Select Page

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

’67 James “Jim” Abbs (BS), of Madison, has served as an officer and board member for Habitat for Humanity, Wisconsin Association of Lakes and the International Federation of Fly Fishers since retiring from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Neurology.

’68 James “Jim” Dykstra (BS), of McLean, Virginia, is the chair of the Netherland-America Foundation’s annual Ambassadors’ Awards Dinner in Washington D.C. He is working with the Dutch embassy to prepare for the dinner, which will be held in spring at the historic Willard Hotel.

’69 Robert Keller (BS), of Kaukauna, chairman of J. J. Keller & Associates Inc. and president of the J. J. Keller Foundation, was inducted into the Neenah School District Hall of Fame in September.

 ’70 Hans-Peter Kohlhoff (BS), of Oshkosh, is a new German instructor with the JEDI Virtual K-12 School in Whitewater. Kohlhoff also owns Beep International Inc. and Pete Kohlhoff Realty.

 ’70 Barbara (Schmidt) Monfils (BS) and ’70 Lonald Monfils (BS), of Deerfield, attended the World communication Association Conference at American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

 ’76 Rob Richardson (BS), of Racine, has been a member of the Mount Pleasant Community Development Authority for more than six years and the chair for three years. In that role, he has been involved in bringing Foxconn to Wisconsin.

 ’78 Brian McCarthy (BBA), of Shawnee, Kansas, started his third year of teaching in the University of Kansas–Edwards Campus Engineering Management (EMGT) Masters Program.

’78 Daniel Meyer (BBA), of Eagle River, is the new State Department of Natural Resources secretary.

 ’83 Barbara (Heitman) Coleman (BBA), of Combined Locks, retired and started painting watercolors.

 ’83 Eileen (Thomas) Leinweber (BSN), and ’87 (MSN), of Oshkosh, is involved in the UW Oshkosh Learning in Retirement program. Leinweber also serves on the Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) Winnebago County Committee and the Advisory Council for the Dean of the College of Nursing.

 ’84 Steven Bartel (BBA), of Fond du Lac, is a high school technical education instructor for the Chilton School District.

 ’84 Jeananne Greenwood (BSN), of Green Bay, is a new board member for the Freedom Area Historical Society.

 ’84 Tom Stanton (BS), of Grafton, is the founder of Mel’s Charities, which funds special needs organizations, memorial scholarships and human services.

’84 James Trenter (BBA), of Vancouver, Washington, is a vice president/partner with a commercial insurance brokerage in Portland, Oregon. Trenter allocated a major planned gift to Mel’s Charities, which supports special needs organizations, memorial scholarships and human services.

’85 Donald Becker (BS), of Pewaukee, is the owner of DBA Marketing Communications in Delafield.  He celebrated 20 years in business in September.

’85 Mark Muskevitsch (BBA), and ’96 (MBA), of Oconomowoc, is the chief financial officer for JX Enterprises Inc. and was named CFO of the Year-Large Companies by the Milwaukee Business Journal.

’86 Kathleen Kasakaitas (BS), of La Crosse, shared her passion, knowledge and experiences in treating and caring for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife at the Friends of the Black River meeting in Black River Falls. Kasakaitas is the animal control supervisor at the Coulee Region Humane Society in Onalaska.

 ’88 Edward Hew Cheong Yew (BBA), of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is now serving in Bangladesh at the Dhaka Community Hospital as project coordinator for disaster response, disaster risk reduction training, development and innovative project monitoring and evaluation. He has 13 years of experience in humanitarian work. 

’88 Mike Messenger (BBA), of Green Bay, was inducted into the Marinette High School Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a star baseball and football player.

’89 Diane (Boerschinger) Hertel (BS), and ’95 (MSE), of Oshkosh, has been a school administrator for the Neenah Joint School District since 1999 and a principal at Tullar Elementary since 2001.

’91 Christa (Struebing) Williams (BBA), of Van Dyne, spoke at the Women in Management Ripon-Green Lake Chapter meeting in October. Williams has more than 25 years of executive leadership experience in corporate, nonprofit and educational settings.

’92 Renee (Melger) Burris (BS), of Milwaukee, celebrated 20 years as an underwriter with Kemper Insurance.

’92 Matthew Erdman (BS), of Richfield, was promoted to deputy fire chief with the City of Brookfield Fire Department.

’93 Kevin Brown (BS), of Pasco, Washington, celebrated his fourth year working at Permobile, formerly Tilite.

’93 Larry Potter (BS), of Seymour, has been promoted to assistant chief of the Appleton Police Department.

’94 Dirk Langfoss (MBA), of Bourbonnais, Illinois, is the new chief executive officer of the YMCA of Dodge County.

’99 Michael Frohna (MPA), of Sussex, is the new president of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin.

’99 Christian Wolslegel (MBA), of Appleton, is vice president of industrial business development at Miron Construction Co. Inc.

’00 Josh Preiser (BS) and ’12 (MBA), of Wausau, is an independent financial adviser and securities principal in Wausau.

