1970s Class notes

New class notes are posted as time allows.

1971
Bernie Vrona (BA) has been named Outstanding Faculty member for 2012-13 at Hennepin Technical College. HTC has been recognizing outstanding faculty since 2007 as part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees Educator of the Year Award for Excellence in Teaching. Through a collegewide nomination process, a committee of faculty and administrators select two faculty each year to represent HTC in the board of trustees Educator of the Year program. Bernie, a faculty member in the fire science program, has been with the college for six years. It was noted in the nomination that Bernie excels in teaching curriculum based on national industry standards and is a master at implementing practical demonstrations that reinforce required skills. In addition to teaching in the program, Bernie is in his second year of chairing the college's Academic Affairs and Standards Council and ensuring the college has effective practices and guidelines in place to provide quality curriculum. Bernie also has provided the leadership that has resulted in program re-certification through the International Fire Science Accreditation Congress. He sits on the national board of directors and serves as the vice president for the IFSAC, and he recently facilitated and organized its national conference.

David Weinfurtner (BBA) had open heart surgery in July 2011 to replace his aeortic valve, which had been damaged by rheumatic fever in 1957. He currently is self-employed in financial services and is semi-retired. David and his wife, Judi, have been married for nearly 11 years. They have two children, Melanie, who has two children (Jeff and Jason) with husband Brian Riordon, and Gavin, who serves in the Air Force in Rapid City, S.D.

1973
Brian Goldbeck (BA), '79 (BA-E), U.S. Embassy Manila deputy chief of mission, attended the 68th anniversary of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's landing on Oct. 20, 1944, on Leyte in the Philippines. He saluted the American and Filipino veterans attending the ceremony and highlighted the ever-evolving friendship between the Philippines and the United States, which he says is strong and enduring, being based on the mutual values of liberty, respect and freedom. Brian also assisted in organizing and delivering U.S. government-provided relief supplies to Davao in the southern Philippines following the destruction wrought by typhoon Pablo in early December. In this relief effort, U.S. Marine Corps C-130 aircraft from Okinawa, Goldbeck2 Japan, conducted 21 flights ferrying more than 700,000 pounds of relief supplies (including 80-pound family food packs as shown in the photo). As of mid-December, the death toll stood at 1,043 with around 102,000 homes damaged or destroyed, affecting more than 6 million people. Goldbeck arrived in Manila in August to assume his three year post; he previously served as the U.S. consul general in Guangzhou, China.

1975
Gary Ovans (BS) retired in August 2012 from Ferris State University, where he spent the last 28 years as an academic professor, program coordinator and department chair. Prior to his work at the university, Gary enjoyed a 21-year military career serving the U.S. Air Force in electronic intelligence and as a combat aircrewman. Gary also worked as a manufacturing engineer for several years, then completed his graduate degrees in Michigan and transitioned to his work in academia. Gary and his wife, Barbara, have one son who also serves the military working as a scientist for the Department of Defense.

1978
Paul Fassler (BA-E) retired from Sentry Insurance on Dec. 31, 2012. He held several technical and managerial positions in the claims department during his 25-year career at Sentry and spent the last 15 years as an environmental claims specialist.

Sheri (Groshong) Vandereit (BME), with co-author Mark E. Gray, has published three novels with the Tattered Cover Press in Denver, Colo. The books are titled "Gone a-Wilding," "Call Me 'Breed'" and "Breed Thunderhands." The novels follow the Filer family through generations, beginning with Tom who left his home in Kansas Territory as a teenager to become a mountain man. The story continues with his son, Mark "Breed" Filer, who is a gunman in 19th-century Colorado. Complex social relationships and plenty of action round out the series.

1979
Mark Spicer (BM) was promoted in June 2011 to professor of music at Elmira College, where he has been teaching since 1986. He teaches a wide array of classes, including private lessons, traditional music theory and history courses that span from classical to pop. Dr. Spicer remains active as a performer, researcher and composer and performs annual piano and flute concerts in the Almira, N.Y., area. His compositions "Elmira College Fight Song" and "Elmira College Medley" are played regularly at college events.

1971
Barbara Luebke (BA) has retired after 38 years of teaching journalism. Barbara, who also holds a master's degree and doctorate, worked for newspapers in Antigo and DeKalb, Ill., before joining the University of Missouri faculty in 1974. She then taught at UW-Eau Claire and the University of Hartford before joining the University of Rhode Island faculty in 1989 as chair of the department of journalism. Barbara also served as dean of undergraduate studies at Fitchburg (Mass.) State College for one year. For the past six years, she served as URI's NCAA faculty athletics representative and served on national NCAA committees.

Bonnie Rung (BSN) has been promoted from assistant professor to associate professor of nursing at San Juan College in Farmington, N.M.

1972
Terri (Peterson) White (BA), author of the book "Successful Home Schooling," reports that after home schooling her three children from 1983-99, several other families asked her to teach English composition skills to their home-schooled teens. Using the methods she implemented with her own children, she developed beginning, intermediate and advanced English composition courses for group classes. By 2007, White had written and published the "Write Right with Mrs. White" textbook series for beginning, intermediate and advanced English composition. For the past ten years she has taught in her home, at private schools and in home school co-ops. With innovative methods to target all learning styles and with current classroom technology, White strives to
remove the stumbling blocks from the writing process and to infuse a love of communication in her students. More information about her work is available online at koinonia-all.org/composition_class.htm .

