Class Notes
1962
Judy (Ream) Davis of Winona, Minn., was honored by the Winona Community Foundation with the 2025 Founders Award.
1969
David Ellingson of Edmonds, Wash., published his newest book, Running around the World in 80 Days. Copies are available in the Luther Book Shop.
1971
James Ashcraft of Jackson Heights, N.Y., retired from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where he worked as a senior legal assistant.
1975
Melissa Hayden of Lutherville-Timonium, Md., is retired.
1976
Kevin Hibbard of Carrollton, Ga., is professor emeritus at the University of West Georgia and continues as music director of the community chorus Collegium Vocale in Atlanta and choir director at Grace Lutheran Church in Carrollton.
Karen (Horn) Mault of Morehead City, N.C., is an active fine arts photographer, with photographs in several regional galleries and juried exhibitions. Karen is also a kite builder who flies large show and art kites at kite festivals around the United States.
Ann (Olson) Wendling of Landrum, S.C., retired from her position as medical director of population health at Sharecare.
1981
Bryan (Carlson) Andrews of Lisle, Ill., is a retired school administrator who serves on the board of the Illinois Teachers Retirement System. After retiring, Bryan attended Soder World for Therapeutic Massage training and has opened three Suburban Oasis locations in Chicago; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Palm Springs, Calif.
Eva (Nord) Benedetto of Farmington, Minn., retired from Ameriprise Financial.
Kristin (Aleckson) Bodholdt of Newell, Iowa, is retired.
Mark Davidson of Onalaska, Wis., is a retired teacher.
Judith (Tollefsrud) Halverson of New Orleans retired as assistant professor and director of clinical education from Delgado Community College.
Carol (Gustafson) Hetrick of Lindstrom, Minn., is retired and a member of the Philosophical Educational Organization, helping raise funds to support women. Carol also volunteers at Trinity Lutheran Church in her hometown.
Kathy (Blobaum) Meisgeier of Maynard, Iowa, retired from a 39-year nursing career.
Dave Moe of Eagan, Minn., is enjoying retirement by being papa to four grandchildren.
Caren (Tesdahl) Nemec of Big Lake, Minn., is retired.
Marianne (Becker) Niessner of Suamico, Wis., retired from John Muir Health, where she worked as a pathology operations manager.
Kip Nordstrom of Henderson, Nev., is retired.
Paul Ohlrogge of Black Earth, Wis., retired from the University of Wisconsin Extension.
Dan Ploenzke of Altoona, Wis., is retired.
Sue Rothmeyer of River Forest, Ill., is retired.
Cheryl Ryder of Hanover Park, Ill., is a pension clerk at Graphic Communications–National Pension Fund in Carol Stream, Ill.
1982
Julie (Klausen) Moe of Eagan, Minn., is retired.
1984
Ruth Heuer of Raleigh, N.C., retired from an education research career at RTI International.
1985
Lance Bolson of Decorah retired from an accounting career in the Twin Cities.
1986
Monte Amundson of Eagan, Minn., is retired.
Mark Anderson of Arlington Heights, Ill., received recognition for having completed 30 years of service as associate director of financial aid at Lake Forest College.
Carla (Meyer) Coleman of Decorah is retired after nearly a decade of teaching and living in Mozambique, Indonesia, and China.
Mark Hillman of Eden Prairie, Minn., is an instructional coach at Community of Peace.
Kate Hook of Mount Horeb, Wis., is happily retired with her husband, Jeff.
Sara Karow of Houston, Texas, retired from her position as librarian at the Houston Public Library.
Timothy Kunau of Minneapolis is a bioinformatics engineer at the University of Minnesota Genomics Center.
Burton Lodwick of Grimes, Iowa, is associate scientist I at Eurofins Scientific in Des Moines, Iowa.
Kaia (Larson) Long of Byron, Minn., retired from Mayo Clinic after a 37-year career as a certified registered nurse anesthetist.
Stephan Sandness of Belle Fourche, S.D., retired as an ELCA pastor after 35 years of service.
Chuck Sena of Beaver Dam, Wis., is a food and beverage business unit manager at Midwest Engineered Systems.
Stephen Streufert of Alameda, Calif., is executive director at Outward Bound–California in San Francisco.
1987
Carla (Meyer) Hillman of Eden Prairie, Minn., is retired.
1988
Jennifer (Wallace) Anderson of Watersmeet, Mich., is an elementary music teacher at Northland Pines School District in Eagle River, Wis.
1989
Amy (Schroeder) Fisher of Las Vegas was named the 2024–25 Section 7 Volleyball Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations. Amy led her teams to three state championships and more than 400 career victories.
Tom Kraabel of Decorah returned to the U.S. after working overseas for 25 years and is senior vice president and chief HR officer at WOW Logistics.
