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Class Notes

Below are Class Notes for this issue. To see all Class Notes, click here.

1940s

In Memoriam

Earl Floreth '42,

 October 15, 2019. 

Mary Williams Hubbard '46,

August 25, 2019. 

Keith Stocker '49,

December 15, 2019. 

1950s

Virginia Groustra Forsaith '50,

September 19, 2019. 

In Memoriam

Harold Cooney '51,

November 18, 2019. 

Robert H. “Bob” Winstead '56,

November 11, 2019. 

George Monto '57

(Sigma Pi), December 17, 2019. 

1960s

In Memoriam

Ronald Kilgus '60

(Phi Alpha), July 24, 2019.

James “Roger” Cory '61

(Alpha Phi Omega), November 5, 2019. 

Marty Braeske '62

 October 19, 2019. 

Charles Ankrom '62,

 September 7, 2019. 

Ann Reed Kaser '63,

 October 22, 2019. 

Howard “Pop” Lee Johnson '63,

August 25, 2019. 

Betty Miles Ryan '64,

September 9, 2019. 

Donald Gullquist '66

(Sigma Pi), January 8, 2020. 

Silas Knudsen '67

(Phi Alpha), September 3, 2019. 

John Carpenter '69

(Alpha Phi Omega) , January 16, 2020. 

Gloria Cummings Vandaveer '62

 (Chi Beta), November 17, 2019. 

John Klump '68

(Gamma Nu), August 26, 2019. 

Roger Woods '68

(Phi Alpha), September 24, 2019, incomplete funded memorial membership. 

Updates

Mary Ann Pollitt ’66

has been busy running three dogs in various dog sports since she retired in 2006.

James Alexander ’69

completed 105 road races in 2019 in 36 different states, 33 of those races were half marathons. His goal is to complete a half marathon in all 50 states.

1970s

Updates

Dale Wolf ’70

attended the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy in 2019. His trip followed the path of the Allies through Europe all the way to Munich and Eagles Nest. He and wife Deborah honored to be selected as Grand Marshals of the Christmas Parade in Charleston this year.

Bill Maxey ’75

serves as president of the Springfield Noon Lions Club. He was presented with a proclamation by Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder at the 100th Anniversary Celebration declaring October 19 as Springfield Noon Lions Day.

Gregory Lister ’76

is currently working on the Phi Alpha 175th reunion.

Daniel Sullivan ’78

now has 18 grandchildren with the birth of Maryrose in November. He is a member of the Sports Hall of Fame at pro and has served on the Hall of Fame committee for the past 15 years.

Marriages

Dave Croxton '70 and Sandy Croxton,

 December 05, 2019. 

1980s

Updates

Ann Burford Merchlewitz ’80

was elected vice chairman for the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of Northfield, a charter bank of Merchants Financial Group located in Minnesota.

Dena Henry Leinberger ’83

retired in May 2018 after 34 years of teaching.

Sue Randol ’84

retired from teaching special education for 35 years in Plainfield District #202 and moved back to her hometown of Canton in June 2019.

Marcia Short ’86

started a new job as the executive assistant and office manager for the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln.

Lori Schisler ’87

retired January 1, 2020, more than 32 years working for the State of Illinois. She worked for the Department of Healthcare and Family Services in Springfield for 31 years, serving 26 years in the budget office.

In Memoriam

Rebecca Carnow Jones '86,

 August 14, 2019. 

Thomas Jones '88,

 December 10, 2019. 

1990s

Updates

Rachel Ruppel Weber ’94

is proud that her daughter Liddy Weber ’23 is continuing the IC tradition. Liddy is a first-year student who plans to major in elementary education.

Heather Dahl Brooks ’95

recently celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary with James ‘JR’ Brooks. The couple has two daughters, and they own a business together.

Roman Petra ’96

was elected to the partnership of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP., effective on Jan. 1, 2020. He concentrates his legal practice on commercial real estate transactions, representing developers and funds. He is based in Orlando, Florida.

