Class Notes April 2008

1943

Mildred Denson, ’43, (elem. ed.) retired from teaching in 1976, enjoyed antiquing for many years, spent several winters in Florida, and now winters at home in Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Sally (Bauter) Michel, ’55, (elem. ed.) is still accompanying for local school districts, 44 years in the Montour Falls, N.Y., district, and 22 years in the Watkins Glen, N.Y., district.

Mary Ann Frazita, ’58, (elem. ed.) of Fredonia, N.Y., taught religion for six years following her retirement for school teaching and was selected to receive the Divine Servant Award.

Elaine (Greeley) Jennings, ’61, (speech and hear. hand.) of Boca Raton, Fla., reports having traveled throughout the U.S. and most of western Europe.

Lance Durban, ’70, (econ.) lives in Haiti, owns an electronics manufacturing company there, and became a grandfather in January to grandson Ethan Phoenix Durban-Handal. He is interested in hearing from other class members who have not yet joined the Class of 1970 Yahoo! Group. There is information online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fredonia-1970/.

Antoinette (Gaeta) Olander, ’70, (elem. ed.) married a Swede whom she met on vacation in 1973, and has lived in Sweden since her marriage.

Steve Ranus, ’72, ’77, (elem. ed./social studies) was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Okla., and was given a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award. For the past 30 years, Steve has worked in the Gwinett County Schools of Georgia as a teacher and wrestling coach.

Angelo P. Bennice, ’73, (chem.) was appointed as a member of the Fredonia College Council by New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer.

John D. Caligiuri, ’73, (econ.) is quality manager for Eastman Kodak-Digital Capture and Devices. He earned his M.B.A. in Finance from the Simon Graduate School of Business of the University of Rochester (N.Y.). He lives in Greece, N.Y., with his wife, Linda (Shanks), ’73, (elem. ed.) and they have three grown children.

Mary Ellen (Lee) Decker, ’73, (social studies/sec. ed.) retired after 31 years of teaching, the last 27 years in social studies at Dunkirk (N.Y.) High School. She also served as a Dunkirk Teachers Association union representative and/or officer for 24 years.

Tom Dudzick, ’73, (art) of Nyack, N.Y., and Barry Shapiro, ’75, (psych.) of New York City, former Fredonia roommates, presented a series of workshops in March in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Tom continues his successful career as a playwright and has been referred to by critics as “the Catholic Neil Simon.” Barry is co-owner of Herman & Lipson Casting, having been with the company for over 25 years and casting over 7,500 commercials for such products as Loreal, American Express, Advil, Verizon and other top accounts. Barry also has casted for film, television and theatre; formerly managed a rehearsal studio for Broadway shows, and has taught commercial technique classes and directs comedy showcases in New York City.

Larry Etkin, ’73, (psych.) is the new communication director for Minnesota’s Perpich Center for Arts Education (PCAE) in Golden Valley, a suburb of Minneapolis. PCAE is a combination of a residential public high school for the arts attended by students from across the state and a research and continuing professional education program for arts teachers from across Minnesota. He earned his M.A. in Journalism from the University of Minnesota.

Barbara (Byrnes) Lenarcic, ’73, (psych.) is in her 13^th year as a docent at the Denver (Colo.) Art Museum, and currently doing outreach art activities for juveniles at the Boulder County Juvenile Center.

Dr. Michael Marletta, ’73, (biology, chem.) of Berkeley, Calif., is the recipient of the 2008 Biopolymers Murray Gordon Memorial Prize, to be presented during the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society in a special award symposium held in conjunction with the ACS Division of Biological Chemistry. The annual award was established in memory of Dr. Gordon, founding editor of Biopolymers.

Helen (Marcellino) Seward, ’73, (speech and hear. hand.) retired in 2003 after 30 years in the Amsterdam (N.Y.) School District. She is currently a private speech-language pathologist.

Claire (Lukawski) Felong, ’74, (math./sec. ed.) is a part-time CPA and fee-based financial planner. She is also involved in the Sierra Club Cool Cities global warming initiatives in Redwood City, Calif., where she lives with her husband, Andy, who also attended Fredonia.

Kathleen (Weinaug) Lang, ’74, (elem. ed.) of Emerald Isle, N.C., teaches at a college in North Carolina “…preparing future teachers!! I am loving it!”

