Class Notes
1969
Gracia (Kraabel) Blanchard of Coralville, Iowa, is retired.
Steve Blanchard of Coralville, Iowa, is retired.
1974
Vicki (Koestner) Blake of Porthill, Idaho, celebrated 20 years as a choral conductor and toured countries all over the world.
Joel Mjolsness of San Jose, Calif., is the CEO of Growth Tech Advisory.
1975
Erica (Trytten) Helmick of Boise, Idaho, retired and is a private duty nurse with MultiCare Home Health and Personal Care Services.
Mike Osterholm of Minneapolis, a leading infectious disease epidemiologist, will be honored with the Michael T. Osterholm Endowed Chair in Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, where he has served on the faculty for the past 48 years.
Gordon Peterson of Lenexa, Kan., is retired.
1976
Marilyn Ronnei of Olympia, Wash., retired from the Office of Forensic Mental Health Services, state of Washington.
1977
Steve Emerson of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is retired.
Jim Fowler of Vermillion, S.D., is retired.
1978
Steve Dahl of Dent, Minn., is retired.
Debra (Stinogel) Kalish of Grand Junction, Colo., was elected board chair of the Colorado Humanities Board of Directors.
Seth Myers of Kansas City, Mo., retired from Air Evac EMS, where he was president and CEO.
Dale Thompson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, retired from State Farm Insurance, where he was an insurance agent.
1981
Rich Allen of Colorado Springs, Colo., retired as a senior structures engineer at Pratt & Whitney.
Pete Espinosa of Edina, Minn., is the CEO of MileMaker, headquartered in Chicago.
Judith (Tollefsrud) Halverson of New Orleans, La., is an assistant professor and director of clinical education at Delgado Community College.
1982
Carol Hagen of Decorah published her second children’s book, How Many Kransekaker?! It is available in the Luther College Book Shop.
Peter Hasvold of Fort Collins, Colo., is quality manager for North America with Vaisala, a Finland-based manufacturer of weather and industrial instruments, including sensors used by NOAA.
1984
Steve Berg of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a gift specialist at Coe College.
1985
John Anderson of Washburn, Wis., was appointed chief judge of the 10th Judicial District in Bayfield County, Wis.
Kari (Severson) Toft of Pine Island, Minn., is retired.
1986
Chris Gade of Chicago was named vice president for communications for the five-campus University of Minnesota system.
1987
Patricia Beech-Dziuk of Duluth, Minn., owner of Patty Beech Consulting, was awarded the Northern Light Award for Inspiring Organizational Leadership by the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, recognizing her organization’s significant contributions to advancing housing stability in Minnesota.
Caryn Humble Peterson of La Crescent, Minn., is a lecturer in educational studies at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse.
1988
Michelle (Bargren) Adam of Rockford, Ill., is a school social worker for Belvidere Community Unit School District.
Jim Stover of Bondurant, Iowa, is a retired lieutenant after 33 years of service with the Nebraska State Patrol. Jim is the training specialist for the Iowa Governor’s School Safety Bureau within the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
Leah Vriesman of Hermosa Beach, Calif., is associate dean of academic and faculty affairs at UCLA in Los Angeles.
1990
Dan Coleman of Camp Lejeune, N.C., is a colonel and chief of staff for the Second Marine Logistics Group with the United States Marine Corps.
Lisa (Martzke) Deemer of Oostburg, Wis., retired as a school social worker from the Marshfield School District.
Bonnie Gunzenhauser of University Heights, Ohio, was named vice president for academic affairs at John Carroll University.
1991
Cassondra (Harkrader) Hulshizer of Utica, Minn., was promoted to senior statistical programmer at Mayo Clinic.
1993
Andrea Barth of Lime Springs, Iowa, is CFO of Kinseth Hospitality in Coralville, Iowa.
Cindy (Berner) Greene of Marion, Iowa, earned an MS in higher education–student affairs from Purdue University Global.
Kristian Moe of Burnsville, Minn., is a high school counselor with Edina Public Schools in Minneapolis.
1994
Rachel (Robeck) Breyfogle of Gilbert, Iowa, is a population health coordinator at McFarland Clinic in Ames, Iowa.
1995
Jo Foy of Weatherford, Texas, is a fitness instructor for Pure Barre in Aledo and Fort Worth, Texas.
Heidi (Waxenberg) Huff of Palatine, Ill., is the senior vice president of consumer engagement at Alliance Retail Group.
Melissa (Schindler) Miroslavich of Woodbury, Minn., is the owner, estate planning attorney, and mediator at Miroslavich Law.
