The following Class Notes were received recently in the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Alumni Relations Office:
’62 Barbara (Walloch) Weix (EHS), of Green Valley, Ariz., retired as an elementary education teacher 13 years ago and is spending winters in Arizona and summers in Michigan with her husband.
’66 Edward LaFleur (EHS), of New Berlin, is writing an autobiography with the help of his son, Sean, about the influence that growing up in Beaver Dam has had on his life, including his 35-year career as a German and history teacher in Cudahy and several brushes with death. The book is not yet published but is tentatively titled, “Just A Kid Growing Up in Wisconsin.”
’66 Gerald Whitburn (LS), of Wausau, was named to the University of Wisconsin’s Board of Regents that oversees the UW System. He is retired chief executive officer of Merrill’s Church Mutual Insurance Company and still acts as the company’s chairman. He serves as a board member for the Northcentral Technical College Foundation.
’69 James Schmidt (LS) and ’70 (MS) retired after working for the Johnson Space Center. He and his retired wife, Joyce Schmidt ’81 (MSE), are living in Peterborough, N.H.
’73 Jennifer (Sticka) Alexander (EHS) and ’82 (MS), of Monona, is the president of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce.
’74 Carol (Zorn) Krueger (EHS), of Emporia, Kan., is the director of choral activities at Emporia State University.
’74 Eugene Lorge (LS), of Newport News, Va., was promoted to senior military analyst in the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
’76 Christine Grimm-Kirk (LS), of Oshkosh, is starting to plan for her retirement and is an avid Harley rider.
’76 Gayle Tonn (LS), county executive director of the Oconto County Farm Service Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, retired November 2011.
’77 Mike Korth (LS) was named the Madison Area Music Awards’ Teacher of the Year. He has been the band director at Monticello School District for 33 years.
’79 Krista Norton (B), of Green Lake, is a new member of the Thrasher Opera House board of directors. For the past 34 years, she has served as the chief executive officer and general/service manager of Norton’s Dry Dock.
’79 Thomas Zoch (LS), of Neenah, was inducted into the Wisconsin State Baseball League’s Hall of Fame in January. Playing with the Oshkosh Giants, Green Bay Blue Ribbons and Marshfield Chaparrals, he hit 54 home runs with a .401 career batting average. He is the associate medical director for Network Health Plan.
’81 Blaine Felsman (EHS), of Oshkosh, was inducted into the athletic Hall of Fame at Waupun Area High School. After winning 10 letters in high school, he continued his success in athletics at UW Oshkosh, where he earned individual honors as a part of the 1976 Wisconsin State University Conference (WSUC) football championship team as well as the 1975-1978, all-WSUC, all-conference wrestling team. He has been a teacher and coach in Berlin since 1981.
’83 Suzanne (Dieringer) Breneman (LS), of Orfordville, is a new chemistry, AP chemistry and ninth-grade physical science teacher at Parkview School District. She has 25 years of experience in the biotechnology industry.
’85 Eric Spindt (B), of Waupaca, earned the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s series 7 and series 66 licenses. He is responsible for client service and trading at Waypoint Financial Solutions Inc.
’85 DeAnn Thurmer (N), of Fox Lake, was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Markesan State Bank. She is chief operating officer of Waupun Memorial Hospital and Agnesian Healthcare of Waupun.
’87 John Delaney (LS), of Elkhorn, is the new administrator at the Walworth County Jail. He first started working at Walworth County jail in 1987 as a correctional officer.
’88 Ted Wahoske (B), of Manassas, Virginia was promoted to rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force in January 2012.
’89 Jim Jordan (MBA), of Weston, is the senior vice president of Commercial Lines Business Operations at Church Mutual Insurance Company. He started at the company as the vice president of sales and marketing in 2002.
’92 James Lawrence (LS), of Greenville, has launched a web series called “Wingman,” shot entirely in the Fox Cities. The series is described by Lawrence as “family-friendly entertainment about a superhero who still lives with his mom and is usually his own worst enemy.” Information can be found at www.parkinglotplayers.com/wingman.php
’93 Wendy Fisher (EHS), of Pickett, moved from the elementary schools of the Omro School District after 13 years to lead both the Omro middle and high school bands.
’94 Mary Kahl (EHS), ’00 (N) and ’11 (MSN), of Eagle River, works for Ministry Medical Group and specializes in providing care for all ages, including an emphasis on women’s health and nutritional health.
’95 Shelly (Disch) Mogensen (MBA), of Marinette, is a recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Stephenson National Bank and Trust. The awards are given annually to nominated employees for demonstrating excellence in customer service, reliability, responsiveness, motivation, productivity and professionalism.
’96 Josephine Benkers (LS), of Deerfield, is one of the Quarles & Brady attorneys from the firm’s Milwaukee and Madison offices who were named to the 2011 Wisconsin Rising Stars list. She specializes in intellectual property litigation.
’96 Angela Chadwick (LS) moved to New York City in fall 2011 to start a new position supporting the U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations.
