1930
Margaret Shuler Wyckoff celebrated her 97th birthday Oct. 1. She lives in Las Cruces, N.M.
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Phil Zimmer, '69
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Joan Alessi, '75
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Elaine Handley, '75
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Ann Miani, '81
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Lisa Heichberger, M.D., '94
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1943
Dr. John Cope, ’43, (elem. ed.) of Pittsford, N.Y. and Clearwater, Fla., received medals for combat service while serving in the U.S. Air Force in World War II from New York State Assemblyman Joseph A. Errigo and New York State Senator James S. Alesi at a ceremony on July 8 in the Pittsford Community Library. Dr. Cope’s unit was awarded a Bronze Star for the liberation of the Philippines. While at Fredonia, he was president of the Alma Mater Society and captain of the Ironman basketball team.
1952
Dr. Rocco Doino, ’52, (elem. ed.) of Fredonia, N.Y., was honored in September by the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation at its twentieth anniversary celebration with the Footprints Award as a member of its founding board of directors.
1958
Helen A. Phillips-Hannah, ’58, (music ed.) retired after teaching for 33 years in Rome (N.Y.) City Schools.
1960
Dr. Douglas Houck, ’60, (elem. ed.) was featured in a Dunkirk (N.Y.) Observer article about his historical novels which include history of Dunkirk and Chautauqua County. He teaches at Edison College in Punta Gorda, Fla. and has a second home in Westfield, N.Y.
1962
Aileen (Ames) Ayers, ’62, (music ed.) retired after 41 years of teaching. In 2005 she received the Livingston County (N.Y.) Business/Education Association Educator of the Year award.
1967
Jerry Soffer, ’67, (psych.) lives in Maplewood, N.J., and has been a criminal defense attorney for over 30 years, having earned his J.D. and M.A. in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University. He hopes to retire next summer and do some teaching and writing. Jerry would “get a kick out of hearing from old classmates” and can be reached through e-mail at knish24@comcast.net.
1968
Susan Forster, ’68, (music ed.) is director of music and fine arts for the North Sacramento (Calif.) School District. She also performs with the Auburn (Calif.) Symphony and Sacramento Valley Concert Band.
1969
Aurian (Schwartz) Lotter, ’69 (see 1994).
Attorney Lance Madden, ’69, (pol. sci.) leader of Hodgson Russ’s Immigration and International/Cross-Border Practice Groups, has been appointed chair of the Cross-Border Business Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada (AmCham). He was also appointed to serve on AmCham’s Policy/Government Relations Committee.
Phil Zimmer, ’69, (history) of Jamestown, N.Y., has joined Northwest Financial Services as a senior financial adviser. The company is an affiliate of Northwest Savings Bank and Phil will be responsible for business development, client relationship management and the sale of financial services throughout the Warren, Pa. and Jamestown areas. Prior to joining Northwest Financial, Phil was a financial consultant with A.G. Edwards & Sons of Olean, N.Y.
1970
Mary Lee Campbell-Wisley, ’70, (English) has been named to a three-year term on the board of trustees at Hilbert College in Hamburg, N.Y.
1971
Onaje Allan Gumbs, ’71, (music ed.) of Bronx, N.Y., completed a new CD, “Sack Full of Dreams” for release this fall by Showplace Records (Allegro Distribution), produced by Onaje and Grammy-winning producer Jack Kreisberg, and recorded by Grammy-winning engineer Ben Elliott. The CD features Brazilian, straight-ahead jazz, funk and ballads, including original tracks, “Lament” and “People and Love.” The title track includes a guest vocal by Obba Babatunde.
1972
Daniel Ohlrich, ’72, (elem. ed./math-sec. ed.) and Judy (Green) Ohlrich, ’72, (elem. ed.) have retired from teaching after each serving 34 years in their respective school districts. Judy taught in the Port Byron (N.Y.) Central School District; her first 13 years as a fourth grade teacher and the remaining years as a first grade teacher. Daniel worked in the Williamson (N.Y.) Central School District as an elementary school teacher, K-12 computer coordinator, high school computer science teacher and AIS Math Lab instructor. He conducted numerous technology related teacher in-service workshops through the Wayne-Finger Lakes Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) over the years, and also taught several computer science courses in Williamson, N.Y., for college credit as an adjunct professor for Finger Lakes Community College.