LuAnn Wangsness of Wenatchee, Wash., is a social worker at DaVita.
1991
Deanna (Lindell) Drum of Anaheim, Calif., is vice president of global HR at Parsec Automation.
Gretchen (Nelson) La Pour of Bluffton, S.C., is a sixth-grade teacher at Highlands Latin School Beaufort.
Kevin Larson of Long Grove, Iowa, retired from John Deere after 34 years as finance director for the worldwide ag and turf division and chief technology officer.
Keith Lenaburg of Appleton, Wis., is a driver and activity assistant at ThedaCare following his retirement from Thrivent.
Antoinette Leopold of Naarden, the Netherlands, works as a branch manager market at BAWAG PSK bank.
Marit (Ness) Lloyd of Corona, Calif., is senior director of toxicology at Enveda.
Piper MacRae-Egan of Dubuque, Iowa, is a clinical specialist at Healogics in Jacksonville, Fla.
Sonja (Hoidahl) Wattles of Godfrey, Ill., retired as physical education and health teacher at Mattoon Community School District #2.
1992
Chris Tyler of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received a 30-year service award from the Iowa Swim Coaches Association.
1993
Kristin (Aasmundstad) Walsh of Lombard, Ill., earned a master of health communications degree from Northwestern University.
1996
Heather Bassett of Albuquerque, N.M., is assistant principal at Albuquerque Public Schools.
Donelle (Jensen) Hintermeister is living out her dream of traveling the U.S. with her husband, James, in their RV.
Katie (Schiebe) Johnson of Nevis, Minn., is owner of Park Street Inn B&B and the Tippy Canoe. Katie also works as an account executive at American Solutions for Business.
Lucia (Grunseth) Lebens of Alexandria, Va., is chief government affairs officer at PCMA and was named a top lobbyist by The Hill for four consecutive years. Lucia was also included on Washingtonian magazine’s list of the 500 most influential people shaping policy.
Jessica (Johnson) McCann of New Brighton, Minn., is HR director at the University of Minnesota Libraries.
Jodi (Bofenkamp) Mongan of Cherokee, Iowa, is treasurer of Cherokee County.
Beth (Keller) Mork of St. Paul, Minn., is a hospitalist at M Health Fairview.
Monica Peterson of Colo, Iowa, is an ER physician at Grundy County Memorial Hospital in Grundy Center, Iowa.
Scot Reisinger of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is assistant dean of student services at the University of Iowa–College of Public Health.
Jill (Danielson) Seys of Chesterfield, Mo., is senior director of analytics and advisory at Health Information Management Systems Society, North America.
1998
Nate Ersig of Rochester, Minn., is a remote Slate consultant for Human Capital Education in Denver.
1999
Lori (Loomer) Zahnd of Boone, Iowa, earned a master’s degree in mental health and wellness and a postgraduate certificate in health psychology from Grand Canyon University.
2000
Ryan Bies of Lakeville, Minn., is a judge in Minnesota’s First Judicial District.
2001
Laura (Riordan) Berardi of Des Moines, Iowa, is board executive officer at the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing.
Mollie Busta Lange of Onalaska, Wis., received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame.
Matt Herrick of Papillion, Neb., is an IT infrastructure operations manager at General Dynamics Information Technology.
Maren (Loken) Hooper of New Berlin, Wis., is an associate pastor at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Waukesha, Wis.
Jason Howard of St. Paul, Minn., is president and CEO of First State Bank and Trust.
Danny Johnson of New York is a vocal director at Celebrity Cruises Entertainment in Miami.
Tara Kuckkan of Edina, Minn., is senior HR manager at Juut Salon Spas in Minneapolis.
Heather (Ciernia) Nelson of Athenry, Ireland, is owner of Bloomin Heather Travel.
Kofi Odoom of Mechanicsburg, Pa., is a founding partner of Avotri Odoom and Co. in Camp Hill, Pa.
Dana (Flohr) Olson of Edina, Minn., is an OB-GYN hospitalist at Allina Health System.
Kevin Olson of Edina, Minn., earned an MA in teaching from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and is a sixth-grade science teacher in the Eden Prairie School District.
Angie (Johnson) Richards of Mantorville, Minn., is vice president of strategic initiatives at Titan Asset Management Group.
Andrea Ricketts-Preston of South Hadley, Mass., is director of athletics and chair of physical education at Mount Holyoke College.
Mark Robinson of College Park, Md., is technical theatre director at Bullis School in Potomac, Md.
Ryan Sabby of Savage, Minn., is manager of the Field Compensation Interaction Center at Thrivent.
Dana Sandstrom of Springfield, Va., is chief development officer at Management Sciences for Health in Arlington, Va.
