1950’s
Curtis Connaughty ’55 (Eden Prairie, Minn.) has written a book, “The Right Place at the Right Time: Stories from a Life in Education,” about his 31-year career at Eden Prairie High School, where he served as a teacher, founder of the football and track teams, coach, and administrator.
1960’s
Gary Grob ’62, ‘65 (Winona, Minn.) became only the second Caledonia/Houston County player/coach/manager to be inducted into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame. He’s already a member of the NAIA Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1989, the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame Class of 2001, the Winona State Hall Fame Class of 2006, and the NSIC (Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) Hall of Fame Class of 2008. He was named NAIA District 13 Coach of the Year 15 times, and coached 16 players who went on to sign professional contracts, as well as 158 all-conference award winners.
Robert Ries ‘65 (Winona, Minn.) has entered the Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary race for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District.
Tom Lennon ’68 (Wynnewood, Pa.) celebrated his 70th birthday near Philadelphia, Pa. In attendance were (from left to right) Bob ’69 and Barb Meimbresse ’69, Betty Lennon (Tom’s wife), Tom Lennon ’68, Eileen and Bruce Wallace ’68.
Matt Schuth ‘69 (Golden Valley, Minn.), naturalist at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, has published the book, “Nature at Our Doorstep,” which observes plants, birds, mammals, and other natural phenomena, enlivened by Matt’s personal experience, homespun humor, and more. The book is available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.
1970’s
Richard “Rick” Krueger ‘71 (Lakeville, Minn.) has been asked to be a part of the Minnesota Legislative Society, a growing group of nonpartisan Minnesota legislators, past and present. Rick received his master’s degree in public policy from Harvard and previously served as a State Representative in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1983-1994. Since then, he has held a variety of leadership roles and currently works in consulting.
Darold Klindworth ’73 (Yarragon, Victoria, Australia) retired in 2013, the same year he spent volunteering in Palau. He is currently involved in the local volunteer fire brigade and local wood working club, which is now a Men’s Shed. He is running a few cattle on his small farm and enjoying his grandchildren.
Wayne Kreitzer ’73 (Cresco, Iowa) currently serves as a board member on the Cresco Kiwanis Club and was named the Nebraska-Iowa District Kiwanis International 2016-2017 Layperson of the Year.
Thomas Haase ’76 (Fort Worth, Texas) retired from education after 38 years in the field.
William Otis ’79 (New Ulm, Minn.), currently the president and CEO of NUTelecom, was appointed to serve on the advisory board for the New Ulm Area Foundation. He will also serve on the grants committee and the community outreach planning committee.
1980’s
William Peyton ’82 (Hastings, Minn.) retired from teaching and coaching.
Don Henderson ’83 (Dodge Center, Minn.) was honored with the 2017 Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Rochester Sports Banquet. After graduating from WSU, he became the head football coach for Hayfield/Dodge Center in 1987. When Claremont, Dodge Center, and West Concord merged to form Triton High School, he was named head football coach of the new school. In 2017, he finished his career with 31 years of head coaching football, 28 years as activities director, and 25 years as a head golf coach. He amassed 15 conference championships, nine state tournament appearances, three state titles, one state runner-up, and a career record of 251-84.
Michael Anderson ’85 (Barnum, Minn.) has been the principal owner/broker at Minnesota Resort Sales for the past 15 years. Two years ago, he opened Moose Lake Brewing Company in downtown Moose Lake, Minn. The company has full production on site and a lakeside taproom. Recently, he started Sea Time Sport Fishing Company in Key Largo, Fla. The charter fishing company provides deep sea and reef fishing trips.
Debra (Blaha) Bork ’88 (Independence, Wis.), RN, BSN, was recently welcomed to The International Nurses Association with her publication in the Worldwide Leaders in Healthcare. She is an occupational health nurse contractor currently serving patients in Independence, Wis., and at Winona Health.
