Class Notes for 1979

Hi all! Ran into Kurt Wollenberg recently. Kurt works for Lubrizol, is married with three children: Abbey, Jill and Ethan. ... Enjoyed a fabulous homecoming celebration with the �fun guys� from those other �70s classes (and one �80) -- Terry O�Brien �78, Bill O�Brien �81, John O�Brien �76, Bob �Bobo� Rees, Dave DeAngelis �77, Jon Manilla �78, Bob Burak �78 and Mark Fasano �78. Those guys still know how to have a good time! (Did we win the game, by the way?) ... Also, celebrated Mike Tarasco�s 25th wedding anniversary with them (Mike and his wife are such a cute couple!) A great time was had by all. ... After living in Baltimore, MD, for the past four years, Brent Berkman and his wife, Jeannie, will be relocating to Chicago. Brent accepted a position as a senior manager with KPMG, LLP real estate group and can be reached at bdberkman@msn.com. ... Ran into Mary Bean Mackessy with her two gorgeous daughters, Abbey and Carly, at an Indians game in August. Supposedly Rick Mackessy was there with son Ricky in the �corporate seats,� but I never saw them! ... Other recent sightings in the Cleveland neighborhoods include: Bill Kern �76, Dave Rodney �77 and Frances Skapek. ... Well, I did it!!! I achieved my �50 states by 50 goal� in September. I celebrated my parents� 50th wedding anniversary with them with a land-cruise to Alaska. What a wonderful way to celebrate the culmination of my goal and their 50 years! My favorite excursions were kayaking around Ketchikan�s Eagle Island and flight seeing and landing at Denali�s base camp! Incredible!! ... Hope you�re enjoying your own adventures, peace and love, Nancy

Hi friends � I attended the JCU Alumni Awards dinner in May where Father Joe Callahan, Padre Jos�, received an Alumni Medal. To hear his presentation speech, click on http://www.jcu.edu/alumni/06awards.htm and look for the following column on the right side of the page: Presentation of Fr Callahan by Tom Gerst �61. It was a lovely evening. Great to see Joe and his family -- he had a whole contingent that followed him up to JCU from Columbus, OH. Joe definitely deserves the honor. Joe will be in El Salvador until next year and plans to return to the Cleveland Diocese at that time. ... Theresa Ptak Buiel, Cathy Dinkel Newell and Beth Maher Rinz were also in attendance to celebrate and honor Joe receiving his award. Dr. Donald Coburn �43 also received an Alumni Award that evening and his entourage was present, including son Chris Coburn and daughter-in-law Nancy Looney Coburn. Two of Nancy and Chris� kids were there, daughter Carolyn and son Sean. Chris continues to do mega bike races -- Chris was riding from Cleveland to Cape Cod last I heard but stated it was �just a one way trip!� In the spirit of things, I�ve been biking around Shaker Heights and University Heights! I think I�ve maxed out at about 10 miles at the most at one time! I should be ready for one of those big rides any day now!!!! ... I hear from Karen McGuire McCarthy who is married to Michael -- they have three children. Their oldest son, Michael, graduated from Carroll in May, daughter Colleen is a year younger and a junior at Mount St. Mary�s University in Maryland, while their youngest son, Matt, will be starting at U of Dayton in the fall ... so they�ll be empty nesters but with all the tuition, won�t have any $ to travel! Karen remains in close contact with the girls from Chicago. Karen reports they are all doing well and as fun as ever! They still get together about once a year. ... Mariellen O�Brien Hendricks� oldest son, Michael, graduated from Georgetown in May and plans on working for the Justice Department. ... John Taormina wrote to say that he relocated to Durham, NC, from Ann Arbor, MI, in 2000 and now works at Duke University as the director of the Visual Resources Center (slide, photograph, and digital image library). Prior to this, he held a similar position at the University of Michigan for a year and a half, and at The Ohio State University for the 13 years before that. Last year was a significant professional milestone for John as he was the recipient of the 2005 Distinguished Service Award and the 2005 Achievement Award of the Visual Resources Association from the international organization of image media professionals. He was the first male in the association to receive the Distinguished Service Award, after 18 years of it being given, and the only member to receive both awards in one year. Congratulations, John! What a nice honor. At the same time, he stepped down as editor of the VRA Bulletin, the association�s quarterly journal after nine years. He states that his former professors Robert Getscher and Roger Welchans should be pleased he is still committed to academic arts and humanities. John is also enjoying the exciting, and stimulating work environment as well as watching Blue Devil basketball. John would also like to know how the �old second floor Bernet Hall gang is doing?� So how about it guys? Let us know -- please write in and share the events in your lives. ... heard from Mike Korpics. He reports that he, his wife, Kathleen and four kids are doing fine. He is still working as an ER doc paying for his kid�s education: with one in med school (he couldn�t talk him out of it), two at Northwestern University (he couldn�t convince any of them to go to JCU) and one in high school. Whew! He didn�t have much time to write - and had to get back to work so he could pay those bills!!!. ... Sightings in the Cleveland area: Bill Kern �76 and Dave Randall (????) and Frances Skapek. ... I was taking a walk in the JCU neighborhood recently and I ran into Dr. Frank Navratil. He was teaching a finance summer school class. We chatted a bit and reminisced about the �old day� when Dr. Jerry Clifford, SJ, was in the department. Even though we thought things were difficult when we had to study and perform at JCU, those times certainly were the ones that formed us! We definitely are better for having had them and making it through the struggle. ... Wishing you all days of peace and sunshine, love, Nancy

spring greetings! ... heard from Tom Chialastri. He moved to Atlanta from Miami about three years ago and works for Abraxas Business Services. The company he works for provides mergers and acquisition, exit strategy planning and business brokering services to mid-sized business. Tom is a chief financial officer for the company. He still travels home to Miami quite a bit to get his sea food and ocean fix and visit family. ... Mike Horning is living in Potomac, MD, with his wife, Debbie. They have three children: Michael, Jr. is completing his junior year at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA - Christopher is completing his junior year in high school at Georgetown Prep (Mike�s alma mater and another fine Jesuit school!) - and daughter Kimberly will be moving on to high school next year. After spending nine years in public accounting, Mike moved to the insurance world and has spent the past 18 years as chief financial officer at two different insurance companies. He currently works for United Educators an insurance company located in Chevy Chase, MD, that insures the liability risks of schools, colleges and universities. He proudly notes that John Carroll University is one of their insured. He also mentioned that he was responsible for the hiring of another JCU graduate, Jennifer Costarella �00. Mike (as well as the rest of us, I�m sure) would love to hear what�s going on with Mike Pappas, Jim Zins, Rob Rosen, Jim Coyne, Dan Grady, Pete Hughes, Chuck Kretschmer �78 and any other IBG brothers from the late �70s. ... So how about it guys and gals out there - please let us know what is going on. Just drop me a line (see my e-mail address above?). Don�t forget to write! as always, Nancy

hi fellow �79ers! Happy 2006 to one and all ... John Ehrman wrote to say that he is getting married to Elizabeth Justen on April 15th in Houston. The children population in the Ehrman�s home will be increasing from one to five! Wow! What a jump! Elizabeth�s four children: Angela (18), Audrey (14), Chris and Josh (12 year old twin boys) will be joining John�s son. John�s son, John, has been accepted to the USMC officer corps training in Quantico for the summer. The Ehrman�s plan to be Cleveland area for Homecoming this coming fall. We hope to see y�all then! ... went to a reception for Father Niehoff at JCU last fall. Was great to meet him. He�s such a wonderful speaker. Ran into Jim Dolak there. Jim is an anesthesiologist with the Cleveland Clinic in obstetrics and gynecology. He loves his work and enjoys seeing all those wonderful little babies. ... Norm and Mary Riley and their clan have moved to Bay Village. ... Chris and Nancy Coburn�s daughter, Carolyn, will be attending Georgetown this coming fall. ... That�s all the news for now. Please call or write and let us know what you and yours have been up to. happy days, Nancy

