Class Notes 1974 - Reunion June 19-21, 2009

Dan (Samardzich) Summers and his wife, Jean, have been married for 32 years and now live in Florida after stops in Chicago, San Antonio, Pittsburgh and Richmond, OH. Dan and Jean have two children: Matthew (27) is a decorated Green Beret who graduated from Bucknell University and now is enrolled in Clemson’s graduate program in real estate development working on his MBA. Their daughter, Katie (26), is a graduate of Miami of Ohio. She spent three years on the Hill working for House, Ways and Means. She is now studying to be an attorney at the Vermont Law School while simultaneously earning her master’s in environmental law. After John Carroll, Dan began his professional career by running a fruit stand on Chicago’s South Side. At 25, he sold the stand and started working for a commercial real estate firm as a commissioned salesman until 1986. He left Chicago to manage real estate for a San Antonio savings and loan, and then moved to Pittsburgh in 1989 as executive vice president of Golden Triangle Management. In 1992 Dan started Madison Reality where he remained until he retired to his horse farm in Richmond, OH, in 1997. As it has been said, you “can’t keep them down on the farm.” Dan has un-retired and is now a partner with a Houston-based firm where he is responsible for negotiating acquisitions and arranges for the capital. Although he spends considerable time in “planes, trains, and automobiles,” he states he is loving life in the Sunshine State. ... Van Conway’s son, Matt, pitched his high school, Brother Rice, Bloomfield Hills, MI, to its third state baseball title this spring with a four hit, 8-0 victory over Saline. Matt, a left-handed junior, went 11-1 this season with a 2.07 ERA. He is the first 2009 Michigan graduate to commit to a major D-1 baseball program. He will attend Wake Forest in the ACC. Van hosted his annual golf outing in northern Michigan in June. Attendees from the class of 1974 were me, Roger Hull, Ron Deneweth, John Clayton, Jim Cannan, Dan Conrad, Marc Haag, Ed Kelly, Bob Mangan, Mike Bergerson, Tom McCrystal, Tim McMahon, and Chris Schuba. From ’75 was Joe Samuelson; from ’72 Mark Pacelli, Marty Bergerson, Larry Ray, Pat Hogan and Sean McNicholas. Van reports efforts to rewrite the JCU memories over the weekend were basically unsuccessful but at least they tried. Van, one of the founders of Conway MacKenzie & Dunleavy, in Birmingham, MI, has been nationally recognized as an expert in turnaround financing and management consulting. As you may recall in the last column, Leo Grim’s wife was training for the Boston Marathon. Well, she finished in 3:41:02. Leo, Joy, and daughter Jill were interviewed by Fox TV. Look for - http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=6355183&version=1&locale=EN-US - “Joy from Texas is running her first Boston marathon.” ... Gary and Mary Lynn Laughlin sent me an update on their two sons. Their youngest Mark earned his master’s in public health at The Ohio State University this past March and will begin Ohio State's School of Veterinary Medicine in September. Their oldest son, Michael, works in Cleveland for a computer IT firm. ... I would like to conclude this issue with a message to Tim Russert’s wife, Maureen, and son, Luke. On behalf of the entire class of 1974, our prayers and thoughts are with you. Tim had a positive impact on many of us as an “upper classman” at John Carroll and as a friend and fellow alumni over the years. Tim will always be remembered. God bless. ... Dave

Ed Kelly Jr., ran his second Marathon Des Sables (MDS) in Morocco and placed 329 out of the 801. The 152 miles was the longest in the history of the course and was one of the hottest years ever. The MDS, considered the toughest footraces on the planet, is a physical, emotional, and spiritual journey. In addition to carrying his own food, clothing, sleeping bag, medical supplies, and mandatory items (compass, flare, emergency blanket), Ed had to manage his water consumption which is rationed each day, food consumption, energy output, and emotional swings. Ed selected the following as inspiration for the race, “Not once will I whine, complain, or in any way express discontent, irrespective of what happens.” Ed ran to raise money for The Academy for Global Citizenship in Chicago. Many classmates made generous pledges in support of Ed’s efforts. If you would like to contribute, contact Ed - EJK@coyleasset.com. Visit JCU Connect - www.jcu.edu/jcuconnect - under the Class Notes section, click General to read Ed’s journal. It is inspiring! If you haven’t