtics, and Cowboys fan and enjoyed golf, bridge, horse racing, and college sports. He was active in a local education professional group and the K of C. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; a daughter; a son; and extended family.
1947 JOHN C. DRISCOLL,
Phoenix, AZ, died May 18, 2017. Son of Irish immigrants and one of 13 children, he first studied pre-medicine at Middlebury College while in the Navy but decided not to pursue medicine and transferred to Saint Michael’s. While a student he worked at the former DeGoesbriand Hospital. He began a long insurance-sales career starting in 1948 in Burlington and also coached high school basketball before moving his young family to Phoenix in 1953. There his insurance career extended more than 60 years; it is survived by the firm he founded that bears his name, John Driscoll and Company. He was active in his parish and loved reading about psychology and history. He enjoyed polka music, desert picnics, barbecues, and (in midlife) working out. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. A son and daughter predeceased him. John is survived by his wife of 70 years, Rita; three sons; a daughter; a sister; and extended family, including niece Joanne Driscoll Campbell ’84.
1948 JEREMIAH P. JOSEPH,
Jupiter, FL, died July 30, 2016. Originally from Vermont,
57
IN MEMORIAM 58
where his work career included teaching high school math at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans, Jeremiah lived in Tequesta, FL, for many years, and more recently, in Stuart, FL. He is survived by his wife, Sadie; two sons; and extended family.
1950 JOHN K. BULEY, East
Wareham, MA, died on February 13, 1998, the College learned recently. According to College records from 1979, John had been married to Patricia and had a son who died in 1979. He also had three other sons and a daughter, a report of that time shows, and once had lived in Richmond, VT. No further information was available. EUGENE W. DINAN, Rensselaer County, NY, died March 8, 2001, the College learned recently. He once lived in LaGrange, IL. No further information was available. DR. JOSEPH A. JURKOIC, Jamaica Plain, MA, died August 23, 2017. He was a Navy veteran of the Korean War and a retired pediatrician. He lived in Point Pleasant, NJ, for more than 50 years, and also for a time in Bellows Falls, VT. Joe was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. His wife, Patricia, died in 2010. He is survived by four sons, two daughters, and extended family. JOHN J. LAWLER, Pompton
Plains, NJ, died November 24,
2015, the College learned recently. He served as an Army Air Corps first lieutenant during World War II and later had a long and esteemed career as a special agent of the FBI in New York City. Earlier in life he was active with the Boy Scouts and his parish, and enjoyed golf and gardening. At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife of 64 years, Elizabeth, who died later in 2015. He also is survived by seven sons, two daughters, and extended family. J. BERNARD LECLERC,
Wells, ME, died May 12, 2017. After Saint Michael’s he attended law school for a year at Boston College before serving in the Army in Germany and Georgia during the Korean War. He retired as a computer operations manager from General Electric, where he also was an advanced production control techniques specialist and manager of special projects. He enjoyed golf, skiing, reading, and photography, and had served his community on the high school building and warrant committees and as library board chair and Town Meeting member. He supported the Edmundite Southern Missions. Ben was married to Rita, and his brother was Gilbert Leclerc ’50; in a 1988 alumni survey he shared having three daughters and extended family; his death notice had no official accounting of survivors.
1951 DR. RAYMOND E. CORMIER, Methuen, MA,
died October 4, 2017. He enlisted in the Navy after high school in 1944 and served on the USS Antietam in the Pacific during World War II. He was a notable athlete from an early age, winning awards in football, basketball, and track, and was inducted into the Saint Michael’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 as a member of the undefeated 1951 varsity football team. After Saint Michael’s he worked for several years at John Hancock Life Insurance before attending Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport, IA, starting in 1956; before practicing that profession, he taught physical education for a time at schools in Methuen and Weston. Ray began his career as a chiropractor in an established practice in Salem, NH, and eventually went into private practice with his daughter at Windham Chiropractic until his retirement. He worked for many years for the Boston Red Sox organization including in the media pass booth, and won an award for his friendly service to fans. He was a founding member and director of the New England 65+ Runners Club, and in its Hall of Fame. He ran two Boston Marathons and climbed Mount Washington. He was active in his parish and stayed closely and actively connected to Saint Michael’s and his former teammates all his life. His wife of 59 years, Audrey, died in 2003. Ray is survived by a son, two daughters, a brother, and extended family.
ROBERT A. HACKETT, Rutland, VT, died June 14, 2017. He was an Army veteran of World War II and worked as a purchasing agent for Rutland Regional Medical Center before his retirement. Bob was a Vermont high school basketball referee for many years and enjoyed skiing. A son predeceased him. Bob is survived by his wife, Jean; a son; seven daughters; and extended family, including son-in-law Scott Hogan ’84. ROBERT L. HAYWARD, Marco Island, FL, died July 1, 2017, from complications after a serious heart attack. After Army duty in Korea as a combat medic following his Saint Michael’s graduation, he worked for United Aircraft and Executone Communications and then had a long career at Commerce Clearing House, where he was a top sales professional and ultimately a district sales manager and vice president of the company. He was known for his snazzy dressing — a cowboy hat one day, a safari jacket the next, or an ascot around his neck. He enjoyed golf. Bob’s wife of 51 years, Amy, died in 2007. He is survived by two sons, two daughters, and extended family.
