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The following Class Notes were received from April to June 2008.

1941
Harriet Terwilliger, M.S.Ed. ’59, and Bill Terwilliger, ’42, have been retired since 1980 and are living in Columbus, North Carolina. They have been married over 65 years (since 1942) and Bill just celebrated his 90th birthday.


1956
Ioanna Burtzos recently retired from 44 years of teaching in Illinois School District 58 where she taught world culture and coached volleyball. She continues to substitute teach in Downers Grove. Burtzos enjoys traveling, reading and cooking. She and her husband, Michael, have three children and ten grandchildren.


1959
Audrey Manley, M.S.Ed. ’66, is a candidate for the Illinois Senate for the 41st District. Manley is on the Democratic ticket for the November election.


1964
Conrad E. Dziewulski received the Air Force Outstanding Civilian Career Service Award after retiring at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. Dziewulski had nearly 32 years combined military and civil service in public affairs and environmental planning.


1967
Bob O’Connor has just published his third historical novel Catesby: Eyewitness to the Civil War. The book follows the difficult journey of a slave blacksmith in his quest to become a free man. O’Connor lives in Charles Town, West Virginia. More information on the book can be found on www.boboconnorbooks.com.

Sandra Lou Stein, M.S.Ed., Ed.D. ’69, professor of education, retired from Rider University with Professor Emerita status in 2007. She taught at the university level for 38 years, 35 of which were at Rider University. Stein plans to travel, volunteer, teach an occasional course, and spend time with family and friends.


1968
John Terwilliger retired from teaching in Troy, Ohio.

Thomas Willer has newly retired after a 29-year career in global regulatory affairs. Most recently Thomas worked at the pharmaceutical company Hospira. He had previously worked for a number of major drug companies, including Abbott Labs and Beecham Labs. He and his wife, Jane (Groy) Willer, plan to stay in the Chicago area.


1970
Cynthia Terwilliger started her career in Kwajelin in the Marshall Islands, then moved to California, then Michigan, and presently resides in Tryon, North Carolina.


1971
Patrick Dalessandro has been named 2008 Illinois REALTOR of the Year. The award recognizes leadership and service in civic, community, and charitable causes, as well as activity in the REALTOR Association. Dalessandro also participates in local politics and volunteers at community homeless shelters. He resides in Prospect Heights, Illinois, with his wife, Amy.

Jane Hoppe announces the release of her debut novel, Beyond Betrayal. For more information, visit http://www.janehoppe.com.


1973
Renae Brooks, M.S.Ed., M.S.Ed. ’74, has recently won the 2008 Kohl McCormick Early Childhood Teaching Award. Brooks is an educator who exemplifies the best practices of early childhood teaching: dedication, innovation, leadership, respect for children and their families, and commitment to professional growth. She currently teaches first grade at River Woods Elementary School in Naperville, Illinois.


1976
George Ellison, on January 1, 2008, joined the law firm Foran, Glennon, Palandech, & Ponzi, PC as Of Counsel.


1977
Curtis C. Verschoor, Ed.D., has been named Educator of the Year 2007-2008 by the Chicago Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors. Verschoor is the Ledger & Quill Research Professor in the School of Accountancy and MIS and also Wicklander Fellow in the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics, both at DePaul University. Verschoor is also the author of Ethics and Compliance: Challenges for Internal Auditing, published by the institute.


1978
Sandy Gaudy has retired from 24 years in IT and lives in North Carolina in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Gaudy is a substitute teacher in middle and high schools, and has her own business as a Mary Kay consultant.


1980
John Etheredge has been appointed editor of the Ledger-Sentinel newspaper. Etheredge has won numerous Illinois Press Association and Northern Illinois News Association awards for his news and feature stories.

Robert F. Rycek, M.A., Ph.D. ’83, has been appointed interim dean of the College of Natural and Social Sciences at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Rycek, who is a professor of psychology, has served as associate dean of the college since 2002.

Linda Skarsgor Talentowski has been appointed chief financial officer of the Congregation of St. Joseph, LaGrange Center, LaGrange Park, Illinois.

Ruth Slayco Binger is one of three recipients of the Lawyer’s Lawyer Award in the St. Louis Daily Record’s 10th annual Women’s Justice Awards. The Lawyer’s Lawyer Award recognizes women in private practice who have demonstrated leadership, integrity, service, sacrifice, and accomplishment in improving the quality of justice or contributing to the betterment of the profession.


