Select Page

The following Class Notes were received recently in the UW Oshkosh Alumni Office:

’59 Neva (Hodge) Lemorande (EHS) is artist-in-residence program director for the Oconto Falls Friends of the Arts. She was recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for demonstrating dedication, leadership and excellence in all aspects of promoting art education throughout northeastern Wisconsin.

’67 Mary Pat Thompson (EHS) and ’83 (MSE), is a member of the Omro School Wall of Fame. She taught and was instrumental in promoting girls’ high-school sports programs for 33 years in the Omro School District and throughout Wisconsin.

68 Alan Clough (EHS) painted a two-story mural titled “Optical Foolery” on the Walls of Wittenburg building in Wittenburg, Wis.  A retired Wittenberg art teacher, he spends much time in his art studio and judging art contests.

68 Sylvia (Johnson) Ferdon (EHS) is the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year for the second time as mentor of the Baylor Bearcats women’s golf team in Waco, Texas.

’68 Mary (Krautkramer) Lloyd (LS) is the author of “Supercharged Retirement: Ditch the Rocking Chair, Trash the Remote and Do What You Love,” which was published  in April 2009 with Greenleaf Book Group. The book, which is being distributed internationally, addresses what to do instead of the 100-percent leisure version of retirement.

’69 Richard Moss (LS) is a candidate for the University of Wisconsin-Madison provost position. He is the Department of Physiology chair in UW-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health.

’70 Peter Schieler (B) and Kathryn (Welch) Schieler ’76 (EHS) retired in June 2009. Peter retired as the engineering coordinator at Alliance Laundry Systems after 37 years with the company, and Kathryn retired after 33 years as an elementary teacher at South Beaver Dam School.

’71 Lynne (Harms) Dehn (EHS) and husband, Mark, retired three years ago. Lynn spent 35 years teaching, and Mark served as a police officer for 29 years.

’71 Bonita “Bonnie” Weiland Hare (EHS) and ’74 (MSE), is a professional member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association with a college specialty classification, which focuses on working with high school students to determine their career and college plans.

’73 Timothy Arb (EHS) is community enrichment/education coordinator and media specialist at Manatee Technical Institute in Bradenton, Fla.

’73 Barbara (Lee) Janicek (EHS) is living the dream with her husband, Joe, and their Irish setters in Wauwatosa.

’77 Cheryl (Wilkins) Sheridan (B) is busy with her virtual office in San Diego, tennis, the beach  and two college-age girls.

78 Elizabeth Zenk (EHS) and husband, James, are the owners of the Tomorrow River Gallery in a historic storefront in Amherst. The gallery features fine art from local artists, fine crafts, garden decor and other unique items.

’82 Richard Hecker (LS) enjoys spending time with his wife Kelly, daughter Elyse and son Eric. He welcomes any classmates from Chicago or those visiting the Chicago area to contact him.

’83 Steve Robillard (B), an advanced programs and federal operations director for Signal Networks Division/Agilent Technologies in Santa Rosa, Calif., received the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara’s Medal from the U.S. Field Artillery Association.

84 Vicki Cross (N) and ’94 (MSN), is a family nurse practitioner at the Community Health Network Medical Center in Princeton.

’84 Paul Post (LS) was promoted to the rank of colonel in a ceremony in Marshall Hall at Historic Fort McPherson, Ga.  Post has more than 26 years of service in the Army.

’85 Kathleen (Reppert) Kaufman (EHS) is owner of Healing Thru Art, where she is an art therapist for children with autism and other related learning or developmental disabilities.

’87 Thomas Stommel (B) is production planner at Metalcraft of Mayville, where he has been for 22 years. He also is the deputy assistant fire chief and training officer for the Mayville Fire Department and has been a firefighter for 21 years.

’88 David Sakrison (MPA) is author of “Chasing the Ghost Birds,” a book describing three wildlife conservation programs aimed at protecting North America’s trumpeter swans and whooping cranes and Russia’s Siberian cranes and returning them to their historic ranges. He signed books at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and presented a slide program at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

’88 Peter Schneider (LS) and Susan Schneider ’87 (EHS) own Schneider International, a healthy living online company .

’88 Carol (Hurrish) Van Vreede (B) is owner and president of Exhibit Resource Skyline, a full-service exhibit and graphic producer in De Pere.

’89 Peggy McCabe (LS) is a teacher at an inner-city California school.

’90 Lisa (Krueger) Pugh (LS) is a candidate for the Alumni Wall of Fame at Horicon High School. She is a member of the House of Representatives’ Education and Labor Committee in Washington, D.C.

’92 Stephanie (Beyer) Jens (LS) received the 2009 Victim Service Award from the Wisconsin Victim-Witness Professionals. She is the Outagamie County victim/witness coordinator.

