Class Notes
1958
Janet (Block) Jarmes ’58 of New Berlin, Wis., retired after 20 years as 1st Congressional District coordinator for Project Citizen. Prior to this, she taught in Ossian and Cresco, Iowa, and was a full-time substitute teacher in the South Milwaukee School District. Jack Jarmes ’61 retired after 27 years as Wisconsin state coordinator for We the People: Project Citizen. Between 2005 and 2011 his Wisconsin program partnered with a civic organization in Ecuador and participated in an international program called Civitas. Before this he taught and coached for 34 years in the Portage, Stevens Point, and South Milwaukee School Districts.
1973
Margaret Sherve of Ames, Iowa, is a retired English professor. After retiring, she sold her house, bought an RV, and traveled around the US, volunteering at several state parks along the way. In Ames, she volunteers at the public library, food bank, and clothing closet.
1979
Paul Morlock of South Bend, Ind., is a fellow in the Inspired Leadership Initiative at the University of Notre Dame.
1980
Ray Harney has worked at IBM in Rochester, Minn., for 42 years. Currently, he is managing the Quantum Control System for IBM Quantum Computers. The project was the subject of a February “Quantum Leap” cover story in Time magazine.
1983
Kevin Hartman of Lakeville, Minn., is a senior strategy and planning consultant at Wells Fargo.
John Johnson of Chicago, Ill., is the national head of distribution and account management for dental, vision, and voluntary businesses for CVS Health/Aetna.
Caryn Zange (Eittreim) Josephson of Lino Lakes, Minn., is a digital product manager at MOBE.
1985
Joy Schroeder published Voices Long Silenced: Women Biblical Interpreters through the Centuries. She is professor of church history at Trinity Lutheran Seminary and the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Spouse John Birkner ’83 is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Ohio.
Daniel Streeper is lead pastor for Redeemer Lutheran Church in White Bear Lake, Minn. He and daughter Anna Streeper ’18 sing in the National Lutheran Choir based in the Twin Cities.
1987
Kristin Elliott is the medical director of WeARE The Clinic, Advocates for Reproductive Health in Brainerd, Minn., providing reproductive health care and education to underserved and uninsured/underinsured members of the region.
1988
Joe McArthur of Kent, Wash., retired in December 2022 after 26 years in federal law enforcement. He was with the Immigration and Naturalization Service within the Department of Justice and US Customs and Border Protection within the Department of Homeland Security. He was stationed at the port of entry at Calexico, Calif., and was later an enforcement officer under the CBP Field Office in Seattle.
1990
Vanessa (Grima Baldacchino) Frazier serves as permanent representative of Malta to the United Nations. In February, she served as UN Security Council president.
1991
Robert “Bob” Palmer retired from the National Park Service after a 31-year career, most recently as deputy regional chief ranger for the Pacific West Region in San Francisco, Calif. In January, he joined Luther as the director of campus safety and security.
1992
Wendy (Jaycox) Davidson is president and chief executive officer of the Hain Celestial Group, a leading organic and natural products company.
1995
Owen Newman, a partner at Duane Morris, has been appointed co-chair of the International Arbitration Division within its global Trial Practice Group.
Jon Ploetz has been named vice president—general counsel and secretary at Applied Industrial Technologies in Cleveland, Ohio.
1996
Suzanne (Roverud) Mineck has been appointed honorary consul for Iowa and Nebraska by the Norwegian government. In coordination with the Norwegian embassy, she will serve as the representative for Norway in both states.
Sara (Franzen) Nelson is the new director of the Iowa Space Grant Consortium. The NASAsupported agency is part of Iowa State University’s Department of Aerospace Engineering and works to improve and inspire Iowa’s involvement in STEM education.
1997
Heather (Crowell) Langan is senior pastor at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Claremont, N.C.
1998
Pepper (Hagen) Meyer is director of pharmacy at the University of Minnesota—Boynton Health.
1999
Michael Anderson of North Liberty, Iowa, is chief operating officer at Heartland Anesthesia and Consulting.