David F. Smith, ’74, (pol. sci.) was elected Chief Executive Officer by the board of directors of National Fuel Gas Company. He joined National Fuel in 1978, will continue to serve as president of the company, and has served as president and Chief Operating Officer since 2006. In 2007, he was elected to the company’s board of directors. Dave has also served as president of National Fuel Gas Supply Corp., Empire State Pipeline, National Fuel Reserves, Inc., and National Fuel Gas Distribution Corp.

Dr. Deborah (Anders) Silverman, ’76, ’79, (music ed., English) is chair of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Northeast District, and is chairing the Sept. 18 Northeast District Conference slated for the Buffalo, N.Y. area. She was recently selected as one of two public relations practitioners in New York State for the PRSA Volunteer Leadership Continuum Task Force out of over 100 people who applied to be named to the committee. Deb is assistant professor of communication at Buffalo State College.

Sharon (Tagliaferri) Troha, ’77, (bus. admin.) and her family recently moved to Ohio and Sharon opened the Lexington (Ohio) Academy of Dance.

Susan L. Weber, ’78, (music ed.) of East Meadow, N.Y., is beginning her two-year term as president of the New York State School Music Association. She is in her 27th year of teaching middle school orchestra in the Uniondale School District on Long Island, New York.

Thomas Linek, ’79, (bus. admin.) was promoted to colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. Col. Linek serves as the deputy chief of staff, information management officer, for the Army Reserve Medical Command. His current full-time job is as director of information management for Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem in Georgia.

Steve Rosenberg, ’82, (philo.) is self-publishing his first children’s book, John Abernathy, with illustrator Regi Hendrix. For more information about the book, interested persons should e-mail smerklebooks@yahoo.com.

Brent P. Sheldon, ’82, (biology) was named the Radiation Safety officer for Chautauqua County. He has worked for the Chautauqua County Department of Health as a public health sanitarian for the past 20 years and is an E.P.A. Certified Lead Risk Assessor. Brent is also chairman of the Jamestown (N.Y.) City Republication Committee, and served as its treasurer for eight years. Prior to that, he served a two-year term on the Jamestown City Council. Old friends can reach Brent by e-mail at brent_sheldon@hotmail.com.

Howard Swirsky, ’82, (bus. admin.) of Dix Hills, Long Island, N.Y., is happily married to his wife, Amy, and has a son, Cory, and daughter, Ava. He is an independent sales representative selling Dickies Girl, LTB Jeans, Seven Jeans, Rocawear outerwear, Kenpo and other lines. He added, “I loved Fredonia and would recommend the college to others.”

Christopher Lane, ’84, (commun.) was promoted to vice president of engineering and technology at WETA television of Washington, D.C. He joined the station in 1997 as engineering manager and served since 1999 as director of production. He was lead project manager for the “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer’s” transition to high definition television.

Scott Martelle, ’84, (pol. sci.) of Irvine, Calif., reports he has been invited to participate in a panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of California at Los Angeles at the end of April, following a talk at Colorado State University at Pueblo, all connected with his recent book, Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in the American West.

Carrie (Wojda) Newman, ’87, (econ.) is an account manager for NelNet, an education finance company.

David Newman, ’87, (comp. sci.) is a field application engineer for Dialogic, a telecommunications company. He and Carrie (see above) live in Irving, N.Y.

Bonnie (Arzner) Shipotofsky, ’87, (med. technology) lives in southern New Jersey with Mark (see below) and has been senior medical technologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Pa. since 1990.

Laura (Way) Lewis, ’89, (psych.) is director of Field Education and Student Services for the School of Social Work at the State University at Buffalo (N.Y.). She is also pursuing her Ph.D. in Counseling Education at U.B.

Professor Emeritus Dan Berggren tells us that Andy Flynn, ’91, (commun.) who writes the Adirondack Attic newspaper column for the Adirondack Journal, was featured on the journal’s segment in the Feb. 17 episode of the “Mohawk Valley Living” television show. Dan and Andy also did a program together at the Adirondack Museum in March, “The Adirondack Musical History Tour.”

Christie Sims, ’92, (English) was promoted to E911 dispatch supervisor at the Tompkins County (N.Y.) Department of Emergency Response. Her duties include the implementation of training programs and supervision of dispatchers. She would love to hear from fellow classmates at simmer926@juno.com.