Mark Fratzke ‘89 (Oakland, Calif.), DNP, was named president and CEO of Seton Medical Center and Seton Coastside, after being previously appointed as chief operating officer and interim president and CEO last fall. The dual health care centers serve patients and communities in San Francisco and northern San Mateo County. He previously worked at Kaiser Permanente as senior vice president and area manager for the East Bay service area, chief operating officer for Alameda Health System, and held several roles with Mayo Clinic, including chief operating officer and chief nursing officer for its Southwest Minnesota region. In addition to his undergraduate degree from Winona State, he holds a doctorate in nursing practice from Rush University and a master’s in healthcare administration from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Business.
1990’s
Wade Bergner ’91 (Ellsworth, Wis.) started his own company, W.B. Healthy Vending, providing technologically advanced vending machines in businesses and schools. Business has expanded to include 80 machines in Pierce and St. Croix counties and the Twin Cities area, where he landed the largest school district in Minnesota, Anoka-Hennepin.
Shirley (Gardner) Anderson ’92 (Marina DeI Rey, Calif.), RN, BSN, MBA, was appointed new director of women’s services at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, the largest not-for-profit, full-service, acute-care hospital in San Diego’s East County. Her previous positions included interim director for labor and delivery, obstetrics, neonatal intensive care unit and pediatrics at Fountain Valley Medical Center, and director for perinatal services at Kaiser Permanente.
Mary (Bellingtier) Vrieze ’92 (Eyota, Minn.) was recently honored for her hard work at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS). Mary and her husband Dan Vrieze ‘91, live in Eyota, Minn.
Mark Domeier ’96 (Ellendale, Minn.) has been teaching since 1996, when he began student teaching in Houston, Minn. After graduation, he started teaching in New Richland, where he remains 22 years later. He said his student teaching experience was fantastic, learning a lot from his classroom teacher and administration in how to manage a classroom and develop curriculum. He says that staying at the same school for his entire career allows him to view education as a whole and how it changes and flows, and likes the perspective it gives him.
Amy Jo Hahn ‘96 (Rochester, Minn.) published a historic nonfiction book, “Lost Rochester, Minnesota,” in November 2017. The book focuses on several of Rochester’s historic and “lost” businesses, buildings, and sites.
Theresa (Gartner) Nunemacher ’97 (St. Charles, Minn.) has been working as a school social worker for St. Charles Public Schools since 2012.
Matthew Urbanek ’97 (Jordan, Minn.) was named Jordan High School’s Teacher of the Year. He has been teaching and coaching basketball for the past 20 years, also receiving his master’s degree in education leadership from Southwest Minnesota State University in 2010. He teaches history at Jordan High School.
Anna Derocher ’98 (Rockford, Ill.) was hired as the marketing manager for engineering and environmental firm Fehr Graham, where she’ll oversee companywide marketing and brand development efforts. She has 19 previous years’ experience in digital news media.
Derek Butler ’98 (Elk River, Minn.) currently serves as the athletic training program manager for Bay Area Medical Center. He also co-leads the orthopedic services line at BAMC and covers an array of youth events and tournaments, along with serving as the athletic trainer at Maroon sporting events since 2002. He has two kids (Darrent, 9 and Daly, 5) with his wife of 10 years, Deb. When he gets time away from work, he restores old cars and participates in the Interstate Car Club.
Erin Kyllo ‘99 (St. Paul, Minn.) was hired as the new Kasson-Mantorville Middle School principal. She has worked in Chandler, Ariz., and Inver Grove Heights as a teacher for grades K-12, and was recently the administrative dean for Chanhassen High School. After receiving her undergraduate and master’s degrees from WSU, she earned her specialist’s degree from the University of St. Thomas.
Stephanie Moss ’99 (St. Paul, Minn.) has spent 11 years as an early childhood educator at the University of Minnesota.
2000’s
Cynthia (Nelson) Blume ’00 (Roseville, Minn.) and husband Ryan welcomed their second child, Samuel, in July 2017.
Karen (Wille) Aulwes Deuschle ’00 (Lakeville, Minn.) has completed her second master’s program, receiving a Masters of Arts in International Business from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Stephen Furlong ’00 (Rochester, Minn.) has been named president of the Minnesota Mortgage Association. He works as a mortgage consultant and leads the Furlong Team at Mortgages Unlimited Inc.
