October 2007 Class Notes
1937
Dr. Harold “Hal” Wright, ’37, (music education) and his wife, Bette of Concord, Calif., celebrated their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary on July 4. Other Fredonia graduates attending were David Ehmke, ’54, (music ed.) and Mary (Young) Ehmke, ’55, (music ed.), also from Concord, and Melville Clarke, ’60, (elem. ed.) from Redwood, Calif.Dr. Wright still continues to perform on the clarinet and piano.
1941
Dr. Robert Wurtz, ’41, (music ed.) celebrated his ninetieth birthday in September.
1954
David Ehmke, ’54, see 1937.
Dianne Kricheldorf, ’54, (elem. ed.) of Buffalo, N.Y., sends greetings to all Mummers and asks that they consider donations or pledges as soon as possible to the Dr. Georgiana von Tornow Scholarship Fund of the Fredonia College Foundation.
1955
Mary (Young) Ehmke, ’55, see 1937.
1960
Melville Clarke, ’60, see 1937.
1966
Dr. Nancy J. (Knowles) Bracken, ’66, (English) was awarded her Doctor of Health Administration degree in May with honors from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Her dissertation was entitled, “The Impact of the User Board Majority Requirement on the Governance of Community Health Centers. She lives on Pawleys Island, S.C., and is a management consultant and certified grants specialist.
1967
Kenneth Bannon, ’67, (music ed.) lives in Germany and has been singing for 35 years in German theatres. He currently sings at the State Theatre at Braunschweig, Germany, where he has been for the past 12 years. After officially retiring this month, he will sing as a guest artist there until 2008. Kenneth’s repertoire includes over 150 roles in opera, operetta and musicals, and he has also performed at other European locations as well as Asia and Latin America. He hopes to complete a master’s degree and go on to pursue a doctorate.
1968
The Rev. William G. Carey, ’68, (English/sec. ed.) recently celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. He is currently on the faculty of Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford, Conn.
Laura Zuckerman, ’68, (speech and hear. hand.) of Highland Park, Ill., recently retired as vice president, director of Market Research, for McDougal Littell Publishers, the Secondary Division of Houghton Mifflin Publishers. She loves the freedom, lack of stress and time for friends, who can contact Laura through e-mail at lmz1260@yahoo.com.
1969
Martin Zavadil, ’69, (music ed.) of Ballston Spa, N.Y., continues to be very active as a conductor, with ensembles including the Schohare Valley Concert Band, Saratoga Springs Youth Orchestra Wind Ensemble and the Shenendehawa Musical Company Orchestra.
1970
Dr. Daniel P. Larson, ’70, (music ed.) is president of Cayuga Community College in Auburn, N.Y.
1973
Tom Dudzick’s, ’73, (art) play, “Don’t Talk to the Actors,” premiered in September at Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, N.Y.
1974
Susan (Hollowell) Hardy, ’74, (English/sec. ed.) retired from the Dunkirk (N.Y.) Public Schools on July 1. She taught at the middle school, elementary school #3, and the high school over the course of 30-plus years. She most recently served as chairperson of the Dunkirk High School English Department. Friends may contact her through e-mail at hardys@netsync.net.
Colleen (Corbett) O’Malley, ’74, (speech and hear. hand.) of Syracuse, N.Y., and Delray Beach, Fla., taught for 30 years in the Jamesville-DeWitt School District until her retirement in June. She is now a training consultant for Scientific Learning Corp. Colleen has two children and friends may contact her through e-mail at Irishomal@yahoo.com.
1975
Dr. Bob Spitzer, ’75, (pol. sci.) is the author of a new book to be published in February 2008 by Cambridge University Press, Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Training and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning. He said the book “offers a sweeping indictment of the legal profession when it enters the realm of constitutional theorizing. He is a Distinguished Service Professor of political science at SUNY Cortland and this was his twelfth book.
Lydia (Nikiel) Ulatowski, ’75, (English) of Lewiston, N.Y., was recently appointed assistant dean of Academic Affairs at Niagara County Community College. She earned her master’s degree in Education/Counseling from Niagara University in 1989.