J.D. Burton has been named vice chancellor for government relations at Washington University in St. Louis.
Nelle (Henry) Tokheim is an elementary school library assistant with the St. Paul, Minn., schools.
2000
Kim (Baker) Herrema of Minnetonka, Minn., is a principal service designer for Providence Health.
Justin Marovec of Shawnee, Kan., has been appointed director, John Deere financial sales, US and Canada.
Jason Smith of Scottsdale, Ariz., is head of the International School of Arizona. He was one of 20 people selected from across the world to participate in a fellowship program hosted by Columbia University.
2001
April Rowe Neal is an assistant professor of nursing at Winona (Minn.) State University.
David Severtson has been called to be associate pastor at First Lutheran Church in Decorah.
2003
Jim Kowitz is the associate director for global ecosystem partner experiential marketing at Ernst and Young. He is also president of the Luther College Alumni Council.
2005
Ann (Jensen) Birney of De Witt, Iowa, is an analyst for benefit configuration and claims solutions for United HealthCare.
Jeff Clemens won the D-3 Allstars + Radio League, a fantasy football league composed of Luther alumni, for the fourth time.
Mike Flaherty has been named a shareholder attorney at Flaherty and Hood in St. Paul, Minn. He joined the firm in 2011.
Ryan Nilsestuen has been appointed by Wisconsin governor Tony Evers as a judge in the Dane County Circuit Court. Since 2019 he has served as chief legal counsel for the Office of the Governor.
Katie (Gorans) Ross of Spicer, Minn., earned an MS in artificial intelligence from Johns Hopkins University and works at Nova-Tech Engineering as a researcher.
David Zelinskas was promoted to commander in the US Navy Reserves in August 2022 and is currently assigned to the 4th Medical Battalion, Marine Logistics Group, Surgical Company Bravo, in Washington, DC. He is a family physician at Madison County Memorial Hospital in Winterset, Iowa.
2007
Pamela (Berg) Hamann is a food service associate in the Burnsville Eagan Savage (Minn.) School District 191.
Adam Loy is an associate professor of statistics at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn.
Tyler Schwaller is the student equity officer/Title IX coordinator for the Portland (Maine) Public Schools.
2008
Ryan Fordice is a chaplain and spiritual counselor at Unity Hospice and Palliative Care of Chicagoland.
Ethan Grev of Chaska, Minn., is a business operations principal for Allianz Life.
Elise (Hoehn) and Clayton Ward live in LeClaire, Iowa, on their hobby farm with their four children, fulfilling a community need as a state-licensed foster family. Elise is a preK–6th grade visual arts instructor in the North Scott School District and founder of Fostering Crossroads, a nonprofit providing resources and support for Scott County foster families. Clayton is a regional director for Dial Senior Living and a Disney travel agent.
Carl Westphal of Washington, DC, is deputy director, international monetary policy, at the US Department of the Treasury.
2009
Colton Long, an attorney in the Chicago office of Littler, an employment and labor law practice, has been elevated to shareholder.
Darin Monroe, head softball coach at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Ill., captured his 500th career win. Currently in his 12th season, Darin has a career record of 500-98 (.836). In 2022, Rock Valley became the first softball program in history to win eight consecutive national championships.
2010
Maria Carr of Pittsburgh, Pa., is a hormone therapy program director and clinician at Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania.
Jenny (Fischer) Kittleson of Austin, Minn., is an office assistant for Predictive Technologies.
2011
Molly Anderson of Minneapolis, Minn., works in administration and sales at MUkitchen.
Libby (Dahms) Brunner of Appleton, Wis., is a business analyst II at SECURA Insurance.
Amy Dorman is a researcher at the University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare.
Katherine (McDonald) Sutherland of Lincoln, R.I, is a biology/human physiology teacher at Rocky Hill Country Day School.