Jenny (Olson) Sanford of South St. Paul, Minn., is director of community engagement at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity.
Michelle (Meyer) Schlicht of Rochester, Minn., is software test engineer at Boston Scientific.
Joy (Christian) Stevens of Peterson, Minn., is a physician assistant at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Brigit (Broghamer) Storhoff of Decorah earned a master’s degree in school counseling from Viterbo University and is a high school counselor for the Decorah Community School District.
Gene Tesdahl of Platteville, Wis., participated in the “Black Joy in the Midwest” panel at Luther College during Black History Month, joining Frank King, Novian Whitsitt, Ashley Howard, and Mark Guerci to discuss moments of joy in three centuries of Black history in the Midwest.
2002
Gordy Hunter of Concord, N.H., earned a PhD in chemistry education from the University of New Hampshire, where he serves as adjunct faculty. Gordy is also a science teacher at Plymouth Regional High School.
2003
Jenna Westby of Minneapolis was recently appointed as judicial referee in Ramsey County District Court, Second Judicial District, Minn.
2004
Jenny (Drake) Vermeer of Orange City, Iowa, earned an MA of worship with leadership emphasis from Liberty University. Jenny works as a paraprofessional at MOC–Floyd Valley Community School District.
Zach Wigle of Fairfield, Iowa, is superintendent for the Fairfield Community School District.
2006
Andrew Best of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a product sales specialist–anesthesia at GE Healthcare.
Nate Evans of North St. Paul, Minn., is a client development manager at GBBN Architects in Minneapolis.
Alissa (Jacobson) Gambrel of Dassel, Minn., is HR director for the city of Willmar.
Lauren (Kraus) Keller of Broomfield, Colo., is tech rep program manager for Adidas.
Shawn Kennedy of Kenner, La., is employer partnership coordinator for Samaritan Fund Program. Shawn received the 2025 Samaritan Award.
Katie (Young) Lane of Shore
view, Minn., is lead instructional designer for the state of Minnesota.
Kelly Miller of Wheaton, Ill., is an oncology clinical educator at Incyte Corporation.
Alex Nugent of Atlanta is senior software engineer at JPMorganChase.
Rachel (Miller) Palermo of Eden Prairie, Minn., is director of nursing at M Health Fairview in Minneapolis.
John Sill of Long Lake, Minn., is information systems specialist at Wayzata Public Schools in Minneapolis.
2007
Kurt Gulsvig of Irvine, Calif., is area director for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention.
Rachel (Appelt) Hansell of Eagan, Minn., is a vocal music teacher at Breck School in Golden Valley, Minn.
2008
Aaron Nyquist of Minneapolis was elected as a shareholder at Fredrikson and Byron, where he practices in the areas of cross-border mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate law.
2011
Kelsey Anderson of Byron, Minn., was promoted to senior vice president of client service at Carnegie Dartlet.
Brett Epperson of Lodi, Calif., has been named artistic director of the Sacramento Master Singers.
Katie (Wilson) Ferrell of Austin, Minn., is an adult basic education math teacher at Austin Public Schools.
Nicole (Wilson) Goetzl of Denver was promoted to finance manager of construction operations at Comcast.
Elizabeth Harrell of Alexandria, Va., is a pursuit manager at Deloitte in Arlington, Va.
Christine Kennedy of Burnsville, Minn., is assistant principal at Bancroft Elementary School.
Zach Kotz of Dallas was promoted to senior director of finance at Uplift Education.
Katie (Campbell) Marty of St. Paul, Minn., is CoMinnesota program and outreach manager at CoNorth.
Nicole (Olson) Payne of Olathe, Kan., earned an MS in curriculum and instruction (effective practitioner) from Emporia State University. Nicole is a third-grade teacher at Ravenwood Elementary School.
Andrew Ritter of Williamstown, Mass., works at Images Cinema as a bartender, lounge lead, and box office attendant.
Jeff Rose of Moline, Ill., is an applied physical education teacher at Rock Island High School.
Liz Rose of Moline, Ill., is vice president of marketing at Firefighters First Credit Union.
Tim Sauerbry of Farmington, Minn., is a national account manager for the Toro Company in Minneapolis.
Vaughn Tackmann of Roseville, Minn., is head women’s track and field coach at Hamline University.
Mel Tyler of San Francisco is executive program director at OCD Anxiety Centers in San Mateo, Calif.
2014
David Baxter of Bettendorf, Iowa, is an IT infrastructure and security lead at Allredi.
Callie Mabry of Brookings, S.D., earned an MS in community development from South Dakota State University.
Kim Osberg of Portland, Ore., was named the inaugural composer-in-residence for Chatter PDX.