1976
Terrie Benson Murray, ’76, (pol. sci.), an associate at Cohen & Lombardo, a law firm based in the historic home of architect E.B. Green on Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, N.Y., was been elected to the Philanthropic Education Organization as Guard for the CM Chapter based in Orchard Park, N.Y. She is one of the founding members of the chapter and is the project chairperson for the Educational Loan Fund, interviewing woman candidates who have interest in borrowing funds to finance either secondary or postsecondary education and making recommendations to the New York State Chapter for consideration.
1979
Ambassador James Foley, ’79, (English) has been serving as deputy commandant and international affairs officer at the National War College of the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. On Sept. 19, he was appointed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugee Issues.
Lisa G. Eikenburg, APR, ’79, (English) was appointed interim director of Public Relations at SUNY Fredonia.
Pamela (Hall) Lydic, ’79, (psych.) president and CEO of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, graduated in June from the Institute for Organization Management, a four-year course of study in non-profit leadership training.
1981
Dr. Stefan Babirad, ’81, (chem.) completed his Ph.D. at Carnegie-Mellon University, served a postdoctoral stint at Harvard University, and is now a technical director at 3M Abrasive Systems Division in Minneapolis, Minn. Professor Emeritus Philip Kumler reports that a recent article in Chemical and Engineering News on the history and technology of sandpaper, “relied heavily on the work” of Stefan.
1982
Mark Bruner, ’82, (biology/sec. ed.) of Audubon, Pa., is employed at Centocor, a Johnson & Johnson Company, as a principal research scientist.
Ralph Swanson, ’82, (econ.) is a branch manager for HSBC Bank in Dunkirk, N.Y. He is married and has three children, the eldest a music education major at Fredonia.
1983
John DeTolla, ’83, (commun.) won an Emmy Award for his work on NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast. The award was for “Outstanding Technical Team Remote.” He was also a part of the inaugural season with the NFL Network for their NFL Thursday and Saturday broadcasts. For 2008, he reports the Summer Olympic Games in Bejing, China, are on the schedule.
David Rafferty, ’83, (pol. sci.) is happily raising his two children, serving on various boards and committees, coaching baseball and soccer, and working as a summer camp counselor at Raquette Lake Boys Camp.
1984
Scott Martelle, ’84, (pol. sci.) checked in from his book tour for Blood Passion. On Sept. 15 he was on a C-SPAN BookTV segment from the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver, Colo.’s LoDo district.
Susan (Ramsey) and Mike Esposito, ’84, (bus. admin.) live in Rochester, N.Y., with their four children, two of whom are off to college next year. Sue has owned her own insurance agency for 20 years and Mike received his M.B.A. from the University of Baltimore and is an executive at IBM. Friends can reach them through e-mail at Esposito.mike@comcast.net. See note under “Marriages.”
1985
Susan Asquith, ’85, (bus. admin.) was a Bronze and Silver Excalibur award winner from the Buffalo/Niagara Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America during its annual competition. The bronze was for a public affairs program, and the Silver for marketing consumer services, both as a team member for Travers Collins & Company.
Lisa Brigantino, ’86, (music theory) of New York City was on CBS “Sunday Morning” with Charles Osgood on Sept. 9 with her band, Lez Zeppelin. Reporter Anthony Mason interviewed band members at the Blender Theater at Gramercy. The band will tour with stops on the East and West coasts before heading back to Europe in November.
Dr. David A. Ezzo, ’85, (anthro.) is assistant director of development for the Greater Niagara Frontier Council of the Boy Scouts of America in Buffalo, N.Y. His book, Papers on Historical Algonquian and Iroquois Topics, was published by Dog Ear Press, and he was also named to Who’s Who in America for 2007 and 2008.
Jeff Hesketh, ’85, (bus. admin.) lives in Charlotte, N.C., and works at Bank of America in its General Accounting Operations Group. See note under “Marriages.”