1952 ROBERT P. BELLIVEAU, Peabody, MA, died September 28, 2017. Robert served in the Navy for two years after high school and before Saint Michael’s. He worked first as a schoolteacher and later
RICHARD E. SPILLANE, Staten Island, NY, died May 29, 2017. After high school he joined the Navy toward the end of World War II, and after the war, graduated from Saint Michael’s before serving in the Korean War as a first lieutenant of the 45th Division, receiving the Bronze Star. After that service, he returned home to join the New York City Police Department and study law at St. John’s University. He became a worker’s compensation attorney and continued to practice law until his 1993 retirement as a senior member of the firm Caruso, Spillane, Contrastano, and Ulaner, P.C. In retirement he volunteered with Pax Christi Hospice and worked as an arbiter with the Worker’s Compensation Board. He enjoyed travel, reading, crossword puzzles, woodworking, gardening, crafts, pool, walking his dogs, and writing letters to the editor. He also was a big baseball fan, first of the old New York Giants and later of the Mets. He is survived by his wife Dorothy, four daughters, and a brother. JOHN M. LYNCH, Windsor,
VT, died July 25, 2017. He
served in the Navy during World War II before attending Saint Michael’s and after graduation taught business and accounting at Windsor High School for 35 years, retiring in 1992. He was active in his parish and the K of C, and served as auditor for the Town of Windsor, where he and his wife built their family home. With such skills in the building trades, John also maintained the apartment houses that he and his wife owned. He enjoyed cards, travel, and raising bees. His wife, Jeannette, died in 2013. Survivors include a daughter, a son, and extended family. JOHN E. “JACK” MONTANYE, Anaheim Hills,
CA, died January 21, 2017. Jack was a veteran of the Marine Corps Reserves and served in Korea, achieving the rank of major. He earned his MBA from the University of Rochester in 1960 and had a long career as marketing manager for Eastman Kodak in New York and California. His wife, Anne, died in 2015. No accounting of survivors was available. John shared in a 1990s alumni survey that he had three sons and two daughters. JAMES B. NIENSTEDT,
Morristown, NJ, died July 17, 2017. James was a Korean War veteran and worked as a technical writer in both Washington, D.C., and for the Bell System in New Jersey. He also owned a Fun Services franchise in New Jersey. He retired as a technical writing consultant. He lived in Vienna, VA, from 1964 to 1974, with a home in Mendham Township,
NJ, from 1947 until his death. After Saint Michael’s he earned his MBA from Seton Hall University in New Jersey. He was an active supporter of his children’s athletics as a coach and volunteer and enjoyed telling funny stories. He also was active in his church and charitable work. His wife, Constance (Connie), died in 2014, and a son also predeceased him. He is survived by two sons, two daughters, and extended family. WILLIAM J. O’BRIEN, Enfield, CT, died August 6, 2017. He enlisted in the Navy directly out of high school in 1943 and served until 1946, including duty as a pharmacist’s mate on a minesweeper clearing Nagasaki Harbor after the cessation of hostilities. After his discharge Bill signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox to play professional baseball, and was in the Red Sox and Pirates farm systems from 1947 to 1951. He also had started his Saint Michael’s studies, which he completed after retiring from baseball. After graduating he went on for a master’s degree in education from American International College in Springfield, MA, in 1954, and was an educator in the Enfield (CT) public school system for almost 40 years, teaching social studies before working as principal. Bill served two terms on the Enfield Board of Education after retiring. He taught CCD, and was a Eucharistic Minister and lector as well as first president of his parish council. Bill is survived by his wife of 59 years, Mary; two sons; a daughter; a sister; and extended family.
DONALD C. WATSON, Plano, TX, died April 15, 2017. He enlisted in the Marines out of high school, serving in the Air Support Division until coming to Saint Michael’s after the service. He arrived in Texas while working for the Lambert Company. Don was brought into the oil and gas business by his father-in-law, G.C. Hermann, and upon G.C.’s death he became president of G.C. Hermann Co., independent oil and gas producers, with additional interest and operations in farming and ranching. He also was founding president of Watson Exploration and Watson Operating Co. He had served as president of Panhandle Producers and Royalty Owners Association, a capacity that brought him to speak to Congress on the importance of domestic oil and gas production. He had other positions with oil and cattle ranching professional groups. Don was a pioneer in water flooding in the south Plains and Oklahoma and was the first person to diversify from growing hybrid grains in his area of the Texas panhandle by growing potatoes and sugar beets. He served the Catholic Diocese of Amarillo and served on the Catholic Bishops Committee, and was the first president of the Texas Catholic Conference. He also was a founding member of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Amarillo and a member of the K of C. After retirement, Don moved to Plano to be closer to his children. A son predeceased him. He is survived by his
IN MEMORIAM
became a juvenile probation officer with the Northern Essex County Court system. He was promoted to chief probation officer, a post he held for nearly 20 years before his 1991 retirement. He enjoyed crossword puzzles, the Red Sox, candlepin bowling, and bus trips. He is survived by a son, a daughter, two brothers, a sister, and extended family.
59
IN MEMORIAM
wife of 62 years, Rose Mary; a son; two daughters; and extended family.
60
1953 JOHN M. MCGOUGH,
Columbia, MD, died June 8, 2017. John graduated from Saint Michael’s with a B.S. in Social Work. After graduation he volunteered for the Army and spent 3 years working with returning servicemen at Fort Madigan, WA. Following his honorable discharge, John married the former Kris Cantin and together they raised two daughters. John began a long career in the federal prison and course systems, retiring after 1993. During this time he received an M.S. in social work from the University of Maryland. After his first retirement, John began another career with the Maryland State Prison System. After retiring from that career, John married the former Alice Ashenden in 2002 at Saint John’s in Columbia. They enjoyed travel and service through their church in the Knights of Columbus and Saint Vincent de Paul. Survivors include his wife, Alice; two daughters, including Amy McGough ’84; a stepson and stepdaughter; a brother; two sisters; and extended family, including his son-in-law Marc Archambault ’84. HAROLD V. MURPHY,
Milford, MA, died August 3, 2017. Harold was a World War II Navy veteran. After Saint Michael’s he earned a master’s degree from
Worcester State College. Harold retired in 1980 from the Mendon Upton Regional School District, where he was a teacher for 35 years. He was a longtime Eucharistic Minister at his parish and belonged to the American Legion, VFW, K of C, professional groups, and church service groups. He also chaired a Boy Scout troop and served on a 200th anniversary committee in Milford. His wife, Catherine, died in April 2017, and a son predeceased him. He is survived by three sons, three daughters, a sister, and extended family.
1954 JOHN D. BOURDON,
Marco Island, FL, died July 20, 2017. He served in the Army during the Korean War. A lifelong entrepreneur, Jack enjoyed many business ventures, most notably mattress manufacturing. He was the former owner of Bourdon’s Inc., with mattress factories in Claremont, NH; Cambridge, MA; and Providence, RI. For many years he was a director of the Connecticut River Bank; also, he was a longtime member of the Elks and country clubs in New Hampshire and Florida. Jack is survived by his wife of 61 years, Frannie; a son; a daughter; and extended family.