1996
Andrea (Wehrmacher) Chung of Lakeville, Minn., is managing director at KPMG.
Amy (Carlson) Floan of Evansville, Wis., is a program manager for Community Action of Rock and Walworth Counties.
Beth Jensen of Atlanta, Ga., is an associate professor of chemistry at Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, Ga.
Christy (Palmer) Rusdal of Libby, Mont., is a physical therapist at Empower Physical Therapy.
Helga (Consiglio) Swatzak of Madison, Wis., is a piano teacher at the PianoPath Music Studio.
1998
Nathan Ersig of Decorah is an associate vice president at BWF in Minneapolis.
Jessica (Olsen) Etten of St. Paul, Minn., is the associate vice president of advancement at the University of St. Thomas.
1999
Shannon (Burhop) Bruskiewicz of Rogers, Minn., is principal at Princeton Primary Public Schools.
Martha (Rockenstein) Eklund of Minneapolis is a connectional ministries program assistant with the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Laura (Kling) Harding of Alexandria, Minn., is a teaching specialist in music at the University of Minnesota–Morris.
2000
Brian Eklund of Minneapolis is an orthopedics operator/scheduler at Allina Health.
2001
Matt Herrick of Papillion, Neb., is a senior principal systems engineer at SAIC.
Robyn (Siedschlag) Wangberg of Winona, Minn., is an associate professor of physics at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
2002
Molly Goodwin of Davenport, Iowa, is a production stage manager for the Hadestown national tour through RCI Theatricals in New York.
Jennifer (McAllister) Rose of Hartland, Wis., is a pastor at All Saints Lutheran Church in Wales, Wis.
Julie (Duhme) Vande Hoef of Clive, Iowa, earned an MBA from the University of Iowa and is senior manager of customer solutions and policy at Alliant Energy.
2003
Jessica Aguilar of Sioux Falls, S.D., is vice president of operations at Sanford Health.
Kate (Swenson) Cinnamo of Lakeville, Minn., is executive director at Explore The Trades and a founding member of the Skilled Trades Advisory Council.
Jamie (Thoelke) Hay of Houston, Texas, is a division order supervisor with GulfMark Energy.
Lena Johnson of Kent, Wash., earned an MBA in health care management from Western Governors University and is the owner of Roundtable Therapy and Consulting.
Anthony Pizer of Sioux Falls, S.D., is owner and wealth manager of WillowRidge Financial Solutions.
Lindsay (Lehmann) Reiten of Greeley, Colo., is an associate professor of mathematics education at the University of Northern Colorado. Lindsay received the 2023 Excellence in Teaching Award from UNC’s College of Natural Health Sciences.
Nathan Voight of Mount Vernon, Iowa, is vice president and general manager of business and regional avionics at Collins Aerospace.
2004
Sara (Goudschaal) Blessing of Cedar Falls, Iowa, is an assistant professor of instruction in choral music education at the University of Northern Iowa.
Barry Bosacker of Las Vegas, Nev., was promoted to region superintendent of the Clark County School District.
Rachel (Friedrich) Harken of Runnells, Iowa, is a payroll and HR compliance manager at Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.
Cody Tigges of Grinnell, Iowa, is a clinical associate professor and program director of the pediatric critical care medicine fellowship program at University of Iowa Health Care.
2005
Nicole Cain of Grand Rapids, Mich., published Panic Proof, a book on overcoming panic and anxiety that uses research from trauma-informed neuroscience, psychology, and holistic medicine.
Chris Hoegh of Minneapolis is a client services manager at Securian Financial in St. Paul, Minn.
Sarah Koch of Alexandria, Va., is a program officer for U.S. Economic Mobility and Opportunity at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Anna (Osterbur) Petersen of Cincinnati, Ohio, is an elementary teacher with Cincinnati Public Schools.
Mary (Hernandez) Trujillo of Loves Park, Ill., is a licensed clinical social worker and mental health program manager for the city of Rockford.
2006
Brandon Caswell of Shakopee, Minn., is an instrumentation and quality specialist at Valley Medical & Wellness.
Rachel (Bails) Jeffrey of Colorado Springs, Colo., is an education technology specialist in School District 49.
Justin Papka of Castle Rock, Colo., is director of contracts administration for the Water Research Foundation in Denver.
John Sill of Long Lake, Minn., is a provider hub product manager at the Minnesota Department of Human Services in St. Paul, Minn.
Heather (Buckner) Wilensky of Coralville, Iowa, is a development officer at Luther College.