Sean A. Lane’s, ’85, (music therapy) latest endeavor is the release of his second CD, “Crying Sky Blue.” He lives in Crofton, Md., with his wife and two sons.
Bruce Nichols, ’85, (bus. admin.) received his M.B.A. from Syracuse University in May. He recently changed jobs after 12 years at J.P. Morgan Chase, and is employed by Key Bank as a vice president. Bruce has two children and lives in Syracuse with his wife, Paula (Ginter) Nichols, ’85, a former resident assistant in McGinnies Hall.
1987
Jerry Drummond, ’87, (commun.) is general manager of KAOS 89.3 FM of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and reports that the Princeton Review has named it one of the top 15 college radio stations in the country.
Ed Fennessy Jr., ’87, ’89, (chem.) of Parsippany, N.J., shared memories of chemistry field trips with Professor Emeritus Philip Kumler, including Toronto. Ed is employed at Pflizer Global Manufacturing where he is the manager/team leader for Quality Inspection.
Dr. Bart Schober, ’87, (chem.) recently visited campus to attend the Kumler Conference and present a paper. He completed his Ph.D. at Penn State in 1982 in polymer science and since leaving Penn has been employed by Lubrizol Corp. near Cleveland, Ohio.
Mark D. Sidman, ’87, (pol. sci.) is in his second year as principal of Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson, N.Y. This is his seventeenth year in education. Prior to entering school administration nine years ago, Mark was a high school social studies teacher. He has been married to Wendy for seven years, they have two daughters, Hallie, 4, and Amanda, 1, and live in East Setauket, N.Y.
1988
Janis L. (Alm) Bowman, ’88, ’92, (biology/sec. ed., biology) received the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service. She has been a faculty member at Jamestown Community College since 1988.
Maria Gentile, ’88, (commun.) is manager of Donor Recruitment for United Blood Services in LasVegas, Nev. See notes in “Marriages” and “Births/Adoptions”
Dr. Thomas Millioto, ’88, (music perf.) received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Classical Guitar Performance in May from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
1989
Andrew Carpenter, ’89, (psych.) was promoted to executive vice president of Career Systems Development Corporation of Rochester, N.Y. and Irvine, Calif., which is the operator of 10 Job Corps centers nationwide and the Chautauqua County One-Stops. He spent more than 10 years at Cassadaga Job Corps, serving as academy director until 2005.
Todd Molyneux, ’89, (bus. admin.) owns his own business and lives in Raleigh, N.C. See note under “Births/Adoptions.”
In September, Trina (Smith) Newton, ’89, ’94, (elem. ed., elem. ed./curr. and instr.) became assistant superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Accountability for the Binghamton (N.Y.) City School District.
1990
Jennica P.W. Kalbaugh, ’90, (French) is director of Operations and Business Development for Global Tracking Group, an international company offering GPS tracking devices that track in real time.
Dr. Marc Butcher, ’90, (biology) recently completed the 36-month podiatric medicine and surgery residency at the Dayton, Ohio, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and will enter private practice in Binghamton, N.Y.
Marnie Kozielski, ’90, (special studies) was the recipient of the 2007 National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award. She was nominated by Dean Alan Kidder of Genesee Community College, where she is an adjunct professor of Spanish. Marnie is teaching at GCC’s new Medina, N.Y., campus this fall, and is also an adjunct faculty member for Niagara County Community College’s College Acceleration Program at the Royalton-Hartland Senior High School, where she teaches Spanish.
Kathy (Daly) Molyneux , ’90, (elem. ed./early child.) works at home as a mother with her daughter, Alexa, 10; son Sean, 8; Kelcey, 3, and newborn son, and lives with Todd, ’89, (see note above) in Raleigh, N.C. See note under “Births/Adoptions.”
1991
Tara (Pinho) Alexander, ’91, see note under “Births/Adoptions.” The new arrival joins Tara, her husband, Richard, and oldest daughter, Emma, in Wantagh, N.Y.
Michelle (LaMattina) Mullen, ’91, (elem. ed.) lives in Milwaukee, Wis.,with her husband, Drew, and their three daughters, Mia, Anya and Sophie. This fall, she began the Reading Education track of Alverno College’s Master of Arts in Education program.