1973
Daniel R. Ryel, CLU, ChFC, ’73, (English) of Fredonia, N.Y., was recognized by New England Securities, named to the Platinum tier of New England Securities’ Inner Circle.
1974
Patricia Lee Appelt, ’74, (elem. ed.) of Canandaigua, N.Y., is the author of the poetry book, Horizons, a collection of inspirational poetry that she began writing as a college student. The book was recently published by PublishAmerica.
Ronald Norris, ’74 (see 1975).
1975
The latest release of Romeo Records, the CD “Parabolically Bach,” features the Sax-Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Lawrence Gwozdz, ’75, (music ed.) of Hattiesburg, Miss. Two other alumni perform on the CD: Brian Kauth, ’02, ’04, (music ed., music perf.) and Noah Madison, ’05 (music ed.). Fredonia is also represented among the arrangers with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D minor arranged by Ronald Norris, ’74, ’92, (theatre, school admin./super). This is the second CD by the Sax-Chamber Orchestra featuring Fredonia alumni; Curt Altarac, ’99, (music ed.) performed on the first release, “America Remembers.” For more information about the CDs, interested persons can go online at www.romeorecords.com/home.htm.
Joan E. Alessi, ’75, (geology) has gone back to the classroom after 27 years as a technology manager and is teaching life, physical and earth science at the Santa Fe (N.M.) School for the Arts. Her first art catalog, Descansos – Sacred Landscapes of New Mexico, will be published in November in conjunction with the opening of an exhibit of the same title at the Albuquerque Museum in January 2007. A resident of Santa Fe for 10 years, Joan is also a member of the New Mexico Citizens Review Board of Abused and Neglected Children and part of the International Team on Globalization in Education.
Dr. Elaine Handley, ’75, ’77, (English) of Middle Grove, N.Y., is a faculty mentor in English for the Northeast Center of Empire State College and coordinator for the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program. She was the co-recipient of the 2006 Adirondack Center for Writing Award in Poetry and during the same year the recipient of a New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artist grant.
Paul, ’75, (soc. studies/sec. ed.) and Lynn (Levandoski) Maloney, ’75, (English/sec. ed.) from Pawling, N.Y., welcomed their first grandchild, Shannon Bell Farley, in November 2005.
Steven Rivelis, ’75, (psych.) is CEO of Campaign Consultants, Inc. of Baltimore, Md., a company specializing in community development, fund raising, corporate citizenship, diversity, issue advocacy, media/marketing, public policy and organizational development.
1976
Dr. Mary Kay Szwejbka, ’76, (elem. ed.) was promoted to associate professor at Jamestown Community College.
1977
Robert S. Guiffreda, ’77, ’83, ’93, (elem. ed., math. 7-12, school admin./super.) was appointed district superintendent of the Erie-2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in New York State.
Christina Rausa, ’77, (theatre) directed A.R. Gurney’s “Later Life,” the debut production of the new Chautauqua Lake Theatre Company, in September. Mary (McMahon) Jakiel, ’79, (mus. theatre) was a member of the cast.
1978
Douglas Fenton, ’78, (special studies) was named marketing relations director for the Waters of Dunkirk (N.Y.). He also serves as secretary of the SUNY Fredonia Alumni Association Board of Directors and writes a weekly business column for the Dunkirk Observer.
The Rev. Mark and JulieAnn (Manetta) Hartburg, ’78, (music ed.) live in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Mark serves as assistant to the president in the East District of Lutheran Church-Canada, and Julie continues to teach Suzuki violin in Waterloo and Brantford. Their oldest daughter, Charissa, was recently married by former Fredonia percussion student the Rev. Greg Schultz.
1979
Mary (McMahon) Jakiel, ’79 (see 1977).
In June, former WCVF staff members Pete Zolnowski, Jerry Littenberg, ’79, (special studies) of Denver, Colo.; Eric Thom, ’83, (commun.) of Seattle, Wash.; Dave Salamone, ’79, (special studies) of Scarsdale, N.Y.; Scott Martelle, ’84, (pol. sci.) of Irvine, Calif.; Glenn Rosenberg, ’79, (special studies) of Oceanside, N.Y.; and Mitch Haley celebrated 30 years of friendship with a reunion in Las Vegas, Nev.