JAMES A. SCHAEFER,
Great River, NY, died July 12, 2015, the College learned recently. He practiced dentistry for 48 years in Oakdale, NY, with his brother
Lawrence. He was an avid outdoors enthusiast and pioneer of offshore fishing dating back to the 1950s. He was a lifetime member of the Oakdale Sportsmen’s Club and continued to captain his boat, the Equanil, through the age of 81. His wife, Ruth, predeceased him. He is survived by two sons, two daughters, a brother, and extended family.
1955 WAYNE C. GOVER, Cincin-
nati, OH, died April 17, 2017. His professional career included work with Marion Laboratories, Inc., in hospital pharmaceutical sales. His wife, Aline, predeceased him. He was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. Wayne is survived by a son, two daughters, a sister, a brother, and extended family. REV. PAUL A. PINARD, SSE, Colchester, VT, died June 12, 2017. He was a professed member of the Society of Saint Edmund for 65 years and an Edmundite priest for more than 58 years. He was ordained a priest in 1959 by Bishop Robert Joyce and continued his education at the Catholic University of America and Fordham University, earning a master’s degree in religious education. From 1960 to 1961 he served the Edmundite Mission in Selma, AL, and helped run the Don Bosco Boys Club there. Subsequent assignments included parishes in Quebec and serving as director of St. Anne’s Shrine in Isle La Motte, and as parish
administrator in Alburgh. He was a Saint Michael’s trustee from 1984 to 1988 and the procurator of the Edmundite Generalate in Burlington from 1991 to 1995. From 1995 to 2004 he was procurator and treasurer of Saint Edmund’s Retreat in Mystic, CT. He retired to Edmundite residences in Englewood, FL, then Selma, AL, and back to Colchester. Fr. Pinard is survived by three brothers, a sister, and extended family. GLENN T. ERWIN, Hunting-
ton Beach, CA, died September 21, 2017. He worked many years as a middle school teacher and became a school psychologist and a marriage and family counselor, earning his master’s from Loyola University in Los Angeles and his license from the State of California. He worked for Long Beach Unified School District for 20 years and later at various Catholic schools part-time. He was an ordained permanent deacon for the Diocese of Orange since 1979, serving several parishes and teaching adult faith formation classes. He also directed the adult and boys choirs at several parishes for almost 60 years and was director of a Latin Mass Schola. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Ann; two sons; three daughters; and extended family.
1956 RICHARD O. MONTGOMERY, recently of Florida and
formerly of Trumansburg, NY, died April 21, 2017. Richard was a pilot in the Air Force
GERALD F. RYAN, Saranac,
NY, died June 18, 2017. After Saint Michael’s Gerald completed medical school at Georgetown University in 1960. Commissioned as an Air Force officer, he was stationed in England from 1961 to 1965. After the service he completed his residency in internal medicine at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY, then relocated to Rochester, specializing in cardiology. He was assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and a consultant to the New York State Cardiac Advisory Committee. He practiced medicine for more than 48 years, doing groundbreaking work with pacemakers, starting the Department of Cardiology at Unity Hospital, serving as its chair until 1992, and launching the cardiac catheterization
program. His hobbies included farming, maple sugaring, winemaking, collecting antique cars and Farmall tractors, and travel. Two sons predeceased him. Gerald is survived by his wife of more than 55 years, Mary; four sons; three daughters; and extended family.
1957 ARTHUR R. GOYETTE, JR.,
South Burlington, VT, died June 15, 2017, from heart disease. He served in the Army Reserve before his business career: operating A.R. Goyette Wholesale Company, Inc., supplying independent drug, grocery, and “mom and pop” retail stores with over-the-counter medications, toiletries, school supplies, and in particular, candy, for which Arthur became known as “The Candy Man.” He later sold his company to (and was employed by) Dowling’s Wholesale Distributors, later purchased by Burlington Drug Company, for which he worked until retirement. He was active in his Burlington parish and dedicated to the choir, Cursillo Movement, pre-Cana marriage instruction and marriage encounter, the Mercy Associates, and Sisters of Mercy. He visited Florida family regularly after his first wife died. He enjoyed tennis, golf, New England sports teams, UVM basketball, and Rice High School sports. Other interests included performing magic, reading, playing cribbage, and visiting obscure places. He was predeceased by his first wife
of 45 years, Betty; he is survived by his wife, Helene; two sons; three daughters; and extended family.
1958 JAMES BREAGY, Barnstable,
MA, died April 18, 2017. A Korean War veteran, Jim earned a master’s degree in history from Boston College after Saint Michael’s. His work career included stints as city reporter, editorial writer, and journalist for the Boston Record American and the Boston Herald. He later joined the Citizens Housing and Planning Association to work on low- and moderate-income housing issues. He moved his family to Arlington, VA, when he began working for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., during the Carter administration. He dedicated himself to addressing housing issues and improving urban neighborhoods all through his career. In 2005, he and his wife retired and purchased a home on Cape Cod. Jim is survived by his wife of 55 years, Paula; four sons; a brother; and extended family.
1959 WILLIAM L. SHAUGHNESSY, Fairfield, CT, died
September 7, 2017. He was a past Saint Michael’s Alumni Association president (1976–77) and was the College’s 1977 Alumnus of the Year. After Saint Michael’s he received his master’s degree from Carnegie
Technology Institute and retired from a long career as a sales professional and executive in the paper industry, spending most of his career with Great Northern Paper Company and Madison Paper. He was a regular volunteer driver for Cancer Care, Catholic Charities, and Jewish Family Services, and enjoyed the shore and following his grandchildren in sports. Bill was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College and active recruiter and encourager of prospective students. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Barbara; two sons; two daughters; two sisters; and extended family.