1973
Pete Fernholz (BSEPH), vice president for global CIP technology for Ecolab, was one of two honorees named as an Ecolab RD&E fellow in fall 2011. The fellow designation was a new recognition for Ecolab technical associates who have attained the highest distinction within their profession, with established records of innovation that have contributed to Ecolab's success.

Ken Thoreson (BS) has been named to Top Sales World magazine's "Top 50 Sales & Marketing Influencers for 2012" list. The magazine describes members of this elite group as "resources that can assist companies in becoming the best that they can possibly be." Thoreson is author of the award-winning "Your Sales Management Guru" blog, articles and book series for sales leaders. He also is president of Acumen Management Group and a renowned consultant, columnist and speaker. Thoreson can be reached by email at ken@acumenmgmt.com.

1974
Warren Kraft (BA), the assistant city attorney/human resources director for the city of West Bend, received the inaugural Brad D. Bailey Outstanding Assistant City/County Attorney Award at the 76th Annual Conference of the International Municipal Lawyers Association in September 2011 in Chicago, Ill. The award was created in memory of Bailey, a Colorado local government attorney and a special individual who made a difference in the lives of everyone he
met. According to the IMLA, the award seeks to recognize a public law practitioner who has provided outstanding service to the public and who possesses an exemplary reputation in the legal community, the highest ethical standards and who revels in maintaining a life that balances a passion for professional excellence and the joy of family and friends. Kraft said that receiving the award was a "personally emotional recognition" because he and Bailey had been longtime colleagues and friends before Bailey died of brain cancer. Kraft lives in Oshkosh.

1975
Craig Brenholt (BBA), '85 (MST), was named chief people officer for Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls in January 2012. He most recently served as director of human resources at St. Mary's Hospital in Madison. Prior to that, Brenholt served in various human resources leadership positions at Corporate Express in Broomfield, Colo.

Laurie Farnan (BM) received the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2011 from the American Music Therapy Association as well as the Scholarly Activity Award for 2011 from the Great Lakes Region AMTA. The Lifetime Achievement Award, the most prestigious AMTA membership award, recognizes a lifetime of commitment and dedication to the profession of music therapy. According to the AMTA, Laurie has influenced professional music therapy practice in a visionary way throughout the past three decades. She served as the coordinator of music therapy services at the Central Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled for 36 years, training 121 interns. In addition to her extensive research and clinical contributions, Laurie also developed an innovative community partnership with the Madison Symphony Orchestra as a consultant for the HeartStrings community engagement project.

1976
Linda Hoover (BA-E) joined the U.S. Department of State as a foreign service officer in 1993 and currently is the consul general at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. To date, Linda has served in Warsaw, Frankfurt, Munich, Washington D.C., Islamabad and Riyadh, with short assignments in Moscow, Tashkent and on the Serbian-Bosnian border. Her work with Afghan refugees was featured as a cover story in The View in 2007. Linda speaks German, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Polish. She is married to Darek Gwadera and has two children, Petar and Kristina Lazarevic. Linda is slowly converting an old country school into a house in northwest Wisconsin and hopes to retire there someday.

1977
Jackie (Caudy) Olson (BA) recently completed a one-year term as chairman of the board of directors of the De Pere Area Chamber of Commerce. She and her husband, Greg, were happy to see their son, Lars, graduate from UW-Eau Claire in December 2011 with a degree in finance. Jackie works in the corporate communications department of the American Transmission Co. in De Pere.

1979
Gary Berg (BA), owner and CEO of G.L. Berg Entertainment, Performing Artists & Speakers, received a certificate in festival and event management from the University of Minnesota Tourism Center and the Minnesota Festival and Events Association in January 2012. To successfully fulfill the requirements for the certificate, Gary completed approximately 40 hours of formal classroom work and a 10-page paper looking at all aspects of a festival. Areas
addressed in the class and paper included site selection, sponsorship, safety and security, marketing, volunteer management, event financing, legal considerations and more. Berg launched G.L. Berg Entertainment in 1989. The company, which has offices in St. Cloud, Minn., and Menomonie, represents more than 100 professional artists who perform nationwide. More information can be found online at glberg.com.

Ave Bie (BA), an attorney with the law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP in Madison, has been selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of "The Best Lawyers in America" in the energy law category.

Rita (Osei-Akoto) Coker (BBA) reports that since graduating from UW-Eau Claire she has traveled around the world while working for the international nonprofit organization ActionAid International (Ghana). She has worked with poor and vulnerable people, including those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Rita also has written about her experiences and about the people she's met. In addition, she's written and published two novels, "Serwah — The Saga of an African Princess" and "Boarding Time." Rita and her husband, Steve, have three children and one grandchild. More information about Rita can be found online by searching on "Rita Akoto Coker."

Steve Halliday (BA) received a doctorate in communication from Regent University on May 5, 2012. The Regent communication faculty also named him the "outstanding student" among doctoral graduates for 2012. Steve's dissertation focused on the strengths and weaknesses of convergent media in regard to student learning in an enhanced e-book format.