Hello, it�s me ... it�s so amazing when you hear a song from the old days and it brings you back. ... whenever I hear the old Todd Rundgren �hello its me� I am reminded of the rat bar, dances, etc. What songs bring you back? It always amazes me how profound of an effect music can have on our memories. ... Heard from Rick Ryznar. He and his wife Ree live with their FIVE children in Hilliard, OH, Annie (19), Ricky (17), Patrick (14), Timmy (11) and Mary (9). What do you do in your spare time, Rick? Rick - ryznar@sbcglobal.net - would love to hear from the guys that lived in the first floor Pacelli T-wing. Let us know who you connect with Rick. ... Michael Allison is enjoying an early temporary retirement these days ... nice article last John Carroll magazine about JCU�s Chicago connection. So nice to see and read about the successes of the familiar faces from our era: Mary Ann Bergerson Ahern �76, Paul Hulseman �82, The Farrell �boys� Bill �77, Brian �78 and Rick, Tim Freeman �78, Jim Purcell �80, Mark Talamonti �78, Terry O�Brien �78 and coach Schweickert �60. ... Recently enjoyed �chaperoning� my parents on a trip to northern Michigan for their 49th wedding anniversary. During our trip, we had the pleasure of visiting the Boskydel Vineyards in Lake Leelanau. My parents had been there before and loved it -- not only for the high quality Michigan wine, but for the Jesuit/JCU connection. The vintner - Bernard Rink is from JCU�s class of �48. Mr. Rink has been visited by Father Birkenhauer and National Geographic in the past and is currently being honored by his fellow Michigan winemakers for pioneering the northern Michigan wine industry. Congratulations to you, Mr. Rink! We enjoyed visiting with him for his tasty wine and quick wit. I tried to convince him to return to campus for his 60th reunion in a few years, but he said he only would if he doesn�t have to leave Leelanau county, MI! ... not much else to report. Time to go, because �baby, I was Born to Run!� Nancy

Hi y�all! I hope you are all enjoying a fabulous summer with friends and family. At least we have more seasonal temperatures this year, in JCU country! I just love the summer. Had a most fabulous experience recently celebrating my mother�s 74th birthday! My sister, Carolyn, my mom and I all went skydiving together! What a blast! More than myself, I am so proud of my mother! Hmm, wondered where I got my sense of adventure?!? ... Heard from Bob Meilinger. He is living in Portage, MI, (near Kalamazoo) with his wife of 20 years, Joann and their two boys, John (18) and James (16). John graduated from Portage Northern High School with highest honors and was also a four-year letterman in swimming and water polo. Jimmy will be a sophomore at Portage Northern and lettered in track, swimming and water polo. John will be the third generation and third John Meilinger attending JCU. Bob received his MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College in �83 and has worked for Rockwell Automation (Reliance Electric and Allen Bradley) as a senior sales engineer for the past 20 years. Later this summer, Bob and his family will be traveling to Numazu, Japan. It is a sister city to Kalamazoo, MI, and the Meilingers have been invited by the Numazu committee to travel there to help represent Kalamazoo. What an honor! Bob can be reached at rbmeilinger@powersystems.rockwell.com. ... Ran into many familiar faces at JCU�s reunion weekend in June: Dave Chervenak, Tom Gallagher, Mike Gordon �80, Lou Zahara �80, Jim Antall �80, Jeanne Wall �80, Mark Zemba, Kevin Kane �75, John Mastrantoni �80, Rob Lombardi �80, Phil Lopez �80, Tommy Heilman �80, Bill Kern �76. Always great to see not only people from our class, but the �before and after� years from when we were JCU. It was great to catch up with everyone. ... Ran into Charlie Wagner �83 and Tommy Hartnett �81 one night in the �hood� - had great laughs and a fun time going down memory lane. At one point we discussed all the reasons why John Carroll plays such an important part in our lives - even for those that feel like they don�t need to be a part of JCU anymore. John Carroll helped make all of us who we are today - good, honest, hard working, intelligent sons and daughters, husbands and wives, parents, friends, colleagues and citizens. Without our experiences, our classes, our successes and failures and our relationships -- good and bad of it all -- we wouldn�t be who we are today. We are all very lucky to have touched each other�s lives in whatever way -- big or small. I know I treasure my friendships from the past. I enjoy the ones I have kept and the new ones I have added along the way and look forward to the relationships I will add in the future. We are lucky for whatever amount of time we have known each other. We have been very blessed. Just a little �Agacinski philosophizing!� What would you have expected from all those philosophy courses? ... enjoy your lazy, crazy, hazy summer days! Nancy

Hello everyone: as I�m writing we�ve been experiencing a fabulous spring in the Cleveland area. The nicest in recent memory. Well deserved after our brutal winter. We did break old records and had the �snowiest winter ever� with 105+ inches! Couldn�t we have had a better distinction? The sunniest winter ever would have been nice! I hope it�s been as sunny and temperate wherever you are! I was traveling through Cincinnati airport on my vacation in March and learned I was traveling with JCU students who were traveling to Rome with for holiday! They were quite fun -- so much energy. I was a tad jealous not to be traveling to Roma with them! At least they were in Roma before John Paul II died. I�m sure many of us are feeling sad at his passing. We were so lucky to have had him as our pope. Quite an incredible man. Pretty amazing that he was elected when we were in college! Good memories. ... have seen the Coburns (Chris and Nancy et al), Jeff Krouse and Patrice Aylward in the Cleveland area of late. All looking well! (naturally!) ... heard from a few classmates: John Ehrman jnehrman@swbell.net lives in Woodlands (about 30 miles north of Houston), TX, with his son, John. He is still working in the oil business and primarily splits his time between offshore TX and LA, as well as Colombia and Venezuela. His son, John spent two semesters at JCU, and was third generation there. He just turned 23 and is finishing university in Texas and has been sworn into the USMC officer�s program and will report to Quantico in July. ... We thank him for his service and our prayers will be with him. ... Michael J. Kelly DrJ1982@yahoo.com is living in Mount Vernon, OH, and has a 12-year-old son, Daniel. ... Mary Nell Barrord Gorski marynell@fuse.net is living in Liberty Township, OH (where is that Mary Nell?) with her husband, Jim �77, and two daughters. Katie (21) is a senior at Miami University (Ohio) majoring in journalism with a political analysis minor and will graduate in May and is then going to attend law school next fall (wow!). Missy (20) is a sophomore at JCU majoring in biology and chemistry. Mary Nell says that she and Jim get a big kick out of visiting JCU as parents - saying �the campus has changed a lot but is still so beautiful and brings back so many memories. We love that Casey Bukala (who baptized her) is still on campus keeping an eye on her!� Mary Nell works for the Lakota Schools as a special education instructor. ... Great to hear from you all! Keep the news coming! fondly, Nancy

Happy 2005 y�all! hope everyone enjoyed great times with family and friends over the holidays. ... Heard from Mary McNeeley Baran. She sends her wishes to everyone and reports she is living in Westlake, OH, has four children -- Audrey (24), John Patrick (22), Brigit (17), and Sara (15). Mary went to La Roche University in Pittsburgh after John Carroll and received a degree in psychology. She currently is a disabilities supervisor for Catholic Charities Services in Head Start. Mary can be reached at: mtbaran@msn.com. ... Michael Allison is doing well. He was recently promoted to executive vice president of Human Resources for Victoria�s Secret Direct. Congratulations to you, Michael! ... Received a lovely Christmas letter from Fr. Joseph Callahan. Joe was transferred to a new parish in El Salvador in May. Joe had been in Chirilagua, and that parish now has two Salvadoran priests serving there. He is now in a parish at El Carmen, La Union and is challenged by the new work in front of him. Due to the 2001 earthquakes, the rectory at El Carmen, was damaged, however a very generous family is lending Joe a house near the church to live in. Joe certainly keeps busy between his parish, administrating the Diocesan Pastoral Center �El Castano,� (where the priority for this year is to finish the chapel) and his work as treasurer of the Diocese! Great to hear from you, Joe! ... Just a short and sweet column this time. Wishing you all a healthy and happy coming year, Nancy

