Winter 2008
90 Our Mailbag Overfloweth, Part II I’m still working through all the great announcements I received from the class lately. Not to worry, all news will get printed in this or coming issues! Kitima Boonvisudhi announced her engagement and is practicing medicine as a general surgeon in Victor NY. To the chagrin of us couch potatoes, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in ‘05, finished Ironman Lake Placid in ‘07 and is training for another Ironman in ‘09. Kitima has two "kids" - a black tomcat named Piggy and a yellow lab named Scooby. Aisling (Rigney) and Rick Fearon welcomed their third child, Caitlin Frances, on July 11th. Caitlin joins siblings Maggie (4) and Rich (2). Aisling recently moved to the shoreline community of Madison CT, where Rick is managing partner of Accretive Capital Partners and Aisling focuses on managing a growing household, having left GE Capital. Katie (Gruber) and Jim Courtney welcomed Neil Gruber Courtney on March 25th. Michael Sheedy reports that Larry Hughes, Stanfordite and internist with the Cleveland Clinic, married in April. Greg O'Leary represented Stanford Hall at the wedding. Eileen (Doherty) and Greg Stanecki welcomed baby Paul Doherty Stanecki in June ‘07. Paul joins siblings Claire, Daniel and Dana. Anne (Newett) Lewis has been keeping busy as a stay-at-home mom to Madeleine, Jack, and Clare in Arlington VA along with husband, Paul Lewis ('80, '83JD). Anne is gradually getting back into her old line of work (art therapy and teaching art to special needs kids). Anne ran the Marine Corps Marathon the last two years and will run the NYC Marathon in ‘08 to celebrate the big “4-0”. Melissa (Casper) Pless is still working for USA Today, but just transferred from Chicago to Rock Hill SC. Melissa’s two kids, Mikayla (8) and Noah (4) are excited about the move though the family will miss being only 2 hours from ND during football season. Vicki and John Lamson welcomed Casey on May 8th, joining big brother Jack, 3. John lives in Ithaca NY where he is the assistant dean for communications at Cornell University's College of Human Ecology. Linda (Romero) and Robert Black welcomed their third child, Hannah, on March 5th, joining siblings Christopher (8) and Matthew (6). Michael Henn and Kate Pampel '88 welcomed Michael Louis Henn III in October ‘07. He has enthusiastically joined his step-siblings Charlie (12) and Annie (11) in their home in Wilmette IL. Michael recently changed jobs from CFO at Brunswick New Technologies to executive vice president and senior partner of Navman Wireless Holdings LP, a fleet management and GPS solutions software company in Glenview IL. Bobby Kloska emailed the following: “I just observed the 5th anniversary of his original diagnosis of cancer and I’m still alive – so that is nice. I’ve had three occurrences in the past five years and am just completing recovery from the most recent stem cell transplant which took me out of commission for six months. My sister Mary Kloska (’99), was my donor. Margy and I have five children ages 11 and under. I am director of Ministry and Mission at Holy Cross College and teach intro-level philosophy and religion courses. I also helped found and run a Catholic radio station, Holy Radio AM 1580 in South Bend. Life has never been better. We live on North St. Peter St just 2/10 of a mile from campus, so tell any classmates that as long as they like children, they are most welcome to drop in at any time. Our door is always open and we’ve always got some cold beer in the fridge for old acquaintances that happen to be in the neighborhood and suddenly remember that they feel thirsty.” Tara (Cosacchi) Claeys lives in Arlington VA with husband Steve (’88). They have two children, Brian (11) and Erin (9). Brian is obsessed with ND! Tara has her own business doing graphic design, stationery and websites – www.cutenotecards.com. She was visited by ND classmate Ruth (Hanlon) Beier and her five children earlier this year when they came to see the Pope. Keli Bedics did her first-ever triathlon in Manassas VA, in June finishing 3rd in her age group! While scarfing down bananas after the race, Keli bumped into Dan Twomey, for whom this was just one of many triathlons. Jenny and Dan Molyneaux have 3 kids, Peter (10), Ellie (7), and John (6). Dan took over his father’s insurance business several years ago and currently lives in Davenport IA. Dan says he’s been incredibly blessed that his best employee for the last 12 years is also his father! Katherine and Peter Smith now have three young ND fans: Peter Jr. (5), Sarah (3), and Elizabeth (1). They live in his hometown of Wilmette IL. He is still working/teaching at the Univ of Chicago (and has shared a stage with Obama) as Developmental Pediatrician. John O'Loughlin emailed that good friend Tina (Pidgeon) and Tim Fitzpatrick just gave birth to her first child, Paige Pidgeon Fitzpatrick on June 24th. Kathleen (Burns) and Shawne Pierson welcomed Alexander James in ‘07, joining big brother Benjamin (7). Jilanne Barnes recently filmed the entire month of May in Kansas City on an independent kid’s movie (accompanied by her youngest child who was dubbed the B.O.S.S. - Baby on Set). Jilanne and husband Dr Rick Barnes have three children: Summer, (3), Sydney, (2) and Ricky (1). Missy (Irving) Higgins emailed that she’s in Clarendon Hills IL (Chicago suburbs) and the