Howard Lopater, ’79, (English) was promoted to multi-region operations specialist/investigator for Blockbuster Video in Southeast Florida and is also part owner of Palm Harbor (Fla.) Crystal Clean Car Wash.
1980s
Ellen (Owen) Ditonto, ’80, (English) was appointed assistant operations manager at DFT Communications of Fredonia, N.Y.
U.S. Army Reservist Lt. Col. Tom Kennedy, ’80, (English/sec. ed.) is a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps and a member of the Joint Center for Operational Analysis, JFCOM, in Kabul, Afghanistan, through early fall of this year. As a civilian, Tom is an attorney and chief of the Recovery Branch, Army Claims Service in Fort Meade, Md. He reports, “The Afghan people are remarkably friendly and hard working. With the help of the U.S. and NATO forces here in the country, they have come a long way in a short time. One senses a deep yearning on their part to establish a democratic government...”
Jeffrey Rothstein, ’80, (bus. admin.) of Centreville, Va., was named to the Dean’s List and the Honor Roll at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich.
1981
Ann “Duck” (Quinlan) Miani, ’81, (elem. ed.) has taught in Pittsburg (Calif.) United Schools since 1982 and continues to love her work with elementary children in the inner-city location. Her class has had a traveling Teddy bear, inspired by a Buffalo teacher who launched her own bear’s travels, but since 9/11 has had few reports to share. Annie is also an avid flower gardener with a garden business and webpage at www.AnnieAppleseeds.com. She hoped to see many pals at the twenty-fifth reunion this month and can be reached at annmiani@comcast.net. She added, “Take time to smell the flowers.”
1983
Eric Thom, ’83 (see 1979).
1984
Dr. Deborah (Lynch) De Luca, ’84, (elem. ed.) completed her doctoral degree in education in 2005 and is beginning her second year as principal of William Floyd Elementary School in Shirley, Long Island. She lives with her two children in Sayville, N.Y.
Mark Dieffenbach, ’84, (psych.) of Westvale, N.Y., received the 2005 Chairman’s Award at The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., for his outstanding work on behalf of the company. Mark earned the award, the highest form of corporate recognition, as part of a team of employees who redefined The Hartford’s strategy for assisting workers’ compensation claimants with spinal cord injuries and acquired brain injuries. The team developed a new care management program that focuses on helping injured workers reach their maximum level of recovery and independence for improvement in their quality of life, while delivering significant savings to the company.
Scott Martelle, ’84 (see 1979).
1985
Susan Asquith, ’85, (bus. admin.) vice president at Travers Collins & Company of Buffalo, N.Y., was the co-recipient of a Silver Excalibur award in June from the Buffalo-Niagara Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for a project in the category of Community Relations.
Howard Klayman, ’85, (music ed.) was appointed director of national programs for AFIX Biometric Technologies and L-1 Identity Solutions of Arlington, Va.
1989
Sean Patrick McGraw, ’89, (applied music) appeared in a Country Music Television special series, “10 Days on the Road,” in September. The series featured “life-on-the-road” experiences of up and coming country performers. He also performed his song, “Finoa,” at the Mountain Stages New Song Competition as a finalist in August.
1990
Tamathajane (Nagle) O’Donnell, ’90, (English/sec. ed.) is an assistant professor of communication and theatre at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland. This fall, she is serving as interim coordinator of its theatre department. See note under “Births.”
1992
Rob Burke, ’92, (theatre) was named head coach of the Buffalo (N.Y.) State College women’s hockey program. He was most recently an assistant coach at Cornell University.
James Lasher, ’92, (sound rec. technology) lives on Long Island with his wife, Jennifer, and manages the A/V and TV studios at CA, Inc., where he has worked for nine years. See note under “Births.”
1993
Erick M. Taft, ’93, (history) received his Senior Professor in Human Resources (SPHR) certification in June, and is working for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. He lives in northwest Arkansas with his wife, Michelle, and 2-year-old twin daughters, Riely and Allison.
1994
Tracy Collingwood, ’94, (psych.) was recently appointed internship coordinator/career counselor in the Career Development Office at SUNY Fredonia. She previously served as website coordinator for the university.