Class Notes 1979 -- Reunion June 19-21, 2009

	Nancy Agacinski 4009 Washington Blvd., #3 University Heights, OH 44118-3865 216.932.2824 nagacinski@yahoo.com


fall 2008	Autumn greetings! Ran up to Carroll in June for the Friday evening portion of Reunion Weekend. It’s hard to believe it will be our 20th anniversary of our 10th Reunion next summer! Start planning now to make it up to campus next June for our reunion. This will be the first of many more reminders to come! I ran into lots of folks from ’78 and other classes: Terry O’Brien, Tim Freeman, Bob Rees (I’m proud of you Bobo - you know why!), Bob Burak, Bruce Swartz, Phil ’78 and Jane Ehrbar Simon, Bill Kern ’76, Tom Bodle ’74, and Kevin Kane ’75. ... Bruce Swartz ’78 was on WJCU Saturday a.m. that weekend serving as guest DJ reminiscing the ’70s on campus with apropos music. Bruce mentioned that he still sees many of the DAT guys: Scott Smiley, John Molchan, Tony Ianiro, Mike Decaro. It’s great that you guys all keep in touch. Looking forward to seeing all of you next summer! ... Both Therese Ptak Buiel and Beth Maher Rinz spent some time on separate occasions this summer with Paula Bruening in Washington, DC -- Paula’s stomping grounds. Paula is an expert on cyber-privacy issues with Hunton & Williams law firm, where she is the deputy executive director of their Center for Information Policy Leadership. Beth Rinz’s son, Kevin, is interning for Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones in Washington, DC, this summer. ... Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mary Caizza-Cerni. Mary’s husband, Stephen Cerni, passed away in May. Prayers too for Tim Russert’s ’72 wife and son, Maureen and Luke. Even though Tim Russert was not at Carroll during our stay, it felt as though he were “one of us.” After all he was the guy that brought Springsteen to campus. ... Heard from Denise Jacobs. She wrote that she is living in Lake in the Hills, IL, 50 miles west of Chicago with her two girls and dog Cocoa. Her daughter, Jamie, is turning 16 and Jackie is 13, so she is ‘enjoying’ the teen years with them!?! Denise said that she is teaching Jamie how to drive, so to please warn any Chicago area alumni that “mini-Denise” will soon be on the streets! Denise works for Centegra Health System, which is the largest hospital system in her county, selling corporate health services like occupational medicine and worksite wellness. She was business development director for a local family owned staffing service for five years prior to taking this position a year ago. Denise reports that her brothers Dan ’78 and Mike ’81 still live in Cleveland with their families, and her folks are doing great, too! Denise still keeps in contact with Maureen Fay. Denise and Maureen rounded up a few of our fellow classmates last year around Christmas time and had a great time catching up. The attendees were Maureen Rose, John MacBride, John Burke, Denny Wirtz, Mary Clair Fanta, Dan (Flip) Filippi, Paul Lange and Denise sat and talked and laughed just like we used to! For those few hours, they all felt that they were still 22 years old -- at least mentally! Don’t we all? It was great to hear from you Denise, and I hope others will follow your lead and send in some new! ... Take care and don’t forget to write! Nancy


summer 2008	Greetings! Heard that Jim and Theresa Ptak Buiel’s son, Alex, has been accepted at Interlochen Arts Academy for the coming school year. Interlochen is a performing arts high school in NW Michigan. Alex has quite a talent for playing the organ and piano, and I was fortunate to hear him play locally last August. I was quite impressed with his ability. Very exciting for him and his family! ... No other scoops for now! Do you have any you’d like to share? Hoping to hear from you soon! Take care, Nancy


spring 2008	Happy 2008 everyone! I have a short column this time. ... Saw Frances Skapek a couple of times recently. She and her husband entered JCU’s “Footprints for Fatima” walk in September which supports the Fatima Family Health Center in Cleveland. ... Patty Gibbons Saunier, the creator and owner of *The Write Stuff, a national classroom magazine, was featured in the January issue of Learning* magazine. The magazine is designed to help students from fourth through eighth grades improve their writing and grammar skills. Patty also is the author of the internationally syndicated column “Grammar Matters.” Patty is married to Denny Saunier ’76, the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce president, and they have three daughters. ... Ran into Paul Gellott ’78, wife Rosie, and son John while Christmas shopping. Rosie still sings with The Cleveland Orchestra. John “doesn’t fall far from the tree!” He is an actor and is involved in Cleveland theatre. ... If I didn’t write your news - I’m sorry. Your information must not have made it to my e-mail! So - don’t wait! Write me today with all your latest - before you forget! Fondly, Nancy


fall 2007	Happy fall y’all! It’s been fantastic weather here in the Midwest -- hope it’s been beautiful wherever you are! ;;; George Yezbak wrote to say that he celebrated the big 5-0 this past summer with an open house with many friends which included Stephen Carlino. Steve lives in Philadelphia (about two hours from George) and they see each other several times a year. They still share a great friendship and a love for Siberian Huskies. George and his wife, Sandi, have a new addition -- a three-year old Husky named Spirit. George would love to hear from Rick Zielinski ’78. The Yezbaks still live in Annapolis, MD, and George still works for the same company so not much has changed for him. If anyone makes it out East, they would love to hear from you - gyezbak@comcast.net. ... MichaelAllison’s wife, Michele, threw a lovely surprise 50th birthday party for Michael in September at their new home in Parkland, FL. I went down for the weekend and helped to provide the ruse to get Michael out of his house while guests gathered at his home for the celebration. Thanks to Gary Tarquinio and his wife, Annette, for providing their assistance in coming up with the plan or us to meet a local watering hole for “pre-party” cocktails (little did Michael know!) before we went to the main event at the Allisons. Everything worked out well and the birthday boy was totally taken by surprise. Michael’s two sons, Ryan (7) and Riley (5), were in on the surprise and are absolutely adorable. Surprisingly enough they both love and are active in sports and are huge Cleveland Browns, Indians and Cavs fans! God love ‘em!!! Had a great time hanging out with Tark and his wife and daughter, Jennifer, while I was in Florida. Gary has been busy teaching school and coaching football. He mentioned that he still keeps in touch with Jimmy Stall -- his second semester freshman roommate at JCU. Lo and behold, when Tark and I were hanging out the night before the party, Gary received some text messages from Jimmy, so I was able to “talk” to him myself. Jimmy still lives in Chicago and is coaching high school football, too. ... Jim Danko was appointed dean of Villanova School of Business in 2005. He successfully led collaborative faculty reorganization and a school-wide emphasis on creativity and innovation -- both in its approach to education and scholarly research, as well as in its own operations. Over the past three years, undergraduate applications to the school nearly doubled and student quality has reached unprecedented levels. Before joining Villanova, Dean Danko served in business school leadership roles at Dartmouth College, the University of Michigan, the University of Washington, Babson College, and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He earned his bachelor’s degree in religious studies at John Carroll University, and his MBA at the University of Michigan. A native of Cleveland, OH, Dean Danko spent the first 17 years of his career as a successful entrepreneur before beginning his work in academic leadership. ... Well -- that’s all the news I have for now. Please write, call, text, e-mail etc. when you have time! Love, Nancy


summer 2007	Hello y’all ... catching up. Read a lovely article in the Plain Dealer in February about Chris Coburn and his work as executive director of CCF Innovations (product commercialization) unit at the Cleveland Clinic. ... Another update for Mary ’84 and Ed DiVincenzo who live in Mobile, AL, and did survive Katrina. They live in a small rural town in West Mobile just 10 miles from Mississippi and would love to hear from SteveCarlino, Bill Peters ’80, Pat Healey, Kate Perry (Ruhling), Lauren D’Amore, Lou Gruttadauria. ... have seen Kathy Livingston out and about a few times in recent months in the Cleveland area. ... ran into Dr. Robert Bohinski recently. He said to say hi to all those that he had in class. ... Mary Doyle Tiryak ’78 - marytiry@netzero.net - wrote to say that she and her husband Edmond live in Wayne, PA. Mary is retired from teaching college English and performs volunteer work for ABC House in Radnor and for Main Line Unitarian Church in Devon, PA, and will work for the New Orleans re-building efforts for one week in August. She also participates in the peace work being conducted throughout the Western suburbs of Philadelphia. Mary has two children: James Doyle and Jennifer Taylor and four grandchildren: Matty (4) and Paul (2) Doyle and Zachary (5) and Alex (3) Taylor. ... John Baran ’78 has a new e-mail - ntboy7756@comcast.net. ... Anne Kelly - annekelly@mac.com - and husband Chris ’78 live in Geneva, IL, and have two children: Christopher and Kathleen. Anne works for RR Donnelley in the photography department. ... Gary Tarquinio is thrilled that Michael Allison is his new neighbor in Florida and said “the roommates are back together again after 28 years!” Hoping to hear some good stories guys! ... had several fantastic 50th birthday celebrations (for about two months!). One of my events included a weekend down at a cabin in Mohican State Park with friends Cathy Dinkel Newell and Beth Maher Rinz. Cathy and Beth reminisced about the physics canoe trip down there back in ’79! It brought back lots of good memories! Hoping your celebrations are many and fantastic. Don’t forget to write! Nancy