2007
Tim Bruett of St. Paul, Minn., is a payroll specialist at Wells Fargo Bank in Minneapolis.
Hemie Collier of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the head coach of the women’s lacrosse team at Augsburg University in Minneapolis.
Cody Dannen of Mooresville, N.C., is the owner of Dannen Event Consulting. Cody worked in sports presentation for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Alex Ford of Niagara, Wis., is a worship musician at Grace Lutheran Church in Pembine, Wis.
Dan Le Guen-Schmidt of Goleta, Calif., is an assistant superintendent and vice president of human resources at Santa Barbara City College.
2008
Jenny (Harrison) Caswell of Shakopee, Minn., is a speech-language pathologist at Eden Prairie Schools.
Joe McAndrew of Arlington, Va., is an assistant secretary at the Maryland Department of Transportation.
2009
Ashley Beek of Decorah is a technical support manager at Motorola Solutions.
Johanna Bergan of Decorah is a program manager at the University of Connecticut’s Innovations Institute.
Ashlee (Wicks) Carpenedo of Woodbury, Minn., is a K–5 English language teacher at Liberty Ridge Elementary.
Kristine Dennis of Baltimore, Md., is a senior research scientist at NutritionFacts.org.
Andrea (Johnson) Mierau of Andover, Minn., earned a doctorate in education health professions education from A.T. Still University in Kirksville, Mo.
Matt Orth of Aurora, Ill., is a material planner at Glanbia Performance Nutrition in Downers Grove, Ill.
2010
Ben Zamora-Weiss of Minneapolis is an implementation specialist at Orange Logic.
2011
Andrew Bhagyam completed a residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery and is now in private practice in Houston, Texas.
Laura (Davis) Dahlke of Hugo, Minn., is a first-grade teacher at Magnuson Christian School in White Bear Lake, Minn.
Brett Epperson of Hastings, Neb., earned a PhD in music education–choral conducting from Florida State University.
Laura Forst of Hutchinson, Minn., works at the Education Design Lab.
Kiran Kurmi of Brookline, Mass., completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and began an assistant professorship at University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.
Sarah Stadie of St. Paul, Minn., is an early childhood outpatient therapist at the Amherst Wilder Foundation.
Kate (McDonald) Sutherland of North Kingstown, R.I., is dean of students at Rocky Hill Country Day.
2012
Amy Dorman of Centerville, Minn., is a research and training director for the Office of Justice Programs at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety in St. Paul, Minn.
Hilary (Garringer) Klyn of Marshalltown, Iowa, is an English language teacher in the Marshalltown Community School District.
Alison Vandegrift of Sparta, Wis., is a physical therapist at Gundersen Health in Sparta, Wis.
2013
Kevin Wenger of Ferndale, Mich., earned a doctorate of education in higher education from Indiana University Bloomington and is a postdoctoral associate and data manager at the University of South Carolina.
2014
Benjamin Anderson of Minneapolis is a special education teacher with Minneapolis Public Schools.
Zach Aschim of Des Moines, Iowa, is a staff software engineer at SPS Commerce.
Chloe (Gumpert) Douglas of Portland, Ore., is an assistant professor for the Department of Pediatrics at the Oregon Health and Science University.
Sarah (Sindelar) Garness of Grand Marais, Minn., is an office manager at Wilderness Canoe Base.
Spencer Garness of Grand Marais, Minn., is a site manager at Wilderness Canoe Base.
Chelsea Hall of New York, N.Y., is an executive assistant at KKR.
Brittney (Leemon) Mitchell of Stoughton, Wis., is a grants project manager for the state of Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services.
Katie Scherr of Denver is a federal reporting administrator at the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Shelby Steele of Minneapolis is a financial analyst at Imagine Print Solutions.
Brett Steelman of Ankeny, Iowa, is a school counselor at Roosevelt High School.
Nara Tashjian of Rochester, Minn., is a breast surgical oncology fellow at Mayo Clinic.
Maria (Ellingson) Thom of Windom, Minn., is director of digital marketing at Bullseye Media.
Cydney (Roelandt) Weitzel of Decorah is a news reporter at DecorahNews.com.
2015
Michaleen Melby of Bayfield, Wis., is an FDA tobacco enforcement specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Josh Nelson of Overland Park, Kan., earned a DO from Des Moines University College of Medicine and is a resident physician–anatomic and clinical pathology at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Nikki Thompson of Saint Louis, Mo., earned a master’s degree in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University and is a higher education strategy and operations associate consultant at Huron Consulting Group.