Collin Thompson of Albion, Maine, is a research farm manager for Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
2012
Ariana Cervantes, store manager for Decorah’s Hy-Vee, has been named board president for the town’s 56th annual Nordic Fest. This is the first time a person of color has served in this role for the nonprofit.
Jake Wittman of Minneapolis, Minn. is a biostatistician/GIS analyst for Cyberdata Technologies.
2013
Molly (Ford) Becker of Des Moines, Iowa, is a recruiting supervisor at Rasmussen Group.
Haley Clark-Simmons is a teacher in the Davenport (Iowa) Community School District.
Emily (Jacobsen) Freeman of North Liberty, Iowa, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Mercy Pediatric Clinic.
Shari Huber of Bettendorf, Iowa, is a senior physical therapist and solutions architect at Rock Valley Physical Therapy.
Maxwell Lafontant of Minneapolis, Minn., is a software engineer at Longevity Holdings.
Hannah (Buehler) Lee-Brown of Long Island City, N.Y., has received the 2023 AMCP Experiential Education Preceptor Award. Given by the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, the award honors individuals making a significant contribution in the field.
Lauren (Stokke) and Andrew Papke-Larson ’12 live in Duluth, Minn. Lauren is a pediatric occupational therapist at Essentia Health. Andrew is a landscape architect with Barr Engineering.
Steve Ramsey is a wardrobe consultant at Backroom Clothing in Des Moines, Iowa.
Melanie (Grangaard) Smith of Minturn, Colo., is a development manager at Eagle River Watershed Council.
Sarah Thell of Plymouth, Minn., is a senior regional sales manager for Ameriprise Financial. She received an Ameriprise Financial Outstanding Leader Award in 2020 and 2022.
2014
Eve Christensen is the assistant director of campus life at Augsburg University in Minneapolis.
Stephanie (Lake) Eliason is associate pastor at Canyon Lake United Methodist Church in Rapid City, S.D.
Sam Wetttach of Onalaska, Wis., is an operator certification coordinator for drinking water and wastewater with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. He earned a master of natural resources degree from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.
2015
Conner Goetz is head coach of the girls basketball team at Providence Academy in Plymouth, Minn. For the second consecutive year, the team is the state Class AA champion.
Carly Ellefsen is communications manager for Our Streets Minneapolis.
James Odegaard of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is principal technology and analytics consultant at Alexander Mann Solutions.
2016
Matthew Lunning of Allentown, Pa., is a shopper commerce marketer for Ferrero USA.
Claire Seitzinger earned a PhD in chemistry from the University of Minnesota. She is a postdoctoral researcher at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Annē (Wermendal) Williams of Kansas City, Mo., completed Oracle’s health network leadership development program and is a senior team lead/consultant at Oracle.
2017
Sarah Ann (Owens) Butterfass is a field specialist in the Graduate School of Education at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Greta (Schmitt) and Ethan Harris ’18 live in Minnetonka, Minn. Greta is a school-based mental health therapist at Relate Counseling Center. Ethan earned an MA in experiential education from Mankato State University and is an elementary school music teacher in the Wayzata School District.
Emily (Alcock) Henriquez of Chicago is a global events specialist at Willis Towers Watson.
Peder Hopkins is a learning and development analyst for Securian Financial.
Jon and Jenna (Dengler) Opdahl ’16 live in Phoenix, Ariz. Jon works at Kyndryl as a technical lead for SAP managed apps. Jenna is a physical therapist.
2018
Olivia Benson is a kindergarten teacher at Eisenhower Elementary in the Hopkins, Minn., Public School District.
2019
David Hyukjoo Lee is a registered nurse at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
2020
Brandon Heilskov is a credit union examiner for the Iowa Department of Commerce.
Hallie Simon is a band teacher at Ordean East Middle School in Duluth, Minn.
2021
Salinla Manowong is a member of the consular staff at the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Los Angeles, Calif.
Claire Panus is the office assistant for KCZQ Radio in Cresco, Iowa.
2022
Sam Bailey of Austin, Minn., is a regulatory accountant at UnitedHealth Group.