Spring 2009
90 Our Mailbag Overfloweth, Volume III Megan Hanley recently left Esurance in San Francisco after 7+ years to take on the role of general manager of Windows & WindowsLive Marketing at Microsoft in Seattle. Megan’s old roommate, Carolyn (Rey) Brennan and good friends Guy & Barb Weismantel gave her a very warm welcome. G. Javier Cavazos is married with two children and practicing podiatry. Javier specializes in cryosurgical techniques in the foot and his work has been highlighted in several medical journals, as well as the Wall Street Journal. Tony McHale has taken a new job with Career Builders in Chicago, while Anne (Schlaffman) McHale is senior regional counsel for IBM, managing a group of professional negotiators and lawyers. Kids Patrick and Eliza are doing well. Tony's current claim to fame is that he made it to all three Triple Crown races this year. John Krotzer is closing in on his fourth year in Shanghai as director for Altra Industrial Motion. John and Tania enjoy living in Asia and kids Agnieszka, Malina, and Dominik even speak fluent Chinese! John hosted Fr. Jenkins on his last trip to China, and occasionally meets with Domers coming to Shanghai for work. Andrea Rogers and husband Donnie are in their 16th year of running a thriving motion media company in South Bend. Both volunteer with AFS-USA, a foreign exchange student organization, while Andrea teaches a video production class at SMC and keeps honeybees. The Sports Business Journal, the sports industry's version of the Wall Street Journal, honors the forty most accomplished individuals across the sports industry under the age of forty through a program called the "Forty Under 40". Scott Paddock was fortunate enough to receive this prestigious industry honor in 2008. Congrats, Scott! Cheryl Leslie still works for P&G in Cincinnati. Fourteen years ago she adopted her nephew, Avery, after the death of her sister. A marathon runner, Cheryl’s current passion is tennis - she thanks the “mandatory” PE requirement at ND for kicking off a commitment to lifelong physical fitness. Therese (Chmielowiec) and Gary Blacketor live in South Bend with two sons Billy and Michael. Therese is a stay-at-home mom and involved in various animal welfare initiatives. For the past eight years, they have hosted a bed & breakfast in their home on ND football weekends. If you need a place to stay next season, Therese can house up to 10 at very reasonable rates (you can find Therese’s contact info on Irish Online). Due to the continuing gas crisis, John Whelpley sold his second car and bikes to work every day along the Washington & Old Dominion bike trail in Virginia (a 13-mile roundtrip). Eric Holloway writes that he has been in the Denver area for the past 15 years since earning an MBA at the Univ of Colorado. He and his wife Emily have two sons, Luke (2) and Will (4). He works at Wachovia Securities as a financial advisor in Broomfield. In 2007, he organized a local football game watch that, like the season, got off to hopeful start with over 30 alums and family. Dan Fahey is working on his PhD at UC Berkeley on the political economy of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was recently in Uganda and the Congo for eight months doing field research, and is now starting his dissertation. Interestingly, Dan saw many ND hats and jackets in the Congo, often in very random places; they travel there in bundles of donated clothing. Dan sent a photo of him holding a ND hat that blew off the head of a passing motorcyclist in the town of Butembo, DR Congo. “The driver didn’t stop, but I walked into the road to pick up the hat, and to my surprise it was for the Fighting Irish!” (Check out Dan’s picture at www.1990.undclass.org). Cindy (Bates) Hackl checked in from Golf IL (near Chicago). She is a stay-at-home mom with her husband and two children, Claire (6) and Vincent (4). Tim Flood, president of Smart Resources, Inc. took a short sabbatical from the business he started 14 years ago to record an album (alternative rock is the closest category) that he’s been writing on and off the last couple of years. It's somewhat biographical. Friends can email Tim (tim@smartstaffing.com) and he’ll be happy to send a copy when it's finished. Kevin Flynn is living in Naperville IL and plans to stay there for quite some time (Naperville was just rated 3rd best place to live in the US by Money magazine). Kevin and Kathleen (Mone) Flynn (JD'94) had their 4th