Class Notes
1964
Sam Platts of Sylmar, Calif., is the liturgist at Church of the Foothills.
1965
Gary Peer of Kansas City, Kan., is a retired biology teacher.
1968
Mark Reisetter of Lewiston, Minn., was awarded Minnesota Trout Unlimited’s Thomas Waters Award for Minnesota Conservation. The lifetime achievement award was in recognition and appreciation of outstanding contributions to coldwater conservation in Minnesota.
1971
Michael (Mundt) Forde of Eden Prairie, Minn., is a mediator at Forde Mediations.
Kris Melroe of Seattle received the National Lifetime Achievement Award for the development of effective teacher training procedures. She conducted this training in over 50 U.S. public schools, on Native American reservations, in South African townships, and at Saudi Arabia’s first women’s college.
Janet Preus of Laporte, Minn., directed her play Hank & Jesús, premiered a new musical she cowrote called Water from Snow, and launched her book, The Thirteenth Crime: The Ghosts of Injustice in Frontier Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Steve Sheppard of Decorah wrote a book called Beanie and Me: An Angel on Our Shoulders.
1973
Bev Hale Halleckson of Prior Lake, Minn., works with the horticulture team at Centennial Lakes in Edina and at Bachman’s. Her yard is NWF certified, and she enjoys putting her love of horticulture and wildlife and her Luther biology degree to good use!
Barbara (Elmer) Nickell of Salina, Kan., retired after 38 years of teaching as an associate professor of communication studies and theatre arts from Kansas Wesleyan University, where she received the Exemplary Teacher of the Year Award. She was inducted into the Music and Fine Arts Hall of Fame and received the Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award from the Kansas Speech Communication Association.
1978
Linda Ruth Short of Moorhead, Minn., has authored five books, all available in the Luther Book Shop. Her most recent book, Are Your Miracles Red or Blue?, is a tribute to †Weston H. Noble ‘43, renowned music professor at Luther College.
1979
Randy Balk of Roths-​child, Wis., retired as president and CEO of Intercity State Bank in the Wausau, Wis., market area after 34 years of service. Randy continues as a member of the bank’s board of directors.
1980
Jim Francis of Kirkland, Wash., retired as a math professor at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
1983
Jim Veglahn of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, retired as application development manager from United Life Insurance after more than 41 years. Jim began working there directly after graduating from Luther.
1985
Joanne Hillery of Dubuque, Iowa, is a sales and fit specialist at Brown’s Shoe Fit.
Jen Roslien of Rochester, Minn., retired from Mayo Clinic after 35 years as an RN and nurse educator.
David Shook of Marietta, Ga., retired from the Georgia Institute of Technology as associate professor emeritus of Spanish after 34 years of service.
1987
Dean Pribbenow of Madison, Wis., was elected as the 17th president of Millikin University in Decatur, Ill., by their board of trustees.
1990
Cathy (Begalske) Koebrick of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is director and HR partner–
avionics at Collins Aerospace.
Tara (Rypka) Morrison of White Bear Lake, Minn., is executive director of the Dragonfly Project, as well as manager of the band Storyhill.
1993
Anjie Shutts of Des Moines, Iowa, was named the 2025 Drake Law School Alumna of the Year.
1998
Ash Sakam of Maple Grove, Minn., is vice president of technology at Ameriprise Financial.
1999
Lindsey (Smith) Munson of Milan, Ill., earned an MEd in special education K–12 from Grand Canyon University.
2000
Tonje Brokke of Notodden, Norway, earned an MEd in pedagogy and educational management and works as a senior advisor for the University of South-Eastern Norway.
2001
Ryan Garvan of Deforest, Wis., is a surgical technologist at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics.
2002
Bill Mabuce of West Des Moines, Iowa, was co-recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers Region 7 Professional Progress Award for 2025.
Andy Wagner of Portage, Wis., was promoted to chief risk officer at Westby Co-op Credit Union.
2003
Arvid von Taube of South Boston, Mass., a partner at the law firm of Rich May in Boston, and his wife, Laura Corda von Taube, attended the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, followed by the gala afterparty.
2004
Nicole (Oliver) Daeger of Roseville, Minn., is a fiduciary advisor at Bremer Bank.
2005
Shannon (Johnson) Gravelle of Appleton, Wis., is director of choral studies at Lawrence University.
Lauren (Mackey) Jefferson of Barrington, Ill., is an adaptive physical education teacher at Lake Zurich School District 95, head dance team coach at Prairie Ridge High School, and dance teacher and choreographer at the Academy of Ballet Wauconda.
Holly (Kreps) McGuire of Rochester, Minn., is a middle school social studies and math teacher at Rochester Public Schools.
Katie (Mindrup) McKean of Silvis, Ill., earned a child psychology certificate from Penn Foster Career School.
