April 1, 2012
1930s
Dorothy (Stroud) Larson ’31 (Mabel, Minn.) passed away on November 14, 2011 at the age of 100 years, 6 months.
Edna (Kruger) Larson ’35 (Winona) passed away on December 27. She began her teaching career in Michigan where she lived as a child. Following World War II, Edna returned to Michigan and taught as a substitute. She could read and speak German as well as Finnish and enjoyed being recognized by her many students.
Vivian (Cottrell) Kraemer ’38 (Smithfield, Va.) passed away September 8, 2011.
Constance (Zabel) Stinemeyer ’38 (Boyceville, Wis.) passed away on August 27, 2011. She taught fourth grade after graduating from Winona State before training as a nurse during World War II and working for the Kern County Health Department.
1940s
Helen (Eifealdt) Stranberg ’40 (Winona) passed away on January 21. She earned her bachelor’s in education at Winona State and began her career in Pine Island before teaching music in Sheboygan, Wis., schools.
Colleen (Starz) Berg ’41/’61 (Zumbrota, Minn.) passed away on December 12. She taught in rural schools in Minnesota before following her husband to North Dakota and Colorado, retiring in 1990 after 39 years in the classroom. She was an adventurous traveler and bungee jumped from the Kawarau River Bridge in New Zealand at the age of 78.
Bernadine (Bernard) Betcher ’41 (Auburn, Calif.) passed away on December 3, 2011.
Mary (Caldwell) Rusche ’43 (Winona) passed away on October 28. She earned her master’s in education at Western Illinois University after graduating from Winona State and taught for the Davenport (Iowa) School District, retiring in 1985.
Pearl (Deering) Hipp ’46 (New Brighton, Minn.) passed away on September 27. She was piano teacher to four generations at St. Mark’s Elementary School, a champion of the disabled, and a vocal sports fan.
Bernice (Eklund) Sucha ’48 (Green Bay, Wis.) passed away on September 25, 2011. She spent most of her working life teaching high school English. She was a substitute teacher in the Green Bay school system until age 80 and past president of the Substitute Teacher’s Union.
1950s
Carl Christenson ’56 (Winona) passed away on November 1, 2011. He earned a master’s at Western Michigan and PhD at Kansas State. He taught at Indiana University Southeast and was chair of the Biology Department until he retired in 1997. Carl was also an accomplished woodworker, musician, and storyteller.
Darrell Johnson ’57 (Marietta, Ga.) passed away on October 16, 2011.
Ann (Ogata) Nakayama ’57 (Kohala, Hawaii) passed away on September 12, 2011.
John O’Brien ’57 (Menands, N.Y.) passed away suddenly on September 4. He played baseball at WSU and taught at Watervliet High School where he was the driver education instructor, vice principal, and guidance counselor before retiring in 1989. John was active in the community for a number of organizations and boards.
Deanna Harders ’59 (Sun City, Ariz.) passed on December 28, 2011. She enjoyed a long teaching career in California before retiring to Arizona.
Delwin Tschumper ’59 (Winona) passed away on March 7.
1960s
Richard Holle ’61/’62 (Rushford, Minn.) passed away on November 5, 2011. Richard received both his bachelor’s and master’s in biology at Winona State and studied Chinese Mandarin at the U.S. Army Language Institute. Fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish, he worked for the Army Security Agency and the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C. His book, The Wisdom Tree, was published in 2008 and A Seed Not Watered in 2011. Richard was a generous supporter of WSU, donating more than 600 books to the Krueger Library and serving as Professor for a Day. He was named a WSU Distinguished Alumnus in 2011
John Christenson ’62 (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) passed away on July 2, 2011. Jack earned a master’s at Kansas State and PhD at Iowa and worked as an educator and football and basketball official for many years.
John Norton ’62 (Port Angeles, Wash.) passed away on October 13. He taught English, speech, and debate in Port Angeles and returned to Minnesota to teach at Mayo High School in Rochester. He became assistant principal at the high school and then principal of Stevens Middle School for 14 years. A proud moment in his career was being honored with the U.S. Department of Education Excellence in Education Award.
Della (Hennie) Hoseth ’63 (Rochester, Minn.) passed away on October 25, 2011.
Mary Ann Pfeifer ’64 (St. Paul, Minn.), a Franciscan Sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes in Rochester, died on December 11. She earned her master’s at WSU and served as an elementary teacher for 48 years.
Robert Safe ’67 (Red Wing, Minn.) passed away on January 11. He coached high school wrestling and track before moving to Stillwater and working as the town’s State Farm Insurance agent for more than 30 years. He created the Taste of Stillwater in 1999, an event he ran for five years.
Larry Anderson ’69 (Eagan, Minn.) passed away on October 18, 2011. He played football at WSU and worked for more than 30 years for UPS in the Twin Cities until his retirement.
1970s
Eleanor (Johnson) Klungtvedt ’70 (Whalan, Minn.) passed away on January 11. Eleanor earned her master’s in counseling at WSU and taught in Alma, Wis., and the Winona Vocational-Technical College.
Arlene (Klavitter) Sommer ’70/’80 (Lewiston, Minn.) passed away on November 30, 2011. She earned her master’s at Winona State and taught for many years in Wykoff, Rushford, and Lewiston.
