February 07, 2022
Class Notes
Find out what your Beloit friends have been doing over the past several months.
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Submit your news and photos to classnotes@joyerianicaragua.com. Submissions will appear in Beloit College Magazine’s printed and online editions. The deadline for our spring/summer edition is April 10.
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1940-1949
- In an October phone call, Betty Kaatz Mooney’48, Paw Paw, Mich., recalled the circumstances that brought her to Beloit. She had a scholarship to a New England women’s college, but her father intervened. Because of World War II and gas rationing, he insisted she attend college within 90 miles of their Milwaukee home. Her research revealed Beloit, a mere 80-plus miles away, and the place felt right when she visited. She was poking around campus when she was invited for a welcoming, impromptu chat at the College Street home of longtime college secretary and editor Jim Gage’28. She says choosing Beloit was one of the best decisions she made. Betty went on to a distinguished and varied career as a social worker, professor of human sexuality, a Planned Parenthood director, and researcher with the Kinsey Institute.
1950-1959
- George “Babe” Baptist’51 received a special plaque for participating in the Sarasota, Fla., Presbyterian Church of the Palms tutoring program. Babe taught high school mathematics for 28 years. “Professor Ralph Huffer would be proud,” he writes. Babe and his wife, Norma, were also honored recently with a tea party for their work on the butterfly garden at Bay Village, their retirement home in Sarasota. Babe writes that the couple volunteered “four hours a day every day except Sunday and when it rained.”
- Joan Mauntz Jones’52 and J. Harry Jones, who were married in 1952 in Beloit’s Eaton Chapel, plan to celebrate their 70th anniversary in June. They are still happily married and living in Lincolnwood, Ill.
- Richard Kirtley’59 and Dianne Kowal Kirtley’61 are happily retired in La Grange, Ill.
1960-1969
- Robert Burnett’61, Hernando, Fla., is enjoying retirement after a career at the head of Mead Fluid Dynamics, Inc.
- Lowell Jones’61, Boerne, Texas, has been reminiscing about his employment years. He was a research technician for Sandia National Laboratories, the premier engineering lab for U.S. national security and nuclear science in Albuquerque, N.M., for 38 years before retiring in 2005. In 1988, he worked on fabricating two HO scale models of a Portal Perimeter Monitoring Station, used to monitor where Russian medium range missiles were stored. “One copy went to President Reagan and the Pentagon, the other was flown to NATO in Europe,” he writes. “Reagan and Soviet President Gorbachev had a summit meeting and agreed that both countries could pull back their nuclear warhead medium range missiles, so maybe I helped prevent World War III.” Lowell studied chemistry at Beloit, followed by a year at Michigan State University and two years of studying electronic technology at DeVry Technical Institute in Chicago.
1970-1979
- Mark Larson’70 has abandoned his Lady Margaret Elaine, a 42-foot cabin cruiser, for the stability of dry land, but he still resides near the water at Revere Beach, Mass.
- W. Philip Sawyer’71, Mesa, Ariz., is a retired FEMA Education Specialist. He serves as chair of BiPolar Bears, a Phoenix, Ariz., support group for those with depression or bipolar disorder.
- Kay Ebert’72, Vancouver, Wash., was elected organizer of the International Chapter of the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Sisterhood at the biennial convention of the non-profit philanthropic women’s organization in September. P.E.O. has been celebrating women and helping them reach their potential since 1869 through grants, scholarships, awards, and loans. As organizer, Kay provides guidance to chapters in territories without charters.
- Christopher A. Damon’73, Oak Park, Ill., retired in October 2021. For 21 years, he was the executive director of American Medical Technologists, a national certification board for allied health professionals based in Rosemont, Ill.
- Joseph Maino’73, Fernley, Nev., photo illustrated a book of poems by Mark Scheel. The book, Star Chaser, was nominated for the Kansas Authors Club Nelson Poetry Book Award.
- Karla Koeplin Schmidt’73, Sehnde, Germany, has finished the German translation of her first novel Fair Harbor that also ties in present-day comments from her granddaughter. The book, which follows German immigrants who entered the United States in 1913, is available on Amazon.com in English and in German.
- Meryl Rossman Carmel’74, Chester, N.J., has published her second book, which was commissioned in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Peapack-Gladstone Bank of New Jersey. She is slowly resuming speaking engagements related to her 2018 publication Finding Kate, the Unlikely Journey of 20th Century Healthcare Advocate Kate Macy Ladd. In addition, Meryl has been named president of the Willowwood Arboretum Foundation, a 135-acre horticultural gem located within a stone’s throw of Peapack-Gladstone and Far Hills, N.J. She and her husband, Doug Carmel’75, are especially enjoying being the grandparents of two busy little boys.
- Pam Miller Withers’78, Vancouver, B.C., has launched a not-for-profit website that reviews young-adult books and features authors: YAdudebooks.ca. Meanwhile, her 26th book (a young-adult novel titled Mountain Runaways) came out in January 2022. Pam says she “learned everything she needed to know on The Round Table.”
