Alumni News and Stories

• Fritz Kazlausky `61 retired from coaching high school basketball after 59 years. He has been inducted into the Illinois High School Coaches Baseball Hall of Fame, Illinois High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, Lake County Illinois Sports Hall of Fame, Grant High School Hall of Fame and the Grant Baseball Field was also named in his honor.
• Barbara Cook `63 wrote a book on nutrition and cooking with healthy foods, emphasizing no-sugar and no-gluten.
• Jim Schlumpf `63 celebrated 50 years as president and founder of Jim’s Outboard Service Inc. He has also is the president, founder and chief pilot for FACA Aviation.
• Geri Luepke `64 received the volunteer of the year award from Family and Consumer Science Professionals.
• Donna Rice Grabow `67 retired on December 31, 2020 after 30 years as the founding executive director of Safenet Services, Inc. in Claremore, Oklahoma.
• Frank Petricek `67 has moved his retirement home from Loisville, Kentucky to Punta Gorda, Florida.
• Tery Thomas `68 retired from a part-time position as advance placement program coordinator for the Fond du Lac. School District and as a site supervisor for ACT Examinations at Fond du Lac High school. Currently, president of the Fond du Lac Area Retired Educators Association.
• Dr. Ana Margarita “Cha” Guzman `69 is the recipient of the 2020 Women’s Leadership Award by the San Antonio Business Journal.
• Mike Holden `69 was elected executive director of the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs on October 24, 2020.
• Jim Smith `70 named the imperial potentate of Shriners International. He is the highest-ranked Shriner in the world and serves as president of the Board of Directors of Shriners International and chairman of the Board of Directors of Shriners Hospitals for Children.
• Eric Bloohm `71 received the advocate for children award from Lomira School Dist. for his volunteer work teaching math to 3rd and 4th graders.
• Tom Ellis `72 retired and sold his contracting business. He will now serve as a consultant.
• Ken Karwowski `73 provided 24 years of weld training at 2 colleges. He is presently a certified welding inspector (CWI) for American Welding Society and has a company that trains and tests many companies.
• Greg Main `74 retired after selling his Polaris business of 27 years.
• Mark Johnson `77 has retired and moved to Florida.
• Rick Christman `77 wrote Fat Chance: Diet Mania, Greed, and the Infamous Fen-Phen Swindle.
• Anthony “Tony” Tushar Sr. `79 retired in December 2020 after 41 years in teaching, training, and sales.
• Barb Stevens `79 retired June 13, 2018 after teaching kindergarten/pre-school for 39 years.
• Peter Chisholm `79, president of the Board of Education for the North Fond du Lac school district, has been chosen as the recipient of the 2020 Wisconsin Music Educators Association Distinguished School Board Member award. He will be honored at the 2020 WMEA Virtual Conference.
• Randal Pickering `79 was named the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association Volunteer Chief of the Year. Pickering is the Volunteer Fire Chief in Edgerton.
• Richard “Rik” Blyth `80 is the vice president and general manager at La Fonda on the Plaza in Santa Fe, NM.
• Richard Sprecher `80 is the vice president of development at Meyer Jabra Hotels.
• Mark Babcock `81 completed his third year of teaching in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
• Shelly Ibach `81 was named as one of Minnesota’s 500 most powerful business executives of 2020.
• Lois Scott Poulos `82 is the director of advancement at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, Ill.
• Jon Kirschhoffer `82 retired Dec. 31, 2020, from 3M Company after nearly 40 years as an industrial design specialist and more recently an advanced research specialist.
• Paul Bartell `82 was named photographer of the year at the annual Arizona Professional Photographers Association convention held virtually in February. This is his third time receiving this honor.
• Tom Zwickel `82 sold Mail Source, Inc., Fall Creek, Wis, the direct mail service provider he founded 35 years ago.
• David Wicka `84 retired in 2020 after 35 years in engineering and manufacturing.
• Duey Fimreite `85 the R&D manager at South Chicago Packing LLC, the largest processor of animal fat in the U.S. and recently was the guest lecturer for Dr. Mitra's food innovations class.
• Laura Manka `85 is the supervisor for Duty Free America’s and retail manager for Wherley Motors.
• Christine Kortbein `87 co-authored “Grief Reimagined.” - released in October.
• David Holling `87 retired as the director of Buchanan Pastoral Counseling Center, Indiana University Health, Indianapolis, IN.