1982
Jerrold M. Losch and Myrna G. Contreras-Losch celebrated their first wedding anniversary on June 8, 2008. They reside in Palos Heights, Illinois. Jerrold is a financial analyst for Zurich North America.


1983
Timothy William Brown published his third novel, Walking Man, in April 2008 with Bronx River Press. Brown currently serves on the board of the nonprofit New York Center for Independent Publishing and regularly reviews small press books as a member of the National Book Critics Circle. He is also programming chair of the annual New York Round Table Writer’s Conference, now in its fifth year.

Kathryn Starzyk married Glenn Thompson on November 23, 2007. The couple resides in Deerfield, Wisconsin.


1984
Donald Coons, M.S. ’87, has recently taken the job of senior software engineer at Nielsen in Schaumburg, Illinois. Previously, Coons had worked at Lucent Technologies as a member of technical staff in Naperville, Illinois.


1985
Richard W. Burg, Ph.D., was licensed as a doctor of chiropractic in California in May 2008.

Kim Michael-Lee was hired by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) as director of its business division. In her new position, she functions as its chief financial officer and is responsible for providing the vision, strategic planning, leadership, development, implementation, and ongoing management of the financial functions of the AVMA.

Bruce Pape has been appointed vice president of Compensation, HRIS, & IAP for BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.


1987
Edward Ho, M.S., held a system analyst position for Baxter Healthcare Corp. for five years. Recently he has taken the position as technical architecture lead for Navistar, Inc. in Springfield, Ohio.

Kurt Stallmann currently serves as the 2008 Guggenheim for Music Composition Assistant Professor and Lynette S. Autrey Chair, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University.


1988
Daniel Ihm was formerly vice president of technology at Thomson Media and recently became IT manager of NIU’s Campus Web Services.

Amy Regutti has been practicing traditional Chinese medicine for 10 years and continues to paint, as well as work on a collection of humorous essays. She lives with her husband and two sons.


1989
Barbara J. Miller, M.S., has been recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. She practices gynecology at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County and has been a physician assistant for 27 years.


1990
Joel Graesser, M.F.A., won third place in the World Snow Festival in Switzerland. In October 2007, he was featured in a one-person show at Meredith Ward Fine Art in New York City, and, in December 2007, had a review in ARTnews magazine.

Anthony Nettis, M.S. ’91, worked as partner for Solutions Consulting for six years. He recently became president of Nettis Consulting, LLC in Spring Hill, Florida.


1991
Daniel Murphy and Catherine Irvine Murphy announce the birth of son Dylan Joseph on January 2, 2008. Dylan joins big brothers Aaron, 16, and Conner, 11. The Murphys reside in Tampa, Florida.

Randy Rhodes, vice president and corporate banking team leader for treasury management at U.S. Bank’s office in Naperville, Illinois, has won the U.S. Bank’s Summit award. This is Rhode’s second Summit award, one of the highest Corporate Banking employee achievement honors. He resides in Batavia with his wife, Karen, and their three children.

Chandru Shankar, M.B.A. ’98, was promoted to senior program manager, WW Services at Microsoft last November. In this position he develops business applications offerings for Microsoft’s ERP/CRM line of solutions called Microsoft Dynamics.


1993
’85 Mike Nardulli and Amy Nardulli’s daughter, Lauren, was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation and Hydromyelia at birth. In the two years since, she has seen physicians in 12 fields, as well as numerous therapists. For more information about Lauren and a benefit that will be held for her on September 20, visit www.laurennardullibenefit.com. Questions can be directed to Treacy Nardulli Adamo at treacy77@yahoo.com.


1995
Chris (Holt) Kurgan and Bob Kurgan welcomed son Justin Nicholas on April 8, 2008.


1996
Len Zaporowski and Michelle Kazak were married on May 3, 2008. They reside in Chicago, Illinois.


1997
James Matthew Castle was in the PBS Broadcast Company, which received the 2006-07 Tony Award for Best Revival.

Rubye Wilson, a national Emmy Award-winning producer, has been named an ABC 7 programming producer. Wilson has worked at ABC 7 Chicago as a freelance producer since 2006.


1998
Tamara Smith and Jeffrey E. Smith announce the birth of their daughter, Isabelle Sue Smith, on November 17, 2007.

Jennifer Sedlak married John Parde on July 28, 2007, in Galena, Illinois. They reside in Hickory Hills, Illinois.


1999
Brian J. Kobeluch and Lisa M. Kobeluch welcomed a son, Adam Joseph, on May 14, 2008. He joins his sister, Amy Marie, born on July 5, 2004.