Brad Paulsrud of Hutchinson, Kan., is vice president of sales at ZeroWheel.
2006
Angie (Reichert) Griffin of DeWitt, Mich., earned an MSN from Northern Kentucky University and is an instructor of nursing at Alma College in Alma, Mich.
Michelle Krantz of North Liberty, Iowa, earned a DNP and is an advanced registered nurse practitioner at the University of Iowa Health Care.
2007
Dana (Norris) Kruse of White Bear Township, Minn., is a middle and high school faith formation coordinator at Trinity Lutheran Church.
Anna (Amundson) Oksnevad of Minneapolis is a senior marketing manager for membership marketing at Best Buy.
Rebecca Westphal of Verona, Wis., is lead product manager at Blankfactor.
Luke Wigle of Justin, Texas, is an emergency management specialist at the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Denton, Texas.
2008
Kacie (Clement) Garver of Boone, Iowa, earned a graduate certificate in adult gerontology clinical nurse specialist from University of Detroit Mercy and is an infection prevention and employee health coordinator at Boone County Hospital.
2009
Jill (Sundby) Yordy of Littleton, Colo., earned a PhD in public affairs from the University of Colorado–Denver School of Public Affairs.
2010
Josh Qualley of Dallas is the owner of Carrie’s Pilates Plus.
2011
Kyla Betts of Janesville, Wis., earned a master of professional studies degree in applied sciences leadership from the University of Minnesota and is a regulatory affairs manager at Maker’s Pride.
Peter Magnuson of Madison, Wis., earned an MSW from Boise State University and an LCSW through the state of Massachusetts.
Anna Rick of Minneapolis is an associate attorney at Johnson Becker in St. Paul, Minn.
2012
Amy Dorman of Hugo, Minn., earned a PhD in social work, with an emphasis on social policy, from the University of Minnesota.
2013
Kodi (Glesne) Adelson of Oshkosh, Wis., is a front desk care coordinator at Davis Child Care Center.
Daniel Faas of Reedsburg, Wis., published a book called The Granger Railroads of Wisconsin: When Midwestern Farmers Fought Big Industry.
Blake Funke of Nashville, Tenn., is an assistant professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
2014
Willy Leafblad of Lake City, Minn., received a Distinguished Service Award from the Minnesota Band Directors Association. Willy is a middle school band director at Princeton Public Schools.
2015
Dietrich Jessen of Waunakee, Wis., is regional director of operations at Great Lakes Management Group in Madison, Wis.
2016
Carly (Densmore) Jessen of Waunakee, Wis., is a management consultant at MMC Consulting.
Abhi (Mathema) Pradhan of West Des Moines, Iowa, is a commercial lending product manager at Bankers Trust Company.
Olive (Peterson) Winter of St. Paul, Minn., earned an MA in instrumental music education from the University of St. Thomas.
2017
Mikayla Brockmeyer of West Des Moines, Iowa, earned a DO from Des Moines University and is a resident physician with the Des Moines Internal Medicine Residency Program at Iowa Methodist Medical Center–University of Iowa.
Marissa Wales of St. Cloud, Minn., is a Fire in the Forest Burn Crew manager at the Nature Conservancy in Cushing, Minn.
2018
Martha Hall of Long Island City, N.Y., is a business development manager at APE Studio in New York.
Barb (Stier) Slagter of Waukesha, Wis., is director of contract administration at Best Version Media.
2019
Genevieve Ehlers of Clinton, Iowa, earned a doctor of optometry degree from University of Missouri–St. Louis College of Optometry and is a resident optometrist at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System.
2020
Samantha Morgan of Monroe Center, Ill., earned a DO from the University of New England and is a resident physician in the University of Wisconsin’s Pediatrics Residency Program.
2021
Chloe (Cleven) Bendt of St. Paul, Minn., earned a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Hanna (Dodd) Ferguson of Chicago is a writer at Simple Truth Communications.
Bernard Kenyi of Portland, Ore., is a research associate at Yecuris Corporation.
Ira Kuehn of Omaha, Neb., earned a JD from the University of Iowa College of Law and an MS in finance from the University of Iowa College of Business.
Julia Lieb of Galena, Ill., is a K–12 art teacher at River Ridge in Hanover, Ill.
Maddy Lomprey of Madison, Wis., earned an MS in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is an international recruitment officer of the Americas for Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland.
2022
Lauren Berg of Aberdeen, S.D., earned an MBA from Viterbo University and is an assistant director of the Gustavus Fund at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.
Abbey Falconer of Volga, S.D., is an orchestra director for grades 6–8 in the Brookings School District.
Logan Olson of St. Paul, Minn., is a restoration project manager at Friends of the Mississippi River.
2023
Adrienne Clefisch of Madison, Wis., is a quality manager at Epic Systems in Verona, Wis.