• Tom Roth `88 is the CEO of Affluent Funding, Inc. in Jupiter, Fla.
• Scott Stuckey `88 is the general manager at Omni Nashville Hotel.
• Virginia “Ginny” Williams `88 retired after 40 years in education/school counseling.
• Eric Kermitz `89 celebrated his 25th year as regional VP at Compass Group-North America.
• Kevin Miller `90 published “Know Power, Know Responsibility; How to Unleash the Potential of Every Child in America”.
• Denise Wolf `91 is the 2nd shift QA manager at Wiskerchen Cheese in Auburndale.
• Mark Sulok `93 won the Spirit of Franchising award for operations excellence with Valvoline Oil Changes after only 3 years in the business.
• Michelle Devine Giese `93 was featured on the cover of Insight magazine. She is the CEO of Apricity, a company focused on an ecosystem of recovery services from impatient to helping clients gain job skills.
• Randall Zindler `93 completed his doctoral degree in leadership.
• Tim Nyberg `93 partnered with several leading minds in cyber security to write and publish On Thin Ice: How Just ONE Cyber Attack Can Put Your Business and Finances UNDERWATER… And What You Can Do NOW to Stop It.
• Amy De Curtins Carlson `94 was featured on the women in leadership panel of the Executive Education program at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
• Jeff Van Zeeland `96 is part owner of Fox Valley Wood Products. His company received the 32nd Annual Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Grand Award on Feb. 20, 2020. 
• Amy Schupbach `99 is a senior project engineer at Fresenius Kabi USA.
• Su-Nui Escobar `99 is in private practice and a dietetic internship director at Larkin Community Hospital.
• Don Yager `00 is the president/COO of Mural Consulting in Tucson, Ariz.
• Kevin Stensberg `01 successfully defended his dissertation for a Doctor of Education in organizational leadership studies degree from Northwestern University in Boston.
• Larry Graves `01 is serving as the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Designee on the Governor’s Task Force on student debt.
• Rebecca DuBois-Zeck `02 is teaching CTE at Frank Lloyd Wright Intermediate School in West Allis.
• David Buye `03 is the vice president of operations and development at DiaSorin Medical Diagnostics in Stillwater, Minn.
• Kevin Howard `03 is an industrial technology specialist at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
• Maria Lindblom `03 was nominated and selected for FCCI’s Insurance Group’s Emerging Leaders program.
• David Hanson `04 was promoted to senior project manager at JE Dunn Construction.
• Sunny Reed `06 is a senior interior project designer and associate at Perkins and Will in Miami, Fla.  
• Drew Davis `07 is an application engineer at Xcentric Mold & Engineering.
• Levi Stodal, MD `07 is a family medicine physician at Aspirus Doctors Clinic.
• Sarah Stromberg Flier `07 was named Wisconsin’s 2020 School Counselor of the Year and was selected as a 2021 School Counselor of the Year Finalist from the American School Counseling Association.
• Steven Peterson `10 completed his master’s degree in supply chain at Marquette University in May.
• Steven Tietz `10 is the plant manager at Valmont Industries. He oversees production sites in Minnesota and Indiana.
• Adam Kidd `11 is a senior project manager at WDS Construction, Inc. located in Beaver Dam.
• Danielle `13 and her husband, Nate `13 Goss, launched a new beverage company called KUL MOCKS.
• Katelyn Plank `13 and her wife published their first series of children’s books, “These Are My Pants!”
• Krissa Fisher '13 is a Financial Aid Advisor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
• Daniel (Dan) Gissing `14 is a student support services advisor at UW-Stout.
• Paige Berg `16 earned her master’s in clinical mental health counseling: transpersonal art therapy from Naropa University in Boulder, Colo. She works with parole and probation treatment programs as an art therapist in Colorado’s front range. She also has begun a tattoo practice that she plans to integrate with her mental health practices.
• Tiffany Lange `16 was featured in North of 45th art exhibition at Devos Art Museum in Marquette, Mich. She currently is the gallery coordinator at Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis, Minn., and a practicing artist.
• Chase Matter `17 is a controller at 10th Floor Properties
• Dr. Marcus Lewis `18 was named director of the Mercile J. Lee Scholars Program.
• Kristen Dealy `19 is an associate project lead at Activision. She previously worked on Call of Duty Modern Warfare and was the QA lead for the newest game, Black Ops Cold War.