boy, Daniel Philip on May 20th, joining older brothers Ryan (8), Colin (7) and Jack (7). Kevin is working for Olenick & Associates, a software testing and consulting firm. Kevin’s older boys are starting junior football (pads /helmets) this year – hopefully a future Irish player in the bunch! Kevin headed back to ND for the Stanford game and marched in the alumni band with about 1,000 other band alumni. Joe Vitacco has been working as a recruiter for Ajilon Finance for 7 years with his boss, Ted Fitzgerald. Joe also pursues a pipe organ CD business/hobby with fellow Domers Ray Petrino ('98) and Dan Madden ('03). Patrick Russell married Heather Rakoczy ('93) this past June after meeting on catholicsingles.com. They were married at the Basilica followed by a South Dining Hall reception and a honeymoon in Belize - scuba diving, riding zip lines through the rain forest canopy, spelunking, fishing, and hunting coconuts. While dating, Patrick was rector of Fischer and O'Hara-Grace Graduate Residences (‘04-‘07) and Heather was rector of Pangborn (‘98-‘05). Currently, Patrick is a lead consultant with Press Ganey in South Bend and Heather is the founding director of the Gender Relations Center, now beginning its fifth year as the newest department in ND's division of Student Affairs. The couple recently purchased their first home on East Angela Boulevard, setting up camp in prime tailgate territory. While riding across Iowa (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa - RAGBRAI) in July ‘08 as part of the Air Force's Cycling Team, Keli Bedics bumped into classmate Mark Zeller, former AFROTC classmate and officer who is now a civilian lawyer in Minnesota! Tom Crehan is a writer and producer in Hollywood and after years of effort and several sold but unproduced pilots finally got a show on the air. “Hurl” debuted in July on G4 network and is a reality TV game show and a satire of sorts on reality television. Tom also does play-by-play & color commentary for the show as it plays like a real sporting event. Denise (Dauplaise) and John Eisenreich are happy to report they’ve added twin daughters to their family in August ’07 (a picture is on the class website). Being an identical twin herself, having fraternal twins was a bit surprising! Tatum Regina and Brigid Ellen join big sister Mallory, who turned 4 just 4 days before their birthday. They celebrated One Big Birthday Party for all the girls last fall. Denise is an architect at Berners-Schober Associates and moved into a larger house the week the girls were born! Christina Koonce M.D. closed her practice in Pasco WA and joined the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma MI as a postulant in September. A Stanford Stud Update: Ray Flannery is working as an IT consultant and in the Air Force Reserves in the Washington DC area. Ray is married with two little girls who are his life. Attorney Jeremy Walker was selected as a member of the 2009 Leadership New Hampshire class. This organization is designed to increase civic awareness and involvement by building a network of knowledgeable and engaged leaders for the state of NH. Rich Shank was recently profiled in Fortune magazine’s online article “How to sell in a lousy economy”. Rich has been with AT&T since 2001 and is currently sales vice president in St. Louis. Tony Troup has been mobilized for a period of up to 2 years as the Navy Liaison Officer In Charge at Fort Riley, KS. Tony’s team coordinates sailor’s 60 day Army training cycle and all the “administrivia” that goes along with getting them ready to deploy, ranging from 30 to 400 sailors monthly. “It’s long hours and rare time off, but worthwhile in getting these men and women ready to deploy to the ‘pointy end of the spear’ in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I salute each and every one of them,” says Tony. Kelly (Martin) CaponettoI lives in Carlsbad CA with husband Mike and daughters Grace (8) and Emma (6 ½). She ran the Rock N Roll Marathon in June to celebrate the big 4-0 and will never run another full marathon again – Kelly says the half suits her fine! Kelly would love to reconnect with classmates, especially if anyone happens to live nearby! Kathy Haase started a new job as a legal executive assistant/paralegal for Forest County Potawatomi Community in its Milwaukee office. Please visit Irish Online (www.alumni.nd.edu) to ensure you have a “Preferred 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 |