Paula Heyer ’00 (North Mankato, Minn.) took a position with Travel Tags Inc. as the global CRM administrator.
Melody (Jensen) Maples ’01 (Leander, Texas) was named principal at Stiles Middle School. She held previous administration roles at McNeil High School and Walsh Middle School in Round Rock, as well as a social studies teacher and coach in Round Rock.
Carson Walch ’01 (Elgin, Minn.) was announced as the assistant wide receivers coach for the Philadelphia Eagles in March 2018. Now in his seventh season as a coach in professional football, he spent the previous two years with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League, serving as offensive coordinator in 2017 and receivers coach and passing game coordinator in 2016. Prior, Carson spent two years with the Chicago Bears and three years with the Montreal Allouettes (CFL).
John Hardy ’02 (Winona, Minn.) recently celebrated 10 years with Edward Jones in Winona this past summer.
Note: John’s class note was incorrectly published under the name Jim Hardy in the Fall ’17 issue of Currents. We wish to apologize to John for this error. – Currents editorial team
Theodore Ihns ’02 (Cresco, Iowa) was named the new superintendent of the Howard-Winneshiek Community School District. He previously worked in the district as an elementary P.E. teacher in the 1990-91 school year, and also graduated from Cresco High School in 1984. He has spent nearly 30 years in education, with 25 of those years spent in the Twin Cities. He and his wife, Pam, have four children.
Jason Paske ‘02 (Blaine, Minn.) has been named as the principal at Blaine High School after holding the position on an interim basis last school year.
Catherine (Roddel) Herbers ’03 (Sioux Falls, S.D.) began a new job teaching first grade at Fred Assam Elementary School in the Brandon Valley School District. She spent the previous eight years teaching first grade at Hawthorne Elementary School in Sioux Falls, and prior to that, in Winona, Minn.
Nicholas Jurrens ’03 (Kasson, Minn.) was named principal of Triton Elementary School. He began teaching fifth grade math at Kasson-Mantorville in 2005, where he continued to teach and coach for the next 12 years. He earned his master’s degree in 2008 and his principal’s license in 2015. He spent one year as the Pre-K-12 principal in the Lyle Public School system prior to being hired at Triton.
Michael Lawrence ‘03 (St. Paul, Minn.) joined Premier Jet Center in Minneapolis as operations manager. Having spent 20 years in the aviation industry, his most recent prior position was general manager at Key Air. He has also served as a board member in several industry organizations, such as the Minnesota Business Aviation Association and Minnesota Aviation Trades Association, and served as president of the Anoka County Aviation Association.
Tony Romaine ‘03 (Sauk Rapids, Minn.), was welcomed as the new pastor at First United Church in Little Falls, Minn. After graduating from WSU, he received a master’s in history at St. Cloud State University, a master’s in theology at St. John’s University School of Theology/Seminary, and a Master of Divinity degree at United Theological Seminary. He previously served for two years at the First Congregational Church UCC of Staples. He was ordained in November 2016 into the United Church of Christ (UCC). He lives with his wife, Amanda, son, Prescott, and daughter, Madelyn, in Sauk Rapids.
Scott Rood ’03 (Mount Pleasant Mills, Pa.) was promoted to the rank of police sergeant with the East Pennsboro Township Police Department in Enola, Pa. He has worked for the police department since 2008, earning the rank of detective with the Cumberland County Drug Task Force. He is a member of the South Central Task Force, a crisis negotiator with the Cumberland County Special Response Team, an ACCESS Peer Assistance Officer, and he is currently one of only two certified polygraph examiners in Cumberland County. He is also the president of the East Pennsboro Township Police Association. Scott served as an officer in the U.S. Army for 11 years, and recently earned his master’s degree in criminal justice from the American Military University. He lives in central Pennsylvania with his wife of 12 years, Raena, and their three sons, Benjamin, Samuel and George.
Melody Bass ‘04 (Goodhue, Minn.) married Michael Kurtti in August 2017. She is employed as a teacher with Minnesota Connections Academy in St. Paul, Minn.