Charlotte (Vought) Marx ’71 (Marble, Minn.) passed away on January 5. She enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1945 and attended the Art Institute of Chicago following her discharge. Charlotte earned her art degree at WSU and taught in Stewartville from 1972 until 1987.
John Heddle ’72 (Winona) passed away on March 3. After living in Oregon for a few years, John and his wife returned to Winona where he worked as a sales representative. He had a passion for friends, family, motorcycles, boats, skiing, music, fast cars, and was a lifelong supporter of liberal causes. Direct gifts to the Barbara Heddle Scholarship Fund at WSU.
Terrance Wilk ’73 (Winona) passed away on January 8. He earned his accounting degree at WSU and was employed by Winona County Community Services for the last nine years.
Dale Haugen ’75 (Spring Grove, Minn.) passed away on December 7. The longtime educator earned a specialist’s degree at WSU and served as a teacher, principal, counselor, and administrator.
David Buol ’77 (Wabasha, Minn.) passed away on March 4 as the result of a vehicle accident. He worked as a manager at Kmart Stores in the Twin Cities, and then owned and operated his carpet-cleaning business. Dave enjoyed the outdoors, especially hunting, fishing and trapshooting, and golf.
Steven Law ’78 (Rochester, Minn.) passed away on October 12, 2011.
Gerald Manion ’78 (Rushford, Minn.) passed away on January 11 in Tucson, Ariz. He majored in sociology and went on to work for 31 years with the U.S. Postal Service, ascending to postmaster in Lewiston, Stewartville, and Big Lake. He also served as mayor of Lewiston and started a local cable company there.
Mary (Woodward) Yates ’79 (Birmingham, Ala.) passed away on January 29.
1980s
Carl Steigerwald ’81 (Chicago, Ill.) passed away on February 4. His career included positions as vice president of lending at Amcore Bank and financial services at Merrill Lynch, Wachovia, and H & R Block Financial Advisors.
Nancy (Saufferer) Quinnell ’82 (Lakeville, Minn.) passed away on January 6 after battling cancer. The senior vice president for operations of Hollstadt and Associates, Nancy was a tireless volunteer and, in 2011, was named Lakeville Rotary Exceptional Businesswoman.
Maria Faust ’85 (Minneapolis, Minn.) passed away on December 15 after a battle with a rare form of ovarian cancer. She earned her degree in speech communications at WSU and enjoyed a successful career in retail management and planning. Maria loved the bluffs around Winona and relocated there, becoming active in local food and culinary projects.
Kevin Ryan ’85 (Winona) passed away on December 14. Known as a master auto mechanic, skilled tuba and violin player, and kind soul to those in trouble. He graduated with a degree in music education from WSU and was a founding member of the Winona Brass Band.
1990s
Ryan Gordon ’92 (Adams, Minn.) passed away on November 27. After graduating from WSU, he worked at Allianz in Golden Valley and was director of internal audit at United Healthgroup in Minnetonka.
Linda Monk ’95 (Charleston, W. Va.) passed away on December 26. She earned her master’s at WSU and worked as a corporate developer for Express Employment Professionals after a career in dental hygiene.
David Everding ’98 (Winona) passed away on September 5, 2011 in Lewiston.
2000s
Janel Lynne (Baer) Mack ’00 (Phoenix, Ariz.) passed away on February 28. An honors graduate in biology and psychology at WSU, she worked at the Mayo Clinic before accepting a position in diabetes research in Phoenix.
Faculty, Staff, Friends
Ruth M. Dalton (La Crosse, Wis.) passed away on October 21, 2011. A pathologist at St. Francis Hospital, she was active in the community, particularly with the Girl Scouts. She was a supporter of the National Child Protection Training Center. Memorials may be made in “Dr. Ruth’s” honor to the NCPTC.
Jack Edwards (La Crosse, Wis.) passed away on December 22. The founder of Pizza Villa Restaurants, he turned his attention to real estate where his work can be seen widely in the La Crosse area. He was a member of the Exchange State Bank board and River Bank board. Jack and his family have been generous supporters of the university.
Joe Gillet (Winona), husband of Amanda (Bagniewski) Gillett ’04, passed away on January 13. Amanda worked in both University Advancement and Alumni Relations while a student at WSU.
Paul Haake (Middletown, Conn.) passed away on December 3, 2011. He worked as a chemistry professor at Wesleyan University, developing the PhD program there. A Winona native, he was grateful for the educational foundation he received. To repay the debt, he established two scholarships at WSU, the Lawrence Brynestad Memorial Scholarship and the Arnold and Clara Haake Memorial Scholarship. Please send donations in memory of Paul to the WSU Foundation.
Patricia Malay (Winona), who retired from Winona State, passed away on August 30, 2011.
Madeo “Moon” Molinari (Chicago, Ill.) passed away on October 20, 2011. He coached at Winona State from 1956 to 1978. His football teams won five conference championships and went undefeated in conference play in 1962 and 1964. He also won conference titles as coach of the baseball and golf teams. He was inducted into the WSU Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.
Kenneth Peterman (Winona) passed away on November 4, 2011. He retired from the WSU maintenance department in 2006.
Paul E. Rivers (Rollingstone, Minn.) passed away on December 4, 2011. He retired from WSU where he worked as an engineer.
