CLASS NOTES

CLASS NOTES 2019-2020

1950s

Daniel Hays ’54 is a recipient of Office of the Order of Canada (O.C.) for his contributions to the Province of Alberta and for his distinguished public service, notably as Speaker of the Senate. Congratulations Daniel!

1970s

Congratulations to Paul Storwick ’78, recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award. Celebration and presentation to take place at the annual Alumni Dinner, Thursday, May 6, 2021.

1980s

Robert Hayter ’80 recently retired from a long career in the aviation industry which has taken him all over the world. He continues to play music as a semi-pro drummer, some alumni may remember him tapping away on desks as a teenager. Robert is married to Jacqueline and they have four grown-up children. Robert and his family live just outside London near Guildford.

Elizabeth Peters ’81 has been appointed the Board Chair for the Calgary Foundation.

Colin Taylor ’82 welcomed two grandsons in 2019, Dominic in April and Felix in June. Great-grandsons for retired faculty Bill Taylor and his wife Olivia.

Catherine (Leach) Andrews ’85currently works as a registered nurse in Richmond, BC as an advanced practice palliative care nurse. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been supporting her colleagues and front-line nurses in Home and Community Care to prepare families to have difficult conversations about end-of-life planning and the impact that COVID-19 could have on their loved ones who are already living with life-limiting illnesses. Alex Aspinall ’86, feels privileged to be a part of a team of courageous medical professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic and says the bravery of the patients is inspirational.

Jamie Clarke ’86 and son Khobe unplugged from technology last year and set out on an adventure to motorbike across Mongolia. Jamie participated in our Spartan Talk webinar this spring and shared an inspirational message of resilience and courage with our School community.

Congratulations to Jeff Kahane ’89 and Samantha Descoteaux on their engagement. Jeff led a webinar ‘Estate Planning 101’ for our STS Community in May.

1990s

Congratulations to Shaun O’Brien ’90 on receiving the Nil Nisi Optimum Notable Alumni award at STS’ Homecoming Celebration on September 21, 2019. Shaun is a judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario in Toronto.

Congratulations to Matthew Bromwich ’93 who received the Nil Nisi Optimum Notable Alumni award at STS’ Homecoming Celebration September 21, 2019. Dr. Bromwich is an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Ottawa and a surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Leigh Blakely ’95 of C&B Advertising worked with the Calgary Stampede to produce the video ‘We'll Ride Again’ with the help of STS alumnus, Mike Little ’94 of Shine Light Entertainment.

J.J. Hoffman ’95 started a new position as Chief Executive Officer at Project Warmth Society of Alberta and is also CEO of Operation Kickstart Society of Alberta.

Jan Jaffer ’97, and wife Ayesha and son Zidan are thrilled to announce the arrival of their second boy, Qaiyum Jaffer born on April 21, 2020. Radha Ruparell '97 shares a powerful and personal story of living with COVID-19 and encourages people to stay safe and stay strong in these unprecedented times. The article is available to read on www.medium.com and is called, What No One Tells You About Having COVID-19.

Sheena Lambert ’97 is playing a part in the large effort by Helping Alberta group of volunteers working with community and industry partners to source life-saving Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers in Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sandra Engstrom ’98, Lecturer at University of Stirling in Scotland wrote an article, Community resilience in the time of COVID-19, in hopes to provide a better understanding of how to get through this pandemic.

2000s

Congratulations to Graham Birt ’01 on receiving the Sovereign Volunteer Medal in the fall 2019. He was nominated for this prestigious award by the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Latif Jamani ’01, Hanif Gilani ’02, Oisin O'Keane '02, Fatimah Gilani ’03, Naheed Jivraj ’08 and Ashiana Jivraj ’11 joined together with the Kenyan Red Cross, local businesses and well wishers from around the world, to support communities in Western Kenya that were affected not only by COVID-19, but recent changes in weather patterns that left thousands of families displaced due to flooding rivers. Rajen Ruparell ’01 , executive chairman and co-founder of Endy, donated mattresses to frontline workers at BC Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Natalie Sweett ’01 , husband Curtis and daughter Georgie are thrilled to announce the arrival of son Lincoln Alexander Millar on May 10, 2020.

Kim (Sproule) Willoughby ’02 is the CAS Coordinator at John G. Diefenbaker High School in Calgary and during COVID-19 has been participating in a ‘CAS at Home’ Challenge with her students. As part of this challenge, Kim has been teaching free virtual dance fitness classes. Congratulations to Mike Woodward ’02 and wife Claire Oberhofer on the arrival of their daughter, Reese Elizabeth Woodward, born May 11, 2020.

Jon Zwiers ’02 and wife Arielle welcomed their first child, Sophie, born on December 7, 2019. Jon graduated from Haskayne School of Business at U of C this spring with his Executive MBA.

