Class Notes
1956
Marilyn Bohl of Long Beach, Calif., received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from California State University–Long Beach’s Hung Family College of Engineering.
1963
Phyllis (Dankers) Yes of Portland, Ore., is currently featured in an exhibit, Nine Women Artists, at the Portland Art Museum. She was also included in a group show at the Portland Art Collective in September and will be included in an exhibit at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Ore., in 2027.
1964
David Senjem of Rochester, Minn., is a member of the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners and serves as board chair.
1969
Dale Houck of Enola, Pa., designed, constructed, and installed a stained-glass window at Grace Lutheran Church in Camp Hill, Pa. Nearly three feet wide and five feet high, it took four people to move it from his studio to the church.
1971
Fred Hedberg of Eden Prairie, Minn., is retired.
1976
Geri (Grimm) Dirth of Lakeville, Minn., was inducted into the National Coaches Athletic Association Hall of Fame in Coralville, Iowa.
1979
Beth (Robey) Wilson of Madison, Wis., retired from Edgewood University, where she served as staff accompanist and adjunct professor.
1980
Mary (Christianson) Hansen of Rochester, Minn., was honored with Finance and Commerce’s C-Level and Leadership Award in May in Minneapolis. Mary is CEO of Mayo Employees Federal Credit Union.
1981
Pete Nelson of Omaha, Neb., is online systems engineer at Fiserv.
Deb (Hoover) Short of Kingsport, Tenn., retired from Eastman Credit Union after 30 years in financial counseling and loss mitigation.
1982
John Eide of Fargo, N.D., retired as plant physiologist from the USDA Agricultural Research Service after more than 36 years of service.
1985
Leigh Monhardt of Lancaster, Wis., received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Education, University of Wisconsin–Platteville.
1986
Maree Hampton of Minneapolis is supervisor for health promotion and planning at Anoka County Public Health and Environmental Services.
Susan Rockey of Shakopee, Minn., retired after 32 years of instruction working as an English language development teacher in the Shakopee School District.
1990
Richard Bruxvoort Colligan of Rochester Minn., published his first book, Dangerous Songs: The Psalms and a Gloriously Disrupted Life.
Sandy (Heinemann) Muzzey of Webster City, Iowa, retired after 36 years of teaching music, spending 27 of those years in the Eagle Grove School District.
1991
Derek Vallem of Plymouth, Mass., retired from Belleville (Ill.) East High School, after 33 years of teaching American history and government.
1993
Kris (Felsman) Freiling of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., is a physician assistant at Summit Orthopedics in St. Paul, Minn.
1995
Jody Jackson of Delavan, Wis., is assistant principal for the School District of Beloit, Wis.
1996
Tonya Moe of Urbandale, Iowa, is assistant director at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Jennifer (Nielsen) Snow of Spring Green, Wis., is a vocal teacher at Concordia International School Shanghai.
Matt Snow of Spring Green, Wis., is an instrumental music teacher at Concordia International School Shanghai.
1997
Jill (Monis) Schwanz of Shelby, N.C., is technology innovations director at Domtar in Fort Mill, S.C.
1998
Joel Zylstra of St. Paul, Minn., is senior vice president and chief claims officer at Berkley Technology Underwriters in Minneapolis.
1999
Amy (Hinshaw) Nyren of Milwaukee earned an DNP in educational leadership from Alverno College and was the recipient of the inaugural Excellence in Teaching Award from the Carthage
2000
Katie Green of Solon, Iowa, is executive director of advancement at Wartburg College.
2001
Heather (Ciernia) Nelson of Athenry, Ireland, is artistic director for the Cois Cladaigh Chamber Choir.
2003
Ann (Dehning) Hintz of Hortonville, Wis., earned a PhD in counseling and student development, leadership in academic advising, and is registrar at Lawrence University.
2005
Irene (Erkenbrack) Green of Minnetonka, Minn., is director of external relations at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis.
