Class Notes

1956

Donna (Weiser) Owen of Adel, Iowa, has taught Sunday school for over 45 years and has started a program in Panama.

1960

Kathy (Fjone) Richardson teaches memoir writing, poetry, and novels at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio).

Rosalyn “Kay” (Haugen) Rulifson and her husband, Dennis, live in Raleigh, N.C., and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last summer.

1961

Richard “Dick” Larson received the Legacy Award from the American Choral Directors Association of Colorado, only the fifth person to have received this honor.

1965

Jim Willmore is a volunteer assistant men’s basketball coach at Iowa Lakes Community College.

1973

John Van Norman of Holstein, Iowa, is a biofeedback specialist.

1974

Leslie (Smith) Sand leads the northeast Iowa chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby and is coleader of its national Lutheran Action Team.

1976

Bob Huncosky retired after 43 years as a nursing home program specialist for the state of Wisconsin.

1979

Amy (Waalen) Hansen is the Trail Ridge store retail manager for Xanterra Travel Collection.

1981

Sheri Brenden has published a book about a precedent-setting gender equity court decision involving her sister Peg Brenden ’76. Break Point tells the story of how two teenagers took on the unequal system of high school athletics and claimed spots on school teams before the passage of Title IX.

1982

Scott Gomer of San Diego, Calif., is chief communications officer for the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

Joel Lunde of Des Moines, Iowa, is the deputy director of the Iowa Department of Management.

1983

Larry Winter of Scottsdale, Ariz., is an explorer in residence at Town and Country Travel.

1984

Beth (Lee) Klein is a therapist at Firefly Counseling in St. Paul, Minn.

1985

Charlie Hoven is the catering manager for Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Mich.

1986

Tim Watson has been appointed executive director of the Springs at Happy Valley (Ore.), a 210-unit senior living community.

1988

Doug Morse of Mason City, Iowa, is an advisor at ExecHQ.

1989

Elizabeth (Leyda) Hansen was appointed chief actuary at Universal Insurance Holdings.

1990

Jean Caraway is professor of psychology at the University of South Dakota. She has received funding for the graduate psychology education program to train students in mental health care.

1991

Anne (Skow) Adix earned a DPT degree from the College of St. Scholastica and is a senior physical therapist at Struthers Parkinson’s Center in Minneapolis.

Dian (Peaslee) Carmody of Norman, Okla., is the administrative director of surgical services at Norman Regional Health Systems.

Marit (Ness) Lloyd of Corona, Calif., is the director of toxicology at Ventyx Biosciences.

1992

Lisa Blumhagen has retired after 30 years of teaching. She taught in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; St. Louis, Mo.; and at the American International School of Guangzhou, China.

Jannelle (Johnson) Buisker of Forreston, Ill., is a clinical contact center triage nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Jeff Markwardt was promoted to supervisor at Hawkins Ash CPAs in Manitowoc, Wis.

Staci Sievert Zahn of Appleton, Wis., is a tech education teacher at Seymour High School. She was awarded the $50,000 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for teaching excellence and was named the Fox Cities Tech Ed Teacher of the Year.

1994

Neil Blackmore is the senior director of purchase experience delivery at Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee, Wis.

1995

Julie Jensen is the director of clinical informatics at Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.

Karen Ryberg of Baldwin, N.D., is the deputy director of the US Geological Survey Dakota Water Science Center.

1996

Tonya Moe, Linn-Mar High School athletic director in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been chosen as the 2022–23 Iowa High School Athletic Director of the Year.

Theresa Nelson Williams and Scott Williams ’97 both work at the American International School of Lagos in Nigeria. Theresa is a school librarian, and Scott is an instructor in IBDP English literature and coordinator of the international baccalaureate diploma program.

1997

Lars Jensen is the director of aviation and chief pilot at Allstate in Wheeling, Ill.

Joshua Vorvick won the April 2022 Golden Pick from famed Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tenn. He released an EP, “Kinda Like Live,” a collaboration with Luther and Decorah community members, available in the Luther Book Shop. He also played at Iowa State and charity events and formed a band, Slim Whimsy.

1998

Andrea (Stockseth) Christians is the 7–12 principal for the Pocahontas Area (Iowa) Community Schools and director of the Manson Meridian Singers, a local community chorus.

Phil Hood lives in Minocqua, Wis., and is vice president of philanthropy and foundation at SSM Health.

Sarah (Pohlson) and Dustin Smith live in Grinnell, Iowa. Sarah is the director of outreach programming and events at Grinnell College and coaches girls swimming and diving at Grinnell High School. She also serves on the Unity Point Health–GRMC Foundation Board and on the Grinnell-Newburg Alumni Association. Dustin is a financial advisor at Cirks Financial Services. He is also president of the Grinnell School Board and vice chair of the Grinnell Hotel-Motel Tax Committee.