1960 FRANCIS J. “ODIE” COLEMAN, JR., Clinton,
MA, died May 17, 2017. He began his work career with ITT Surprenant in Clinton before establishing FJC Electronics and later FJ Coleman & Co., which he owned and operated for many years, until retiring. Francis was a founding member of the International Golf Club in Bolton and a longtime Patriots season ticket holder. He avidly supported Clinton youth sports programs and was active at his parish, including as a Eucharistic Minister. He enjoyed fine food and entertaining. A son predeceased him. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Susan; a son; and extended family. WILLIAM J. “BILL” MCCARTHY, Sr., Gilford,
NH, died October 20, 2017.
IN MEMORIAM
for many years (1956 to 1978) following AFROTC at Saint Michael’s, and he completed Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and national security management training in the service. For a time he worked for the Towns of Trumansburg and Justice in New York state, including as a school bus driver. He was a K of C Fourth Degree member. He is survived by his wife, Mary Ann; a daughter, Roxann Montgomery ’75; and extended family, including son-in-law Robert Devlin ’73. In a 2006 alumni survey, Richard noted that he had two daughters and a son, but an official accounting of survivors was not available.
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IN MEMORIAM 62
He served as a communications officer in the Navy before earning his Saint Michael’s business degree and working many years as an office manager until his retirement. Wishing to serve his church full-time, he then was ordained a Catholic permanent deacon in Needham, MA, and later served several New Hampshire parishes. His wife of 44 years, Madeleine, died in 2011. Bill is survived by three sons, a daughter, a sister, two foster brothers, and extended family. THOMAS M. SHEA,
Edwardsville, IL, died March 5, 2017. He earned his master’s degree in education at Saint Michael’s in 1962 and was the parent of a graduate. Tom’s life was devoted to helping children with special needs. After receiving his doctorate at Boston University, Tom taught and was an internationally published author in special education. He ended his teaching career at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, IL. He was active in his parish and enjoyed being a volunteer reader and serving on the board for Mind’s Eye, the radio station for the blind. His wife of 43 years, Dolores, and a son, Keith Shea ’83, predeceased him. Tom is survived by a son; extended family; and a special friend and companion, Joyce.
joined the Navy and served for four years before coming to Saint Michael’s, after which he moved to Unionville and worked for Hartford Insurance Group in the bonding department, later joining the Edward H. Deming Insurance Agency and becoming a partner managing the Unionville office until retirement. For many years and into retirement he also managed an apartment complex. Ed was very active as an usher and trustee of his parish, where he served on the council and building committee and received the Archdiocesan St. Joseph Medal. He also was active in the K of C, many community service groups, and a golf league, and was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. Ed is survived by his wife of 51 years, Joyce; a son, Edward Cruess, Jr. ’89; and extended family, including daughter-in-law Kelly Cruess ’89.
1961
RAYMOND E. MORIN, Westport, MA, died September 22, 2017. As a youth he studied vocation with the Brothers of the Sacred Heart and later in life attended the University of Illinois. He was a teacher at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational High School until his retirement. Ray loved conversation and travel, spoke French, and enjoyed politics and history. He is survived by his wife, Ann; two sons; two daughters; two stepsons; and extended family.
EDWARD G. CRUESS, SR., Unionville, CT, died April 27, 2017. After high school Ed
Topsfield, MA, died August 18, 2017, while on a cruise
GEORGE M. O’CONNOR,
with his wife and friends. After Saint Michael’s he graduated from the Boston College School of Law in 1964 and served as an assistant district attorney for the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. He worked for the District Attorney’s Office for 30 years, in his final position in Superior Court in Salem. George was in private practice before that. He served with the Air Force during the Vietnam War as a captain in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He enjoyed singing in his church and community choirs in Lynn and belonged to his local bar associations. He also was past president of his homeowners co-operative and active on his parish council, in the K of C, and in community historical preservation initiatives. George was a President’s Medallion supporter of the College. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Patricia; a son; a daughter; and extended family.
1962 FRANK AMODEMO, Anchorage, AK, died March 11, 2017. It was his 79th birthday. After Saint Michael’s he lived on Long Island until 1981, when he moved his family to Anchorage to start a job as a project manager with the State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. He loved Alaska’s beauty and cooler temperatures. After retiring in 1996 he helped design his custom-built home in Anchorage, site for some 20
years of happy family gatherings. Frank was predeceased by his wife of nearly 50 years, Jessica, in 2014, and by a daughter. He is survived by a son, two daughters, a brother, and extended family. RAYMOND K. LEROUX, St. Cloud, FL, died August 17, 2017. After Saint Michael’s he attended the University of Louisville and pursued coursework in urban studies. His work career included time as a newspaper reporter in the 1960s in Lancaster, PA; later he was executive director/project coordinator for the Fulton, Montgomery, and Schoharie Counties Private Industry Council in Amsterdam, NY; still later, he worked for the Sebastian Inlet (FL) Tax District as an administrator. He was elected to the Florida Shore and Beach Preservation Association and won awards in Florida for environmental work and beach preservation. He was the executive director of the Intracoastal Highway Foundation–Sebastian Inlet. Ray read his Bible daily. He is survived by his wife, Valentina; a son; two daughters; two brothers; two sisters; and extended family.
1965 EDWARD D. “MIKE” BERGIN, Waterbury, CT,
died August 10, 2017. Mike, a Democrat, was the longestserving mayor of the City of Waterbury (seven terms/ 14 years/1976 to 1986 and 1992 to 1996). After Saint Michael’s he completed his
his last position in Bosnia he became ill and was sent to the U.S., where he learned he had cancer. He loved road trips, once driving cross-country in a Ford Pinto, and had driven in more than 57 countries. Nick had a passion for hunting and fishing and always flew home from around the world for hunting season in Vermont and the Adirondacks. He fished in many states and countries, too, and valued his red wooden boat and fishing trophies. Later he got hooked on ice fishing in Vermont. In the past three years he traveled to Bermuda to swim with the dolphins, also visiting Sarajevo, Peru, South Carolina, and New England. He belonged to the K of C and American Legion. Nick is survived by his wife of 47 years, Helen; two sons; a daughter; three sisters; and extended family.