signed up for JCU Connect, this is a great reason to get connected! ... Leo Grim, and his wife, Joy, live in Houston. Leo is a chiropractor and Joy a consultant for a local school district on matters of child motor development. Their daughter Jill (12) is a swimmer and rides horse’s English style. Joy will be running in this year’s Boston Marathon and Leo is on the medical support team. ... Val Street, San Francisco, is recovering from knee replacement surgery. She writes, she is finally on the mend and plans to vacation this September in Charleston, S.C.; where she will continue her research on the Gullah people. The Gullah are African Americans who live in South Carolina and Georgia and are known for preserving more of their African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other African-American community in the U.S. ... Bob and Mary Madden became grandparents for a second time when grandson #2 was born March 1 and a granddaughter is expected in late August. Bob was just named head football coach at St. Thomas Aquinas H.S. in Louisville, Ohio. Meanwhile Mary takes great pride in spoiling their grandkids. ... Steve Noon’s son Aaron, a junior at Carroll, majoring in English and French, was inducted into Kappa Eta Chapter of Pi Delta Phi, the national French honor society, in March. He will study French at Laval University of Quebec for six weeks. ... Molly and I became first time grandparents. Our daughter, Kate ’98, and husband Jim Bongiorno were blessed with Bridget Hannah on April 1, and our youngest daughter, Macklin, will graduate from Fordham in May. ... Finally, with a little help from fellow alum, I was able to track down one of our class’s more humorous and well liked classmates. He lives in Aurora, Ohio, and Since 1992 has been a partner in a real estate appraisal firm serving local and national clients. As he states, “The good thing about real estate appraisal is that no one really has an idea what it is that we do, which spells good job security!” He is very proud of his two children. Son Rick graduated from Arizona State and is looking to start law school in Denver this fall. His daughter, Julie ’05, is a pediatric intensive care nurse at Akron Children’s Hospital. He loves golf but golf does not return that sentiment, still plays softball, loves to cook and claims to be a madman when it comes to pierogies, and stuffed cabbage. Who is this man of many talents and diehard Cleveland sports fan? None other than Rick Shina. Zorro, thanks for the update! ... Robby

One of the great benefits of the Christmas cards we receive, are the wonderful holiday newsletters that often accompany them. It serves as a great source of material for this class columnist. One of the first cards received in December was from Val Street. Val “traveled the highways and byways” of America in 2007. Trips included NYC and Charleston. While in New York, Val saw a production of the “Color Purple,” and in Charleston, she acquired an original Gullah work from 95-year-old iron works craftsman, Phillip Simmons. Val summed up 2007 as a good year to have had so many opportunities to be able to serve “in the Lord’s vineyard!” ... Sheila and Jim Weitzel’s Christmas letter is always full of family info. To start out, Jimbo’s MG is still running fine and was a minimal expense to the family in 2007. Last March they took Erin (16) and Drew (13) to New Hampshire to visit family. As fate would have it, they experienced a Nor’easter with 14 inches of snow in 24 hours. It was Drew’s first experience with snow. That’s what happens when you grow up in Texas all of your life. Erin attends St. Agnes Academy, is a National Honor Society student and excels in golf. She wants to be a Long Horn instead of a Blue Streak! Drew is busy with Boy Scouts, baseball and football. Maybe he’ll be a Blue Streak? Jim rode the MS Bicycle ride from Houston to Austin in April raising money to find a cure for the disease. Sheila is a Eucharistic minister, volunteers with the National Charity League, is a Cotillion Board Member. Jim is a major account executive at British Telecom for Continental Airlines. ... Phil Niedzielski-Eichner reports Chris is a Business Manager for United Airlines at Dulles Airport and Phil is a Senior Consultant to the Federal Government in the field of science and technology. He has been re-elected to a four-year term on the Fairfax County, Va., School Board. Phil any chance you could find a formula for cooperative partisanship at the Federal level? You did such a great job at getting people to work together while you were in the JCU Student Union. I think