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The following Class Notes were received recently in the UW Oshkosh Alumni Office.

’31 Harriet (Krueger) Kussman (EHS), of Amherst, turned 105 years old in May. She is the oldest person at Iola Living Assistance and spends most of her time reading and visiting with friends and family.

’70 Orphie (Jeske) Hamilton (EHS), of Neenah, was honored at the annual reunion of the former Marinette County Teachers College as she marked her 50th anniversary of graduation.

’71 Kathleen (Probst) Mitchell (LS), of Clintonville, retired after 40 years from Clintonville Public Library.

’74 David Nelson (LS), of Fox Point, has retired after a 36-year career in the law department of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee.

’75 David Leffler, of Fairfield, Iowa, published an article in a defense-related magazine in India. The article is titled “Defense Personnel Worldwide Find Transcendental Meditation to be an Effective Tool in Combating Stress.”

’76 Sharon (Peddle) Anderson (LS), of Mount Prospect, Ill., retired from her position as director of recreation at Mount Prospect Park District. She was recognized for her outstanding 37-year career in Illinois parks and recreation, and her service to the Northwest Special Recreation Association, Special Leisure Services Foundation, Mount Prospect Chamber and Prospect High School Booster Club.

’77 Eileen (Nosko) Lukes (N), of Mesa, Ariz., is the health services manager at the Boeing Company. She is a contributing author for a chapter in “Community and Public Health Nursing: Promoting the Public’s Health,” eighth edition by Allendar, Rector and Warner.

’79 Gregory Peck (LS), of Janesville, has been a Wisconsin journalist for 34 years and has spent more than 25 years at “The Gazette”.

’80 Tom Teofilo (EHS) and ’85 (LS) and ’95 (MSE), of Fond du Lac, retired after 13 years from Mayville School District as a school counselor.

’81 Betty Schwandt (EHS), of New London, is joining the St. Raphael Parish staff as the new pastoral associate. She previously served as campus minister at UW-Green Bay and a parish director of faith formation.

’82 Col. Brian Haebig (LS), of Highland Park, Ill., assumed a new position as the Department of Defense’s coordinating officer for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) V based in Chicago, Ill.

’84 Deborah Skowronski (LS), of Neenah, began working for Directions Marketing as a public relations manager.

’85 Jeff Heinzen (LS), of Manitowoc, celebrated his 20th anniversary as principal consultant for Quality Systems Associates in Manitowoc.

’88 Steven Francour (LS), of Oshkosh, resigned as head women’s and men’s tennis coach at UW Oshkosh. He is the new head coach at Lawrence University.

’89 Carol (Pawer) Sanders (B), of Fremont, joined Sentry Insurance as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

’90 Patricia (Zietlow) Miller and ’00 (MS), of Fitchburg, debuted her picture book titled Sophie’s Squash. It will be released Aug. 6 from Schwartz and Wade, a division of Random House. She has three other picture books, which are represented by the Erin Murphy Literacy Agency.

’92 Timothy Salzsieder (B), of Tampa, Fla., owns Commercial Insurance Specialists, an independent commercial property and casualty insurance agency.

’94 Lucretia “Dolly” Miller-Brennan, of Fond du Lac, owns Brennan Artography, and has been selected by the Richmond Arts Council to show at the Derby Historic Estate in Richmond, Ky. She also has been accepted as an exhibiting artist in the Louisville Visual Art Association’s Artebella program.

’96 Douglas DeRosier (LS), of Delafield, started a new business called Badger Surgical, an experienced network of independent sales representatives of innovative surgical and medical device products.

’97 Brian Bott (LS), of Madison, resigned as the assistant strength coach from UW-Madison’s Badger football program.

’97 Nicole (Fowler) Leiter (LS) and ’13 (MSE), of Winneconne, has accepted a new position as a care manager at Community Care Inc. in Appleton.

’97 Jason Mansmith (LS), of Ripon, has been selected as the Ripon Chamber of Commerce’s new marketing and events coordinator at WRPN radio in Ripon.

’99 Holly (Hahn) Brenner (B) and ’09 (MBA), of Malone, has been promoted to vice president of strategic development and marketing at Agnesian Healthcare. She serves as president of the Fond du Lac Family YMCA Board of Directors, and is a member of the Fond du Lac Visitor Convention Bureau Board of Directors, the MBA Advisory Board at UW Oshkosh and the Service League Inc. of Fond du Lac.