1966
1968
NICHOLAS P. WASUCK, Spencerport, NY, died August 23, 2017, from pancreatic cancer. After Saint Michael’s he served in the artillery in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969. After returning he started his teaching career in Sheldon, VT, and later worked in Glover, VT. In 1982 he began his international career in administration in the King Khalid International School in Saudi Arabia. He worked in South Korea before joining Quality Schools International as an administrator in Turkmenistan, the Republic of Georgia, China, Ukraine, Venezuela, and China. During
JAMES M. BARRY, Framing-
ham, MA, died October 20, 2017. After Saint Michael’s he served in the Army from 1969 to 1971. He had a long journalism career, including as editor of Dealerscope Magazine and editor of Video Magazine, where he covered the consumer electronics industry’s most important product introductions, including the VCR, DVD, and digital TV. He also started the contract publishing division of Crosby, Vandenburg Group in Boston, creating custom magazines for ESPN, WGBH, Massachusetts Hospital Association, and others. He
went on to work for the Consumer Technology Association in Arlington, VA, for more than 22 years, serving as CTA’s “Digital Answer Man” as he explained technology products to consumers in the national media. He was a judge for the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame from its launch in 2000, and also was a judge for the Innovation Entrepreneur Awards beginning in 2012, while contributing to many CTA publications. In Framingham he was deeply active in historic and civic preservation, including of buildings, bridges, trails, and playgrounds. Jim is survived by his wife of 40 years, Kathleen; two daughters; a sister; and extended family. EDWARD W.J. FITZGERALD, Jr., Lexington, KY, died
October 21, 2017. After his Saint Michael’s undergraduate years he became international student advisor for the College and also created a spoken-word coffeehouse in Burlington known as “the Loft.” After moving to Thailand to teach English, Ed married and relocated to Berea, KY, in 1977, beginning a 20-year career as international student advisor and head resident in two dormitories. Upon retiring with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis, he relocated to Lexington to be near supportive family. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Noi, whom he met and married in Thailand in 1972; and by a daughter; a son; two brothers; two sisters; and extended family. THOMAS M. FORD, Hope,
ME, died May 4, 2017. After Saint Michael’s he graduated
from Suffolk University Law School in Massachusetts. His early career included the Navy, teaching in Boston, lifeguarding on Cape Cod, ski patrolling, serving as a tennis pro on Martha’s Vineyard, working in a law office in New Zealand, participating in a Shelter Institute homebuilding course, and skippering an old wooden sailboat from Massachusetts and Maine to Chesapeake Bay. In 1979 he moved to Maine, and after working briefly in home construction and community planning enterprises, Tom zeroed in on local town government — first with the Town of Union, then in Rockport, as a planner in community development and codes for 13 years, until his retirement in 2013. He and his wife designed and built their home on a blueberry field in Hope, living first in a tent on the land. Tom became involved with school sports and local government and served on Hope’s Board of Appeals for 30 years and the select board in the early 1990s; he was Town Meeting moderator for 15 years and served other civic boards in planning, utilities, conservation, and recreation, as well as holding various code enforcement positions. In retirement he was a master gardener (flowers and vegetables), became involved with the Restorative Justice Program and renovations of the Hope Historical Society Home, and was a Mason and YMCA director. He loved sports all his life and coached his children’s teams and beyond, also helping in soccer and baseball. He pitched in
IN MEMORIAM
degree at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science and served as a professional specialist/state inspector of funeral service for the Health Service branch of the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health until his retirement in 2014. At the time of his death, he was running Reiner Products Ltd., the business his late brother Patrick had owned. Mike was a licensed funeral director with his family’s funeral home for many years. He was a Fourth Degree member of the K of C and active in the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Mattatuck fife and drum corps. He is survived by his wife, JoAnn; two sons, including Michael Bergin ’94; a brother, William Bergin ’66; three sisters; and extended family, including daughter-inlaw Jennifer Bergin ’96. A brother, Patrick Bergin ’63, predeceased him.
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the Camden Adult Coed Softball League for many years and loved playing YMCA pickup basketball. He is survived by his wife, Nancy; a son; a daughter; two sisters; and extended family.
1969 JOSEPH M. BERGERON, The Villages, FL, died October 2, 2017, from brain cancer. In high school Joe played soccer and swam competitively, breaking nine records for breaststroke. After earning his Saint Michael’s business degree, he served in the National Guard in Texas for two years. Joe worked at the Bristol, CT, Boys Club and was a counselor at Camp Wangum. He started his own successful advertising agency, JMB Advertising of Bristol, before moving to Hilton Head, SC, where he designed websites and authored and published 10 novels. Joe is survived by a brother, two sisters, the mother of his four children, and their two sons and two daughters, and extended family. Joe lived with his companion and high school sweetheart, Shirley, who cared for him through his illness.
1970 COL. WILLIAM “BILL” ALLEN, Hampton, VA, died
March 16, 2017. He grew up in Elizabeth City, NC, where the Edmundites once had a presence. Bill retired from the Air Force in 2000 after 30 years of service in capacities that included missile launch
officer and master logistician preparing the base camp for Operation Desert Shield. He also served during Operation Desert Storm, and as a logistics group commander, winning commendation medals. After Saint Michael’s he earned an MBA from the University of Wyoming and a second master’s degree through the Air Force. Following his military service he became very involved in local high school sports, joining officiating crews for football, basketball, and girls fast-pitch softball. He was active in his parish and the K of C. Bill is survived by his wife of 46 years, Helen; two sons; his parents; a sister; and extended family. JOHN J. MALCOVSKY,
Burlington, VT, died August 5, 2017. He was a teacher and coach for Grand Isle and Winooski schools and an avid collector of toy trains, milk bottles, and pinball machines. He played the accordion and loved baking and golf, achieving a hole-in-one. John organized the Winooski Dollars for Scholars Train Show for 23 years, raising money for student scholarships as a way to “pay it forward” for the opportunity he was given to attend Saint Michael’s. He was involved with the Winooski Senior Center and Burlington Meals on Wheels and in local and national train associations and shows. He is survived by his life partner, Barb Pitfido, and her son; and by his two sons; a sister; a brother; and extended family.