mother of five children: Tommy (8), Brigid (7), Rose (5), Jackie (4), and Brendan (2). Missy homeschools the kids and would be delighted to learn if any other classmates are homeschooling. Husband Jack is the political cartoonist for the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, so instead of fine art, their home is bedecked with famous political cartoons spanning a century! Dee Dee (Wroblewski) and Jack Brogan celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary this year. They were married at the Basilica on Oct 2nd ‘93. They are also both celebrating the painful "4-0" this year. Both major events will be enjoyed on a yacht in the British Virgins Islands. Dee Dee and Jack have 3 kids: Kate (11), Claire (8) and Patrick (4) and live in Valparaiso IN where Dee Dee is a partner in her Pediatric practice and Jack is a specialty pharmaceutical sales rep for Sanofi Aventis. Michelle (Mason) Erickson is happy to report that she and husband Chris now have a son Ryan (going on 1 year) joining big sister Abigail (3). Michelle works for GE Energy in Melbourne FL. “Life is hectic but good. :)” Julie and Dean Brackenridge announced the birth of their first child on June 5th in Indianapolis. Joseph McIntyre became CFO of Expo NM (the NM State Fair) in March. Joe and Carla are the proud parents of Ashley, Amanda, Audrey, Marissa, Mikayla, and the latest Madeline (born 4/1/08). Joe is accepting donations to support the six weddings in his future! Mollie Boylan and husband Jack welcomed son John Jude in December ‘07. His older sisters, Lillie (8) and Lucy (6) are completely smitten with him. Mollie teaches both daughters' catechism classes, and after 17 years as a licensed securities broker, she is returning to school to become a Certified Financial Planner. Mollie recently hosted roommate Kristy (Ferry) and Bill Farrell '88 visiting from Buffalo with their two beautiful children to celebrate Kristy's 40th. Another roommate, Julie (Hanrahan) Costello, lives less than 5 miles away from Mollie on Long Island with her husband, Tom, and their two girls and always looks forward to time spent with them, especially at the beach! Tina Pidgeon passed along that she and husband, Tim Fitzpatrick (non-Domer, but clearly having the Irish connection), welcomed daughter Paige on June 23rd. She attended her first game on September 27th against Purdue. Liz (Callaghan) lives in Indianapolis with husband Chris Cooke ('87) and children John (13), Claire (11), and Kevin (8). Liz is a trustee on the board of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis and models part-time for the Helen Wells Agency. When not attending one of the kids' sporting events, she plays tennis and rides horses for fun. Chris is the managing director of investments for Wachovia Securities. Liz went to San Francisco in May to visit Maureen (Nolan) Brown ('89) and was visited in Indy recently by Annette Quill and her new baby. Mary Jo (Fogerty) and Fritz Holzgrefe sent in news on a few Domers. They have been in Atlanta for the last two years and recently vacationed with Mary (Rielly) and Rob Hogan and their boys in Kiawah this past August. Kids Megan and Fritz IV attend school with Yvette (Ravy) and Rich Paris’ (‘86) kids - Joey, Jack, and Jimmy at Queen of Angels. In fact, Mary Jo and Yvette re-connected in car pool last fall. You can find a ND grad – anywhere. Meleah (Potter) and Chuck Follen are living in Minneapolis and have become true Northlanders. Chuck is a principal at Avanade Consulting and Meleah is the executive director of Gilda’s Club Twin Cities. Mary Jo also shared that Jackie (Uhll) Lyons and her three kids recently visited their cabin on Moose Lake and the door is always open for a fellow Domer. Sue (Schleiter) and Steve Lenz are in Barrington IL. Sue has two sons, Matthew (10) and Nicholas (6), and stays busy with volunteer work and substitute teaching. Rick Farley married in June (to a non-Domer) after popping the question at the Grotto during the ‘07 Georgia Tech football weekend. After 13 years in Chicago and 7 years with Motorola, Amy and Marty Demmings moved their 3 children, Jack (4), Emily (3), and Katie (10 months) to Portland OR to lead the supply chain at Merix, a printed circuit board manufacturer. They love the Pacific Northwest, but miss friends and family back in the Midwest. Anyone living in or visiting Portland is welcome to look them up! Emily and Matt Thiel welcomed their first child, Adam Peter, in July. Matt resides in High Point NC where he works for Wachovia Securities. Sadly, Joe Vierhile passed away this past September. Our class president, Patrick Olmstead, attended the visitation and sent flowers on behalf of the Class. Patrick said the visitation was quite humbling and that he would be hard-pressed to think of anyone who had so many visitors. There was a receiving line at least 200 people deep when Patrick arrived. Our prayers are with Joe’s spouse Charleen and children Benjamin, Ryan, and Josie. You are invited to visit www.leppertmortuary.com where you may share a memory of Joe, sign the guest book or make memorial contribution to St. Luke Catholic Church. Please visit Irish Online (www.alumni.nd.edu) to ensure you have a current email address listed. Email will be my primary communication method as our 20th Reunion approaches. -- Chris Paul; chrispaul@alumni.nd.edu, http://1990.undclass.org |