spring 2007	Hi everyone! I certainly hope that spring has arrived by the time you are reading this! Easter was this past weekend, and Cleveland had 12+ inches of snow this weekend alone (up to 30 in some areas). Christmas and Easter swapped seasons this year! ... I am sorry to report that a classmate passed away -- Will Secre died on February 18, 2007. ... Jeffrey Kraus, his wife Cherie (Balan), and two children Josh (17) and Jamie (14) are living in Chicago. Jeff received his law degree from the University of Chicago and works for ALAS, Inc. as loss prevention counsel. ... Michael Allison has relocated to sunnier, warmer climes. Michael is working for Home Depot offices and now lives in the West Palm Beach, FL. area. ... I was coming back from San Francisco in March and ran into Pete Hughes on my flight. He and his wife, Bonnie, had been celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary with friends in Carmel, CA. Pete’s wife mentioned that one of Bryan (Harpo) Kennedy’s ’80 children attends the school that she teaches at! Small world. ... The Singing Angels, Cleveland’s world-renowned youth chorus, recently elected, Michael Pappas, CPA, its president and chief executive officer. Mike is a director at Cleveland-based accounting firm, Barnes Wendling CPAs, Inc. He is the head of the accounting and assurance services department, where he has over 25 years of experience advising closely held business owners and not-for-profit organizations to build and maintain their net worth. Mike has been involved with The Singing Angels since 2004 having also served as treasurer. Mike lives in Kirtland with his wife, Christine, and three children, Angela, Carli and Michael. A little info ABOUT The Singing Angels -- they most recently performed at the National Tree Lighting in Washington, D.C. The Singing Angels are now composed of more than 300 youth from nine Northeast Ohio counties, 74 municipalities and 140 schools. The Singing Angels strives to maintain a diversity of students from every race, creed, religion, ethnicity and socio-economic background. Sound like a great group! I’m sure it’s very rewarding. ... Mary (Miller ’84) - phonicsqueen1@yahoo.com - and Ed DiVincenzo - ecenzo@yahoo.com - report that they will both be turning 50 soon. They have three children Kevin (23) who lives in Ohio and works as a computer consultant. Selah (20) who is a store manager at Cashé and Leah (19) who works for Starbuck’s and attends the University of South Alabama. Ed has been in vending sales and has owned and operated several bread and cookie routes. He claims that this attributes to the extra pounds they both carry! Mary got her master’s when the kids were small and is currently finishing up another master’s in educational leadership. She works for the central office in Mobile County Public School System. They have lived in the sunny south for over 20 years and would love to hear from some voices in our past. ... Denise LeGrand wrote to say that she is a math instructor at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock (UALR) and the director of the mathematics lab there. She has worked there for 17 years and previously taught at LSU for seven years. Denise received her master’s from the University of Arizona and then spent two years in New York City. She really enjoys traveling and has visited Hong Kong, Hawaii, Alaska, Paris, Austria to name a few. She is divorced with two wonderful sons - Christopher (26) is working on his physics Ph.D. at Stanford and Bruce (24) graduated with a BS in biology and is graduating with his RN certified to work in the ER at the hospital affiliated with Washington University, St Louis. Besides traveling, Denise loves fishing, dancing and motorcycle riding and she traveled 14,000 miles last year on the back of one! She would love to hear from our classmates -- djlegrand@ualr.edu. ... So how will you all be celebrating the big 5-0 milestone? Would love to hear about your plans and adventures! Beth Maher Rinz and I rang in Sue Vargo Kunas’s 50th with her in January and then I celebrated Cathy Dinkel Newell’s 50th with her and a couple of other gals at Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake during the middle of March in a lovely winter snowstorm. We have all had a spectacular time welcoming in these “fantastic 50s!” Wishing you all your own spectacular festivities! ... Keep your news coming, with love, Nancy

winter 2007	Nancy regrets that she hasn�t received any news from the class of �79 at this time. Please forward information to her to prevent an empty column next issue!

fall 2006	Hi all! Ran into Kurt Wollenberg recently. Kurt works for Lubrizol, is married with three children: Abbey, Jill and Ethan. ... Enjoyed a fabulous homecoming celebration with the �fun guys� from those other �70s classes (and one �80) -- Terry O�Brien �78, Bill O�Brien �81, John O�Brien �76, Bob �Bobo� Rees, Dave DeAngelis �77, Jon Manilla �78, Bob Burak �78 and Mark Fasano �78. Those guys still know how to have a good time! (Did we win the game, by the way?) ... Also, celebrated Mike Tarasco�s 25th wedding anniversary with them (Mike and his wife are such a cute couple!) A great time was had by all. ... After living in Baltimore, MD, for the past four years, Brent Berkman and his wife, Jeannie, will be relocating to Chicago. Brent accepted a position as a senior manager with KPMG, LLP real estate group and can be reached at bdberkman@msn.com. ... Ran into Mary Bean Mackessy with her two gorgeous daughters, Abbey and Carly, at an Indians game in August. Supposedly Rick Mackessy was there with son Ricky in the �corporate seats,� but I never saw them! ... Other recent sightings in the Cleveland neighborhoods include: Bill Kern �76, Dave Rodney �77 and Frances Skapek. ... Well, I did it!!! I achieved my �50 states by 50 goal� in September. I celebrated my parents� 50th wedding anniversary with them with a land-cruise to Alaska. What a wonderful way to celebrate the culmination of my goal and their 50 years! My favorite excursions were kayaking around Ketchikan�s Eagle Island and flight seeing and landing at Denali�s base camp! Incredible!! ... Hope you�re enjoying your own adventures, peace and love, Nancy

summer 2006	Hi friends � I attended the JCU Alumni Awards dinner in May where Father Joe Callahan, Padre Jos�, received an Alumni Medal. To hear his presentation speech, click on http://www.jcu.edu/alumni/06awards.htm and look for the following column on the right side of the page: Presentation of Fr Callahan by Tom Gerst �61. It was a lovely evening. Great to see Joe and his family -- he had a whole contingent that followed him up to JCU from Columbus, OH. Joe definitely deserves the honor. Joe will be in El Salvador until next year and plans to return to the Cleveland Diocese at that time. ... Theresa Ptak Buiel, Cathy Dinkel Newell and Beth Maher Rinz were also in attendance to celebrate and honor Joe receiving his award. Dr. Donald Coburn �43 also received an Alumni Award that evening and his entourage was present, including son Chris Coburn and daughter-in-law Nancy Looney Coburn. Two of Nancy and Chris� kids were there, daughter Carolyn and son Sean. Chris continues to do mega bike races -- Chris was riding from Cleveland to Cape Cod last I heard but stated it was �just a one way trip!� In the spirit of things, I�ve been biking around Shaker Heights and University Heights! I think I�ve maxed out at about 10 miles at the most at one time! I should be ready for one of those big rides any day now!!!! ... I hear from Karen McGuire McCarthy who is married to Michael -- they have three children. Their oldest son, Michael, graduated from Carroll in May, daughter Colleen is a year younger and a junior at Mount St. Mary�s University in Maryland, while their youngest son, Matt, will be starting at U of Dayton in the fall ... so they�ll be empty nesters but with all the tuition, won�t have any $ to travel! Karen remains in close contact with the girls from Chicago. Karen reports they are all doing well and as fun as ever! They still get together about once a year. ... Mariellen O�Brien Hendricks� oldest son, Michael, graduated from Georgetown in May and plans on working for the Justice Department. ... John Taormina wrote to say that he relocated to Durham, NC, from Ann Arbor, MI, in 2000 and now works at Duke University as the director of the Visual Resources Center (slide, photograph, and digital image library). Prior to this, he held a similar position at the University of Michigan for a year and a half, and at The Ohio State University for the 13 years before that. Last year was a significant professional milestone for John as he was the recipient of the 2005 Distinguished Service Award and the 2005 Achievement Award of the Visual Resources Association from the international organization of image media professionals. He was the first male in the association to receive the Distinguished Service Award, after 18 years of it being given, and the only member to receive both awards in one year. Congratulations, John! What a nice honor. At the same time, he stepped down as editor of the VRA Bulletin, the association�s quarterly journal after nine years. He states that his former professors Robert Getscher and Roger Welchans should be pleased he is still committed to academic arts and humanities. John is also enjoying the exciting, and stimulating work environment as well as watching Blue Devil basketball. John would also like to know how the �old second floor Bernet Hall gang is doing?� So how about it guys? Let us know -- please write in and share the events in your lives. ... heard from Mike Korpics. He reports that he, his wife, Kathleen and four kids are doing fine. He is still working as an ER doc paying for his kid�s education: with one in med school (he couldn�t talk him out of it), two at Northwestern University (he couldn�t convince any of them to go to JCU) and one in high school. Whew! He didn�t have much time to write - and had to get back to work so he could pay those bills!!!. ... Sightings in the Cleveland area: Bill Kern �76 and Dave Randall (????) and Frances Skapek. ... I was taking a walk in the JCU neighborhood recently and I ran into Dr. Frank Navratil. He was teaching a finance summer school class. We chatted a bit and reminisced about the �old day� when Dr. Jerry Clifford, SJ, was in the department. Even though we thought things were difficult when we had to study and perform at JCU, those times certainly were the ones that formed us! We definitely are better for having had them and making it through the struggle. ... Wishing you all days of peace and sunshine, love, Nancy