Stephen Bloechl ’04 (Grand Rapids, Mich.) is a medical doctor; has started an organic, gluten free farm in Michigan; and is moving towards free-range chickens that he’s been incorporating into a co-op. He also has a sixth child whom he adopted.
Brian Peloquin ‘04 (St. Paul, Minn.) is now the activities director for the White Bear Lake Area. He previously worked at Mounds View and Irondale.
Nora Kraemer ’05 (Winona, Minn.) earned her Ph.D. in athletic training from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in April 2017 and has been teaching full time since 2009 in WSU’s Health, Exercise & Rehabilitative Sciences department.
Andrea Mehlbaum ‘05 (Loves Park, Ill.) joined Rockford Vascular Surgery at SwedishAmerican as an advanced practice nurse. She recently completed a master’s degree in nursing from Concordia University in Wisconsin, is certified as a family nurse practitioner, and has more than 10 years of critical care nursing experience.
Michelle (Walsh) Seliga ’05 (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) and husband, Dan, celebrated the birth of their twins, Emily Mae and Leonard Michael, on October 19. Big sister Allison (3.5) couldn’t be more excited!
Jason Steinmetz ’05 (Bloomer, Wis.) was hired as the assistant principal and activities director at Bloomer High School. A Bloomer native and graduate of BHS, he has been working in the district as a special education teacher for the past 11 years. He completed his master’s degree in educational leadership from Fielding Graduate University. He currently lives in Bloomer with his wife, Chelsea, and son, Parker.
Lesley (Lowe) Dean ’06 (Seattle, Wash.) married David Beaumont Dean in June 2017 in Lyons, Colo. In addition to her degree from WSU, Lesley also graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with her master’s degree in recreational management. She currently works as an events specialist with Outessa, a women’s outdoor adventure initiative within REI Event Marketing.
Tara (Robertson) Dooley ’06 (Scandia, Minn.) works as the head athletic trainer at Hamline University, contracted out from Twin Cities Orthopedics. She been working at Hamline University since 2012, and lives with her family, Aaron, Keira (4) and Corrine (1), and dogs Astrid and Angus, in St. Paul, Minn.
Derek ’06 & Sarah (Speckel) Hudyma ’06, ‘12 (Buffalo, Minn.) welcomed their second son, Declan, in June 2017.
Marcus Krings ‘06 (Houston, Minn.) was promoted to credit card manager with Merchants Bank. He has been in banking for more than 11 years, joining Merchants in 2012. He joined the credit card department in 2016.
Christoper Wernick ’06 (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) recently had his second child, a son named Andrew, who joins his older brother Tyler. Christopher recently started a new field sales position with Citrix.
Sarah (Ede) Hansen ’08 (Minneapolis, Minn.) is married to Kyle Hansen, with two children: daughter Allyson (3) and son Aaron (1). She works for the non-profit Family Youth Community Connections, which provides programs and services that promote healthy kids, healthy families, and healthy communities.
Kyle Tingum ‘08 (Esko, Minn.) has joined the cardiac rehabilitation staff at Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet as an exercise physiologist. He previously worked at Essentia in the stress lab as a cardiology technician.
Courtney Cosgriff ‘09 (Madison, Wis.) has joined the Waunakee Public Library as the adult services and outreach manager. She received her master’s degree in library science online through San Jose State University.
Travis Elmer ‘09 (Rush City, Minn.) married Andrea Schwichtenberg in September 2017. He is employed as a trooper with the Minnesota State Patrol.
2010’s
Jill Freeman ’10 (Albert Lea, Minn.) married Randy Larson in January 2018. She is a second grade teacher at NRHEG elementary school in Ellendale, Minn.
Kyle Luebeck ’10 & Amanda (Schmick) Luebeck ’09, ’10 (Apple Valley, Minn.) are happy to announce the birth of their first child, Keira, born in February 2017. Kyle and Amanda own their own wealth management firm (Luebeck Wealth Management), managing a team of 10, which focuses on employee retirement plans for companies nationwide.