Jeffrey J. Venuti, ’92, (English) lives in Boston, Mass., and completed his M.S. in Human Resources at Suffolk University in December 2007. He recently left his position as a senior employee benefits and human resource consultant with The Bostonian Group to be the executive client consultant at Borislow Insurance, also an employee and human resources consulting firm. He and his partner, Rob Swann, plan to remain in the Boston area. Friends may reach Jeff at jjvenuti@yahoo.com.

David Wallak, ’92, (bus. admin./finance) see note under “Births.”

Angela Bizzle-Tucker, ’93, (bus. admin./market.) works for Verizon Wireless as regional marketing consultant, responsible for retail marketing efforts for Rochester, Buffalo and the Southern Tier of New York State. She formerly served as special events incentives coordinator for all of Upstate New York markets. Angela lives with her four children, Regina, Shaeden, Kechard and Jennifer, in Rochester, N.Y.

Deanna (Nuszkowski) Carlsen, ’93, (chem.) has moved back to the Buffalo, N.Y., area with her husband and two children. She will continue to work for Dannon part-time.

Greg Lowenguth, ’93, (biology) see note under “Births.”

Kate (Stage) Lowenguth, ’93, (elem. ed.) see note under “Births.”

Kelly Ann (Barton) McCarty, ’93, (bus. admin.) is back working for SAIC, telecommuting from home in Florida since her children, Emily and Collin, are now both in school. She invites friends to send e-mail to kmccarty7@comcast.net.

Brad Petrella, ’93, (sound rec. technology) of Cinnaminson, N.J., has accepted a new position as technical engineer at Shooters Post and Transfer in Philadelphia, Pa.

Deb (Cimochowski) Petrella, ’93, (elem. ed.) keeps busy with Brad (see above) and her children, Riley and Brianna, while doing volunteer work for their church and school.

Brian Gwitt, ’94, (pol. sci., special studies) was named a Partner at Damon & Morey LLP of Buffalo, N.Y. He practices in the Business Litigation and Insolvency Department, focusing on business and commercial litigation, including contract disputes, Uniform Commercial Code, corporate governance, intellectual property/trade secret litigation, bankruptcy and real estate litigation, and debtor/creditor matters.

Dr. Todd Schoepflin, ’94, (psych.) see note under “Births.”

Michele (Tofil) Szalkowski, ’94, (account.) of Dunkirk, N.Y., was named a staff accountant at Johnson, Mackowiak & Associates, LLP.

Dr. Cynthia (Miller) Hoover, ’95, (chem.) received the George W. Thorn Award from the State University at Buffalo, given to a U.B. graduate under 40 in recognition of outstanding national or international contributions to their career field or academic area. After earning her doctorate at U.B. and spending two years as a research chemist at Advanced Technology Materials, she joined the Praxair Research and Development Center as a developmental associate in electronics technology. She is now director of research and development for the Fortune 500 company that has operations around the world. Cindy also holds several patents and in 2005 was the recipient of the Young Eminent Engineer Award from the National Academy of Engineering.

David Stott, ’95, (bus. admin.) recently passed his S.P.H.R. certification, and is currently director, Global Human Resources Operations, for Symantec, Inc. in Cupertino, Calif. Dave and his wife, Shari, live in San Francisco. Friends can reach Dave through e-mail at dts2121@yahoo.com.

Sonja Johnson, ’96, (account.) was promoted to supervisor in the Jamestown, N.Y. office of the certified public accounting firm Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro.

Michael Eglin, ’98, (music comp.) was one of two winners of the 2008 Young Composers Competition sponsored by the Pacific Chorale. Michael’s work, “Barter,” one of 70 entries, had its world premiere at the chorale’s “American Treasures” concert in March and reprised at the Pacific Chorale’s American Masterpieces Choral Festival in April. He is artistic director of the Adelfos Ensemble, a 10-member men’s a cappella choir specializing in contemporary and Renaissance music. He lives in Santa Barbara, Calif., with his wife and two sons, and is director of music and organist at El Montecito Presbyterian Church.

Dr. Emily (Murphy) VanDette, ’98, (English) is a faculty member in the Department of English at SUNY Fredonia.

Bridget Young, ’98, (math./sec. ed.) was promoted to assistant professor of mathematics at Suffolk County (N.Y.) Community College.