’92 Karen (Luethge) Sieber (EHS) and ’95 (MSE), is the new principal at Kennedy Elementary School in Grafton, Wis.

’93 Kelly (Weber) Johnson (LS) received a master’s degree in counseling and counselor education from Indiana University Bloomington. She is a stay-at-home mother who has worked as a counselor in treatment foster care and as an in-home family therapist in Racine.

’93 John Luczaj (LS) received $142,000 in research funding to complete a project expected to yield better maps of the bedrock beneath Brown County along with valuable data on groundwater and other resources. He is an earth scientist with the Natural and Applied Sciences academic unit at UW-Green Bay.

’93 Robert Starkell (EHS) is the 2009 Women’s Big Ten Gymnastics Coach of the Year and 2009 Women’s NCAA National Gymnastics Coach of the year. He is the director of gymnastics at the University of Illinois.

’94 Chad Koplien (LS) has been awarded a direct commission in the Wisconsin Army National Guard as a judge advocate general corps officer. He is serving as an assistant staff judge advocate in the 64th Troop Command. He also is a business firm lawyer and commercial litigator for a law firm in Madison, where he has worked since 2003.

’95 Mark Endries (LS) and ’00 (MS), is moving to Asheville, N.C., where his wife will begin teaching at the University of North Carolina Asheville.

’96 Kristie Buwalda (LS) is the Waupun Area Chamber of Commerce executive director. She and her husband own and operate a dairy farm in Trenton and have three children.

’96 Debra Hunt (MS) is superintendent of the Valders Area School District.

’97 Tamara Moffat-Keenlance (N) was recognized as the Ripon Medical Center’s 2009 Nurse of the Year. She is the acute care director and has been with the hospital for more than 17 years.

’99 Charles Adam Thompson (LS) is a sports reporter at the Sheboygan Press and writes short films and screenplays on the side. A Los Angeles-based producer picked up Thompson’s first two movie scripts for multimillion dollar productions. Filming for “Worthless,” a comedy, may begin production later this summer and “Dead Dog,” an action drama, next year.

’00 Kelly McNiff (LS) and ’04 (EHS), is the head girls’ basketball coach at De Pere High School.

’00 Kathy (Summers) Mott (EHS) received a master’s degree in educational leadership from Marian University and obtained principal licensure.

’01 Chad Schraufnagel (EHS) is the new junior/senior high school principal in the Hustisford School District.

’03 Thomas Breunig (EHS) received a master’s of science degree in higher, post-secondary and continuing education from UW-Madison. He is the associate director of Greek Life at the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville).

’03 Jason Kemp (LS) received an MBA from Capella University Graduate School of Business in Minneapolis, Minn.

’03 Luke Strand (B) was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in May. Father Luke received a master’s of divinity degree from Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, after six years of formation at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee. He has been appointed to Holy Family Parish in Fond du Lac.

’04 Katherine Kaminski (LS) is a Peace Corps volunteer teaching medical and spoken English at a medical college in northwestern China.

’04 Shannon (Zimmerman) Nguyen (LS) and ’08 (MS), is a staff biologist at Merck & Co. in West Point, Penn., where she does research in neuroscience.

’06 Melissa (Butzine) Butteris (EHS) was honored as Teacher of the Year at Imagine Schools Charter at Desert West in Phoenix, Ariz.

’06 Erik Cieslewicz (LS) received an Edward R. Murrow award for his work as the primary photographer and solo editor on WSAW-TV’s “Secrets in Shawano.” He also earned three Wisconsin Broadcaster Association Awards for Excellence and three Associated Press Awards.

’06 Hannah Miller (B) earned a CPA license in February 2009. She is a senior accountant at Schenck Business Solutions.

’07 Leslie Smith (EHS) is a family advocate at Stepping Stones, a nonprofit agency in La Crosse that facilitates forensic interviews for law enforcement officers and prosecutors to talk to abused children in a neutral, child-friendly environment.

’08 Nicholas Boehlke (LS) finished ninth in the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, after beginning training just six months in advance.

’08 Rachel Schmidt (EHS) is the Oshkosh North High School varsity girls’ basketball coach.

’09 Benjamin Vollbrecht (LS) is the new Web developer at ImproMed Inc.

ABBREVIATION KEY

COLLEGES

  • B — Business
  • EHS — Education and Human Services
  • LS — Letters and Science
  • N — Nursing
  • AD — Associate Degree

GRADUATE DEGREES

  • MA — Master of Arts
  • MBA-Master of Business Administration
  • MS — Master of Science
  • MSE — Master of Science in Education
  • MSN — Master of Science in Nursing
  • MPA — Master of Public Administration
  • MST — Master of Science in Teaching

Send items for future Class Notes at www.uwosh.edu/alumni/contact/information-update.php.