2000
Andrew Fischer worked as software engineer for Rockford Public Schools for five years and has recently taken a new position as software and network engineer for Rockford Public Library System, Rockford, Illinois.

Jennifer Ingham and husband, David, welcomed their first child, son Maxwell Stewart, on March 25, 2008.

June Miroballi Korn and Kevin Korn announce the birth of their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Korn, on January 30, 2008.

Colleen Miller and Jason Fong, ’99, welcomed a daughter, Danica Presli Fong, on April 10, 2008.

Camille Krawczyk and Robert Gibson, ’96, are married and live in Pingree Grove, Illinois.

Eric Albert and Rachael Trylovich, ’02, married on May 5, 2007. They now reside in Chicago, Illinois.


2001
Matt Beintum has accepted the position of vice president of unclaimed property at Duff & Phelps LLC in Chicago, Illinois.

Jeffrey Diehl will be joining Ballet Met in Columbus, Ohio, for the 2008-2009 season after dancing for the last five years with the Louisville Ballet.

Elizabeth Flocker-Aiming, M.M., was featured in a segment on April 2, for NBC Nightly News, for her work with steel drums in the classroom.

Wayne A. Johnson, Ed.D., has taken a new position as of June 2007. After 15 years of adjunct work, he was hired by Harper College as the department chair of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration. His son, Adam Johnson, ’03, is an executive for Target Corporation.

Cynthia Bouska married Ari Barnett in 2002. They had a son, Anthony, on February 10, 2006, and a daughter, Brianna, on January 12, 2008.

Aimee Capati Siems and Shawn Siems welcomed their first babies (triplets), Ava Terraza, Vian Allan, and Maci Beverly, on June 28, 2007.

Ivy Jackson and Navarro Matthews announce the birth of their first daughter, Thierry Noir, on January 23, 2008.

Danielle Carlin and John Carlin announce the birth of their daughter, Reese Isabelle, on February 10, 2008.

Kevin White and Robyn White announce the birth of their daughter, Rayna Nichole White, on April 18, 2008.


2002
Erik Laakkonen has written the article “Up in Smoke? Narragansett, Hicks, and the Erosion of Tribal Sovereign Immunity,” which will be published in the University of Iowa College of Law’s Journal of Gender, Race, & Justice. Laakkonen recently joined the law firm Kramer, deBoer, Endelicato & Keanne LLP in Indian Wells, California, as an associate attorney.

Megan Martin and Shelby Martin, ’04, announce the birth of their son, Creighton Ryan Martin, on April 9, 2008. The family resides in Schaumburg, Illinois.


2003
Meghan Edwards and Charlie Edwards, ’02, announce the birth of their first child, Ella Marie Edwards, on January 15, 2008.

Traci Johnson and husband, David Johnson, welcomed twins Jack David and Claire Elizabeth on March 7, 2008.

Sara Barton Folkens and Brad Folkens, ’02, announce the birth of their first child, Maya Rose, on May 1, 2008.


2004
Amy Nelson, M.A. ’06, is touring China and Asia as lead trumpet in Troika’s production of The Sound of Music. She is enjoying a dual cultural exchange of traveling in Asian countries with an orchestra that includes several Ukrainians.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Joffrey M. Smith recently graduated from the Navy’s Nuclear Power School at Naval Nuclear Power Training Command, Goose Creek, South Carolina. With his newly acquired knowledge, Smith is prepared to operate a reactor on a nuclear powered submarine or aircraft carrier, ensuring the availability of propulsion and power.

Rebecca Ann Forbes and Michael David Gibbons, ’99, got married on June 22, 2008. They reside in Elgin, Illinois.


2005
Nicholas Fryer, M.M., took a full-time job teaching at Minnesota State University.

Brent Cameron and Katarina Krause, ’06, met at NIU in 2004 and were married on November 24, 2007, in Dixon, Illinois. They reside in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Allison Rudolph and John Lehman were married on June 21, 2008. They reside in Orland Park, Illinois.


2006
Erica Goldberg has returned to the United States after eight months in Chalon-sur-Saône, France, when she taught American culture, politics, and language as an English language assistant at a local high school.

Robert Hallberg, M.B.A., has recently been named senior vice president, Commercial Lending, at MB Financial Bank. Currently, Hallberg is a leadership board member for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago. He also devotes his time to Lions Club International and the Young Professionals Organization.

Kari Haugen and Gary Letko welcomed their first child, Nolan Michael Letko, on September 6, 2007.


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