The following Class Notes were received recently in the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Alumni Relations Office:
’69 Bonita “Bonnie” (Jirovetz) Frechette (EHS), of Green Bay, retired in 2008, after 40 years of teaching. She works part time at St. Norbert College as a supervisor of education majors, student teachers and sophomore block students.
’70 James Fischer (LS) retired from AT&T Services in August 2011, after 35 years. His daughter, Jennifer, applied for admission for fall 2012 at UW Oshkosh as a pre-veterinary major.
’70 Robert Garfinkel (EHS) has been an elementary teacher for many years and received his master’s degree a few years after graduating from Oshkosh. He now serves as a board member in Kewaunee County. He started a literacy program and a program to help immigrants earn their U.S. citizen credentials.
’70 Ruth (Zarling) Rex (LS) and ’81 (MA) is a retired art teacher who spent 33 years in the New London School District. Her exhibit “Bloom Where you are Planted” is at the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Art Gallery. The collection of nature landscapes illustrates her passion for painting impressions of the natural world.
’71 Sandra Fruhman (LS) retired from a career in corporate communications at age 55 to start a writing and communications consulting business. She works with a variety of large companies in Huston on projects ranging from annual reports and videos to ads and brand messaging. Self-employment allows her flexibility to pursue her passion in life—tennis.
’71 Gwen (Coleman) Tatera (EHS), of Coleman, published an informative and entertaining diabetic calendar. She is a retired teacher and author.
’74 John Schoenknecht (EHS) presented “The Springs of Waukesha” at Carroll University in October 2011. He recently retired after 33 years of teaching at Butler Middle School in Waukesha. In his spare time, he conducted research on the fate of Waukesha’s springs and wrote his first book, “The Great Waukesha Springs Era: 1868-1918,” which received an achievement award from the Wisconsin Historical Society.
’74 Deborah Watry (EHS) and ’87 (MS) spent more than 30 years in public schools and is a retired district administrator. She currently is chairperson for Teacher Education Program at Marion University in Fond du Lac.
’74 Joseph Yana (LS) has been named to the editorial board of the Oshkosh Northwestern. He served as Winnebago County Family Court commissioner from 1984 to 2007 and is now retired.
’75 Michelle (Trudeau) Clark (LS) recently vacationed in Florida and saw the Rocket Juno launch that was headed to explore the polar caps of Jupiter. She visited Disney World and Universal Studios and got to taste “butterbeer,” as her daughter is a Harry Potter fan.
’75 Dan Feldt (LS), of Menomonee Falls, has worked in the occupational health and environmental engineering business for 31 years. He has worked with and for many successful UWO alumni, many of whom are in senior management positions.
’76 Nancy Gagnon (LS), of Middleton, has been a Wisconsin administrative law judge for more than 25 years. She opened Gagnon Legal Services LLC, to serve as an impartial hearing officer in chapter 66 employee grievance proceedings.
’76 Kathleen Matuszeski (EHS) and ’90 (MSE) joined the Markesan School District, serving as a library media specialist. Her most recent positions include library media specialist in the School District of Slinger and counselor in the Rubicon School District.
’76 Richard Van Dyke (LS) spoke at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in July 2011. The topic was “The Ten Steps to Parnassus: The Classical Sonata.”
’76 James “Jim” Zeirke (LS) retired from the Waukesha Fire Department in 2006 and started working as an independent contractor, performing property inspection work for insurance companies. He is working on his master’s of divinity degree at Temple Baptist seminary in Chattanooga, Tenn. He is a chaplain with the Motor Racing Outreach Association and serves at the Slinger Speedway.
’77 Michael Enfelt (LS), of Fond du Lac, retired from the Wisconsin state patrol when he was 55 years old and from his U.S. Postal Services position and as NALC Branch 125 union president when he was 60 years old. He is busier and happier than ever.
’79 James LaBuda (EHS) and ’81 (MSE) is serving as the interim dean of education at Nevada State College for one year. Then, after 30 years in education, he is taking time with his wife, Susan, to travel the world.
’79 Jeff Seering (B), of Appleton, finished second overall in a half marathon competitive power walk in September with a time of two hours and 15 minutes. He trained the entire year for the event, which was part of the Fox Cities Marathon.
’83 Gregory Winkler (EHS), Fond du Lac, wrote a book called “Coaching a Season of Significance.”
’84 Mary Ann Salter (MSE) was the 2010 recipient of the Fond du Lac County Carl Tonjes Volunteer of the Year Award. She is the president of the Alpha Delta Kappa educational sorority. She has 25 years of membership with the Boy Scouts of America and is currently serving as the Ledge of Lakes District advancement chair, a position she has held for 16 years.