Marriages

Deanna Still Wise '96 and Todd Wise,

October 18, 2019

T.C. Rammelkamp III '97 and Emily Grace Deegan,

January 14, 2019.

2000s

Updates

Bill Piper ’00

earned his Doctor of Public Administration degree from the University of Illinois-Springfield in July 2019. He is a revenue auditor for the Illinois Department of Revenue.

Amanda Shoemaker ’01

has served as the director of alumni relations and continuing education at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry since 2018.

Amanda Williams ’01

is practicing immigration law at the award-winning non-profit Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. She previously spent a decade working in government law in St. Louis.

Tammy Lonergan Sowder ’02

was promoted to vice president of administration at Milner Media, where she oversees radio stations WVLI, WFAV, WIVR and WYUR.

Daniel Morhardt ’06

is a social studies teacher for the Excel Center through MERS Goodwill.

Lisa Orr-Taylor ’06

is vice president at family business Perma-Bound Books in South Jacksonville. She has been married since 2009 and has four children.

Maggie Henry York ’06

launched a new interior design website at margaretofyork.com. The site features York’s design portfolio from her several years working professionally in the field and a blog. Visitors can also shop a collection of her favorite pieces.

Cara Pratt-Fleming ’06

was named partner at Young Law Partners, P.C., a family law firm in Springfield.

Sami Martin ’06

is an administrative assistant and case manager at the Law Firm of Tamara Roff, an education services law firm in New York City.

Sarah Franklin ’06

is exhibitions and collections manager at Elmhurst Art Museum.

Marissa Giuffre ’06

earned her Master of Arts in Education from McKendree University in December 2018. She is currently employed as an elementary physical education teacher at C.A. Henning Elementary School in Troy.

Casey Grant ’06

has served as campus minister for The Crossing Monmouth church since October 2019.

Ashley Kort Morhardt ’06

is working as an assistant professor of anatomy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Andy Tinsley ’08

recently became the chief of security for City Water, Light & Power. He served the Springfield Police Dept for seven years.

Jared McDaniel ’08

pictured with his wife Ashley and family, has worked at the Department of Corrections for 4 years in February.

Marriages

Tammy Lonergan Sowder '02 and Andy Sowder,

April 11, 2019.

Births

Brian and Tonya Hoots-Sherwin '05,

 a daughter, Evelyn Briar, March 2018. 

David Bird and Joy Heafner '06,

a daughter, June Heafner Bird, May 21, 2019. 

Daniel and Ashley Kort Morhardt '06,

a son, Jonas Jonathan, October 30, 2018. 

Andy '08 and Ashley Tinsley, a daughter,

Kobe M. December 12, 2019.

Tyler and Stephanie Zarse Deien '09,

a daughter, Emma Grace, January 8, 2020. 

2010s

Updates

Kelli Pintar Bockius ’10

recently became a clinical case specialist in the occupational medicine department at Quincy Medical Group. She is pictured with her husband of six years, Chris Bockius ’11, and their two daughters.

David Kleckler ’10

started with Alpha Controls on January 2, 2019.

Emily Richeson ’10

was promoted to quality and environmental systems specialist for U.S. Paint in June 2019.

Amanda Armstrong ’11

began working as a therapist at SIU School of Medicine in the Department of Development and Behavioral Pediatrics in August 2018. She previously spent five years as a therapist at Memorial Behavioral Health.

Eric Hiatt ’11

was elected programming vice president of the Illinois Jaycees for 2020.

Amber Armstrong Kleckler ’11

started as a pediatric clinic nurse in November 2019.

Jennifer Yeoward-Dodson ’11

began a year-long internship at Indiana University in July, after which she will earn her Ph.D. in counseling psychology.

Megan Jagodzinski ’13

recently became a licensed clinical social worker, one of the highest licensure for social workers. She completed three years at the Lawrence County Health Department and one year as a mental health professional at the Illinois Department of Corrections as a mental health professional.