Ellen (Klem) Pennock, ’99, (art) has been an art teacher for five years at Trumansburg (N.Y.) High School. She and her husband, Paul, and dog, two cats, and six chickens, live in Hector, N.Y.

Karrie (Utter) Schauber, ’99, (speech and hear. hand.) see note under “Births.”

Tina (Bausch) Schoepflin, ’99, (social work) see note under “Births.”

Jeremy Boylan, 2000, (English), of Cortland, N.Y., see note under “Births.”

Jason Butterfield, 2000, (bus. admin.) of Eden Prairie, Minn., works for Cushman & Wakefield, a leading global commercial real estate firm, representing corporations in real estate negotiations and transactions.

Bryan D’Arcangelo, 2000, (bus. admin.) of South Boston, Mass., is a specialty respiratory pharmaceutical sales rep for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals.

Leah Fabiano-Smith, 2000, ’01, (speech path.) lives in San Diego, Calif., see note under “Marriages.”

Debra Karpinske-Keyser, 2000, ’05, (commun., English/adol. ed.) teaches at Chautauqua Lake High School. She will complete her master’s degree in Special Education in May at Mercyhurst College of Erie, Pa.

Matthew R. Kaufman, 2000, (bus. admin.) and his wife, Katie,’01, (see below) have moved to Lockport, N.Y. See note under “Births.”

Stephen Powell, 2000, (bus. admin.) see note under “Births.”

Peter Smith, 2000, (criminal justice) see note under “Births.”

Pattra Wirojratana, 2000, (biochemistry) lives in Boston, Mass., and is pursuing a M.S. in Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Prior to graduate school she was a research associate at Harvard Clinical Research Institute.

Katie (Powers) Kaufman, ’01, (elem. ed./math.) of Lockport, N.Y., see note under “Births.”

Thomas Priester, ’01, (English/sec. ed.) program coordinator at the Campus Center at Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y., received the Audrey Hozak New Professional Award at the annual Region 2 conference of the Association of College Unions International held in Buffalo, N.Y. He is co-chair of the organization’s regional Campus Life and Program Management educational council.

Kara (Krypel) Muldoon, ’02, (French/sec. ed.) teaches French at Holland (N.Y.) High School. See note under “Marriages.”

Stacy (Nicolini) Powell, ’02, (speech path.) see note under “Births.”

Susan F. (Porter) Richardson, ’03, (commun./comm. studies) see note under “Marriages.”

M. Andrew Burr, ’06, (econ.) see Emeritus Notes.

Megan Green, ’06, (account.) has joined the firm of Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro, P.C. as a staff accountant in its Jamestown, N.Y., office.

Kristen Orser, ’06, (English, philo.) is a graduate student and faculty member in the English department at Columbia College in Chicago, Ill., and organized “Critical Encounters,” a series of lectures and discussions on issues of social justice. She is an M.F.A. candidate and editor of the Columbia Poetry Review.

Monica Erbacher, ’07, (psych.) is a graduate assistant in the psychology department at the University of Virginia, pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychology.

Alicia (Hartman) Johnson, ’07, (biochemistry) of Jamestown, N.Y., who was the recipient of the Fredonia chemistry department’s Outstanding Senior Award for 2006-2007, hopes to work for a year or two and then pursue a Ph.D. See note under “Births.”

Marcie Lukach, ’07, (account.) of Dunkirk, N.Y., was named a staff accountant at Johnson, Mackowiak & Associates, LLP.

Professor Emeritus Dan Berggren (commun.) reports that North County Public Radio has included him in its Up North Music website at https://www.berggrenfolk.com. The interview and music is from a recording session he did during the summer of 2007 in the Adirondacks. He will also return to Fredonia to sing on April 19 and 20 at Earth Day celebrations.

A book of published newspaper columns by Dr. Robert Heichberger (education) and M. Andrew Burr, ’06, (econ.), Five Years on the Cutting Edge: From Our Perspective 2003-2008, has been released by Xulon Press.

Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus Daniel D. Reiff (art) was a guest speaker at a conference in March sponsored by the White House Historical Association in honor of James Hoban, architect of the White House. Dr. Reiff also provided a chapter on Fredonia architect Enoch A. Curtis to the book, American Architects and Their Books, published by the University of Massachusetts Press.