’01 Julie Feider (BSW), and ’04 (MSE), of Menasha, is an adult behavioral health clinician at ThedaCare Physicians-Neenah.

’04 Cindy (Duchow) Jelinek (BBA), of Combined Locks, has been employed at Community First Credit Union for almost 16 years.

’06 Amanda Janssen-Egan (BA), of Green Bay, is a junior partner at Jigsaw LLC, an advertising agency in Milwaukee.

’06 Douglas Stadler (BS), of Fond du Lac, worked in the Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area near Newburg as a buckthorn control assistant last winter for the nonprofit organization Friends of the Cedarburg Bog on an ongoing project to combat invasive shrub species.

’08 Taylor Doberstein (BS), of Coralville, Iowa, joined ThedaCare Orthopedic Care in Neenah as a rheumatologist.

’08 Jennifer (Miller) Schnuell (BSE), of Chilton, is teaching fifth grade at Stockbridge Elementary School.

’09 Sheryl Droge (BSW), of Green Bay, works for an in-home parenting program and a homeless shelter for women and their children.

’09 Renee (Becker) Preis (BA), of Milwaukee, celebrated eight years with Northwestern Mutual in September.

’12 Sarah (Kissinger) Abfall (BBA), of Jackson, is the vice president of human resources at Custom Equipment.  

’12 Erica Roberts (BSE), of Wrightstown, is the 4-year-old kindergarten teacher at Wrightstown Elementary School.

’13 Ceev Sue Xiong (BBA), of Oshkosh, is working as the education and career development coordinator at the Boys and Girls Club of the Fox Valley.

’14 Jaime Antonio Castillo (BS), of Whitefish Bay, is in the Master of Nursing Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

’14 Alex Phillips (BA), of Pulaski, is a new attorney at the law firm of Neuberger, Griggs, Sweet and Smith.

’14 Carly Roiniotis (BS), of Madison, is set to leave for Kenya, Africa, in December. She will work with the Jirani Project, a five-day educational camp that helps underprivileged children receive the proper education and skills training necessary to be successful members of  Kenyan society.

 ’14 Ian Wenger (BS), of Neenah, is opening Fifth Ward Brewing Co. in Oshkosh, with business partner Zach Clark in November.

’14 Boda Zhao (BSN), of Green Bay, is a nurse practitioner at ThedaCare Physicians-Shawano.

’15 Paige Bonanno (BS), of Los Angeles, California, is a recipient of the 2017 Cynopsis Rising Star Award that salutes the best and brightest TV media professionals under 30. Bonanno climbed the ladder from intern to production assistant to associate producer at ABC.

’15 Brittney Hutchinson (BSE), of Fond du Lac, is a second-grade teacher at Donges Bay Elementary School in Mequon.

’15 Amos Mikkelson (BAS), of Neenah, is the new Harrison Fire-Rescue chief.

’15 Zak Thompson (BA), of Raleigh, North Carolina, is a brand strategist with Clean, an integrated branding agency that offers strategy, creative, digital, media and public relations.

’15 Caitlyn Vajgrt (BSE), of Oshkosh, is a high school social studies and business education teacher for the Oshkosh School District.

’15 Natalie Wilke (BSE), of Appleton, is a first-grade teacher at Freedom Elementary School.

’16 Stephen Fuhrman (BSE), of Fishers, Indiana, married Emily (Linton) Fuhrman in July. He is employed with Purity Wholesale Foods.

’16 Derek Pfister (BS), of Waukesha, got married in June and celebrated two years with CBS 58 News in Milwaukee as an editor and photojournalist.

’16 Scott Ramsay (BA), of La Crosse, is on a quest with his 11-year-old daughter to visit all of the state parks in Wisconsin.

’17 Hayley Berchem (BSE), of Kiel, is a fourth-grade teacher in the Kiel School District.

’17 Courtney Dettman (BSE), of Green Bay, is a special education teacher at Freedom Elementary School.

’17 Spencer Erickson (BSE), of Bemidji, Minnesota, is working towards his master’s degree and coaching outside linebackers at Bemidji State University.

’17 Zachary Malueg (BSE), of Manitowoc Rapids, is a new special education teacher for the Kiel School District.

’17 Katie Schmeltzer (MS), of Appleton, is the new associate principal at Freedom Elementary School.

’17 Kyle Schuh (BSE), of Little Chute, joined the St. Ignatius staff as a physical education instructor. Schuh also will be teaching at St. John-Sacred Heart Catholic School in Sherwood.

ABBREVIATION KEY
COLLEGES

• AAS — Associate of Arts and Science Degree
• B — Business
• EHS — Education and Human Services
• LLCE  — Lifelong Learning and Community Engagement
• LS — Letters and Science
• N — Nursing

GRADUATE DEGREES
• DNP — Doctor of Nursing Practice
• GMBA — Global Master of Business Administration
• MA — Master of Arts
• MBA— Master of Business Administration
• MPA — Master of Public Administration
• MS — Master of Science
• MSE — Master of Science in Education
• MSN — Master of Science in Nursing
• MST — Master of Science in Teaching
• MSW — Master of Social Work

Send items for future Class Notes.