LAWRENCE M. O’BRIEN, Colchester, VT, died September 20, 2017. “Fat Cat” was co-owner of McNeil-O’Brien Marine, was employed at North Country Bingo, and was a mixologist. Earlier in his career he worked in sales for a time with Nycal Industries, Inc., a New Jersey manufacturer of industrial fasteners. He is survived by three brothers and extended family.
1971 RICHARD “DICK” COMPA, Great Falls, MT, died May 9, 2017. After Saint Michael’s, Dick completed medical school at the University of Graz in Austria. He became a long-haul truck driver and enjoyed the “open road,” and when he traveled to Great Falls to visit his brother, Paul, who lived there at that time, he fell in love with the big skies and fly-fishing. He also wanted a better place for his beloved horse, Classic. Dick is survived by a sister and a brother. JOHN M. CROWLEY,
Plattsburgh, NY, died August 11, 2017, from cancer. After Saint Michael’s he served in the Army with the 509th Airborne Division until 1974, then worked for the New York State Department of Corrections as a counselor and later deputy superintendent, retiring after 35 years. He enjoyed hunting, walks in the woods, and golf. He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Karen; a son; two daughters; a brother; and extended family.
1972 PHILIP J. MYERS, Bonita Springs, FL, died January 14, 2017. He had lived and worked in the Burlington area for a time after college, and in the 1980s worked in retail sales with F.J. Preston and Sons Jewelry in Burlington, and later as assistant manager at Jordan Marsh in Peabody, MA. He also lived for a time in Naples, FL. Philip is survived by two sons, a daughter, and two brothers.
1974 SAMUEL V. IORIO, JR., Lyndhurst, NJ, died June 1, 2017. Before retiring, Sam was a defense contractor for Honeywell in Teterboro, NJ, and previously worked in the defense department at Curtiss Wright Corp. in Wood Ridge and at the Bendix Corporation and Allied Signal in Teterboro. He was active in his parish, the Elks, and the Boy Scouts as a troop leader. He is survived by his wife, Kathleen; a son; and extended family.
1976 THOMAS G. MYERS,
Manchester, NH, died August 27, 2017. In 1988 he earned a master’s degree in applied management from Lesley College. Tom dedicated 40 years of service to Verizon Business Solutions, most recently as an accounts manager. He also was a coach and referee for youth and adult sports for many years, including basketball and
1982
GEORGE D. CHOLAKIS, Miami, FL, died October 8, 2017, from a heart attack. After Saint Michael’s, George attended St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, FL. He had lived in 1979 South Florida since 1986. After graduating law school he NANCY J. MORIN, Arlington/Agawam, MA, died immediately joined the Dade County State Attorney’s Office June 29, 2017. After Saint as a prosecutor and worked Michael’s she entered into the under then State Attorney pension management field, Janet Reno, who later became working in her career for U.S. attorney general. He MassMutual, John Hancock, successfully prosecuted several MetLife, and, most recently, AFC Pensions. She is survived high-profile cases in the Miami area, putting away violent by her partner, Paul Reimer; robbers and one of Miami’s two brothers; and extended most notorious drug gangs, family, including niece according a Miami news Amanda McGinty ’10. report, and later went into private practice as a criminal defense attorney. He was 1980 active in his parish — Miami’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral MARK F. LAWSON, Ticonderoga, NY, died July 28, 2017. — where he held various parish offices, frequently chaired the For the past 10 years he was annual St. Sophia Festival, and the director of risk management for the Rockford Center, did many acts of charity. He was an avid Miami Dolphins a mental health facility in Newark, DE. He once worked fan, and was at a game when he collapsed and died. He is at Albany Medical Center in survived by his wife, Linda; his Albany, NY, as a quality mother; a brother; a sister; and management consultant, as extended family. well as having done similar work at other hospitals in the Albany area. He was a member of the Fort Ticond1986 eroga Fife and Drum Corps and active in his parish, and MARGARET M. HARDING was always an avid hunter and VATTER, Barrington, RI, died sports enthusiast who loved September 28, 2017. An Lake George and the outstanding multisport Adirondacks. Proud of his athlete in high school, Maggie Irish heritage, he also was an also starred in soccer and ardent Notre Dame fan. volleyball at Saint Michael’s Mark is survived by two while majoring in elementary brothers; a sister, Sheila education. After college she Lawson ’83; and extended made a solo trip to Ireland, family. living in a hostel in Dublin
and working at a hotel for six months. Maggie worked for a time as an advertising account manager. She and her husband, Rob, had lived in Darien and Norwalk, CT; Succasunna, NJ; and then Barrington, where they had 19 years to enjoy their neighborhood beach on Narragansett Bay. She was an outstanding long-distance runner and enthusiastically learning to play golf. Maggie also was active in a craft group and the Rhode Island Country Club, and loved her several dogs. Her mother, two brothers, and a sister predeceased her. Besides her husband, Maggie is survived by three sons, two daughters, her father, a sister, and extended family.
previously lived in Allston, MA, according to a 2007 alumni questionnaire, and was married at that time. She earned a master’s degree in human resources at Suffolk University in 2007, with a work career that included serving as front desk manager at Boston’s Fairmont Copley Plaza in the 1990s, and subsequently, quality assurance manager for Sun International Resorts in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and manager of administrative services at Suffolk University in Boston. Information on survivors was not available.
2001
Farmington, NH, died August 8, 2017. Tommy was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout and altar boy in his youth and enjoyed several first-place finishes in the Scouts’ annual Pinewood Derby race; growing up near the ocean, he also was part of the Sea Scouting Program. He completed prep school at Bridgton Academy in Maine and earned his business degree from Saint Michael’s. His parents predeceased him. Tommy is survived by his best friend and companion, Aimee Richard, and extended family.
MARIELLE E. OLSEN, Lincoln, NH, died May 17, 2017, a reported drowning victim while swimming in the Pemigewasset River in New Hampshire. Most recently she was the social media and marketing manager for Trailjournals LLC. She also had been a ski racing instructor for five years at Mammoth Lakes, CA. She climbed all 48 New Hampshire 4,000foot mountains by age 11, and played high school and college soccer. She also was on the Saint Michael’s and Loon Mountain race teams, winning the Loon Mountain Governor’s Cup and several invitationals. She is survived by her parents, a sister, a brother, and extended family.