there is higher calling for you in D.C. I think we could tap into John Marcus for, sorry, I digress! Phil and Chris’s daughters have obviously been influenced by their parents’ commitment to excellence. Nora is currently in NYC writing and doing research to finish her doctorate in Art History from Stanford. Erin is a practicing attorney with a law firm in Virginia. ... Joe Verostek has been VP of investment operations at BPU Investment for a year now. He really enjoys the work and the people he works with. BPU is a full-service investment firm providing comprehensive products, services and solutions to both individuals and corporate clients. His oldest daughter, Margaret, graduated from JCU in May 2007 and is a grad assistant at Carroll. She is pursuing her master’s in child psychology at JCU. Daughter Laura will graduate from Duquesne University in May 2008 and has a job with Raymond James Financial in Tampa starting in June. His son AJ is a freshman a Westminsiter College and is pursuing a degree in business finance. Youngest daughter Katie is in seventh grade and enjoys playing basketball. Joe provided a couple of other updates on the class of ’74 members. Frank Palermo’s oldest daughter, Emily, got married in August and is living in Raleigh, N.C., while son Frank graduated from Allegheny College this past May and is working with dad at his CPA practice in Washington, Pa. Larry Meathe’s oldest daughter, Libby, graduated from Ohio University in June and is teaching second grade in Atlanta, Ga. Larry is a VP of corporate planning and audit at Brush Engineered Materials in Cleveland. ... Over Thanksgiving, Terry Dwyer met Ray Zammit ’73 for coffee while he was in Toledo visiting his wife Gay’s family for the holidays. Terry is the VP of sales for AuthorHouse in Bloomington, Ind., a leading provider of publishing and marketing services for authors around the globe. Ray is the owner of Complete Laundry near Toledo. ... John Trepal has been teaching in the Mayfield City School district since November 2006. John and his wife, Susan, have two children: Brendan (15) and Timmy (3). ... Rosemary Amato wrote from Amsterdam, where she is a director for Deloitte’s Netherlands, of her appointment to the board of directors of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) for a two year term. The institute is the world’s leading organization dedicated to empowering management accounting and finance professionals to drive business performance. It has over 65,000 members. Congratulations Rosemary! She spent Thanksgiving in St. Louis visiting her family.  She extends an open invitation to give her a call if traveling to Amsterdam - ramato@deloitte.nl. ... Hope everyone reading this column had a wonderful Christmas season and your 2008 has been healthy and blessed thus far. Don’t forget to drop me a line. Till next time, Robby

Congratulations are in order for two of our classmates. In June, Mary Lynn (Crowley) Laughlin was recognized as one of Crain’s “Women of Note for 2007.” Mary Lynn is one of two partners in Lakepoint Investment Partners, an independent investment advisory firm based in downtown Cleveland. This past May, Mary Lynn made history as the first women to serve as president of the board of directors of the Union Club of Cleveland since its founding in 1872. Mary Lynn serves on multiple boards. She is chairwoman of the AAA, the Cleveland Zoological Society, the Visiting Nurse Association, the John Carroll University board of regents and a member of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. Mary Lynn states, “We all need to be involved in the community and I think we all need to use whatever talents we have.” Mary Lynn and Gary, who is a partner at Vermillion based Liberty Auto Group, live in Avon Lake. ... Also in June, Rev. Gene Simon ’74G celebrated his golden anniversary as a priest. There were two special Masses for Fr. Gene, one at St. Regis in Bloomfield Hills, and the second at Holy Name in Birmingham, MI. I had the pleasure of attending the Holy Name Mass which was stunning. Over 200 parishioners and friends, along with his brother Gerry celebrated Mass with Fr. Gene, which was then followed by a receiving line and reception. While in line, I had the pleasure of catching up with Donna ’72 and Don Brown ’70 who flew in from Chicago to participate in the service. Fr. Simon had married Donna and Don in Detroit 35 years ago. ... Speaking of weddings, our daughter Kate ’98 married Jim Bongiorno on June 30. A large contingent of John Carroll alums were in attendance including Mary Ann Corrigan-Davis ’75 and her husband