spring 2006	spring greetings! ... heard from Tom Chialastri. He moved to Atlanta from Miami about three years ago and works for Abraxas Business Services. The company he works for provides mergers and acquisition, exit strategy planning and business brokering services to mid-sized business. Tom is a chief financial officer for the company. He still travels home to Miami quite a bit to get his sea food and ocean fix and visit family. ... Mike Horning is living in Potomac, MD, with his wife, Debbie. They have three children: Michael, Jr. is completing his junior year at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA - Christopher is completing his junior year in high school at Georgetown Prep (Mike�s alma mater and another fine Jesuit school!) - and daughter Kimberly will be moving on to high school next year. After spending nine years in public accounting, Mike moved to the insurance world and has spent the past 18 years as chief financial officer at two different insurance companies. He currently works for United Educators an insurance company located in Chevy Chase, MD, that insures the liability risks of schools, colleges and universities. He proudly notes that John Carroll University is one of their insured. He also mentioned that he was responsible for the hiring of another JCU graduate, Jennifer Costarella �00. Mike (as well as the rest of us, I�m sure) would love to hear what�s going on with Mike Pappas, Jim Zins, Rob Rosen, Jim Coyne, Dan Grady, Pete Hughes, Chuck Kretschmer �78 and any other IBG brothers from the late �70s. ... So how about it guys and gals out there - please let us know what is going on. Just drop me a line (see my e-mail address above?). Don�t forget to write! as always, Nancy

winter 2006	hi fellow �79ers! Happy 2006 to one and all ... John Ehrman wrote to say that he is getting married to Elizabeth Justen on April 15th in Houston. The children population in the Ehrman�s home will be increasing from one to five! Wow! What a jump! Elizabeth�s four children: Angela (18), Audrey (14), Chris and Josh (12 year old twin boys) will be joining John�s son. John�s son, John, has been accepted to the USMC officer corps training in Quantico for the summer. The Ehrman�s plan to be Cleveland area for Homecoming this coming fall. We hope to see y�all then! ... went to a reception for Father Niehoff at JCU last fall. Was great to meet him. He�s such a wonderful speaker. Ran into Jim Dolak there. Jim is an anesthesiologist with the Cleveland Clinic in obstetrics and gynecology. He loves his work and enjoys seeing all those wonderful little babies. ... Norm and Mary Riley and their clan have moved to Bay Village. ... Chris and Nancy Coburn�s daughter, Carolyn, will be attending Georgetown this coming fall. ... That�s all the news for now. Please call or write and let us know what you and yours have been up to. happy days, Nancy

fall 2005	Hello, it�s me ... it�s so amazing when you hear a song from the old days and it brings you back. ... whenever I hear the old Todd Rundgren �hello its me� I am reminded of the rat bar, dances, etc. What songs bring you back? It always amazes me how profound of an effect music can have on our memories. ... Heard from Rick Ryznar. He and his wife Ree live with their FIVE children in Hilliard, OH, Annie (19), Ricky (17), Patrick (14), Timmy (11) and Mary (9). What do you do in your spare time, Rick? Rick - ryznar@sbcglobal.net - would love to hear from the guys that lived in the first floor Pacelli T-wing. Let us know who you connect with Rick. ... Michael Allison is enjoying an early temporary retirement these days ... nice article last John Carroll magazine about JCU�s Chicago connection. So nice to see and read about the successes of the familiar faces from our era: Mary Ann Bergerson Ahern �76, Paul Hulseman �82, The Farrell �boys� Bill �77, Brian �78 and Rick, Tim Freeman �78, Jim Purcell �80, Mark Talamonti �78, Terry O�Brien �78 and coach Schweickert �60. ... Recently enjoyed �chaperoning� my parents on a trip to northern Michigan for their 49th wedding anniversary. During our trip, we had the pleasure of visiting the Boskydel Vineyards in Lake Leelanau. My parents had been there before and loved it -- not only for the high quality Michigan wine, but for the Jesuit/JCU connection. The vintner - Bernard Rink is from JCU�s class of �48. Mr. Rink has been visited by Father Birkenhauer and National Geographic in the past and is currently being honored by his fellow Michigan winemakers for pioneering the northern Michigan wine industry. Congratulations to you, Mr. Rink! We enjoyed visiting with him for his tasty wine and quick wit. I tried to convince him to return to campus for his 60th reunion in a few years, but he said he only would if he doesn�t have to leave Leelanau county, MI! ... not much else to report. Time to go, because �baby, I was Born to Run!� Nancy

summer 2005	Hi y�all! I hope you are all enjoying a fabulous summer with friends and family. At least we have more seasonal temperatures this year, in JCU country! I just love the summer. Had a most fabulous experience recently celebrating my mother�s 74th birthday! My sister, Carolyn, my mom and I all went skydiving together! What a blast! More than myself, I am so proud of my mother! Hmm, wondered where I got my sense of adventure?!? ... Heard from Bob Meilinger. He is living in Portage, MI, (near Kalamazoo) with his wife of 20 years, Joann and their two boys, John (18) and James (16). John graduated from Portage Northern High School with highest honors and was also a four-year letterman in swimming and water polo. Jimmy will be a sophomore at Portage Northern and lettered in track, swimming and water polo. John will be the third generation and third John Meilinger attending JCU. Bob received his MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College in �83 and has worked for Rockwell Automation (Reliance Electric and Allen Bradley) as a senior sales engineer for the past 20 years. Later this summer, Bob and his family will be traveling to Numazu, Japan. It is a sister city to Kalamazoo, MI, and the Meilingers have been invited by the Numazu committee to travel there to help represent Kalamazoo. What an honor! Bob can be reached at rbmeilinger@powersystems.rockwell.com. ... Ran into many familiar faces at JCU�s reunion weekend in June: Dave Chervenak, Tom Gallagher, Mike Gordon �80, Lou Zahara �80, Jim Antall �80, Jeanne Wall �80, Mark Zemba, Kevin Kane �75, John Mastrantoni �80, Rob Lombardi �80, Phil Lopez �80, Tommy Heilman �80, Bill Kern �76. Always great to see not only people from our class, but the �before and after� years from when we were JCU. It was great to catch up with everyone. ... Ran into Charlie Wagner �83 and Tommy Hartnett �81 one night in the �hood� - had great laughs and a fun time going down memory lane. At one point we discussed all the reasons why John Carroll plays such an important part in our lives - even for those that feel like they don�t need to be a part of JCU anymore. John Carroll helped make all of us who we are today - good, honest, hard working, intelligent sons and daughters, husbands and wives, parents, friends, colleagues and citizens. Without our experiences, our classes, our successes and failures and our relationships -- good and bad of it all -- we wouldn�t be who we are today. We are all very lucky to have touched each other�s lives in whatever way -- big or small. I know I treasure my friendships from the past. I enjoy the ones I have kept and the new ones I have added along the way and look forward to the relationships I will add in the future. We are lucky for whatever amount of time we have known each other. We have been very blessed. Just a little �Agacinski philosophizing!� What would you have expected from all those philosophy courses? ... enjoy your lazy, crazy, hazy summer days! Nancy