- Celia Rabinowitz’79, Keene, N.H., continues as dean of Mason Library at Keene State College. She also coordinates the college’s general education program, undergraduate research, digital learning, and faculty development. This year (2021-2022) she is serving as interim director of the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
1980-1989
- Ed Vaitones’80, Derry, N.H., is starting his 25th year at Pinkerton Academy. The German language remains the focus of his teaching. After more than 35 years, he recently retired from coaching track and field. He now spends a lot of time riding his bike and restoring bikes for friends and colleagues. Additionally, Ed says his family has found a new shared hobby – making stained glass. He says, “The creative process, and the colorful window art, have definitely helped during Covid.”
- Sue Harris-Campagne’81 is happily retired with her husband in Azay-lie-Rideau, France.
- Rob Allen’84, Minneapolis, Minn., has been hired as the director of community security for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas. In that role, he helps safeguard Jewish institutions and individuals and addresses hate crimes against all groups in the three states.
- Sang-Ho Sohn’84, Tokyo, Japan, is the CEO of Reimei Global Advisors, which advises clients on mergers and acquisitions.
- Clayton ‘Chance’ Heberling’85, Kileen, Texas, retired after 35 years teaching middle school and is now pursuing a second career as an author and consultant in digital literacy.
- Ken Davis’86, Beloit, Wis., received the Rotary Club Teacher of the Month Award from the Beloit Rotary Club in August. Ken has taught mathematics at Beloit Memorial High School for 26 years. He is co-chair for the review and revision of Wisconsin’s High School Standards for Mathematics and was previously a member of the Wisconsin Mathematics Council and a mathematics consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. He is co-author of the MathMatters textbook.
- Valencia Valentine Hamman’86, San Diego, Calif., has been working as a college counselor at La Jolla Country Day School since 2007.
- Peter Hecht’86 says he is “living the best life in Denver!”
- This fall, David Berkowitz’87, Washington, D.C., accepted the position as head of audio at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. He splits his time between working theatrical audio at the National, as well as the Kennedy Center (primarily in the Eisenhower Theatre), and as a swing engineer and deck A2 at Wolf Trap. David retired from guitar making in 2017, when the 2008 recession killed the handmade acoustic guitar market. However, his swan song was a double-neck sitar guitar with sympathetic strings built for a client in Germany.
- Rotary International’s 6440 District has named Kevin Stevens’87, Antioch, Ill., district governor for the 2021-22 year. In this role, Kevin leads 68 clubs and more than 2,000 members in Chicago’s North, Northwest, and Western suburbs.
- In September, Karrie Porter Brace’89 became head curator-supervisor for The New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum in Las Cruces. Karrie oversees the museum’s programming staff who handle exhibits, education, collections, and events. She says she’s pleased to be the head curator, but that the greater credit goes to another Beloiter, J. Edson Way’68, for leading the institution during its formative years. Before joining the museum, Karrie was executive director of the Cave Creek Museum in Cave Creek, Ariz.
- Scott Mohnkern’89, Germantown, Md., was the featured presenter at the Hallowed Homecoming Conference in Triangle, Va., which focused on connecting conference attendees with one another and with the ancestors and the divine.
1990-1999
- Jason Goodman’92, Seattle, Wash., is the principal and owner of LW2 Solutions, a technology consulting practice.
- Heather Briggs Bachelder’96, Winston-Salem, N.C., completed her Master of Divinity degree at Wake Forest University School of Divinity and her “Lutheran Year” at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C. She serves as vicar of Lutheran Church of the Epiphany in Winston-Salem. Heather and her spouse, Aaron Bachelder, welcome visits from their grown children, Lilith and Violet, but share their home all the time with three dogs.
- Kirk “Raleigh” Williamson’97, Chicago, Ill., was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame for his two decades of work in Chicago’s queer media. He served as art director for Windy City Times and concurrently spent 11 years as editor of its sister publication, Nightspots. He is now the production manager at the Chicago Reader. The induction ceremony took place on October 6, 2021.
- James Corbin’98 graduated from a physician assistant master’s degree program in 2005 and worked for 10 years with the neurosurgery department in a large trauma center. From 2018-2020 he was in Benin, West Africa, with his wife, who was posted at the American Embassy. They returned to Tucson, Ariz., where James practiced emergency medicine throughout the first half of Covid. Now they are in Dakar, Senegal, as his wife took a position with the United Nations. James is working at a large international school in Dakar in the health clinic taking care of students and staff.
- Hans Fluegel’99, Seattle, Wash., former WBCR station manager, recently opened his own record store, Royal Records, in Seattle. You can also catch him as a DJ on KEXP 90.3 FM.