’96 Valerie (Murrenus) Pilmaier (LS), of Milwaukee, is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan and has been selected as a UW Colleges Wisconsin Teaching Fellow for 2012-2013.
’99 Tracy (Anderson) Fritz (N) works at Women’s Care of Wisconsin as an obstetrics and gynecological nurse practitioner in the Oshkosh office.
’99 Emily (Wirkus) Lund (LS) painted the 2011 Christmas ornament that was sold by the Rosendale Historical Society. The ornament depicted the former Rosendale Methodist Church, where services were held from 1854 to 1965.
’99 Maggie (Johnston) May (MS), of Fond du Lac, was awarded the UW Colleges Chancellor’s Teaching Fellowship for the 2012-2013 academic year, allowing her to perform research on math technology. She is associate dean and assistant professor of mathematics at UW-Fond du Lac.
’00 Jennifer (Kexel) Grube (LS), of Oshkosh, opened her own practice within Sherman Consulting professional counseling services in Appleton. She is a licensed professional counselor and a national certified counselor.
’00 Ryan Otto (LS), of Oshkosh, has more than 14 years of experience in the financial services industry and is active in the Realtors Association of Northeast Wisconsin and his church. He is the vice president of Horicon Bank in Oshkosh.
’01 Chad Doran (LS), of Appleton, is a general assignment reporter for FOX 11 and works out of the valley office.
’02 Zach Byrne (LS), of Franklin, was promoted to capital sales manager from account executive at Direct Supply.
’03 Benjamin Cloyd (LS), of Oshkosh, is a professional musician known as “The Human Jukebox,” with knowledge of more than 400 songs.
’03 Andrew Jorsch (LS) is pursuing an MBA at Miami University of Ohio and is interning at Chiquita. He is developing branding of their business- to- business packaging and consumer product goods. His wife, Melissa (Zimmerman) Jorsch ‘03 (LS) is a registered nurse at Dayton Children’s Medical Center in Ohio.
’03 Clayton Moore (LS), of Plymouth, is the new community recreation and fitness coordinator for the Plymouth School District.
’03 Jayne (Steffek) Vosters (EHS) and her husband Troy welcomed their third child, a son, in October 2011. Jayne is a history teacher at Kimberly High School.
’05 Steve Pratt (EHS), and ’11 (MS) of Kimberly, was named Kimberly High School’s new track and field coach. He has been an assistant coach in both the track and football program. He teaches sixth grade at Woodland Intermediate School and has been in the Kimberly Area School District for five years.
’06 David Lezotte (LS), of Lawrenceville, Ga., is the media relations manager for the Gwinnett Braves, Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.
’06 Karl McCarty (EHS), of Campbellsport, released a book titled, “Intentional Fog,” a detailed analysis of the 13 Republicans who ran or are running for President in 2012 cycle. In addition to being an author and a teacher at Oakfield Junior/Senior High School, he will soon graduate from Marian University with a master’s degree and begin his doctoral studies.
’06 Eric Strelitzer (LS), of Greendale, wrote and directed the film, “Will and Testament”, which is in post-production and scheduled for a fall release.
’06 Angelique (Boye) Van Sistine (N), of Chippewa Falls, is a nurse practitioner at the Cardiac Center at Mayo Clinic Health System. She is a progressive care certified nurse by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.
’07 Michael Kuany (LS), of San Francisco, Calif., is committed to helping those in his homeland of Sudan and is now employed by Catholic Charities. He speaks to church and school groups about “Rebuild Sudan” and created a website for the cause.
’08 Dominic Renteria (B) and ’11 (MBA), of Appleton, is a staff sergeant with 12 years of experience. He enjoys helping younger soldiers in the Oshkosh-based, Wisconsin Army National Guard 1157th Transportation Company.
’09 Christa Droste (EHS), of Oakfield, started teaching at Omro High School in the science department. She teaches biology, advanced biology, AP biology and environmental science.
’10 Jamey Scott (LS), of Cambridge, graduated from basic infantry training at Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia.
’10 Micah Swanson (LS), of Fond du Lac, is returning to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., after being deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He is a platoon leader with the 428th Engineer Company, Wausau.
’11 Jordan Hummel (EHS), of Appleton, is in his first year as the men’s basketball coach at Fox Valley Technical College.
’11 Spencer Jones (EHS) is the high school and middle school choir teacher for Omro School District.
’11 Brenna Ranzen (LS), of Arlington, Va., is working at Weidemann Associates Inc., an international firm in Washington D.C. that specializes in economic development, microenterprise development and agriculture/agribusiness/rural development in the U.S. and in developing countries.
’11 Jessica Sibilsky (B), of Sturgeon Bay, is employed as an auditor at Grant Thornton LLP in Appleton, after recently passing her Certified Public Accountant exam. She graduated summa cum laude and received the 2011 Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence.
ABBREVIATION KEY
COLLEGES
• AAS — Associate of Arts and Science Degree
• B — Business
• CNL— Center for New Learning
• 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
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