Dr. Lisa E. Heichberger, ’94, (biology, med. technology) is an attending physician with Lovelace Family Medicine in Prosperity, S.C. The South Carolina Health Consortium has selected the practice as the Teaching Site of the Year for Physicians for the State of South Carolina. She and her associate physicians serve as primary instructors and preceptors for medical students and physicians in training. Dr. Heichberger is a board certified physician in Family Medicine and she and her husband, Mark Peterson, and daughter, Grace Elizabeth, live in Chapin, S.C.
Karen (Lotter) Hickey, ’94, (pol. sci.) of Alexandria, Va., writes the “Hillary Watch” column reporting the work of Senator Hillary Clinton for Human Events magazine and home schools her children. She has a new daughter, see note under “Births,” another daughter, Caroline, and sons, Henry and Charlie, and can be reached through e-mail. Karen also reports that her mother, Aurian (Schwartz) Lotter, ’69, (elem. ed.) and sister, Sarah Lotter, ’97, (elem. ed./math.) live in northern Virginia and both teach at Lake Anne Elementary School in Reston.
1996
Melanie Gregg, ’96, (commun.) is community programs marketing manager for the City of Buffalo, N.Y.’s Office of Strategic Planning.
1997
Brian Boyer, ’97, (commun.) is manager of communications at Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies company based in East Hartford, Conn. He is the managing editor of the company’s quarterly magazine distributed to the worldwide network of employees, and also manages all e-communications, including the company’s intranet and Internet sites and executive communications. He and his wife, Laura, and son, Jacob, live in West Hartford, Conn. See note under “Births.”
William “Billy” Carpentiere, ’97, (mus. theatre) played the role of Emile Debeck in the Smithtown (N.Y.) Center for the Performing Arts’ production of “South Pacific” in August and September.
Colleen (Brunelle) Felder,’97, (English/sec. ed.) teaches high school English at North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pa. She is also the graduation project coordinator and a class advisor. She and her husband have a 1-year-old son, Thomas.
Sarah Lotter, ’97 (see 1994).
1998
Jeffrey Bucki, ’98, (English) assistant account manager/copywriter for Travers Collins & Company of Buffalo, N.Y., was the co-recipient of a Bronze Excalibur award in June from the Buffalo-Niagara Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for a project in the category of Press/Media Kits.
Jessica Kulpa, ’98, (psych.) is a licensed real estate agent with Century 21 Turner Brokers, and has joined its new office at Chautauqua Institution. She can reached through e-mail at jessica@c21turnerbrokers.com.
Alain M. Marren, ’98, (speech and hear. hand.) earned a master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Northern Arizona University and lives in Phoenix, Ariz., working as a speech-language pathologist.
Anthony Popielarz Jr., ’98, (chem./sec. ed.) of Downer’s Grove, Ill., is director of innovation and research at Vegetable Juices, Inc. in Chicago.
Eric J. Smith, ’98, (coop. engineer./chem.) is department manager at JPS Composite Materials in Greenville, S.C., which produces woven fiberglass products “used in everything from parts on the space shuttle and military/aerospace applications to commercial construction, surfboards and kayaks.” He and his wife, Audrey, ’98, (elem. ed./gen. sci.) have a daughter, Kaleigh. In his message he reflected on how work in his senior seminar at Fredonia helped to connect him with his first job at Photocircuits, makers of printed circuit boards.
1999
Curt Altarac, ’99 (see 1975).
Casey T. Jakubowski, ’99, (sec. ed./social studies, history) of Orchard Park, N.Y., is an associate for educational improvement working for the New York State Education Department.
Cheryl (Hilgert) Popielarz, ’99, (health serv. admin.) of Downer’s Grove, Ill., is regional finance manager at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company Personal Markets Midwest Division in Naperville, Ill., just outside of Chicago.
Dr. Eric Springer, ’99, (biology) a two-time track All-American while at SUNY Fredonia, has opened Northeast Chiropractic Center in St. Petersburg, Fla.
2000
Dr. Leah Fabiano, 2000, ’01, (speech path.) earned her Ph.D. in Communication Sciences from Temple University in July. She began a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Research in Language (CRL) lab at the University of California at San Diego, doing research in bilingual phonological development and disorders.