1999

Ben Larson of Maui, Hawaii, founded Next Adventure Company, which offers full-service custom adventure vacation packages.

2000

Stephanie (Jaeger) Paulson is the revenue accounting manager at ConvergeOne in Bloomington, Minn.

Heidi Torgerson is the lead pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in La Grange, Ill.

Richard Winkels of Fairfax, Va., is a member of the US Army band Pershing’s Own.

2001

Heather (Svoboda) Morris is the director of corporate communications at Pentair.

2002

Heidi (Helling) Barr of Lindstrom, Minn., is the author of the book 12 Tiny Things. Her next book, Collisions of Earth and Sky, will be released in January 2023.

Mike Bollinger of Decorah has been named executive director of Seed Savers Exchange.

Sara (Rink) Buis of Waukee, Iowa, earned an MPA degree from Drake University and is program manager for family-centered services at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

Laurie (Pedersen) Geary of Edina, Minn., is a senior director at Accenture.

Ghion Roache of Nassau, Bahamas, is a senior manager with the National Insurance Board of the Bahamas.

Laura (Bartlett) Stuckey of Steuben, Wis., is an elementary principal in the Prairie du Chien School District.

2003

Katie (Woltjer) Doan is the one-stop manager at North Dakota State University in Fargo.

Andrew Ellingsen is the director of folk art Education at the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah.

Darrin Geier of Woodbury, Minn., is the director of spiritual formation at the University of Northwestern–St. Paul.

Pete Hoesing of Sioux Falls, S.D., is the associate vice president for research and economic development at Dakota State University. He published an academic monograph, Kusamira Music in Uganda, in 2021.

2004

Bridget Boehmer of Charlotte, Iowa, presented “Harm Reduction Tools for Substance Use Disorders” at the Federal Bureau of Prisons Medication Assisted Treatment Symposium in Lexington, Ky., last May.

Anthony Nunez of Las Vegas, Nev., is the principal at Cheyenne High School.

Elissa Zoerb of St. Paul, Minn., is the marketing campaign manager at Bio-Techne.

2005

Muhammad Yasir Burney is a senior solutions engineer at JPMorgan Chase.

Phil Hoesing earned an MM degree from the American Band College of Central Washington University and is the director of bands at Nampa (Iowa) High School.

Kate Ingber earned an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and is a recruitment manager at UCARE Minnesota.

Elliot Jordan is a senior client systems engineer for Netflix.

Jeffery Miller Jr. is an assurance manager at RSM US.

Anna (Haug) Pena of Des Moines, Iowa, is a training analyst at Global Atlantic Financial Group.

2006

Sarah (Schultz) Doyle is an adjunct professor of education at Cornell College.

Holly (Wonder) Hoene is a school nurse at Dover Eyota (Minn.) Elementary School.

Amanda (Tryggestad) Nelson is the communication and member engagement manager at Ascension Lutheran Church in Green Bay, Wis.

2007

Chris Angelica is the senior manager of product analytics and operations at Hireology in Chicago.

Susan (Valo) Backmeyer is the manager of management reporting within the equipment operations management accounting group at Deere and Company in Moline, Ill.

Mara Erickson is the funding coordinator at the Canadian Wildlife Service—Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Emily (Pankow) Fritz of South Barrington, Ill., is vice president of scientific affairs at the Beachbody Company.

Brian Meyer earned an MA in psychology from UC–Berkeley and an MA in information management from the University of Washington iSchool. He is a data scientist at Twitter.

Jason Rude is a teacher in New Hampton, Iowa, and is a first responder/firefighter with Chickasaw County Rescue Squad; lead sports broadcaster on 95.1 KCZE; and national oratory fellow with Ford’s Theatre.

2008

Dylan Flunker of Minneapolis is the project manager for the Gender Affirming Care in Rural and Greater Minnesota Communities program at the Family Tree Clinic.

Andrea Funke of Austin, Minn., is a staff accountant at Your Part-Time Controller.

Edwin Holmvig-Johnson is a middle and high school special education teacher at New Century School in St. Paul, Minn.

Charlie Moe is the vocal music instructor at Princeton (Minn.) High School. He is also the director of the East Central Minnesota Chorale.

Kari Myers is the director of education at Des Moines (Iowa) Performing Arts.

Cora (Johnson) Reidenbach is a school psychologist for Anoka Hennepin (Minn.) Schools.

Alex (Lancaster) Schuerman is a clinical practice nurse leader at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Nicki (Svestka) TerBeest of Decorah is a refractive technician at Oneota Valley Family Eye Care.

2009

Christina Arceo of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the clinical coordinator at REM Iowa Community Services.

Adam Erdmann lives in Minneapolis and is a genius at Apple.

