Class Notes

Notices received from Aug. 23-Sept. 29, 2017

1955

Marilyn Busekros Schueneman is participating in a statewide effort to end gerrymandering in Michigan. The group, called Voters-Not Politicians, is collecting 450,000 signatures to allow a vote on a constitutional amendment for a non-partisan citizens’ committee to redistrict after the 2020 census.

1956

Bill Park was inducted into the Quad Cities Senior Olympics Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Iowa Senior Games Hall Fame in 2016. He has competed in the javelin, discus, sprints and basketball events in the past, and continues to participate in selected events.

1961

Ralph Peterson and Jean Aronson ’63 Peterson are proud to announce that their oldest grandson, Ralph Oscar Peterson-Veatch, is a first-year student at Augustana this fall. Their seventh grandchild, Malin Peterson, was born in June 2017. He is the son of Nils Peterson ’97.

1963

Jean Aronson Peterson and Ralph Peterson '61 are proud to announce that their oldest grandson, Ralph Oscar Peterson-Veatch, is a first-year student at Augustana this fall. Their seventh grandchild, Malin Peterson, was born in June 2017. Malin is the son of Nils Peterson ’97.

Dave Rydell will be inducted into the Order of Lincoln in 2018. It is the state of Illinois' highest honor for professional achievement and public service.

1966

Marcia Anderson Wetzel was elected president of the American Scandinavian Association at Augustana for 2017-18.

1970

Naomi Hahn will retire at the end of this current academic year after 36 years at Illinois College. She is the A. Boyd Pixley Professor of Humanities (English).

1972

Gail Jackson Steele retired after 43 years at Morris Hospital.

1973

Edward Melvin was elected president of the Central Chapter of the Society of Nuclear Medicine.

1974

Paul Guse retired from the Rock Island County (Illinois) Health Department after 41 years, most of which he served as environmental health director.

1975

Al Weir retired on June 1, 2017.

1977

Eileen Anderson Herrstrom retired from the Geology Department of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the end of 2016. She is an editor for American Journal Experts. She has two children and two grandchildren.

Joe Thompson was featured in the Quad City Times on Sept. 10, 2017, highlighting his success in athletics as a participant, coach and administrator.

1978

Dr. Gerald Unhold retired after 23 years from North County Oral and Facial Surgery Center, which he founded.

1980

Bryan Paulsen retired from John Deere on Nov. 30, 2016, after 37 years of service.

1981

Mary Anderson Passini retired in May 2017 after 30 years of teaching elementary and middle-school children. She retired to Colorado to enjoy hiking in the mountains and to be closer to her family.

1987

Lynette Skow Rasmussen and her husband, Kurt, received the 2017 YMCA Service to Youth Award, which is the highest honor bestowed by the YMCA of Greater Des Moines.

1989

Matt Ratzer is the Senior Project Account, International Projects at IA Interior Architects in Seattle, Wash.

1991

Katy Hulin Hasson is the principal at Rockridge Junior High and High School in Taylor Ridge, Ill. She was elected to an at-large position on the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors, serving a three-year term.

1992

John Allemeier was promoted to the rank of full professor on July 1, 2017. He is a professor of music in the College of Arts and Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he has been a faculty member since 2006.

1993

Paula Anderson Nimrick was promoted to corporate cost accounting manager at McLaughlin Body Company in March 2017.

1994

Jennifer Tucker McCutcheon teaches fifth-grade science in Goodyear, Ariz.

1995

Chris Simmons is the business services program manager for TheRide and director of the getDowntown Program in Ann Arbor, Mich.

1997

Kathryn Konecky Meyer is in her third year of coordinating the Augustana Student Medical Reserve Corps on campus, in association with the local health department.

1998

Patrick Fitzgerald had a daughter, Charlize Erin, on March 1. (Lindsay; Kinsley, 8, and Kennedy, 6).

Amanda Wolff married Myles Hayes on July 16, 2017.

2000

Amy Birr Lee opened a private optometry practice, Accurate Family Vision, in July 2015.

Jonathan Pugh is the assistant director, technology and programs, at Give Something Back.

2001

Elizabeth Decker had a daughter, Belle Decker, on Sept. 25, 2015.

2002

Amanda Cole Lawhon had a son, Berg Michael Lawhon, on May 21, 2017 (Travis; Bjorn, 1).

Mike Russo had a son, Alexander Michael Russo, on March 31, 2017 (Heather; Anneliese Russo, 2).

Elizabeth Woodworth had a son, Zachary Alexander Woodworth Tymonko, on March 29, 2017.

2003

Kyle Carlson had a son, Logan John Carlson, on Jan. 24, 2017 (Jenna; Lily, 5).

2004

Robyn Matzen White had a daughter, Annemarie Michelle White, on April 5, 2016 (Billy).

2005

Erin Bertram married Marissa Wolfe in May 2017. She is a Ph.D. candidate in creative writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Kristin Beil Cowgill had a son, William, on Sept. 14, 2016. She is an occupational therapist with Denver Public Schools.

Matt Laufenberg is the head swimming coach at St. Francis High School.

Emily Antonides Zettergren had a son, Easton Paul, on June 25, 2017 (Eric; Camden, 2).

2006

Kristene Pinkston Anderson had a daughter, Madelyn, on Nov. 29, 2016 (Joel).

Lindsey Bean Kampwerth had a son, Jerome Allen Kampwerth, in March 2017 (Jerod; Willa). She is director of assistive technology at Paraquad in St. Louis.

Misty Blomquist Szewczyk had a son, Benson Miller Szewczyk, on Dec. 28, 2016 (Jonathan; Elliette).