Jennifer L. Forbes, 2000, (commun./media mgmt.) is working in Residence Life at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
Professor Tom Loughlin (theatre and dance) reported Fredonia alumni joined him in the cast of Buffalo’s Kavinoky Theatre production of, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” in September and October. Charmagne (Hale) Chi, 2000, (theatre arts) played the role of Vibrata, and Rosy Mattia, ’04, (mus. theatre) the role of Philia. Steve Cooper, who also attended Fredonia, is managing director of the theater.
Danielle (Gardiner) Oliver, 2000, (music therapy) earned her M.S. degree in Special Education from Long Island University’s C.W. Post Campus and is teaching in Valley Stream North High School on Long Island, N.Y. See note under “Marriages.”
2001
Yartish Bullock-Okeke, ’01, (English) is marketing coordinator for Multicultural Marketing Resources, Inc. of New York City. Friends can reach her through e-mail. See note under “Marriages.”
Maclain Nichols, ’01, (special studies) is chairing the United Way of Northern Chautauqua County (N.Y.) fund drive as its vice president for fundraising.
Dr. Tina M. Penhollow, ’01, (health serv. admin.) has been named the 2007 Horizon Award winner of the American Association for Health Education. She will receive the award in March 2007 at the national convention of the American Association for Health Education/American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance in Baltimore, Md. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion at Florida Atlantic University in Davie, Fla.
Thomas Priester, ’01, (English/sec. ed.) has begun a new job as program coordinator in the Campus Center at Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y.
2002
Brian Kauth, ’02, ’04 (see 1975)
Valerie L. Misa-Hoffmann, ’02, (commun./public rel.) is a marketing coordinator for the New Homes and Condominiums Division at Michael Saunders & Company of Sarasota, Fla. See note under “Marriages.”
Elizabeth “Beth” (Meder) Starks, ’02, (elem. ed./Spanish) is the founder and director of the non-profit Chautauqua Lake Child Care Center in Mayville, N.Y. Earlier this year, she received a grant of $181,400 to support the center from the State Office of Children and Family Services. The grant was the third largest state child grant awarded this year.
Lisa C. Sweeney, ’02, (elem. ed./Spanish) of Jamestown, N.Y., received her Master of Education degree in Special Education in May from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
2003
Tiffany S. Crozier, ’03, (interdis. stds.) of Jamestown, N.Y., received her Master of Education degree in Elementary Education in May from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
Jason Fishner, ’03, (commun./public rel.) is completing his master’s degree in Higher Education Administration and Policy Studies at SUNY University at Albany in December. He is also a residence hall director at SUNY Cobleskill.
Jessica E. Smith, ’03, (English) graduated from Minnesota State University in Mankato with a master’s degree in creative writing/fiction. Her thesis was a book of short stories, All the Wrong Men. She has a book on Russian culture forthcoming from Compass Point Books and this fall is teaching at the SUNY University at Buffalo.
2004
Jennifer L. Hildom, ’04, (psych.) of Westfield, N.Y., received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology in May from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
Rosy Mattia, ’04 (see 2000)
Amanda Skilton, ’04, (commun./public rel.) is the media specialist for the Seneca Nation Early Childhood Center on the Cattaraugus Territory and recently completed the day care center’s first yearbook. She works to provide the ECLC with a print rich environment full of Seneca language and culture.
2005
James Kontrabecki, ’05, (music perf.) is a graduate assistant in the Fredonia School of Music’s string area under the guidance of Professor Janet Sung. He is pursuing a Master of Music degree in Music Performance.
Noah Madison, ’05 (see 1975).
2006
Patrick Fanelli, ’06, (pol. sci.) lives in Lakewood, N.Y., and is a reporter for the Jamestown Post-Journal.
Heather Palmer, ’06, (pol. sci.) works as a constituent aide for New York State Senator George D. Maziarz and is attending Buffalo State College in pursuit of a master’s degree in Elementary Education.
Stephen Paratore, ’06, (commun./TV and digtl. film) is a director at WCTV-CBS in Tallahassee, Fla. He plans to attend the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, Calif., beginning in Fall 2007.
Devin Watkins, ’06, (commun./pub. rel.) works at Butler/Till Media services in Rochester, N.Y., as a media assistant/traffic coordinator, currently assigned to a national media account with State Farm Insurance. He adds, “I am pleased to say that my four years at Fredonia were the best four years of my life, and my time there helped prepare me to be a successful professional. THANK YOU FREDONIA.”