Jeff Wallace, ’91, (sociology) is a Region Manager-Emerging Channels, for Mars Snackfood, US, in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. He continues to live in Twinsburg, Ohio, with his wife, Julie, and son, Matthew.
Mark Washo, ’91, (bus. admin./marketing) was a presenter and participant in the Sports.Events.Marketing.Experience Central conference held in Evanston, Ill. Mark is senior vice president for Sales and Marketing for Chicago Fire Soccer. He recently self published a book, Break Into Sports Through Ticket Sales.
1992
Philip Belena, ’92, (English) has accepted a position with Accenture, based in New York City. He, his wife, Debra, and two daughters, Jocelyn and Carly, live in New York City.
Peter Richter, ’92, (account.) lives in the Cayman Islands working as an assistant director for Ernst & Young. When not working, he enjoys the Caribbean sun and scuba diving, recently earning his Divemaster certification. He’d love to hear from friends via e-mail at richterpete@gmail.com.
Dr. Mary Spagnola, ’92, (psych.) earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Syracuse University, spent a year in Chicago at Rush Medical Center in a pediatric psychology internship, and recently began a research/clinical post-doc at the University of Rochester’s Department of Psychiatry as the first fellow at the Wynne Center for Family Research. She wrote to Distinguished Professor Richard Weist about working with him as a student researcher, “I want to thank you for getting me involved in research – and for being such a great teacher. I know that this early experience that I had in your lab had much to do with where I ended up!”
1993
Tenor Christopher Jackson, ’93, (elem. ed.) of Union City, N.J., recently performed at the New York City Opera as Pinkerton in a production of “Madame Butterfly.” In September he performed the role of George Hancock in New York City Opera’s production of “Margaret Garner.”
Kate (Barnes) Komara, ’93, ’02, (music therapy, applied music, music ed.) see note under “Births/Adoptions.”
1994
Shawn P. Connolly, CFP, ’94, (pol. sci.) a financial professional with AXA Advisors, LLC of Buffalo, earned a Certificate in Retirement Planning from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and was awarded AXA Advisors’ new Retirement Planning Specialist title for completing the AXA Equitable At Retirement education program at The Wharton School.
1995
Cindy (Vranich) Burger, ’95, (bus. admin.) see note under “Marriages.”
Dr. Matthew Gronquist, ’95, (biology, chem.) see note under “Births/Adoptions.”
Sharon (Nowicki) Hartman, ’95, (bus. admin.) is distribution account manager for NETGEAR, Inc. and lives in Cheektowaga, N.Y. See note under “Marriages.” She reports that classmates Kimberly Uzar, (math.); Palma (Cecala) Filighera, (health serv. admin.); Tara (Moore) Thom, (English); and Karen (Hinderliter) Edwards, (elem. ed., Spanish) were all members of the wedding party.
Holly (Johnson) Hannon, ’95, (reading) see note under “Births/Adoptions.”
Dr. Amy (Diegelman) Parente, ’95, (biology) was featured in an article in the Altoona (Pa.) Mirror, focusing on her RNA molecule research which has been funded by the American Cancer Society.
1996
Sheila (Derkics) Scott, ’96, (elem. ed./social studies) see note under “Births/Adoptions.”
1997
Dr. Carl Gaupp, ’97, (chem.) recently returned to Fredonia as a graduate student seeking teacher certification after a productive and rewarding career at Dow Chemical in Midland, Mich. He is also working as a teaching assistant in freshman labs.
1998
Jeff Bucki, ’98, (English) won three Bronze and one Silver Excalibur awards from the Buffalo/Niagara Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America during its annual competition. Three of the efforts were team projects of Travers Collins & Company, the Silver for a speech, “Messaging From Above,” also for Travers Collins.
Kristen (Hedberg) Gronquist, ’98, (math.) see note under “Births/Adoptions.”
Gretchen (Obernesser), ’98, ’99, (speech and hear., speech path) see note under “Births/Adoptions.”