2000-2009
- Yinghua Li’02, Barrington, R.I., earned his master’s degree in accounting in 2019 from the University of Massachusetts.
- Kate Lindenmeyer Kiser’04, director of development operations for Indiana University Health Foundation, was named to the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy’s 40 Under 40 list in October. The list celebrates future leaders in healthcare philanthropy. Kate was recognized for her ability to operationalize workflows and policies, integrate and manage data, and recruit and lead teams — factors attributed to the early success of the IU Foundation, which formed in a 2017 statewide consolidation. Kate majored in anthropology and credits her education with enabling her to build strong and meaningful relationships.
- Alex Jacobs’05, Oakton, Va., received his Master of Dance degree in American style rhythm from DVIDA with high honors.
- Barry Rabkin’05, Pittsburgh, Pa., served as chief marketing officer of Identified Technologies before joining Near Earth Autonomy as director of marketing. Near Earth enables aircraft to fly safely without pilots, partnering with industry-leading aviation manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing, Kaman, Malloy, and Volocopter. Near Earth was recently featured for its work with L3Harris, demonstrating lifesaving autonomous emergency blood delivery for injured U.S. soldiers.
- Matthew ‘Bubba’ Schultz’06, Madison, Wis., is head coach of women’s tennis at Edgewood College in Madison, Wis. He was named Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference coach of the year for the fourth year in a row. Under his direction, Edgewood has won 36 consecutive regular-season NACC matches.
- At the end of 2021, Lynn Vollbrecht’06, Beloit, Wis., began a new position as a writer and content strategist with Optum Tech, based in Eden Prairie, Minn. While continuing to reside in Beloit (the role is remote), Lynn would love to connect with other Beloiters working for Optum or UnitedHealth Group, especially those based in the Twin Cities.
- Emily Asai and Alex Gordon’07 welcomed a baby boy, Leo John Gordon, on Nov. 29, 2021.
- Liam Shanahan’07, Norwood, Ohio, has been working as a firefighter/paramedic for the City of Norwood Fire Department.
- Iris Hoover’09 has relocated to Brooklyn, New York.
2010-2019
- Marta Bornstein’10, Columbus, Ohio, graduated from UCLA with a Ph.D. in Community Health Sciences.
- After graduating as a non-traditional student, Denzil Showers’10, Madison, Wis., has been working for Union Cap as an assisted transport service driver (wheelchair access) since 2019.
- Madison McCartha’13, Santa Cruz, Calif., released their debut book of poetry, Freakophone World, this past August. Madison wants to thank their creative writing professors at Beloit, especially Shawn Gillen, Rebecca Stafford, and Chris Fink. Freakophone World can be purchased at madisonmccartha.com.
- Alice Mitchell’13, West Peoria, Ill., is enjoying her time in her new home where her cats enjoy stalking birds through the window. Alice writes, “I successfully made it through my first year as a first-time manager in the Youth Services Department of the Fondulac District Library.”
- Sean Little’14, Phoenix, Ariz., works as a recruiter for true[X], a digital advertising company.
- Nicholas Mischler’14, Beloit, Wis., is the college’s web developer (hello to all of our online readers). Nicholas and Heather MacIsaac’16 would like to thank the members of Honey Cellar, a popular alumni band, for performing at their October 2021 wedding reception: Joey Buttlar, Danny Connolly’17, Lucy Holden’16, and Catherine Krol’17.
- After many, many months of pandemic unemployment, Rachel Homeniuk’15, Philadelphia, Pa., started a full-time job at the University of Pennsylvania in September, working as an administrative assistant at the Penn Center for Innovation. She helps schedule meetings and update databases that help U-Penn inventors bring their discoveries into the world through commercialization.
- Heather MacIsaac’16, Beloit, Wis., is an archaeologist working on cultural resource management and environmental projects across the Midwest for SWCA Environmental.
- After graduating in May 2020 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MSLIS), Gillian Dubin’18, Louisville, Ky., started working at the American Printing House for the Blind as a special collections and metadata librarian.
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Sophia Rogers-Davidson Castaldo’18 married Joey Castaldo on Oct. 3, 2021, in Chico, Calif. Among the Beloiters in attendance were Rob Davidson’89 and Linda Rogers’87, parents of the bride, and Beloit friend Ryan Jaquemet’19. Since March 2021, Sophia has been a patient liaison and department assistant for the Anticoagulation Outpatient Clinic at Enloe Medical Center, where she started working in 2019.
2020-2029
Credit: Maria Aschenbrener’21
- Kali Lo-Ng’20, Saint Paul, Minn., has been working as an AmeriCorps Community Technology Empowerment Project (CTEP) member for just over a year at Hired, a career guidance and job placement non-profit organization.
- Rosalie Sangtrash’21, Beloit, Wis., started as a lead teacher for 1- and 2-year-olds at Little Turtles Playhouse in Beloit.
Losses
Recognizing members of the Beloit College community we have lost.
