1940s
Helene (Bailey) Spelhaug ’41 (Chatfield, Minn.) passed away Nov. 28, 2014 at the age of 93. Helene earned her teaching degree from Winona Teachers College (now known as Winona State) in 1941.
Helen (Anderson) Duncanson ’43 (Crossville, Tenn.) passed away Oct. 5, 2014 at the age of 93. Helen was born and raised in Spring Grove, Minn., and graduated from Winona State Teachers College (now Winona State
University) as a music educator.
1950s
Joseph R. Fennie ’50 (Northfield, Minn.) died Aug. 23, 2013 at the age of 86. After his service in the Navy, Joe attended Winona State, where he served as class president and was active in band, choir, drama and cheerleading. Afterwards, he taught music for 32 years.
Lawrence Janikowski ’53 (Lansing, Mich.) passed away Dec. 22, 2014 at the age of 99. After high school, Lawrence spent four years in Civilian Conservation Corps and served in the Navy during World War II. He later earned his bachelor’s degree from Winona State and worked as an industrial arts teacher in Caledonia for 24 years.
Richard “Dick” Wildgrube ’54 (Preston, Minn.) died Nov. 19, 2014 at the age of 82. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1954, the same year he started his teaching career at Preston High School. He was a member of the United States Naval Reserve for eight years and was active duty in the Pacific. In 1957, he returned to Preston and taught for 36 years. He earned his master’s degree in 1968.
Frank Mertes Sr. ’55 (Winona) passed away Nov. 18, 2014 at the age of 82. Frank was a very successful businessman. He served in many leadership roles at the J.R. Watkins Company, founder of the Photo Art Metal Company, president of The Mertes Company, and contributor and mentor to a group of entrepreneurs, organizations and businesses.
Mildred “Mitzi” (Holmquist) Ollhoff ’56 (Rochester, Minn.) died Sept. 5, 2014 at the age of 79. Mitzi worked for the Mayo Clinic in various administrative capacities for 16 years, ending her career as an editor for internal communications.
1960s
Frank Thissen ’60 (Lakeville, Minn.) passed away Nov. 6, 2014 at the age of 84. After his service in the US Army, Frank stayed active with veteran’s service organizations for the remainder of his life. He dedicated more than 30 years to the St. Paul Public Schools as teacher, counselor, and administrator. He served as president of the City of St. Paul Education Association and St. Paul School Counselors Association. Frank was a founding member of the Minnesota Alcohol and Traffic Safety Association and developer of the Alcohol Safety Action Program and Minnesota Snowmobile Instructor program.
Jack Martin ’68 (Madison, Wis.) died Dec. 17, 2014 at the age of 71. Jack received his bachelor’s degree from Winona State and master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. After graduating from WSU, he moved to Janesville, Wis., where he taught business at Blackhawk Technical College. Later he moved to Madison, and made a daily commute to Rockford, Ill., where he was director of institutional compliance at Rockford Career College.
Thomas Nesmith ’69 (Las Vegas, Nev.) passed away Sept. 28, 2014, at the age of 74. He was an educator and educational administrator for 40 years.
Thomas Robert Sage ’69 (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) died Feb. 1, 2014, at the age of 67. In high school, Tom was an all-state swimmer and an all-city football player, and was named an All-American swimmer while attending Winona State. After graduation, Tom taught in Minnesota, Iowa, and Florida. He later joined his family’s construction company and owned a landscaping business.
Linda (Sebo) Ricks ’69 (Appleton, Wis.) passed away on July 31, 2014 at the age of 67. After graduating from Winona State, Linda began teaching high school English, and soon transitioned to the primary grades; where she felt she could make the biggest impact in the lives of children.
1970s
Douglas Wilson ’71 (Lanesboro, Minn.) died Oct. 1, 2014 at the age of 69. Doug served in the Air Force after high school, and then attended Bemidji State and Winona State. After graduating with a degree in secondary education, he taught high school history in Lanesboro before working for 22 years as a scouting executive with the Boy Scouts of America.
Rosemary Urbanus ’73 (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) passed away Dec. 12, 2014 at the age of 77.
Owen Schmidt ’74 (North Mankato, Minn.) passed away Dec. 31, 2014 at the age of 74. Owen attended Winona State after serving in Korea in the U.S. Army. After graduation, he joined Minnesota Job Service in Mankato, where
he worked for more than 20 years. He co-founded the Mankato Merely Players, where he was active behind the scenes as a set designer.
1990s
Sharon Suchla ’92 (Winona) passed away Aug. 28, 2014 at the age of 62. Sharon moved to Winona in
1974, where she began her 37-year teaching career. She later earned her master’s degree from Winona State and became an administrator with the school district; first as dean of students and later as principal of Winona Middle School, before retiring in 2011.
Kevin Ditch ’96 (Winona) died Oct. 6, 2014 at the age of 60. He earned his accounting degree from Winona State and was employed with Benchmark Electronics.
Ruth (Putz) Korder ’96 (Winona) passed away Aug. 3, 2014 at the age of 77. She worked at Saint Mary’s University and Hal Leonard Publishing before becoming business manager and financial planner for the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. Ruth enjoyed the pursuit of knowledge and continually challenged herself, earning her accounting degree from Winona State University at the age of 59.
Students
Brooke Baures (Chetek, Wis.) passed away Dec. 1, 2014 at the age of 21. Brooke was a senior majoring in social work, and was a member of the WSU Gymnastics team. “Brooke had a magnetic personality and a smile that would light up the gym,” said WSU gymnastics coach Beckie Rolbiecki. “She was a sparkplug of a competitor and an ambitious, dedicated teammate.”
Cody Wozney (Arcadia, Wis.) died Aug. 13, 2014 at the age of 23. Cody was beginning his senior year at Winona State. He loved to fish and hunt with his best friend, his dad, and going to Green Bay Packers games.
Shawn Afryl (Skokie, Ill.) passed July 21, 2014 at the age of 22. He joined the WSU community in the summer and was enrolled as a Social Studies Teaching major.
Faculty/Staff
Walter Hinds Jr. (Winona) passed away Aug. 27, 2014 at the age of 93. After enlisting in the Army Air Corp, Walter
was deployed to England, where he flew 12 missions before being shot down and captured outside of Frankfurt, Germany. He was taken prisoner and interned for the remainder of the war until liberated by General Patton. After the war, Walter attended Capitol University in Ohio as well as Juilliard School in New York City before earning his doctorate in music from the University of Indiana in Bloomington. Walter joined the music department at Winona State in 1964, and taught piano and voice for 25 years until his retirement in 1989.
John Martin (Winona) died Sept. 18, 2014 at the age of 81. John’s career at Winona State University began in 1963. He served as professor, HPER Department Chair, head swim coach and assistant football coach before retiring in 1993. He was appointed to the U.S.A. Olympic Committee for two Olympiads and was selected U.S.A. assistant coach during the 1973 World Student Games held in Moscow. He was inducted into the Winona State, NAIA, NSIC and Minnesota Swimming and Diving halls of fame.