spring 2005	Hello everyone: as I�m writing we�ve been experiencing a fabulous spring in the Cleveland area. The nicest in recent memory. Well deserved after our brutal winter. We did break old records and had the �snowiest winter ever� with 105+ inches! Couldn�t we have had a better distinction? The sunniest winter ever would have been nice! I hope it�s been as sunny and temperate wherever you are! I was traveling through Cincinnati airport on my vacation in March and learned I was traveling with JCU students who were traveling to Rome with for holiday! They were quite fun -- so much energy. I was a tad jealous not to be traveling to Roma with them! At least they were in Roma before John Paul II died. I�m sure many of us are feeling sad at his passing. We were so lucky to have had him as our pope. Quite an incredible man. Pretty amazing that he was elected when we were in college! Good memories. ... have seen the Coburns (Chris and Nancy et al), Jeff Krouse and Patrice Aylward in the Cleveland area of late. All looking well! (naturally!) ... heard from a few classmates: John Ehrman jnehrman@swbell.net lives in Woodlands (about 30 miles north of Houston), TX, with his son, John. He is still working in the oil business and primarily splits his time between offshore TX and LA, as well as Colombia and Venezuela. His son, John spent two semesters at JCU, and was third generation there. He just turned 23 and is finishing university in Texas and has been sworn into the USMC officer�s program and will report to Quantico in July. ... We thank him for his service and our prayers will be with him. ... Michael J. Kelly DrJ1982@yahoo.com is living in Mount Vernon, OH, and has a 12-year-old son, Daniel. ... Mary Nell Barrord Gorski marynell@fuse.net is living in Liberty Township, OH (where is that Mary Nell?) with her husband, Jim �77, and two daughters. Katie (21) is a senior at Miami University (Ohio) majoring in journalism with a political analysis minor and will graduate in May and is then going to attend law school next fall (wow!). Missy (20) is a sophomore at JCU majoring in biology and chemistry. Mary Nell says that she and Jim get a big kick out of visiting JCU as parents - saying �the campus has changed a lot but is still so beautiful and brings back so many memories. We love that Casey Bukala (who baptized her) is still on campus keeping an eye on her!� Mary Nell works for the Lakota Schools as a special education instructor. ... Great to hear from you all! Keep the news coming! fondly, Nancy

winter 2005	Happy 2005 y�all! hope everyone enjoyed great times with family and friends over the holidays. ... Heard from Mary McNeeley Baran. She sends her wishes to everyone and reports she is living in Westlake, OH, has four children -- Audrey (24), John Patrick (22), Brigit (17), and Sara (15). Mary went to La Roche University in Pittsburgh after John Carroll and received a degree in psychology. She currently is a disabilities supervisor for Catholic Charities Services in Head Start. Mary can be reached at: mtbaran@msn.com. ... Michael Allison is doing well. He was recently promoted to executive vice president of Human Resources for Victoria�s Secret Direct. Congratulations to you, Michael! ... Received a lovely Christmas letter from Fr. Joseph Callahan. Joe was transferred to a new parish in El Salvador in May. Joe had been in Chirilagua, and that parish now has two Salvadoran priests serving there. He is now in a parish at El Carmen, La Union and is challenged by the new work in front of him. Due to the 2001 earthquakes, the rectory at El Carmen, was damaged, however a very generous family is lending Joe a house near the church to live in. Joe certainly keeps busy between his parish, administrating the Diocesan Pastoral Center �El Castano,� (where the priority for this year is to finish the chapel) and his work as treasurer of the Diocese! Great to hear from you, Joe! ... Just a short and sweet column this time. Wishing you all a healthy and happy coming year, Nancy

fall 2004	Hi everyone: now where was I when I last wrote? I remember ... I actually ran out of my allotted space with the post-reunion column and had to carry over information to this issue. I think this may be my first time as class columnist that that has happened! It�s great to have so much news to share with you. ... Getting back to the reunion: �Most understanding and going above-and-beyond spouse� award goes to Ann Legutki who not only encouraged John to come to the reunion but when he had an extremely hectic work week the week of and wasn�t going to be able to make it -- she bought him a plane ticket and arranged for a rental car, so that he would be able to be here. Now that�s support! Thanks so much for doing that Ann -- it meant a lot to John and also to us. It was great to see you, John! ... Sue Walsh-Reed�s son, Brandon is a �04 graduate of Willoughby South High School and is going into astronautical engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL -- very impressive. Sue stated that Brandon knew from the time he was a little boy that all he ever wanted to be was an astronaut. Amazing, it�s great to know what you want to be in life. Our hearts and prayers go out to Tim Lawley and his family -- his wife passed away unexpectedly a few months before our reunion. They had recently adopted their 3rd child. ... Anne McGah Bailey and her family now live in Bonita Springs, FL, where Anne works as a realtor. Hope you and our other Florida alumni/ae were left unscathed by the Hurricanes this fall. ... Grace Laast Adofo is an OB/GYN in the Philadelphia area and survived an �adventurous� trip to Cleveland for the reunion which included cancelled flights and lost luggage. ... Stephen Carlino is back in the States, living in the Philadelphia area and running his own nightclub. ... Rick Deneweth and his son, RJ, made the road trip from Traverse City, MI, together. It looked as though RJ had more fun in the big tent than with the kiddie camp! Glad you came RJ! Classmates asked about those who sent an RSVP for the reunion but did not attend - Camille Rosso Keys, Theresa Ptak Buiel, John Taormina and Anne Kelly. What happened guys? People also wondered where and how the these class members are -- Maureen Rose Fay, Paul Lange, Karen McGuire McCarthy, Michael Allison, Matt Fatica, Greg Louis, Mariellen O�Brien Hendricks, Pat (Schreiner) and Tyler Ham. You and all those that weren�t able to attend were sorely missed. I hope these updates from the reunion will help to entice those who missed this one to plan to return for our next reunion in �09 (never to early to start planning!). ... Other news: Mary Syracuse Harmon is living in Willoughby, OH, with her husband, Larry, and three children: Larry (21), Carrie (17) and Gary (12). She works for Philips Medical Systems as a technical writer and can be reached at meharmon@writeme.com. ... Gary Tarquinio is going through a career change -- entering the teaching and coaching arena at his old high school Chaminade in Fort Lauderdale. ... Ann Harrington-Ray and her family relocated to the Vero Beach, FL, area. ... Ran into Mary Ann Meaker at a Greek festival this summer and she was so sweet to send me a note with some class info: she had dinner with Ellen Hobbs Hirshman and Mary Meehan Kirby this summer and reports Ellen�s older son, David, is attending Wake Forest and younger son, Noah, is involved in lots of athletic activities. Mary is now a grandmother and a very avid (and awesome) golfer. Mary stated she would have come to the reunion if Michael Allison had come. (next time we�ll just have to make sure that you both come!). Mary Ann also dined with Beth Maher Rinz and Anne (Nina) Crowley Hatton. Anne has a son, Devin, in middle school and works for Dennison University. ... I had the time of my life in Italy this past May with Cathy Dinkel Newell, her mother, daughter Betsy and friend Meg. We stayed at a villa in Tuscany for a week and enjoyed Rome for another week. Cathy�s daughter had studied in Rome the previous semester (she attends Loyola U. -- Chicago) and was quite the guide and chaperone! We had such a fabulous time. Ahhh the gelato, Delicioso! ... Keep all of your news coming. Wishing you a peaceful and blessed holiday season, love, Nancy