John VandeWalle, who makes metal sculpture, was a featured artist at the 2017 Riverssance Festival of Fine Art in Davenport, Iowa.

2008

Meagan Bicker Ackerman had a son, Owen Daniel Ackerman, on May 1, 2017.

Ben ’09 and Cambria Cook Krueger had a son, Crosby Earl, on April 18, 2017 (Cora, Cole).

2009

Parker and Meghan Leahy Caby had a son, Henry Garrison Caby, on July 11, 2017.

Matt and Kayla Alden ’10 Hiett had a daughter, Margaret Allison Hiett, in June 2017.

Hannah Petitt Hodgson and Michael Hodgson had a daughter, Olive Marie, on May 3, 2017. She is a bilingual speech-language pathologist in CCSD#15, Palatine, Ill.

Stephanie Hortsman married Ed Suerth on April 29, 2017. She received a master's of education in curriculum and instruction from National Lewis University on Sept. 15, 2017. She is a teacher in the Oak Park (Ill.) School District.

Ben and Cambria Cook ’08 Krueger had a son, Crosby Earl, on April 18, 2017 (Cora, Cole).

Brittany O'Brien married Brian Mendoza in January 2017. She is an ESL teacher at Conant High School in Schaumburg, Ill. She received her master’s in ESL from Concordia University.

Kara Wiseman Palmer had a son, Hudson James Palmer, on Nov. 18, 2016.

Craig Riley earned his MBA from Aurora University in 2015. He is a product development manager at Barco Products. He had a son, Mason, in 2016 (Parker).

2010

Amanda Plucker Flynn had a son, Thomas Joseph, on May 1, 2017 (Joseph).

Jennifer Zullo Gutierrez earned her MBA from Benedictine University in June 2017.

Matt ’09 and Kayla Alden Hiett had a daughter, Margaret Allison Hiett, in June 2017.

Monica Seif Mercer had a daughter, Willow Marie Mercer, in April 2016 (Jon). She is a fourth-grade teacher in the Putnam City School District in Oklahoma.

Stephanie Dilling Schmid completed a master’s in mathematics with a focus on community college education. She is a math teacher with Davenport Community Schools.

2011

Eric Hanson married Carina Schiltz on July 25, 2015. He received a Master of Divinity degree from Wartburg Theological Seminary on May 15, 2016. On November 19, he was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the ELCA. He serves as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Andover, Iowa.

Ashley Kemp and Jordan Lohrens were married in October 2014. They had a son, Corbin, in August 2017.

Brittany Murphy and Tom Marsden were married on Nov. 12, 2016.

Lindsey Nicolaysen received her master's from Northern Illinois University in 2016. She is a web developer for Calamos Investments in Naperville, Ill.

Becca Noffsinger is a product designer at SpringCM in Chicago.

2012

Alexa Fontana married Evan Talbert on April 12, 2016. She is director of marketing for Frank Jewelers.

Catherine Foreman married Cullen Hesterberg on Sept. 9, 2017.

Amy Moon married Kevin Pettit on June 17, 2017.

2013

Emily Kitterman celebrated two years as a district executive with the Boy Scouts in Northern Illinois in July 2017. She is now a development manager with Playworks Indiana.

Jennesa Miller graduated with a Ph.D. in physical therapy from Northern Illinois University in May 2017. She married Derrick Atherton on Sept. 23, 2017.

Bryn Spejcher graduated from Washington University School of Medicine with a Ph.D. in audiology. She is a senior audiologist with the UCLA House Children’s Hearing Center, working in clinics in Thousand Oaks and Los Angeles.

2014

Emily Butts graduated from National Louis University with a master’s in curriculum and instruction, with a concentration in bilingual/ESL.

Ryan McAuliffe earned his master’s in biomedical sciences at Midwestern University, Downers Grove, Ill., in May 2017. He attends medical school at Midwestern University, Glendale, Ariz.

2015

Madison Neece completed two terms of national service with AmeriCorps in the Twin Cities, and is now the community programs coordinator at Great Rivers United Way in LaCrosse, Wis.

Elizabeth Rizzi earned her master’s in speech pathology from Illinois State University in May 2017. She is a speech-language pathologist at Mid-Valley Special Education Cooperative in St. Charles, Ill.

2016

Linnea Ritchie is a second-year Ph.D. student in the biology department at Syracuse University. She is studying bacterial natural products and their expression in non-native hosts.

Sara Ruzevich is pursuing her Master of Social Work from Aurora University. She is a caseworker at PLOWS Council on Aging.

Robert Scott works in marketing and talent at Moore Colson CPAs and Advisors, Atlanta.

Deaths

Notices received from Aug. 23-Sept. 29, 2017

Marilyn Sandberg ’49 Olson on June 16, 2017.

Jack Trethewey ’50 on Sept. 12, 2017.

Richard Scherling ’51 on July 23, 2017.

Russell Bolm ’54 on Sept. 17, 2017.

Donald Miller ’54 on Aug. 7, 2017.

Joan Sieb ’55 on March 30, 2017.

Mary McQuaid ’57 on Aug. 28, 2017.

Robert Viliunas ’61 on Aug. 7, 2017.

Edward Loussaert ’63 on Sept. 24, 2017.

Karen Hart ’64 on March 4, 2017.

Donald Hoornstra ’64 on May 27, 2017.

Ronald Hennick ’70 on April 7, 2016.

Linda Markward ’72 on Aug. 14, 2017.

Walter Michna ’72 on Sept. 20, 2017.

Daniel Drosopoulos ’75 on Sept. 11, 2017.

Kathleen Koski ’81 on Aug. 9, 2017.

Javier Perez ’97 on Aug. 2, 2017.