Peter Merrick, ’98, (bus. admin.) completed his master’s degree in School Counseling and Mental Health Counseling at Canisius College and is a school counselor for the Buffalo (N.Y.) Public Schools. See note under “Marriages.”
Chris Storer, ’98, (music ed.) recently accepted a promotion to Director of Admissions for the Boston University School of Management.
1999
Dr. Daniel J. Bartz, ’99, (biology) is the owner of Bartz Chiropractic in Cape Coral, Fla.
Sara (Tepfer) Dufour, ’99, (account.) see note under “Marriages.”
Melinda (Steff) Grabowski, ’99, (music perf.) has been named an associate at Damon & Morey LLP of Buffalo, N.Y., in its General Litigation Department. Melinda earned her Juris Doctor from the State University at Buffalo Law School in 2005, and while there was publications editor for the Buffalo Law Review and student co-editor of the American Bar Association’s Journal of Affordable Housing (2004-2005). Prior to joining Damon & Morey, Melinda was an associate at Ziller, Marsh & Lang LLP of Buffalo.
Luis Irene, ’99, (bus. admin.) see note under “Births/Adoptions.”
2000
A group of alumni gathered in Cooperstown, N.Y., to watch Coach Adam Johnson’s, 2000, (earth sciences) McGraw Eagles take on Coach Tim Cowan’s, ’01, (math./sec. ed.) Chautauqua Lake Thunderbirds, at Doubleday Field. Joining them were Adam’s wife, Amy and their son, Ethan; Tim’s wife, Jessica (Pendl) Cowan, 2000, (sociology) and their son, Andrew; Erin (Hotchkin), ’02, (bus. admin.) and
Jeremy Boylan, 2000, (English); and Joe Bodden, 2000, (commun.). Adam, Jeremy and Tim all played baseball for Fredonia under Coach Dale Till. They report, “Who won this battle? We all did.”
2001
Julie (Brandine) Dispigno, 2001, (music ed.) see note under “Births/Adoptions.”
Denise (Stoddard) Harris, ’01, (commun.) of Lakeview, N.Y., has been named director of Career Development at Hilbert College in Hamburg, N.Y. She was previously career consultant in the Career Planning Services and Placement Center at Medaille College.
Matthew Lenahan, ’01, (pol. sci.) see note under “Marriages.”
Cheryl E. Sarjeant, ’01, (pol. sci.) was named an associate in the New York State Capital Region’s largest law firm, Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP, working primarily in the commercial real estate group. She earned her Juris Doctor from SUNY Albany Law School and previously worked as a law clerk for Rhefuss, Ligouri & Associates and briefly at the Law Office of Mitchell H. Spinac before joining Whiteman Osterman & Hanna as a law clerk in 2006.
2002
Kevin M. and Melissa (Luderman) Connolly, ’02, (sociology) see note under “Births/Adoptions”.
Dr. Laura Ann McGowan, ’02, (biology) received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree in June from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Katie (Skelly) Richards, ’02, (chem.) is working as a senior technician at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology in the laboratory of Dr. Andrea Sant, and was formerly laboratory manager. She has been a co-author on several publications and recently had her first paper accepted as a primary author. See note under “Births.”
Courtney Rowe, ’02, (elem. ed./English) see note under “Marriages.”
Erica Sagerman, ’02, (music ed.) has been teaching since August at the American School in Madrid, Spain.
2003
Sean Hamilton, ’03, (theatre) of Atlanta, Ga., has been an electrician with the Alliance Theatre there since November 2003. This year, the Alliance won the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award. Noting that while at Fredonia he was a tour guide for Admissions, worked in the Michael C. Rockefeller Arts Center as a technician and assistant technical director, as a night desk attendant in Grissom Hall, and as a cast member for “Life On Campus” during two summer Orientations, he added that he was thankful to Fredonia for giving him “the skills and training I needed to work for ‘the premier theatre of the Southeast.” While at the Alliance, he has worked on the world premieres of ‘The Color Purple – The Musical” and “Sister Act – The Musical,” and the first leg of the tour for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Darryl Norsen, ’03, (visual arts/graphic design) of Boston, Mass., is employed by Saucony shoes within the Stride Rite corporation to help with the rebranding of the 1970s-inspired Originals line. He continues to freelance for multiple record labels in the U.S. and Europe, and for music artists including Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr.