Engagement:

• Joseph Tuttle `17 and Bethany Tennison `17 were married on October 10, 2020.
• Elizabeth Nelson `19 and Myles Lade `20 met working at the Commons three years ago and got engaged in June.

Marriage: 

• Joseph Tuttle `17 and Bethany Tennison `17 were married on October 10, 2020
• Erin Pelky `16 and Jack Mellberg were married on October 17, 2020
• Jenna Hennessey `15 and Nathan McKeefry `14 were married.
• Elizabeth Peterson Cohen `14 was married on August 22, 2020.

Anniversary:

• Peter `60 and Mary Jean Fulcer celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on June 25, 2020.
• Les Haight `68 and Rhoda Hembrook Haight celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Michigan. They met at the Out of Sight Bar in Menomonie in January 1968.
• Trudy Verbrick Zarlink `69 and her husband, David, celebrated their 50 years of marriage on June 20, 2020.
• Marilyn Rassbach Lamers `71 and Richard O. Lamers `70 celebrated 50 years of marriage on September 26, 2020.
• Susan `71 and Frank Singer `71 celebrated 50 years of marriage on August 28.
• Dan Mehleis `72 and Lee Anne Purman Mehleis `72 celebrated 50 years of marriage on Cape Cod, Mass. with their entire family.
• Dennis `72 Baran and his wife Michal are celebrating 25 years of marriage on October 28, 2020. They own and operate a Group Doctor franchise in St. Charles, Ill.
• Lance `72 and Karen `72 Bell will be celebrating 50 years of marriage on November 18, 2020.
• Lynn Dymanyk Anderson `83 and Todd Anderson `81 will be celebrating 35 years of marriage on Feb. 8, 2021. They met at HKMC.
• Ann Woznick `86 and Brad Kunst `86 celebrated 30 years of marriage on October 6, 2020, and continue to reside in Clear Lake, Iowa. They met as resident advisors in Fleming Hall in 1984.
• Kevin `94 and Janell Lenbom-Groskreutz celebrated 25 years of marriage in Hawaii.
• Ryan Boylen `05 and Sarah Mehringer Boylen `03 celebrated 15 years of marriage in June 2020. They met at CKTO in 1999.

Arrival: 

• David Richter `92 and Jacqui Hogans welcomed Caroline Rose on August 31, 2020.
• Tanya Namtzu Hady `05 welcomed a daughter, Josie Jean, on January 6, 2020.
• Jacob `13 and Hayley `12 Pebbles welcomed their second child, Cameron, on September 21st, 2020.
• Aimee `14 and Ryan Donnelly welcomed their first child, Kieran Patrick, in May.
• Jenny Wojcik Zilka `14 welcomed a daughter on April 26, 2020.
• Jack Kleisner `73 welcomed a grandson, Wren Jade, on March 6, 2021.

Passing:

• Anita B. Matthew `46, August 24, 2015, Plano, Texas
• Carlton Ericksen `47, April 2, 2020, Carol Stream, Ill.
• Arlene Pick Johnson `48, November 20, 2020, Janesville
• Shirley A. Nooyen `48, April 9, 2020, Sacramento, Cali.  
• Dellmont Robert Lindbloom `49, December 7, 2020, Sister Bay
• Merlin Moore `50, February 10, 2021, Medina, Minn.
• Lewis Mallow `51, May 4, 2019, Chippewa Falls
• James Young `53, January 15, 2021, Chippewa Falls
• Ruth Mary Kelly Fleming `53, December 3, 2020, Gays Mills
• Alan Eke `58, June 18, 2020, Blaine, Minn.  
• James L. Indihar `58, September 19, 2020, Dubuque, Iowa
• Kay Seyforth Faulkner `58, July 19, 2020, Mondovi
• Diane E. Hanson `59, January 28, 2020, Madison
• Eddie Ken Birch, Ed.D `59, February 12, 2021, Peoria, Ariz.
• James “Jim” L. Indihar `59, September 19, 2020, Dubuque, Iowa
• Peggy Handlos Johnson `59, October 5, 2020, Centuria
• Richard Tiede `60, July 10, 2020, San Jose, Cali.
• Robert Gannon `60, September 16, 2020, Marinette
• Charles Pinkepank `61, December 1, 2020, Wausau
• Gary G. Thompson `63, January 7, 2021, Greenfield
• Margaret L. Chastan `64, September 10, 2020, Menomonie
• Walter W. Graumann `64, Asbury, Iowa
• William Starks `64, March 4, 2021, Lakeland, Fla.
• Jack Ramie Lewis Jr. `67, March 27, 2021, Smith Mountain Lake, Va.
• James R “Jim” Polarski `67, November 17, 2020, Milton
• James Nelson `68, June 3, 2020, Nashotah
• Stephen Edwin Hill `68, November 16, 2020, Cottage Grove, Minn.
• Susan De Keuster `68, September 20, 2020, St. Paul, Minn. 
• Thomas Ott `68, March 25, 2021, Hughesville, Pa.
• Steven Brenegan `69, May 6, 2020, Godfrey, Ill.
• Gerald Schneck `70, December 8, 2020,
• Charles “Charlie” Kirby `72, February 27, 2021, Rochester, Minn.  
• David C. Goetzinger `72, July 2, 2020, Dubuque, Iowa
• Robert McNallie `72, December 15, 2020, Verona
• Christine Enger `73, February 3, 2021, Menomonie
• Carolyn Marie Barnhart `74, November 9, 2020, Menomonie
• Joan M. Schuster `74, February 6, 2021, Tomah
• Michael Gregory Abel `74, August 6, 2020, Hiawatha, Iowa
• Michael James Ehrmann `74, August 8, 2020, Milwaukee
• Stephen Ehmcke `74, July 4, 2020, Lakeville, Minn.
• Charles Sendecke `75, November 6, 2020, Elgin, Ill.
• Kay Daniels Perkins `75, June 12, 2018, Wausau
• Margaret “Maggie” Machesky `75, December 14, 2020, Downsville
• Susan “Sue” McDonald Phillippi `76, October 27, 2020, Powell, Ohio
• John Clyde Williams `77, May 24, 2020, Freeland, Wash. 
• Dale Lundgren `80, March 17, 2021, Valencia, Calif.
• Charles “Chuck” Schaaf Jr. `81, October 12, 2020, Chetek
• Donald Brown, husband of Donna Brown `81, January 27, 2021, San Jose, Calif.
• Bradley R. Lewis `82, July 9, 2020, Berry township
• James Wickman `82, September 17, 2020, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Jeff Seawell `82, July 26, 2020, Kelso, Wash.
• Tom Onken `82, January 31, 2021, Franklin, Tenn.
• Mary Jane Kucera Enz `83, February 26, 2021, St Louis Park, Minn.
• Randy Roy Rinehart `86, March 16, 2017, Evansville
• Richard E. Fogal `87, July 21, 2020, La Crosse
• Joan Mari Splawski `93, October 16, 2020, Nasewaupee.
• Deryl Frey `94, July 5, 2020, Ashland
• Steve Krumenauer `94, December 12, 2020, Ostego, Minn.
• Choua Lee Yang `96, October 9, 2020, Blaine, Minn.
• Patrick Lofteness `05, July 22, 2020, Eau Claire
• Christina Larsen `12, March 2, 2021, New Orleans, La.
• Sutton Beck `18, January 8, 2021, Hartford

Faculty Passing:

• Steven P. Terry, of Menomonie, passed away on June 2, 2020. Steve retired from UW-Stout in 2015 as an associate professor of health and physical education. He served as athletic director from 1994 to 2007 and started at UW-Stout in 1980. 
• Eunice I. Freeberg, 87, of Colfax, passed away May 29, 2020. She started in 1982 at the UW-Stout Purchasing Department, retiring in 1997.
• Roger H. Klukas, 87, of Menomonie, passed away June 7, 2020. He worked in the maintenance department at UW-Stout for about 25 years, retiring in 1997.
• Nasser Hadidi, 77, of Colfax, passed away Aug. 16. Hadidi was a statistics professor at UW-Stout for more than 30 years, retiring in 2015. He was a current senior lecturer at the university.
• William Schulman, 91, of Menomonie, died Aug. 26, 2020. Bill, professor emeritus in the School of Art and Design, was hired in 1966 at UW-Stout to create the art education program, where he taught until he retired in 1992.
• William M. Zinsil Jr., 84, of Menomonie, passed away Aug. 21, 2020. Bill was a building maintenance helper at UW-Stout for 18 years. He retired in 2004.
• Warren C. Bowlus, 90, of The Villages, Fla., passed away Aug. 26, 2020. Warren retired from UW-Stout in 1989 as the chairperson/director of the department of health, physical education, recreation and athletics. 
• William P. Burns, 91, of Menomonie, passed away Dec. 10, 2020. Bill retired from UW-Stout in 1992 as an associate professor in the physical education and athletics department.
• Jack B. Sampson, 92, of Menomonie, passed away Feb. 22, 2021. Jack retired from UW-Stout in 1990 as a professor in the School of Industry and Technology. He taught at UW-Stout for 33 years.
• Brian Fitch, 75, of Rocky Mount, N.C., passed away July 3, 2020. Brian retired from UW-Stout in July 2015 as a professor in the English and philosophy department.