Jason Fong ’03 is the incoming President of the STS Alumni Association this fall. Halley Carcasole ’04 married Dave Auger August 24, 2019. Alexandra McFarlane ’04 and husband Jan are thrilled to announce the arrival of their second child, a boy, Jovan Sweg McFarlane Deol, born July 10, 2020.

Congratulations to Don Robertson ’04 and wife Kristen on the arrival of their first child, Emily, on April 11, 2019. Congratulations to Curtis Wettstein ’04 and wife Robin on the arrival of their daughter, Isabel Sherwood, born January 31, 2020. Congratulations to Jeremy Ho ’05 and his wife Josephine on their marriage, May 18, 2019. Jeremy participated in a Spartan Talk webinar this spring focused on entrepreneurship and business. Bryson Le ’05 and wife Kim and son Harrison are thrilled to announce the arrival of their second son Griffin Jamie Le, born on March 26, 2020.

Congratulations to Rosh Sethi ’05 on completing his fellowship in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology and Microvascular Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Michigan. Rosh will be joining the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery faculty at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital this fall.

Congratulations Roshan Sethi ’05 on his graduation from the Harvard Radiation Oncology Residency Program. Roshan accomplished this while also co-creating a hit TV show, The Resident (on FOX). He will be joining the Radiation Oncology faculty at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital this fall.

Morgan Setka ’05 and husband, Andrew Snow, welcomed their second child, Ethan William Snow,

on April 23, 2020.

Congratulations to Laura Sweett ’05 and husband Jon Strome on the arrival of their son, Nash Archer Strome-Sweett, May 15, 2020, delivered by midwife, Paige (Gaynor) Layden ’05.

Anshul Ruparell ’06, Co-Founder and CEO of Properly, a company changing the way Canadians buy and sell homes, was recently interviewed by Craft and Crew.

Mark Le Dain ’08 and wife Meredith welcomed their first child, a son, Alexander Peter Le Dain, born on May 19, 2020.

Congratulations to Kat (Storwick) Mosswick ’08 and husband Will on the arrival of their daughter, Grace on April 1, 2020.

Saaraa Premji ’08, a Masters of Architecture student at U of T, was recently featured on the Architecture, Landscape and Design website, which is quite an honour. Saaraa has returned to Calgary to intern at Sturgess Architecture. Congratulations to Taylor Kitchen ’09 and Sydney McLauchlan on their engagement.

Leah Van Sant ’09 has completed a threeyear residency at Western University in London, Ontario and graduated with a Master of Clinical Dentistry degree, specializing in Orthodontics. She looks forward to moving home to practice in Calgary.

2010s

Shazia Samanani ’10 Internal Medicine doctor in Toronto who while helping patients, contracted the Covid-19 virus. Shazia wrote a passionate piece asking others to stay home and follow social distancing to keep everyone safe, especially health care workers who are putting their lives on line to help sick people.

Congratulations to Hayley (Gaynor) Finley ’11 and husband Brett on the arrival of their daughter, Scout, on May 15, 2020. Emma Fu ’11 graduated with her MD and begins anesthesiology training at Case Western Reserve University in July 2020.

Emma Garforth-Bles ’11 , started her Master of Arts in Environmental Education & Communication in July at Royal Roads University.

Tamara Itani ’11 opened the HAT School of Design in southwest Calgary - a contemporary and airy space that shows her love of colour, attention to detail and classic fashions.

Congratulations to Sarah Jackson ’11 and Geoff Gross on their marriage August 24, 2019 which took place in Chester, Nova Scotia.

Congratulations to Louis ’11 and Ashley ’11 (Itzcovitch) Libin on the arrival of their daughter, Mila Sydney Libin, born February 13, 2020.

Carter Bryant ’12 graduated with her BSc in Nursing from U of C in spring 2020 and is working for Alberta Health Services. She also has a BSc degree in Zoology. Congratulations to Michael Goodchild ’12 and Annelise Knoot on their engagement. Congratulations to Rebecca McCreedy ’12 and Mark McLellan on their marriage which took place June 10, 2020 at Fraser River Lodge in Agassiz, BC. Congratulations to Govind Peringod ’12 and Gayathri Iyer on their engagement.

Sydney Bullen ’13 completed a degree in Human Nutrition at St. Francis Xavier before pursuing nursing at UBC. She is now a Registered Nurse working in the inpatient medical unit at BC Children’s Hospital. Darcy Foo ’13 received his RCAF Pilot’s Wings this past fall and joined the maritime helicopter community at 443 Squadron in Victoria. Maddie Milne-Ives ’13 graduated spring 2020 with her MSc (Experimental Psychology) from the University of Oxford, and works as a Research Assistant in the Paediatrics Department of the University of Oxford hospital as part of the Digitally Enabled PrevenTative Health (DEPTH) Research Group. Justin Nadeau ’13 has successfully defended his MA thesis 'How the Mithraeum of the Mithraic Cult Functioned as Sacred Space in Rome' at U of C and will begin the PhD program at University College Cork in Ireland this fall.