Annie (Hendrickson) Hoffman of Lennox, S.D., is circuit court judge for the South Dakota Unified Judicial System.
Andrea Nimmo of Minneapolis was promoted to vice president of events at Travel Leaders Network.
2007
Amanda (Hannemann) Maxwell of Hopkins, Minn., is a research and development manager for Boston Scientific in Maple Grove, Minn. Amanda was also appointed to the Minnetonka City Council.
Melissa (Biermann) Schulz of Waseca, Minn., is a full-time solo live music act, performing throughout southcentral Minnesota and northern Iowa.
2008
Amber (Holzl) Sorenson of St. Paul, Minn., earned an EdD in educational leadership from the University of St. Thomas. Amber is working as an adjunct professor at St. Thomas.
2009
Erin Makela of Worthington, Minn., published her second book, Enterprising and Dangerous, which is the sequel to her first book, Worthy of Trust.
Andrea (Johnson) Mierau of Andover, Minn., is associate professor of physical therapy and director of student affairs at Augustana University. Andrea was appointed to the Clara Lea Olson Professorship in Christian Values for the 2026–29 term.
2012
John Stender of Kasson, Minn., is director of worship and music at Normandale Lutheran Church in Edina, Minn.
2013
Sara Ernster of Maquoketa, Iowa, earned an MPA and a JD from the University of Iowa.
Matt Key of Virginia Beach, Va., is an intelligence officer with the U.S. Navy.
2014
Allison Gieswein of Coralville, Iowa, earned a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Iowa and started a PGY1 pharmacy residency at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
J.T. Rustad of Silver Springs, Md., is office administrator at Kaplan Financial Group.
Maria (Ellingson) Thom of Windom, Minn., is growth marketer at Bushel in Fargo, N.D.
2016
Ryan Goos of Middleton, Wis., is faculty affairs manager at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Maryanne McNutt of Bunessan, Scotland, earned a master of letters in history and is an Iona Abbey steward for Historical Environment Scotland.
2017
Kayla (Ingvalson) Frisbie of Overland Park, Kan., is a talent manager at Cardamom Health in Madison, Wis.
Sylvia Kaare of Sartell, Minn., earned an MA in music education from the University of St. Thomas and teaches high school and fifth-grade orchestras.
2018
Erik Floden of St. Paul, Minn., earned a PhD in physics from the University of Minnesota and works as a senior analyst at Seagate Technology in Bloomington, Minn.
Justine Heinitz of Minneapolis is senior SEO strategist at Bold Orange.
Delaney Schurer of Raleigh, N.C., is a digitization archivist for the State Archives of North Carolina.
2019
Wyatt Anians of Minneapolis earned an MS in clinical research management (regulatory science) from Arizona State University and is a senior program coordinator at Mayo Clinic.
2020
Chloe (Beck) Moel of Iowa City, Iowa, earned a PhD in genetics with a specialization in computational genetics from the University of Iowa.
2021
Courtney Graves of Mabel, Minn., received the 2026 Fillmore County Teacher of the Year Award.
2022
Matt Benson of North Liberty, Iowa, earned an MD from the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and is an orthopedic surgical resident at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Matt was also inducted into the Gold Humanitarian Honor Society and received the Michael Bonfiglio Award of Orthopedic Surgery.
Faye Duster of Duluth, Minn., earned a master of elementary education degree from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities.
2023
Anne Sedlacek of Oconomowoc, Wis., earned a master of music in vocal performance from Georgia State University.
2024
Kaitlyn Bebensee of West Des Moines, Iowa, earned a master’s degree in biology and a geospatial information sciences graduate certificate from Missouri State University. Kaitlyn is a wildlife research specialist at the Wildlife Management Institute in Chariton, Iowa.
2025
Olivia Gustafson of Edina, Minn., is a high school science teacher at Rochester Public Schools.
Piper Kellner of Rochester, Minn., is a clinical laboratory technologist at Mayo Clinic.