Matt Rosaaen ‘10 (Spring Grove, Minn.) is now teaching second grade and coaching junior varsity volleyball in Spring Grove, Minn. He previously taught at Kasson-Mantorville.
Sharon (Artley) Gregerson ’11 (Menomonie, Wis.) and her husband, Sean, welcomed their first child, Morgan, in May 2017. Morgan was born three months premature, spending her first 103 days at the Mayo Clinic NICU in Rochester, Minn. Morgan is now home, happy and healthy!
Derrick Greiner ’11 (Fairmont, Minn.) has joined the Fairmont law firm of Krahmer, Shaffer & Edmundson, Ltd. (KS&E) as an attorney. He received his Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from William Mitchell College of Law in 2015 and then worked for two years as a law clerk for Judge Douglas Richards in Faribault County. Greiner’s practice areas include tax, real estate, ag law, estate planning and administration, and business law.
Brad Meyer ’11 & Jamie (Richter) Meyer ’12 (Sun Prairie, Wis.) welcomed Eli James Meyer on March 15, 2017. Stephanie (Candahl) LaBeause, a 2008 WSU graduate, was the family’s nurse.
Crystal (Sheehan) Mueller ‘11 (Madison, Wis.) married Bryant Mueller in October 2017. She is employed as the RN LVAD coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Hannah (Okerberg) Rinken ’11 (Waterloo, Iowa) is currently living in Iowa, working with Athletico Physical Therapy as the athletic training manager for Iowa.
Nell (Adams) Waxman ’11 (Rochester, Minn.) married Jacob Waxman in Rochester, Minn., in August 2017.
Krystle (Lonning) Belshan ’12 (Albert Lea, Minn.) has been named the head coach of the Glenville-Emmons volleyball team. After graduating from WSU, she taught at LeRoy-Ostrander for five years and was assistant volleyball coach for four.
Kirsten Dorumsgaard ’12 (Minneapolis, Minn.) is currently in a police cadet education program at Hennepin Technical College, and will be a full time police officer in Eagan, Minn., in 2018.
John Halderman ‘12 (St. Paul, Minn.) is working for St. Paul Parks and Recreation as the community recreation specialist at the Northwest Como recreation center.
Anne Janey ’12 (Foley, Minn.) has joined The Village Family Service Center providing children’s therapeutic support and services. She is working toward a master’s degree in professional clinical counseling through Adler Graduate School. She interned with The Village in 2015 at its Alexandria office.
Isaiah McBride ’12 (Princeton, Minn.) is working as the director of the Rejuv Medical HARDcore program, providing strength and conditioning training for area high school athletes. After graduating from WSU, he received a graduate degree at a U.S. Olympic training site and worked as the head strength and conditioning coach for the Chinese Taipei National men’s basketball team.
Neal Peterson ’12 (White Bear Lake, Minn.) opened his own State Farm in Forest Lake, Minn.
Chris Janssen ‘13 (Alexandria, Minn.) married Allie Batcher in July 2017. He works as a physical education teacher for Carlos, Miltona, and Garfield schools from the Alexandria School District.
Thomas Platek ’13 (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) won an Emmy for his video production of a mission his grandfather flew in Vietnam as a fighter pilot and his experience being shot down over North Vietnam and rescued.
Tyler Treptow-Bowman ’14 & Matt Bowman ’15 (New Brighton, Minn.) were married in January 2017. Now living back in Winona, Tyler works as an academic advisor/recruitment & retention specialist at WSU and Matt works as a senior sales coordinator for Marriott International. Tyler previously earned his master’s in education in higher education administration from the University of Kansas in May 2016.
Beth Caven ‘14 (Spring Lake Park, Minn.) was hired by Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet to join its hospitalist program. She previously worked as an intensive care and critical care nurse at Abbott Northwestern and a nurse practitioner at Health East, both in the Twin Cities.
Ryan Danczak ’14 (Seattle, Wash.) known online as ibestrafing, is one of the top competitive EA Sports’ Madden NFL players in the world. He entered his first tournament in 2014, and has quickly shot up the ranks. After graduating from WSU and teaching for a short time, Ryan earned his master’s in statistics from the University of Nebraska.