’84 Mark Wollemann (LS) left the Minneapolis Star Tribune after 20 years to teach journalism at the American University in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.
’85 Joy Smith (LS), of Lakeland, Fla., recently published two e-books: “Pretty Pink Planet” and its sequel, “Hot Yellow Planet.”
’86 Mary (Hungerford) Wettstein (MBA), of Neenah, has been named vice president of business development for Associated Financial Group, a division of Associated Bank.
’87 Joan Wedell (LS) teaches Spanish at the UW–Manitowoc as an associate lecturer and at Moraine Park Technical College in Fond du Lac
’88 Lynette (Kreuser) Anderson (EHS) is in her 24th year in education for Kenosha Unified Schools and is loving every minute.
’88 David Hirsch (LS) and ’95 (MBA) and his wife, Nicole, of Fox Point, welcomed their second child, Ari, in July.
’88 David Price (LS) is a wildlife biologist at Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, working with waterfowl, wolf collaring and raptors in northern Minnesota. He also works with all wildlife, including bears, eagles, deer, moose and wolves, and still keeps up on fisheries and water resource issues.
’89 Robert Genau (LS), of Newark, Del., has been invited to speak about integrating acquisition at the National Association of Environmental Managers Conference in Tucson, Ariz. His youngest son just completed graduate school and is now teaching.
’90 Walter Johnson (LS) and ’93 (MS) is working in Oshkosh at Aurora Healthcare as a psychotherapist, after working in Michigan for several years.
’90 Shari (Swenson) Karasek (B) is a regional human resources director for Lee Enterprises. She provides support to newspapers in her region, including Racine, La Crosse and Chippewa Falls, Wis., and Winona, Minn.
’92 Liz Gesicki (LS) and ’05 (MBA), of Hortonville, and she husband, Chuck, welcomed their second son, Charles John Huiting, in July 2011.
’94 Jen (Oatman) VanderLoop (EHS) and ’00 (MS) is the new Freedom High School counselor. She was a school counselor at Wrightstown for 10 years.
’95 Julie Jorgensen (LS), of Fond du Lac, is a certified social worker, working with youth in tobacco prevention. She has been married for 16 years and has four children.
’95 Sara (Voss) Siwy (LS), of Germantown, is a public relations specialist at Froedtert Health Community Memorial Hospital.
’96 Carlin (Fehrmann) Harding (LS) is a special education teacher at the high school for the Elkhorn Area School District.
’96 Carol (Dempsey) Hemauer (N) has been nationally certified and designated a Diplomat in Acupuncture by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She is the owner of Westshore Acupuncture LLC, of Oshkosh.
’96 Jeanne Velie (MPA) is starting a new business in Florida to help prevent financial abuse. Velie Consulting Services LLC is located in The Villages.
’97 Brad Hartwig (LS) is being welcomed back to Mayo Clinic Health System–Northland in Barron as a physician assistant in the hospital’s Emergency Department. He had worked for the organization from 1999 to 2007.
’98 James Schmidt (LS) and ’07 (MS) is the veterans benefits coordinator at UW–Milwaukee. UWM was named a Military Friendly School for the past two years by GI Jobs.com. This is an accolade awarded to only the top 20 percent of schools in the nation that provide services to veterans and meet specific guidelines designed to enhance student veteran success on campus.
’00 Karen Baumgartner (MSE) is the elementary school counselor for 4-year-old kindergarten to fifth grade in the Freedom School District. She has five years experience as a middle school counselor and one year as a kindergarten through eighth-grade counselor.
’01 Robert Reeves (B) was promoted to senior manufacturing engineer at Manitowoc Foodservices Inc. He has a 14-month-old daughter, Briella Rayne Reeves, with his wife, Laura Reeves.
’01 David Skaaland (EHS) and ’05 (MSE) has been teaching special education students in the Campbellsport School District since 2001. He works at Eden Elementary School.
’02 Heather Day (N) is a new primary care provider at Calumet Medical Center Clinic.
’06 Jill Karweick (LS), of Fond du Lac, graduated from Moraine Park Technical College and is seeking a job as a medical laboratory technician.
’06 Zac Stockero (B), of Milwaukee, recently left Deloitte for a position at Actuant.
’06 Sarah Tauchen (EHS) is the high school instrumental music teacher for the Elkhorn Area School District.
’07 Bowen Hobbs (LS) was named a graphic designer at Leibold, a strategic marketing and packaging design firm in Neenah
ABBREVIATION KEY
COLLEGES
• AAS — Associate of Arts and Science Degree
• B — Business
• EHS — Education and Human Services
• LS — Letters and Science
• N — Nursing
GRADUATE DEGREES
• 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
Send items for future Class Notes.