Andrew Withers of Norwalk, Iowa, is an application and data support specialist for the Southeast Polk Community School District.
2016
Cory Anderson of Eagan, Minn., received the President’s Student Leadership and Service Award and the Harold R. Shipman Award from the University of Minnesota, where he later earned a PhD in environmental health–infectious diseases. He is co-director of the Chronic Wasting Disease Program at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
Krista Anderson of Minneapolis is a perianesthesia pre/post registered nurse at the University of Minnesota Children’s Masonic Hospital–Fairview West Bank.
Makayla (Marinack) Dahleen of Plymouth, Minn., is a pastor of family life at St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church.
Jesse Hitz Graff of St. Paul, Minn., earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota and is the STEM department head at Kay Tutoring.
Paul Larson of Carson City, Nev., is a pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Family.
Raleigh Sims of Washington, D.C., is an account executive at Scale AI.
Amanda (Jenkins) Walch of Jamestown, N.D., is the director of libraries at the University of Jamestown.
2017
Kayla (Ingvalson) Frisbie of Overland Park, Kan., is a talent partner at Cardamom Health. Kayla also teaches yoga and fitness at Power Life.
Annie Versnik of St. Francis, Wis., is a registered client care services consultant at Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee, Wis.
2018
Hannah Potter of Chicago earned an MSW from Loyola University and is an HS/PRS regional supervisor at Global Refuge.
2019
Nikita Daly of Moab, Utah, is a forestry technician for the U.S. Forest Service.
Chase Gilson of Faribault, Minn., is a food safety and quality manager at Hormel Foods.
Catelyn Janda of Ankeny, Iowa, is an instructional designer II at Iowa State University.
Vivian (Hustad) Luna of Des Moines, Iowa, is an accountant for the city of Urbandale.
Anna Restemayer of St. Paul, Minn., earned a master’s degree in occupational therapy from St. Catherine University and is an occupational therapist at National Dizzy and Balance Center.
Brittney Sjulstad of Columbus, Ohio, earned a PharmD from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and is a pharmacy resident at the Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.
2020
Calli Jo (Wagner) Benth of Epping, N.D., is an accountant with Mountrail-Williams Electric Co-Op.
Jorge Chavez of Alpharetta, Ga., is a biologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Holly (DeSerano) Jensen of Newton, Iowa, is a project manager at Latitude Signage + Design.
Katelin (Parkinson) Krizmanich of Beloit, Wis., earned an MA in music education from Eastern Illinois University and is a music teacher at Delavan Darien School District.
Morgan Niner of Des Moines, Iowa, is an assistant registrar at Grand View University.
2021
Ben Seavey of Minneapolis was commissioned as an ordnance officer with the U.S. Army.
2022
Abbe (Lacey) Altman of Coralville, Iowa, is an assistant director at the Regina Early Childhood Education Center.
Greta Carlson of St. Paul, Minn., is a clinical intern/therapist at Elevated Therapy Solutions in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Alex Dikelsky of Seattle is a software developer at Bayer.
Kristen Flathers of Madelia, Minn., is an admissions counselor at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minn.
Sarah Halverson of Winona, Minn., earned an MS in sport pedagogy from Baylor University and is a clinical athletic trainer at Allina Health.
Alice Odame of San Jose, Calif., is a financial analyst at ServiceNow.
2023
Molly Graff of Holmen, Wis., is a PreK–8 music teacher at St. Mary’s School in Caledonia, Minn.
Hallie Johnson of Decorah received a $50,000 Rotary 2024–25 Global Scholarship from the Decorah Rotary Club to pursue a master’s degree in comparative education and international development at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Ashley (Karas) Moses of Onalaska, Wis., is a perioperative technician in the GI lab at Gundersen Health Systems.
Rose Sieve of St. Paul, Minn., is an analytic consultant at Strategic Education.
William Tuchtenhagen of Minneapolis is a sales and project developer at ZEF Energy.
2024
Eva Anderson of Fitchburg, Wis., is an RN at UW Health American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wis.
Jessica Dahl of Maple Grove, Minn., is central assurance staff 1 at Ernst & Young.
Griffin Glassel of Madison, Wis., is an associate analytical chemist at Eurofins Food Chemistry Testing.
Sidney Miller of Hokah, Minn., is a data analyst at Emplify Health.
Isaiah Nordine of Rochester, Minn., is a researcher at Mayo Clinic.
Anders Peterson of Faribault, Minn., is a junior high band director at Waseca Public Schools.
Samuel Zegler Evans of Rochester, Minn., is a registered nurse at Mayo Clinic.