1992
2004
RACHEAL ANNE CAMPBELL, Mt. Dora, FL, died
DUSTIN J. HASELTON, Burlington, VT, died September 29, 2017. He attended
1989 THOMAS H. BAGSHAW,
February 25, 2017. She
IN MEMORIAM
baseball at the high school and Little League levels. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Patricia; a daughter; a son; a brother; three sisters; and extended family.
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IN MEMORIAM 66
Drew University before coming to Saint Michael’s. Over the years he worked for a number of social and progressive advocacy organizations in Vermont including TrueMajority, VPIRG, and Special Olympics Vermont. After struggling on and off with the disease of addiction for many years, Dusty was intent on becoming a counselor to help others in need and was taking courses toward this goal when he succumbed to his illness. He loved Phish, snowboarding, politics, literature, Maine, walking his dog in the woods, tennis, and irreverent humor. He is survived by his wife of nine years, Melinda; a daughter; his mother; an identical twin brother; two sisters; and extended family.
2008 MICHAEL AMALFITANO, Waterville, ME, died April 17, 2017. A Maine native, he lived in Portland, OR, and Seattle, WA, and loved doing hardscaping and photography. He is survived by his parents, a brother, a sister, his paternal grandfather, his maternal grandmother, and extended family.
M A S TE R ’ S DE G R E E G R A D U ATE S
M1 9 8 3 SISTER CLAIRE GUERIN, Methuen, MA, died April 23, 2017. After earning degrees from Rivier College and Saint
Michael’s, she worked for 21 years at Marie Joseph Spiritual Center of Biddeford, ME. She also taught at Catholic grammar school in Methuen and Chicopee for many years. She is survived by extended family.
M1991 ALFRED HARDESTY JR.,
Saxtons River, VT, died August 19, 2017. Born in Puerto Rico, he received degrees from Merrimack College, the University of Maryland, Syracuse University, Penn State, and Saint Michael’s; he worked as a teacher of ESL at World Learning in Brattleboro and Landmark College in Putney. He loved travel, music, languages, cooking, and collecting international cookbooks. Alfred is survived by two daughters, a sister, a half-sister, the mother of his children, and extended family.
M1993 BROTHER SHAWN MCENANY, S.C., Harrisville,
RI, died July 14, 2017. He entered the formation program of the Sacred Heart Brothers in 1979 while attending Providence College and formally entered the Institute in 1982, completing his novitiate in New Orleans and taking first vows in Rhode Island in 1983. He made his perpetual profession at the Brothers’ Chapel in Harrisville, RI, in 1991. After earning his history degree at Providence in 1984 he had a career teaching in Rhode
Island, Maine, and New Hampshire. During this period he earned his Saint Michael’s degree. He also studied for a social work degree at Rhode Island College and worked for a time as a licensed social worker. Health issues led him to retire from active ministry in 2014, and he aided his Rhode Island community in a variety of internal ministries, including his music and writing talents. He is survived by a sister and extended family.
FAC ULT Y, S TAF F, AND F RIENDS JOSEPH W. KROGER,
Burlington, VT, died July 19, 2017, due to complications of surgery. Joe had retired only in June 2017 from the Saint Michael’s religious studies faculty, which he served for more than 45 years. An Ohio native, Joe felt the call of priesthood as a young man and entered the novitiate of the Marianist Order, teaching at Chaminade High School in Dayton and graduating from the University of Dayton in 1964. These years fostered his natural musical talent singing in choruses, glee clubs, and barbershop quartets. After Dayton he did advanced studies at St. Louis University, obtaining a master’s degree in moral and pastoral theology in 1969 — all the while active in campus drama productions (in which he met his wife, Althea). The couple moved on to McMaster University in Ontario where Joe continued theological studies before being hired to teach at Saint
Michael’s. Over his long faculty career, Joe served stints as Religious Studies chair and moderator of the faculty council and taught Introduction to Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, bioethics, and liberation theology. In summer 1982 he completed his doctorate at McMaster. Joe was deeply committed to social justice, traveling frequently to Latin America beginning in the 1980s for intensive study of liberation theology and Mesoamerican culture. He also was active in Bread for the World and the Peace and Justice Coalition. His extensive travel with family also included Europe, particularly Poland where his wife taught for many years; the Middle East; and Japan. He enjoyed his northern Vermont lake houses, first in Eden, then on Lake Champlain. He loved guitar, reading, movies, and skiing, and had a pilot’s license. He also jogged three miles a day for many years. His wife of 43 years, Althea, died in 2012. Joe is survived by a son, a brother, two sisters, and extended family. MADELEINE P. RABIDEAU, Underhill Center, VT, died August 15, 2017, of corticobasal syndrome, a rare neurological disease. Madeleine worked for 26 years starting in 1988 as executive assistant to the Saint Michael’s vice president for academic affairs. After spending many younger years raising her family, Meggan (Roberge) Dulude ’07, a native of Rouses Point, NY, worked at Essex Health
England. She also was a freelance journalist and drama critic for the Burlington Free Press, Catholic Tribune, and Winooski Booster, and enjoyed oil painting, serving as superintendent of the Champlain Valley Exposition art exhibit for 13 years; in 2012, after a stroke, she started writing poetry. Pierrette was predeceased by husbands Edward Teter and Leo Roy, and by two sons. She is survived by three sons, a sister, and extended family.