summer 2004	Wasn�t the reunion weekend a fabulous time? I am so glad so many of you were able to make it. Even though the weather was a little chilly at night, there wasn�t any rain and it didn�t stop our fun! The weekend began Friday evening with Father Glynn�s State of John Carroll address, followed by the president�s reception with scrumptious appetizers and open bar. Dinner was served buffet style on the quad and very tasty: cavatelli, pork loin, chicken, and veal marsala and all the trimmings. On Saturday, four �brave� members of our class were up and about to enter the 9 a.m. - 3k walk: Mary Ann Meaker, Mary Davis Riley, Beth Maher Rinz and Cathy Dinkel Newell. Late morning, some of us attended Dr. Joseph Kelly�s talk on �History and Fiction in the DaVinci Code� - enlightening. For lunch, we gathered on the quad again for a picnic lunch of chicken, burgers and dogs. At 6 p.m., a lovely Mass at Gesu included a moment of remembrance for alumni that had died in the previous five years. May we keep Larry Strohen, William Burns and Arthur Stringer from our class and their families in our prayers. After Mass, we met on the chapel steps for our class picture and I must say we look awesome! Our class dinner afterwards featured filet mignon wrapped in bacon, mixed fresh vegetables and thinly sliced potatoes. Dessert was a scrumptious flourless cake. Yummy! After dinner we went to the big tent and/or the bar for music and cocktails. Sunday morning the grand finale event was a buffet brunch on the Quad. We had a very nice turnout for our class. Some people came for an event or two and others came for the whole weekend. Thanks to wonderful Rosalie Massey, the reunion director, and to the committee: Mary Davis Riley who single-handedly wrote notes on the pre-reunion fliers to everyone in the class, as well as called classmates and attended meetings (but did not receive any free drink tickets for the weekend!), Beth Maher Rinz and Nancy Looney Coburn, who made many a phone call and attended several meetings, as well as Brent Berkman who made calls and �attended� meetings via conference call from Maryland (we missed you at the reunion, Brent!). And even though Sue Walsh-Reed wasn�t an official member of the committee, she is an honorary member for making so many calls to encourage people to attend the festivities. In attendance: Danita Davis Thomas, Louise Gruttadauria-Bohn, Suzanne Vallo and Greg Tripi, Jim Schaefer, Anne McGah Bailey, Katie O�Toole, Jane Ehrbar Simon, Jennifer Boyle Beck, Rick Farrell, George Yezbak, Mary Bader Meyer, Michael Keresman, Mary Haas-McGraw, Mary Bean Mackessy and Rick Mackessy, Nancy Looney Coburn, Grace Laast Adofo, Mary Davis and Norm Riley, Jon Gorczyca, Kathy Corbett Skerkoski, Gail Lorei Robinson, Mary McCafferty Kander, Michael Poremba, Diana Jarzyna Kovalcheck, Eileen Lyons Rodgers, Tom Kaiser, Mary Ann Meaker, Timmy Lawley, Greg Schmidt, Jim McDonald, Dan Hanson, Mike Miller, Tony Martino, Gil Macali, Cathy Dinkel Newell, Beth Maher Rinz, Susan Vargo Kunas, Jeff Krouse, Steve Carlino, Frances Skapek, John Walsh, Fran Kosir Reddick, Cindy May Lamb, Bong Kauh, Jim Hoddick, Al Hess, Jim Meathe, Rick Deneweth, John Legutki, Mike Miller, Loren D�Amore, Tony Slotwinski, Carl Hughes, Donna Kobak, Sue Walsh-Reed and me. I will continue with the reunion information in the following issue. �Talk� to you then, Nancy

spring 2004	Hi everyone -- I�m hoping everyone is making their plans to attend our 25th reunion next month! It�s not too late -- please come. No matter how much or how little time you can visit, it will be a fabulous get-together! The dates again are June 18-20. We want everyone there! It will be fun -- looking forward to seeing everyone! ... I�ve had a few calls and e-mails from classmates -- Karen Lysek Greco, John Taormina, Greg and Suzanne (Vallo) Tripi, who are interested in coming to Reunion Weekend. The more people that come, the more fun we will have! If anyone has questions, please feel free to call me or Rosalie Massey at 216.397.3014. Don�t forget -- the reunion is free for our class! What great incentives! To be able to party together and for FREE! ... Heard through the grapevine that the IXYs had a celebration in Vegas in March. Saw Alex Alavanja and his wife one evening and they told me about it before hand and then I ran into Nick Iarussi �81, Rocco Dolciato �82 and John Mastrantoni �80 at the airport after they came back. Sounded like a great time -- the IXYs always know how to party! ... Our reunion will be another great time to catch up with everyone. I look forward to seeing you there! There�s sure to be more news in the next column from the reunion. Happy spring -- ciao, Nancy

winter 2004	Happy 2004 and happy 25th reunion year! I hope you are all making plans to attend our 25th year JCU reunion to be held on campus this coming June 18-June 20. It is sure to be a grand and fun-filled event which -- won't be the same without you! As an added bonus, note that the reunion will be FREE to the 25th year reunion class and their families. If you have any questions about the reunion or events, please feel free to contact me directly at 216-932-2824 or contact Rosalie at the alumni office at 216-397-3014. ... I attended a professional continuing education course in December and ran into Mary Bean Mackessy and Russ Sebbio. What a small world! They will be at the reunion -- WILL YOU? Beth Maher, Gil Macali, Brent Berkman and I are members of the reunion committee and will be diligently working to make it a fun and well attended event. It will only be better if you come! So, begin making those plans for June! ... Linda Ganzhorn Kupiec has returned to JCU to receive her teaching certificate -- how exciting for you Linda! ... Gregory J.W. Urwin, M.A., wrote with some news. He is a professor of history and graduate chair at Temple University and specializes in the following fields: U.S. Military History, War of Independence, Civil War, Indian Wars, World War II, and the U.S. Marine Corps. He has been involved with the History Channel producing a two-hour documentary, "Wake Island, Alamo of the Pacific," based on his book, Facing Fearful Odds: The Siege of Wake Island. (It aired on June 2, 2003). He also worked on the the production as senior historical consultant and appeared frequently on camera in interviews that were shot on Wake Island in August 2002. Other big personal news for him includes that his eighth book, Black Flag over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War, will be published in the fall of 2003 by Southern Illinois University Press. ... Wow. 8th book - and I have enough trouble finding time to write checks to pay my bills. ... George Yezbak heard from Mark Stevens. Mark has a daughter in college, lives in Sarasota, FL, and is still a pilot with Northwest Airlines. George added that he sounds as though he is doing well. George is supposed to get together with Mark this spring. ... Carla Calevich was awarded her Doctor of Philosophy degree on Saturday, August 16 from Kent State University in Curriculum and Instruction. She has been with the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District for many years and is now the director of curriculum and instruction for the district. ... Karen Lysyk Greco was added as a partner and head of the trust and estates practice group at Kohrman, Jackson & Krantz PLL, a Cleveland-based law firm. Karen was with Brouse McDowell in Cleveland. ... Michael Keresman CEO of Cardinal Commerce Corp (which provides payment authentication services for e-commerce) was quoted in the Chicago Tribune recently in an article on telecommuting stating "letting employees work at home thwarts informal brainstorming and bonding." Additionally, he reported that when his clients visit the office, they like to meet the people they're dealing with and see a bustling, professional environment. There is perhaps nothing more disconcerting to a customer than walking into a building where there's supposed to be people working, and nobody's there." ... Heard from Thomas Amodeo and he�d been living out in California, but is now back in the Cleveland area. He has worked for Parker Hannifin for the past 15 years and currently works in the Automation Group as a senior group financial analyst. Tom is a CPA, certified in Ohio, and a certified management accountant as well. Tom stays pretty active with softball, golf, tennis, racquetball and vacationing to warm places! He currently lives in Mayfield Heights and can be reached at: tamodeo@parker.com, 216-896-2773 at work and 440-449-0789 at home. ... Greg Louis wrote to say that he is still running and recently coached grade school track and cross country at St. Bernadette in Westlake. His daughter, Emily, is currently attending JCU! He's been in the practice of ophthalmology sixteen years now. His practice, The Cataract Eye Center, focuses on cataracts, glaucoma and other diseases of the eyes. (I see frequently see your tv ads, Greg! Great to see a familiar face on tv!) Greg also reports that he remarried this past year to Karen Lavelle. They have seven children between them: Matthew, Emily, Megan, Julie, Patrick, Tommy and Catherine and live in Westlake. ... Thanks everyone for all the fabulous updates. Congratulations to everyone on their wonderful news -- thanks for sharing! ... Remember its it's less than 6 months until our 25th reunion next June! I hope we have the biggest and best turnout ever. See you in June, Nancy

summer 2003	Hello everyone: hope you are all enjoying a fun-filled and relaxing summer ... Consider this your first of many personal invitations to attend our 25th JCU Reunion, next June 17-20, 2004. Can you believe it's going to be 25 years? For those of you that haven�t been back, please come. For those of you that have attended in the past, please return for what is sure to be the best ever. A year should be enough time to clear your schedules! More details to come. ... Heard from Brent D. Berkman. He is living in Cockeysville, MD, (outside of Baltimore) and working as a senior manager for Reznick, Fedder & Silverman and can be reached at his e-mail address: brent.berkman@rfs.com or by snail-mail at Two Hopkins Plaza, Suite 2100, Baltimore, MD 21201. ... Cathy Dinkel Newell heard from Rosanna Garofalo recently. Rose is living and working in the Chicago area. ... Beth Maher Rinz reports that Paula Bruening is staff counsel for the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, DC. CDT is a non-profit, public interest organization that is dedicated to developing and implementing public policies to protect civil liberties and democratic values on the Internet. In her work at CDT, she focuses on privacy and defense of the First Amendment on the Internet. Prior to her arrival at CDT, she was the director of compliance and policy for TRUSTe, the online privacy seal program, where she was responsible for compliance and for working with the government on evolving privacy policy. While with TRUSTe, she served on the Federal Trade Commission Advisory Committee on Access and Security. ... I attended a JCU social in the spring for the seniors and alumnae/i to network with alums for job search direction. What a great concept and a fabulous turnout. It was wonderful to see all of the energy the seniors have ready for pursuing their careers. The first person I ran into at the function was Rick Chelko �80. Rick and his wife, Debbie, live in Bay Village with their daughter, Erica (19), and son, Austin (15). Rick has his own consulting business and seems to be enjoying life and staying in great shape. ... I attended the alumni awards ceremony May 16, up at JCU campus. I was very honored to receive the Silver Quill award for my contributions to the magazine. It is such an honor to be chosen. I am so humbled to be in such impressive company with the other honorees -- eight other alumni/ae and five new grads. It was a wonderful event and I felt doubly blessed to not only be recognized but to have some of my dearest friends present for the celebration: Cathy Dinkel Newell drove in from Rochester, NY, that day, Sue Vargo Kunas came up from Akron and Beth Maher Rinz also attended all the way from University Heights! Thanks also goes out to all the planners of the event, as well as to Bruce Thompson �43 for presenting me with my award. If you�d like to see pictures and hear brief audio segments of the 2003 Alumni Awards dinner visit http://www.jcu.edu/alumni/news/awards03.htm. You can check out all of the honorees! ... Hope to catch up with you soon -- and don't forget, it's even easier to contact me now with e-mail nagacinski@yahoo.com. Nancy