Colleen A. O’Brien, ’03, (sociology) has been accepted into the Peace Corps and left for China on July 1. After training, she will teach English as a foreign language to students who are being trained to become primary and middle school English teachers in rural areas. She will also be training English instructors at the university level. She previously worked in Austin, Texas, as a literacy tutor for kindergarten and first grade students with the AmeriCorps for Community Engagement and Education program.
Lindsey Sack, ’03, (commun./media mgmt.) marketing resource manager at CB Richard Ellis-Buffalo, received the CB Richard Ellis Ambassador Award.
Jamie Sharpe, ’03, (interdis. studies) was named 2007 Employee of the Year at the Cassadaga Job Corps Academy. He has been a GED and high school teacher at Job Corps for nine years.
Lauren Ulatowski, ’03, (psychology) from Buffalo, N.Y., earned her master’s degree in School Counseling from St. Bonaventure University in 2005 and is an academic advisor for Byrant and Stratton at its Buffalo (N.Y.) Southtowns Campus.
2004
Stephanie Eberhard, ’04, (English/adoles.ed.) received tenure after teaching a range of classes in tenth and eleventh grade English and electives at Bayport-Blue Point High School on Long Island, N.Y.
Renee (Scalice) Mattson, ’04, ’05, (speech and lang. disab., speech path.) see note under “Marriages.”
2005
Meghan M. Dandrea, ’05, (English) is moving this month to Kwangju, South Korea, to teach English at the Little Fox Language Institute.
Maria Fasciano, ’05, (music perf.) completed her Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. On Sept. 8, she appeared in a recital at the First United Universalist Unitarian Church in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Tim Grant, ’05, (biochem.) is pursuing his dream to become a cattle rancher and soon will be selling organic beef in the Western New York area.
2006
Joseph Flaxman, ’06, (music perf.) is finishing his master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of Metropolitan Opera baritone Mark Oswald. He recently received favorable reviews from the New York Times and Daily News blog for his performance in the role of Guglielmo in Mozart’s “Cosí fan tutte,” as part of the Martina Arroyo Foundation’s “Prelude to Performance” series at Aaron Davis Hall on the campus of the City University of New York. He performed the same role in the 2005 Hillman Opera.
Larry Heverley, ’06, (chem.) completed his cooperative engineering program at the State University at Buffalo. After that he completed an internship at Laser Photonics Tech and stints with other companies, he is working at General Electric in Erie, Pa., on locomotive emissions testing and after-treatment systems. He and his wife, Claire, have three daughters. He adds, “The entire chemistry faculty should be proud of Fredonia’s program.”
2007
Brooke M. Andrews, ’07, (child. ed./math.) has been hired as a third grade teacher at PS 33x Timothy Dwight School in the Bronx, N.Y.
Andrea Chase, ’07, (bus. admin./marketing) was hired at West Herr Chevrolet as a sales consultant.
Erin E. Edmonds, ’07, (English) is working as an editorial assistant for the Long Island (N.Y.) Business News. She lives on Long Island and began working at LIBN in July.
Katie Johnson, ’07, (chem.) took 12 credit hours of graduate work at St. Bonaventure University during the summer and is enrolled in a master’s program which will result in New York State certification to teach seventh and eighth grade science as well as high school chemistry. She is also substitute teaching, working part-time and spending time with family.
Bryan Kroon, ’07, (chem.) loves his position at Ecology & Environment in Lancaster, N.Y., as a validation chemist. He and his wife live in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Christine LaValle, ’07, (music ed.) has been hired by the Arlington Central School District in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to teach elementary general music and band.
Beginning this fall, Brian Strollo, ’07, (biology) is attending the State University at Buffalo School of Medicine.