Gregory Gerke ’14 (Manhattan, Kan.) was hired as an investment accounting specialist by the Kansas State University Foundation. He is a licensed certified public accountant in Minnesota and moved to Manhattan, Kan., with his family.
Jacqui (Jepson) Richter ‘14 (Alden, Minn.) married Daniel Richter in August 2017. She is currently employed as a math teacher at Albert Lea High School.
Daniel Sebo ’14 (Winona, Minn.) represented the state and Region 4 in the National Guard’s Best Warrior Competition in July 2017. Following the competition, he was honored as the Noncommissioned Officer of the Year. Sebo has been with the Guard for almost nine years, now as a medic and instructor with the 2nd Batallion, 175th Regiment Regional Training Institute. Previous honors include being an honor graduate of the Army Basic Instructors Course, an honor graduate for the 68W Combat Medic/Healthcare Specialist Course, recipient of the Distinguished Leadership Award during the Warrior Leader Course 2013, and was the runner-up Noncommissioned Officer of the Year for the Minnesota National Guard in 2016.
Matthew Splon ’14 (Prospect Heights, Ill.) has been hired as a defensive backs coach at the University of Mary. He recently completed his master’s degree in educational leadership and sports management in December 2017 from Winona State.
Julie Hedlund ’15 (Byron, Minn.) was hired as an associate professor of business at Bethel University. She brings three decades of marketing industry experience to her appointment, along with experience as an adjunct faculty member at Bethel since spring 2016. Julie earned a Bachelor of Science in business from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a Master of Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wis., and completed a business education licensure from Winona State University-Rochester.
Gabriel Velez ’14 (Iowa City, Iowa), now an MD/Ph.D. student at the University of Iowa, was lead author on a paper recently published on a large-scale study which demonstrated the potential of treating rare and complex eye conditions by matching existing drugs with proteins that are abnormally expressed in the eyes of individual patients.
Molly O’Connor ’15 (St Paul, Minn.) joined the staff at the Independent Review as a reporter.
Anthony Resnick ’15 (Cambridge, Wis.) was hired as a multimedia specialist for the University of Nevada men’s basketball team. He previously worked for two years as the athletic communications graduate assistant for Winona State.
Ryan Frye ’16 (Kendall, Wis.) is teaching middle/high school social studies in Mauston, Wis.
Michael Goergen ‘16 (La Crosse, Wis.) was sworn in as a new police officer with the La Crosse Police Department.
Matthew Lambert ‘16 (Rochester, Minn.) is a new reporter with Agri News, a publication of the Post Bulletin Co. He previously worked as a news reporter for the Pierce County Herald in Ellsworth, Wis.
Conrad Masberg ’16 (Kilkenny, Minn.) is teaching special education at Kenyon-Wanamingo High School.
Sharna Miller ’16 (Annandale, Minn.) is completing her master’s degree in social work at San Diego State University, with plans to graduate in spring 2018.
Evan Morris ’16 (Kasson, Minn.) is now teaching middle school special education in Byron, Minn. After graduating from WSU, he taught special education at Cook County High School in Grand Marais, Minn., before being hired in Byron.
Garrett Stadsvold ’16 (Rochester, Minn.) is working at the American Cancer Society as community development manager.
Stacy Hansen ‘17 (Ellsworth, Wis.) has joined Hudson Physicians as a certified nurse practitioner. She received her Master of Nursing in acute care from Allen College of Nursing and a post-master’s certificate in family medicine from WSU. She is board certified as an acute care nurse practitioner and family nurse practitioner.
John Kuziej ‘17 (Burnsville, Minn.) was one of 10 finalists for induction into the Packers Fan Hall of Fame. Nominated by his father, John was this year’s only Minnesota nominee.
Russell Wedger ’17 (Winona, Minn.) was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in July 2017. He was working on completing TBS (The Basic School) in Virginia in fall 2017, and then he and his wife will move to Florida for Flight School in the spring/summer of 2018.