’99 John Uecker (B), of Fishersville,Va., started working for Orion Energy Systems as a tax manager. He has 14 years of corporate tax experience.

’00 Jeremiah Chitwood (EHS), of Mukwonago, was named Teacher of the Year for Park View Middle School.

’01 Erin Kohl (MS), of Oshkosh, has been hired as the new principal at Oshkosh West High School.

’04 Chris Graham (MBA), of Merrill, has been named vice president and chief technology officer of Church Mutual Insurance Co., where he has worked as chief information officer since 1997.

’04 RaeEtte Newman (EHS), of Henderson, Nev., accepted a position as assistant professor in the College of Education at Eastern Oregon University in LaGrand, Ore.

’05 Mark Hunter (MBA), of Green Bay, has been hired as a production manager at Fox River Fiber in De Pere.

’05 Kelly (Bezio) Riechers (LS), of Raleigh N.C., completed her doctorate in English at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in May. Beginning in the fall, she will work as a visiting assistant professor at Oberlin College.

’06 Patrick Cannon (LS), of Milwaukee, joined the Health Law Section of von Briesen & Roper. He is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the American Bar Association, the American Health Lawyers Association and the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

’06 John Dinse (LS), of Oshkosh, has left his position as activities director at Lourdes Academy and will serving as an internship development officer at Northwestern Mutual-The Blevons Group.

’06 Ryan Hellpap (B), of Menomonee Falls, is spending 27 months with his wife, Jennifer Hellpap, in Kenya, Africa, serving in the Peace Corps.

’06 Patrick Hughes (B), of Oshkosh, was named associate commercial lines underwriter for Integrity Insurance.

 ’06 Lauren Young (EHS), of Agoura Hills, Calif., is the new assistant principal at Calabasas High School.

07 Shawn Dahlke (B), of Fitchburg, graduated with a MBA in corporate finance from the UW-Madison.

‘07 Nick Erler (B), of Howard, has joined Human Resources Consulting of Little Suamico as a human resources consultant.

07 Ernest Stevens III (LS), of Green Bay, is working in the film industry as a producer. He recently served as co producer on the film, “Crooked Arrows”, which was shown at several Marcus Theater locations. He also is working on four other major motion pictures.

’08 Kristin Westergard (B), of Oshkosh, joined Ganther Construction/Architecture, as an accountant and information technology specialist.

’11 Nathaniel Diestelmann (LS), of Jefferson, is a part-time police officer for the City of Jefferson.

’12 Andrew Kopitzke (MS), of Oshkosh, graduated from the MS Educational Leadership Program at UW Oshkosh and is working in the Undergraduate Admissions Office on campus.

12 Kirk Ruetten (LLCE), of Omro, has served in the Navy Reserves since 1988. He was recently promoted to master chief equipmentman. He just received his bachelor’s degree in project management from UW Oshkosh and is now working on his master’s degree while stationed in Naples, Italy.

’13 Jacqueline Charapata (EHS), of Crivitz, was named one of 18 students to receive the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence at graduation this spring from UW Oshkosh.

’13 Danielle Pickett (EHS), of Platteville, is teaching early childhood at Neal Wilkins Elementary in Platteville.

Three Sheboygan Police Department officers received their master’s degrees in public administration from UW Oshkosh, Doug Teunissen ’13 (MPA), Scott Mittelstadt ’13 (MPA), and Kurt Zempel ’13 (MPA).

’13 Brian Urbanek (LS), of Milwaukee, recently started working for Weigel Broadcasting (CBS 58) as a photographer.

’13 Bob Warnke (LLCE), of Oshkosh, earned his bachelor’s degree from UW Oshkosh at age 70. He also graduated cum laude with a 3.52-grade-point average. He is a successful business owner, father of three, husband, cancer survivor and a Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War.

ABBREVIATION KEY
COLLEGES
• AAS — Associate of Arts and Science Degree
• B — Business
• EHS — Education and Human Services
• LLCE  — Lifelong Learning and Community Engagement
• LS — Letters and Science
• N — Nursing

GRADUATE DEGREES
• DNP — Doctor of Nursing Practice
• GMBA — Global Master of Business Administration
• MA — Master of Arts
• MBA— Master of Business Administration
• MPA — Master of Public Administration
• MS — Master of Science
• MSE — Master of Science in Education
• MSN — Master of Science in Nursing
• MST — Master of Science in Teaching
• MSW — Master of Social Work

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