Class Notes

Notices received as of June 30, 2020.

1986

Venessa Taylor, a teacher at Rock Island High School, will be celebrated by the YWCA Quad-Cities for her efforts in standing up against racism. She will be honored October 24 as part of the second Race Against Racism race and event in downtown Rock Island, Ill.

1991

Jerry Jones, executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, will be celebrated by the YWCA Quad-Cities for his efforts in standing up against racism. He will be honored October 24 as part of the second Race Against Racism race and event in downtown Rock Island, Ill.

1995    

Amy Martin and her podcast Threshold won a Peabody Award, one of the top awards for journalism. Threshold's season three, The Refuge, won for its coverage of the controversy of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Peabody jurors wrote, “This five-part series examines the battle for the future of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and opens up into a superb account of environmental activism, Alaskan Native rights, and the politics of oil and gas exploration.”

2002

Athena Gilbraith, early education specialist and Iowa regional organizing coordinator, Swing Left, will be celebrated by the YWCA Quad-Cities for her efforts in standing up against racism. She will be honored October 24 as part of the second Race Against Racism race and event in downtown Rock Island, Ill.

2004    

Nick Stafford had a daughter, Derby Rose Stafford, on Jan. 1, 2019 (Jessica; Maximus and Gunner). He is a talent acquisition specialist at JX Enterprises, Inc.

2007    

Rebecca White Gavillet and Dan Gavillet had a daughter, Julia Margaret, on Oct. 18, 2019. Rebecca earned a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy from the University of Texas at Austin this year.

2011    

Tim Faith was featured in the June-July 2020 issue of Chicago Magazine. He is the cross-brewing manager for Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago.

Shira Lambert Parks received her DVM from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine this year.

2016    

John and Caroline McPherson Swiderski had a daughter, Blaire Catherine Swiderski, on May 8, 2020.

Danielle Schneider received her DVM from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine this year. She is an associate veterinarian at VCA Noyes Animal Hospital in Fox River Grove, Ill.

Deaths

Notices received as of June 30, 2020.

R. Joan Erickson ’45 Swedberg on June 8, 2020.

Gertrude (Trudy) Lundblad '48 Ness on May 16, 2020.

Josephine Boyd ’62 on May 28, 2020.

Virginia Hanson ’68 Murray on April 6, 2020.    

Lance Patton ’82 on June 5, 2020.

Brad Fryer ’83 on June 21, 2020.

Timothy Hall ’97 on June 2, 2020. 

Lauren Hoffman ’14 on June 18, 2020.