Dillon Clark ’15

began a new job at Litchfield National Bank in August and is training to become a loan officer.

Alex Gardner ’16

will start his residency training in anesthesiology in July 2020 in San Antonio, Texas. He is pictured at IC Homecoming with wife Bianca Savarese Gardner ’16.

Austin Dearing ’16

got engaged in June 2019.

Abby Campbell ’16 and Evan Stone ’15

are engaged to be wed in March. Both are teachers who also coach for their school district.

Casi Strode ’16

graduated from Methodist College with a Bachelor of Science in nursing and was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society. She will be working in the medical-surgical unit at Piedmont as a registered nurse.

Erica Kemple ’17

is the life enrichment director at Cedarhurst of Springfield.

Emma Stuhmer ’17

earned a master’s degree in forensic science from Michigan State University and is a forensic chemist with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Megan Zirkelbach ’17

started at Boeing as a procurement agent in December 2019.

Izzy Kennedy ’18

is in a master’s program and will start an internship in the fall.

Roger Mies ’18

was announced as the new girls soccer coach at Jacksonville High School in January.

Amber Blazek ’18

received her Masters from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and recently accepted a job at Human Kinetics as a Higher Ed Academic Sales Manager.

Mikaela Morrison ’19

is an admissions counselor at pro.

Ka-La Harris ’19

was nominated in November and December to be the Residence Life Professional Staff of the Month at Truman State University.

Marriages

James Sadler '10 and Eric Klotz,

November 11, 2019

Jennifer Yeoward-Dobson '11 and Lucas Dobson,

June 15, 2019

Jill Friedrich Haley '16 and Levi Haley ’15,

 pictured with son, Hugh Robert Michael, January 4, 2020.

Nick Smith '18 and Kaitlyn Smith,

 June 1, 2019. 

Allison Hewitt Pilarte '19 and Alec Pilarte,

July 20, 2019. 

Niki Clemens Mrkvicka '11

(Alpha Phi Omega), December 22, 2019. 

John and Raquel Puckett Wardein '11,

 a daughter, Henley Elle, November 29, 2019. She joins her big sister Harlowe. 

Mathilda Edge Velazquez '11 and Rolando Velazquez,

December 28, 2019. 

Angel McDonald Hollis '16 and Cory Hollis,

December 31, 2019

Kaitlyn Flachs Vander Dussen and Peter Vander Dussen,

 July 27, 2019. 

Births

Hernan and Christian Rodriguez Cortes '11,

 a daughter, Abigail Iliana, December 2, 2019. 

Dan and Lisa Pratt DeWerff '12,

a son, Sutter, June 6, 2019.

Tyler and Lauren Gaudette Boston '15,

 a son, Bennett Tyler, September 12, 2019. 

Bou and Emily Little Melton '15,

a son, Benjamin Edward, January 7, 2020. 

Darrel and Renee Price Colley '15,

a son, Owen Carter, June 19, 2019. 

Faculty & Staff

In Memoriam

Patsy Nave.

August 27, 2019. 

Will Lange,

 January 23, 2020. 

Martha Church H'03,

January 27, 2019. Martha Church was a lifelong champion of liberal arts education. She is remembered as an energetic world traveler who brought boundless energy, curiosity and compassion to her many endeavors. Church served as interim president for pro during the 2002-2003 academic year. Beyond her work at IC, she enjoyed a distinguished career, most notably serving as the first female president of Hood College for 20 years, from 1975 to 1995, as chair of the board of trustees from 2006 to 2008, and being named trustee Emerita in 2009. Including pro, ten institutions of higher education awarded her an honorary degree. Church was 88 when she died on Jan. 27, 2019.

Friends of the College

In Memoriam

George Blair Clark,

December 19, 2019. 

Susann Minnick,

 January 2, 2020, Member of the Julian Monson Sturtevant Society.