Joel Martin is the emergency management coordinator for the Iowa Utilities Board in Des Moines.

Julian Stanke earned an MA and EdS in educational leadership at the University of St. Thomas and is a middle school assistant principal at South St. Paul Public Schools.

Katherine (Miller) Thomas is a school nurse and RN at UnityPoint Des Moines.

Adam Tulkki of River Falls, Wis., earned an MA in music education from the University of St. Thomas and is an elementary music teacher in the Hudson School District.

Joy Waughtal is a senior professional research assistant at the Colorado School of Public Health.

Mary Whipple of Minneapolis is an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Minnesota.

2010

Jacob Johnson of Irvine, Calif., is the senior product UX/UI designer at Premiere Digital.

Jess (Janezic) Oja is a nurse practitioner at Nevada Surgical Associates.

Nora Shaffer is an adjunct professor of clarinet at Concordia University in River Forest, Ill.

Liz Winter is the coordinator of institutional effectiveness at Upper Iowa University.

2011

Joe Carey of Minneapolis earned an MM degree in composition from the University of Northern Iowa and is a staff software engineer at Mastery Logistics.

Beth Gonia earned an MS degree in curriculum and instruction from Western Governors University and is a standards alignment coordinator at RethinkEd.

Hannah Hagarty was an overseas missioner with Franciscan Mission Service in Kingston, Jamaica, for three years and is now a permanent resident of Jamaica. She is a guidance counselor at Alvernia Preparatory School.

Myles Hynes is a senior associate at RSM, an audit, tax, and consulting firm in Minneapolis.

Emily Kuhn of Madison, Wis., is the director of education—careers and community at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County.

Dagny LeMunyon earned an MDiv degree from Bethel Seminary and is an associate pastor at Calvary Lutheran Church in Golden Valley, Minn.

Bethany Noltner earned an MBA degree in strategic human resource management and works in the general management leadership development program for American Family Insurance.

Matthew Peterson earned an MS degree in soil science from Texas A&M University and is an analytical laboratory coordinator at the University of Arizona.

2018

Paul Clark earned a JD and an MA degree in environmental law and policy at Vermont Law School and is a judicial law clerk for Elko (Nev.) County.

Pilar Dritz received a DPT degree from the University of Minnesota and is a physical therapist at Rock Valley Physical Therapy in Decorah.

KT Johnson-Roets is a music teacher at East Bay Music Together in Berkeley, Calif.

Shelja Thakur is the local alumni coordinator and senior student liaison officer at Pestalozzi Children’s Village Society in Uttarakhand, India.

Sofie (Wallock) Walz earned an MEd degree in learning technologies from the University of Minnesota and is a UX/UI designer at KNOCK Inc.

2019

Alex Atal is a forensic interviewer at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Fort Myers, Fla.

Abigail (Korenchan) and Tyler Conzett ’19 live in Dubuque, Iowa. Abigail is a K–12 vocal music teacher. Tyler is a software developer and engineer at Metafile Information Systems.

Jordan DeCrow is the assistant athletic director and assistant girls basketball coach at Glenwood Springs High School in Glenwood Springs, Colo.

Natalie Delcorps earned an MM degree in music education from Kent State University.

Maggie (Breitenstein) Fox Hobson earned a master’s degree in health studies from the University of Alabama and is the regional clinical specialist for South Georgia in orthopedic trauma at Johnson & Johnson.

Anna Phearman of St. Paul, Minn., is a public health advocate at the Minnesota Disability Law Center.

Paige Yontz is a compliance development manager at Wolfe Eye Clinic in West Des Moines, Iowa.

2020

Gavin Lochtefeld is a junior software developer at Henry Broch Foods in Waukegan, Ill.

2021

Julia Lieb is the faith formation coordinator at Grand View United Methodist Church in Dubuque, Iowa.

Brent Schaeffer of Iowa City, Iowa, is a full stack software engineer at FactSet.

2022

Jenna Gengler is a freelance writer and event manager.

Sarah Halverson is a graduate assistant athletic trainer for cross country and track and field at Baylor University.

Haley Hoffmann of Burnsville, Minn., is part of the audit staff at Deloitte and Touche.

Isaac List is a computer science teacher at Pacelli Catholic School in La Crosse, Wis.

Logan Olson of Minneapolis is a natural resource technician for the Anoka Conservation District.

Madisen Ondrashek is an elementary educator with the Wauwatosa (Wis.) Public Schools.

Paul Priester of Minneapolis is a project scientist at Alliance Source Testing.

Megan Stevenson is a graphic designer at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Katilynn Swanson of Pine Island, Minn., is a sustainability project coordinator for Climate Corps.

Abs Trewin of Minneapolis is a tax associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ian Wreisner is the community editor for ABC Newspapers, which serves Anoka County, Minn.