Erin Schmidt of Irvine, Calif., earned an MS in nursing education from the University of Connecticut. Erin works as a clinical nurse IV at Rady Children’s Health in Orange County and is adjunct faculty in the nursing program at Concordia University Irvine.
2015
David Pfotenhauer of Minneapolis is senior associate for Industrial Economics Incorporated in Cambridge, Mass.
2016
Kelsey Agather of Minneapolis is project manager at SPS Commerce.
Ryan Bennett of Chicago is network engineer at Hudson River Trading.
Shelby (Oelschlager) Bowman of Waterloo, Iowa, is field clinical representative at Inspire Medical Systems.
McKenzie Brace of St. Paul, Minn., is vice president of clinical and business operations at Aeris Medical Group.
Alex Brandt of Minneapolis is a financial analyst for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Dairy and Meat Inspection Division.
Hannah Burmahl of Chicago earned a postgraduate certificate in education from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Coriann Dorgay of Sheboygan, Wis., is epidemiologist and communications coordinator at Sheboygan County Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health.
Kate Gerike of Maple Grove, Minn., is pastor of faith formation at the Word of Peace Lutheran Church.
Kaley (Grosse) Grotnes of Waukee, Iowa, is an employee benefits consultant at Gallagher Benefit Services.
Spencer Hackler of Waukon, Iowa, is a school psychologist at Rochester Public Schools.
Miriam Harries of New York is a game designer for Meta.
Bryn (Hedlund) Hazelwonder of Grimes, Iowa, was promoted to member attorney at Whitfield and Eddy Law. Bryn was also recognized in Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch and received the Edward F. Seitzinger Award from the Iowa Defense Counsel Association, where she serves on the board of directors.
Anna Jeide-Detweiler of Minneapolis earned an MDiv and a certificate in religion and conflict transformation from the Boston University School of Theology.
Erika (Balk) Kaney of Centennial, Colo., is chief of staff at United Healthcare.
Sara (Schloesser) Meyer of Decorah is a licensed and certified esthetician and owner of Aura Beauty Studio.
Sarah (Eckhert) Moen of Decorah is senior customer success manager at Motorola Solutions.
Blake Peterson of Duluth, Minn., is assistant baseball coach at the College of St. Scholastica.
Eddie Shimkat of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is senior specialist of technology deployment and sales capabilities for the Campbell’s Company in Camden, N.J.
Ellen (Widerski) Swartwout of North Bend, Wash., is a software engineer at Google.
Shayla (De Jong) Van Hal of Bloomington, Ind., is interim director of music and organist at First Christian Church.
Timothy Walch of Jamestown, N.D., is a technology assistant at Jamestown Public Schools.
Jayse Weaver of Western Springs, Ill., is associate physicist at Rush University Medical Center.
2017
Paige Johnson of Lakewood, Colo., is mitigation support section chief for FEMA.
2018
Ethan Harris of Hopkins, Minn., earned an education specialist degree from the University of St. Thomas and is an elementary music specialist at Bloomington Public Schools.
Aaron Herman of Minneapolis is a security software engineer at Netflix.
Sofie (Wallock) Walz of Cologne, Minn., is a board member at Art, Heart, and Hoofbeats: Equine Rescue and Sanctuary. Sofie is also a web coordinator at Three Rivers Park District in Minneapolis.
2021
Paige Bartlett of Rochester, Minn., is a registered nurse at Mayo Clinic.
Chloe (Cleven) Bendt of Minneapolis is a marriage and family therapist at Hudson Counseling Clinic.
Lucas (Byl) Carlson of St. Paul, Minn., earned an MDiv from Luther Seminary and is a pastor at West Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Elsa (Thonn) Impola of Spooner, Wis., is an environmental analysis and review specialist at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Maddy Lomprey of Madison, Wis., is regional manager for the Americas at James Cook University in Douglas, Queensland, Australia.
Daniel Opdahl of Minneapolis is a software developer at National Information Solutions Cooperative.
Emerson Pagel of Tacoma, Wash., is branch manager at ABC Supply and is on the board of directors for the Roofing Contractors Association of Washington.
Jackson Robelia of Minneapolis is a reading interventionist for the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District.
Jacob Southerland of Forreston, Ill., is a K-8 music teacher at St. Mary Catholic School.
Olivia Steffl of Anoka, Minn., is a recreation facility supervisor for the city of Crystal, Minn.
2022
Erin Keller of Jefferson, Md., is associate director for Mar-Lu-Ridge Camp and Retreat Center.
2023
Ani Chauhan of Clarksville, Tenn., is senior product designer with Affirm in San Francisco.
Nick Drilling of Lakeville, Minn., is marketing and communications coordinator at Harris Company in St. Paul, Minn.
2025
Charlotte Appel of Avon, Minn., is band director at Holdingford Public Schools.