spring 2003	Happy Spring everyone -- hope you all survived the wicked winter weather that is hopefully behind us by the time you receive this issue. The Midwest and Northeastern parts of the country were really dumped on this year. Yucky!! � I received some notes from a few classmates: John Legutki lives in Elmhurst, IL and can be reached at jclegutki@msn.com. � Scott Burnett wrote that he is living in Pittsburgh with his wife, Ann, and five children and cannot believe how time flies � his oldest daughter is a sophomore at John Carroll University and his second daughter is a freshman at the University of Dayton. Scott is the treasurer for Jendoco Construction Corporation in Penn Hills. He can be reached at sburnett@jendoco.com. � Also heard that Greg Schmidt is married (send the details, Greg!) and Gil Macali is engaged. Congratulations to both of you. Greg and State Representative Tim Grendell �75 are co-hosting a new radio show called "This week in Ohio." It will "air" every Sunday night between 7-8 p.m. on 1220 AM WHK in Cleveland and WHKW 1440 AM in Youngstown/Warren. The first show was Sunday, November 10th! The mission of the show is to educate the public on pending legislation in Ohio as well as Federal legislation and its potential impact on the state. It also features segments that will recognize an Ohio company of the week and a non-profit or religious organization of the week in Ohio which will applaud businesses and community organizations that are contributing to making Ohio a better place to work and live. They will also have a report called "Inside the Courts" presented by Judge Diane Grendell. Sounds very informative, Greg, not to mention, a lot of work. � Rick Ryznar reported that he is living in Hilliard, OH, a suburb of Columbus, with his wife of 21 years - Ree and 5 children: Annie (16), Ricky (14), Patrick (12), Timmy (9) and Marybrigid (6). The kids keep their parents busy with sports, Irish dancing and the typical chaos one finds in a family this size. Rick graduated from the Cleveland Clinic School of Perfusion in �84 and is currently the Chief Per fusionist at Doctors Hospital, where they opened up a new heart program last year. Rick would like to hear from some of the guys who lived in Pacelli, first floor T-wing with him, he can be contacted at ryznar@aol.com. � George Yezbak heard from Mark Stevens. He is living in Sarasota, FL, continues to work as a pilot for Northwest Airlines and has a daughter in college. � John Molchan and his wife, Shawn, were "spotted" in Cleveland's social paper - Currents -- for attending the Malachi House fund raiser at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel last fall. � Hoping this newsletter finds you in good health and hopefully finds our country at peace. For those of you that want to look up class notes on the Web, be sure to check out http://www.jcu.edu/alumni/johncarrollmagazine/index.htm then you can click on your class year and read past and current class notes! � Fondly, Nancy

winter 2003	Hi everyone -- I hope you�ve enjoyed a fabulous spring and summer. ... I had an adventurous summer myself, visiting Asia -- Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Always great to visit new and far places and learn about new cultures. ... It was nice to hear from George Yezbak. He and his wife, Sandi, live in Annapolis, MD along with their three Siberian Huskies. George and Sandi recently celebrated their 17th anniversary! George is the vice president for a regional wholesale distributor of plumbing and heating and has worked for them for 15 years. His wife is the sales training manager for NV-Ryan Homes. � George regularly sees Stephen Carlino, however it will be another 18 months or so, as Steve has decided to stop working and travel in Europe. Normally he lives in Philadelphia. So unless you are in France, the best way to reach him now is by e-mail at: stephenp07@aol.com. George and Steve have plans to be in attendance for our next class reunion in June 2004. George would love to have an interim update from people like Loren, Louise, Diana and Eileen. If anyone gets to the Annapolis area, George would love to hear from you and reports that it�s a beautiful area. To contact him by e-mail, use: gyezbak@comcast.net. ... I actually heard back from Steve Carlino �on the road.� He�s following his dreams, has spent the past 8 months in Nice, France, and will be moving to London after that. He has traveled to Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, England and Denmark and is enjoying every minute of his adventure! ... A few months ago, the secretary at one of my outpatient clinics was telling me she was having lunch that day with a �friend� -- and lo and behold, the �friend� turned out to be Linda Ganzhorn Kupiec! It was great to see Linda. She doing well, lives with husband and three children in Bainbridge Township. ... �Saw� Mike Keresman a couple of times lately -- first on the cover of the PLAIN DEALER business section for his new and exciting business -- CardialCommerce Corp which makes software that fights against credit card fraud on the internet. Also ran into him and his lovely wife, Elizabeth, at the Red Robin restaurant one evening. ... Cathy Dinkel Newell lives in Rochester with her husband, Bruce, and has three children. Her daughter Betsy is a freshman at Loyola University in Chicago; son John is a junior in high school; and son David is in the 8th grade. ... Beth Maher Rinz and her husband, Jim, live in University Heights with son Kevin, a freshman at Benedictine and twins Brian and Patrick at Gesu. Beth works for Sherwin-Williams. ... How did everyone�s kids get so old when we�ve stayed so young? ... Jim Dolak is back in town working as the associate director of obstetrical anesthesiology for the Cleveland Clinic. He lives in Shaker Heights with his wife, Cheryle (Burke), and his two daughters, Natalie (7) and Julie (2). He can be reached at dolakj@ccf.org. ... Jim Kulich is living in Villa Park, IL and can be reached at jimk@elmhurst.edu. ... Marva Williams works for the Woodstock Institute in Chicago and can be reached at Marva96@att.net. ... Christine Hess Luff can be reached at 14647 Lasater Rd., Trlr #178, Dallas, TX 75253-7251. ... You can now look up the John Carroll magazine Alumni Journal notes on the Web. Just log onto www.jcu.edu, then click on Alumni, John Carroll magazine and our class year ('79). Enjoy! ... Thanks for all the updates, everyone. Wishing you great adventures and a glorious autumn, Nancy

spring 2002	Hi everyone: I received a letter with very sad news from Jon Gorczyca. His beloved wife of 12 years, Cindy, passed away on November 17, 2001 from cancer. In addition to her husband Jon, she is survived by their two daughters Samantha (5) and Rachel (7), who miss their mommy terribly. Anyone wishing to contact Jon can reach him at 8901 Elsmere Drive, Parma, OH 44130-1607. Jon you will be in our thoughts and prayers. I am so sorry for your deep loss and this difficult time you and your family are going through. May she rest in peace. ... Other correspondence -- Jim Dolak, M.D. recently relocated back to Cleveland from Little Rock, AR in January 2001, with his wife Cheryle, and daughters Natalie (7) and Julia (2). Jim now works for the Cleveland Clinic as an associate director of obstetrical anesthesiology. The Dolaks live in Shaker Heights and Jim can be reached at dolakj@ccf.org. ... Jim Kulich lives in Villa Park, IL and can be reached at jimk@elmhurst.edu. ... Marva Williams is in Chicago and works for the Woodstock Institute. She can be e-mailed at marva96@att.net. ... Christine Hess Luff lives in Dallas. ... A few months ago, my boyfriend and I enjoyed a lovely evening with Michael Allison, his wife, Michele, and their two boys, Ryan and Riley. The boys are adorable -- the youngest is the spitting image of Michael! ... It�s always great to stay in touch with friends from the old days! Please keep your news coming. Fondly, Nancy

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Class Notes 1979 -- Reunion June 19-21, 2009