PIERRETTE M. ROY, Winooski, VT, died May 17, 2017. She was office manager for the Society of St. Edmund at Saint Michael’s College from 1984 to 1991 and an ardent fan of Saint Michael’s Playhouse, attending opening nights for more than 60 years. She worked on the assembly line at General Electric’s Schenectady, NY, plant during World War II and at GE Burlington after moving to Vermont in 1952. Pierrette danced with the Schenectady Light Opera Company Corps de Ballet and was a window decorator for stores and banks. In Vermont, she and her husband owned Sunny Hollow Restaurant until 1963. She served the Colchester Fire District No. 1 in various leadership roles for many years. Pierrette cared for two boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: Tommy, who lived to age 15, and John, who lived to age 24. She loved flower arranging, working as a florist at three shops and often visiting major floral events and sites in New
VT, died August 22, 2017. Lefty, an ardent supporter of Saint Michael’s athletics teams and member of the campus Chapel worshipping community, including serving as a longtime usher, was a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant during the Korean and Vietnam wars, earning two Purple Hearts. He moved back to Vermont and enjoyed a successful sales career at W.W. Grainger. Upon retirement he followed his love of baseball and sold advertising for the Vermont Lake Monsters. Among his life’s “star” moments were playing minor league baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers system, and appearing on the I Love Lucy show (as a Marine drill sergeant) and Family Affair. Two sons predeceased him. Lefty is survived by his wife of 23 years, Rosa; four sons; a daughter; and extended family.
RALPH J. “LEFTY” GUILLETTE, Essex Junction,
MARY O’BRIEN, Shelburne, VT, died March 28, 2017. She worked as the College’s switchboard operator/
dispatcher for many years. Mary earned a nursing degree after high school but chose instead to return home to the Rutland area to care for her mother. She worked many jobs in her life, including at the old South Burlington Post Office. Her husband of 60 years, Robert F. O’Brien ’50, died in 2007. Mary is survived by two sons, including John O’Brien ’83; four daughters; a sister; and extended family. WILLIAM F. MEYER, Colchester, VT, died August 20, 2017. Bill had taught graduate-level accounting courses at Saint Michael’s as an adjunct. He had degrees from RPI and the University of Michigan, and served in the Army from 1958 to 1960, teaching technology and data processing in the service, including in England. He worked for IBM for 31 years in marketing and sales, retiring in 1992. He also taught at Trinity College and Community College of Vermont. Bill was predeceased by his wife of 48 years, Cynthia, and is survived by four daughters and extended family. LUCILLE S. YOUNGMAN, Winooski, VT, died October 15, 2017. She was a longtime employee of Sodexo at Saint Michael’s, having served the Edmundites for many years. She worked at GE Burlington before returning to the home to raise her family. She had lived in Burlington and Jericho. Lucille loved time spent at the family camp. Her husband, Howard, died in 2005. She is survived by three sons, two daughters, a brother, a sister, and extended family.
KENNETH W. THOMPSON, Charlottesville, VA, died February 2, 2013, the College learned recently. He received an honorary degree from Saint Michael’s College in 1973. Kenneth was a scholar of foreign relations and U.S. government who directed the University of Virginia’s Miller Center for two decades. He worked for the Rockefeller Foundation from the 1950s to the 1970s, including as vice president for international programs. He taught at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University before joining UVA in 1975. He wrote and edited numerous publications on public policy and foreign affairs, and held several endowed lectureships. His wife, Beverly, died in 1998. He was survived at the time of his death by three sons, a stepdaughter, and extended family. LAWRENCE “LARRY” LACLAIR, Middleburg, FL,
died June 18, 2017. An accomplished certified mechanic, he worked at Saint Michael’s College for over 20 years. After training as an auto technician at Burlington Technical Center, Larry served in the Army from 1972 to 1975 in Germany. He was certified as an ASE master mechanic for over 25 years. After Saint Michael’s, he worked for more than 20 years with FedEx in Vermont and Florida. He enjoyed boating and fishing. Larry’s wife of 38 years, Linda, died in 2015. He is survived by a son, a daughter, four brothers, a sister, and extended family.
IN MEMORIAM
Center before coming to Saint Michael’s, where she was deeply involved in the community until her 2014 retirement. She enjoyed snowmobiling, four-wheeling, and motorcycling through the Adirondacks, as well as travel (to Maui, the Caribbean, British Columbia, California, and other destinations), and was a skilled seamstress. She is survived by her husband of 44 years, Ronald; two daughters, Christine Battaglia ’95 and Jessica Miller ’04; two brothers; a sister; and extended family.
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I
am an artist with a storytelling addiction and my vocation is a great excuse to explore the human condition and tell some remarkable stories….My art is expressed in wood and steel and fabric; in positive and negative space; in light painting a stage; in drawing attention on stage and capturing the rhythm of the moment; in the selection of just the right prop for
these characters in this set of circumstances for this production; and my art is expressed in a
celebration of the interstitial silences left by performers on the stage but filled with a stage picture that embraces their work and words and takes it further than spoken word or gesture alone
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might….I work side by side with my students, as my teachers before me worked with me. In this way I am demonstrating for them the way forward as artists — I am holding a ladder for them to start climbing and inviting them to engage in the discipline I love. I have found that the theatre is where you may be called upon to exercise any of the disciplines taught at colleges and universities at any time. It is where the liberal arts are repeatedly applied. I use my understanding of literature and the historical zeitgeist to unpack and research a script; I use math constantly in drafting and building a show; I use optics to understand light and color theory — and practice…and don’t get me started on physics: It’s how we put things together and how we take them apart….Each of us as educators has the responsibility to be a role model for our students in our chosen fields — and they are watching us closely. We each have a responsibility to each other and to this institution, to work together in good faith toward a better tomorrow. Our students are the future of our field, and it is up to us to be prepared to hold the ladder to their future steady so that they can take those first few steps safely and with growing confidence. We keep faith with future users of our resources when we use them wisely; when we use them intentionally, not absentmindedly; when we use them conservatively. We have a responsibility to ourselves, to our communities, and to future generations to take good care of the resources we’ve inherited….We owe it to our students to hold the ladder for them as they embark on their adult lives and careers. I feel the need to be good stewards is an important lens through which we should continue to engage the moving target which is the future, which we cannot predict other than that it is coming.
From Professor of Fine Arts and Theater John Devlin’s 2017 Faculty Convocation Address, “Stewardship and the Arts; Holding the Ladder for the Next Generation” To watch a video from Faculty Convocation, visit: smcvt.edu/magazine
photo: “Sunrise of Feathers” by Jon Hyde & Kimberly Sultze
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