Taryn Plater ’13 played the lead role of Marta in the UBC Opera The Passenger earlier this year.

Tynan Stack '13 and fellow UBC graduate and PhD Engineering students developed a simple, low-cost COVID-19 ventilator that may very well save lives. He graduated from UBC with a Mechanical Engineering degree and during school, was involved in building and racing human powered submarines to varsity track and field. Tynan works at TRIUMF building the upgrade for the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron

Collider at CERN.

Congratulations to Randi Thorbjornsen ’13 and Blair Harty on their marriage August 10, 2019 which took place in Okotoks. Along with Randi, STS alumni included: Maid of Honour – Cassandra Thorbjornsen ’11 , Groomsman – Daniel Passingham ’13, Toast to the Bride was given by Robin Tidswell ’87, and guests included, Jonathon Young ’08, Samantha Young ’09, Michael Tidswell ’63, Robert Young ’53, mother of the bride – Tracy Thorbjornsen ’85 and grandmother of the bride, Sandy Tidswell, past Board member.

STS Alumni family, Bruce and Cindy Urban and son Brandon ’13, of Western RV Country donated trailers to health-care workers needing to self-isolate away from families

Michael Bruhjell ’15 is working at Microsoft in Seattle as Program Manager.

Stephanie Feldman ’15 graduated from U of C with a degree in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies and a minor in Psychology with Distinction.

Ainsley MacDougall ’15 graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Food and Resource Economics from UBC. While there, she led and represented students as a Senator in the UBC Vancouver Senate, and as a Senior Student Ambassador, helping manage a group of 50 campus representatives. Ly-Anh Reid ’15 is taking her Masters in Kinesiology at University of Alberta, researching exercise during pregnancy at the Program for Pregnancy and Postpartum Health. Congratulations to Teaghan Stack ’15 who graduated with two degrees from the University of Notre Dame, one in Mechanical Engineering and the

other in Industrial Design. Rebecca Clark ’16 graduated this spring from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Environmental Science and a Certificate of Business from Smith School of Business. She has returned to Calgary to work as Client Experience Lead with Vesta Wealth Partners. Congratulations to Liz Dayo ’16 who is off to Med School this fall at U of C. Liz was featured on CBC News in June and credits her mentors at STS, as their support in her education was instrumental to her recent achievement.

James Dick ’16, B. Com, Finance, BA, Economics (Honours) at Haskayne School of Business at U of C, co-founded a student-led impact investing fund called the Calgary Social Value Fund.

Imaan Kherani ’16 and U of T medical students helped organize a group of classmates to help front-line health-care workers with child care, groceries and other errands during COVID-19.

Congratulations to alumna, Chanel Fu ’17 and her band, cutsleeve, on receiving a grant to further their musical talents. Chanel is entering her fourth year of studying Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Toronto.

Congratulations to Michaela Ralph ’17 and Tristyn Butler ’16 on their engagement. Tristyn was very active in athletics at STS and this is how they met and started dating.

Congratulations to Arzina Jaffer ’18 on receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Citizenship Medal for her outstanding commitment to volunteerism and her community.

Jyoti Ruparell ’18 is an Ambassador for the World Literacy Foundation and was invited to attend the World Literacy Summit at Oxford University in April.

Brynne Stewart ’18 is studying Molecular Biology at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. She is involved with the Biological Society and has been elected as School of Biology President for 2020-21. Cole Shaigec ’19 received the 2019 Governor General’s Academic Medal in fall 2019, awarded to the Grade 12 student who achieves the highest academic average from Grade 11 and 12 courses as listed on the student’s official transcript of grades issued by the Ministry of Education. Ben Spilak ’19 along with classmate Mason Shopperly ’19 collected cans and bottles this summer to raise funds to support Kids Cancer Care. Ben was recruited as a volunteer and was scheduled to go to camp this summer. When camp was canceled due to COVID-19, he organized a drive to raise much-needed funds.

FORMER STAFF

Sandy Orsten and wife Margaret vacationed in Europe this past fall, enjoying a river cruise on the Danube in celebration of their anniversary.

Helen Harper, while hiking in Yellowknife with her sister in August 2019, bumped into Rachel Bond ’97, who had cycled with her husband Ben from Yellowknife to

the trailhead.

Lydia Hawkins, Debbie and Oliver are thrilled to announce the safe arrival of Penelope Jean ‘Poppy’ Hawkins April 28, 2020.