Ed; Dr. Jim Myers ’72 and wife Kate (Corrigan); from ’98 -- Dr. Amy Kerner Vazquez ’98 and her husband, David; Lori Szudarek; Chris Beato; Sarah Cook; Chris and Steve Wolken; Meg Galligan ’99, Jamie Morris ’97, Sharon ’97 and Sheila ’96 Sullivan, Terry Dwyer and his wife, Gay, and my big brother Jim Robinson ’68. And as to be expected, the JCU guests stayed and partied hardy to the very end. ... Molly and I visited Fr. Joe Schell, now living at Colombiere in Clarkson, MI. He looks great. We had a great conversation with him on a variety of topics. He still keeps up with what’s going on at Carroll, and is especially impressed with the number of events and programs the university now has with students, faculty and alumni volunteering their time back into their communities and overseas. As he said, the Campus Ministries have come a long way from when he started them back in the ’70s. ... Well that’s it for this column. I am sure there a few other women and men of note from the class of ’74. Don’t be bashful, send me a note and let’s share the good news. Hope you all had a great summer! Robby

Ed Kelly and Dan Conrad entertained fellow classmates Chris Schuba, Tim McMahon, Roger Hull, Marc Haag, Jim Cannan, Ron Deneweth and Joe Samuelson ’75 at their “home away from home” Las Vegas in March for some serious golfing. Joe Sam showed up his class of 74 alumni, winning the “high” stakes golf match.  A special thanks to the Alumni Office for providing golf hats and playing cards to compliment the 19th hole entertainment. ... Art Shibley shared news his restaurant chain, Yours Truly, will add its eighth location this summer at Rockside and Canal, just minutes, just minutes from the I-77 exit at Rockside. Last year, the readers of Northern Ohio Live magazine voted Yours Truly “Best Breakfast Menu,” “Best Cheap Eats,” and “Best Place to Take Kids.” Cleveland Magazine readers recognized Yours Truly in four categories in 2006, including, “Best Breakfast,” “Best Family Dining,” “Best Burger,” and “Best Cheap Eats.” ... Joe Virostek and wife Lale will celebrate their oldest daughter, Margaret’s graduation this spring from John Carroll with a degree in psychology. She plans to attend graduate school at Carroll in the fall. Their daughter, Laura, is a junior business major at Duquesne University; and son Alexander was recently accepted to the John Carroll fall 2007 freshman class. Joe wanted to pass along the following: Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity is holding a Reunion for all members this summer in Cleveland the weekend of June 22-24. All past and current members are invited to meet at the JCU beer tent on Saturday, June 23 at 3 p.m. Joe is VP Investment Operations at BPU Investment Management in Pittsburgh. ... Jim “Chico” Rados and his wife, Sandy, will celebrate their 25th anniversary this May. Jim has been practicing law in Chicago for 30 years. He is the controlling partner of an eight person firm Beverly & Pause. Jim and Sandy have three kids. Their oldest, Christopher, graduated from Miami of Ohio and is following in his dad’s footsteps and is a first year law student at Valparaiso. Middle daughter Stephanie spent a semester abroad in Italy while in her junior year at the University of Missouri; and youngest child, Nicole, is a junior in high school. They paid a visit to Carroll but she has not decided yet if she wants to be a Blue Streak. ... Finally, Kevin and Kathy Smith traveled to Florida in February as guests of their daughter, to watch the Super Bowl. Kara is the director of Alumni Relations for the Chicago Bears. The rest of the Smith clan also made the trip and although “Da Bears” did not win, the trip was a winner for Kathy and Kevin. Kathy is going through the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, and intends to be an instructor upon completing the program. ... Barbara Danielson Ciofani lives in Solon, OH, with her husband, Peter. Barb received an early retirement package from MBNA/Bank of America where she had been a credit analyst. She reports enjoying the freedom retirement affords her to spend more time with children -- Nicholas who works for the House of Representatives and his wife; and daughter, Kim, who works in Columbus as an actuarial. ... After close to two years in the senior living market, I made the move back to IT this past March, joining Teoma Systems, a systems integrator in Troy, MI. ... That’s all for this column. Hope you all have a great summer. Drop me an e-mail or give me a call, would love to hear from you. Robby

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