Class Notes Spring 2016

Alumni and friends filled the balcony’s front row for the Dec. 5 performance of “West Side Story” at the Asolo Reperatory Theater in Sarasota, Fla. Tom Ellison and John Cooley, both School of Music alumni from the Class of 1973, performed in the pit orchestra. A portion of the group arrived early for a back-stage tour, including (left to right), bottom row: Robert Sabia, William Wittcopp, William Lawhon, ’74; Theodora (Sywetz) Wittcopp, ’54; Marcella (Brancke) Sternisha, ’71; and Mr. Ellison, ’73; second row: Alan Nichter, ’69; Sue Lawhon, John Sternisha, ’68; and Julia (Ary) Dederer, ’71, ’73; third row: Annmarie (Woloszyn) Nichter, ’70; and Dr. William Dederer, ’67; top row: Carmen Scheil, Pat Sinkwich and Duane Sinkwich.

1950s

Leonore (Schmitt) Lambert, ’50, (music ed.) volunteers as director of senior singers at a local senior center. She has been married for 65 years and has raised 10 talented children who all sing and some write music.

Richard Stephan, ’52, (music ed.) reported that his wife, Doris, of 64 years, passed away a year ago. He is still composing/arranging for orchestra and choir, and spends the winters with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren in Utah and California.

Marilyn Rollins, ’58, (music ed.) is still enjoying retirement. Her second son from Dubai recently got married. She is taking Italian, aerobics and Zumba, and still plays ping pong.
 

1960s

Ronald Corsaro, ’61, (music ed.) was given the honor of being named “Ambassador of Jazz” at the 2015 Lewiston Jazz Festival.

Richard Mangino, ’62, (elem. ed.) is enjoying being artisan/owner of Rusty Lantern Wood Works, specializing in Shaker and Arts and Crafts furniture reproductions.

Dr. Anne Lutz, ’67, (math) retired in 2011 but she is still active as a volunteer at the Pennsylvania Geological Survey and as a musician in several community music groups.

Bill Carey, ’68, ’76, (English) retired after almost 40 years of teaching in public and Catholic education. He continues to assist at St. Aloysius Church in New Canaan, Conn.

Trudy (Wolfenson) Trombley, ’69, (elem. ed.) has been elected as a commissioner for H2GO, a local sewer and water district in Leland, N.C.
 

1970s

Bryan Leys, ’71, (speech drama) was involved in the writing and musical composition for the musical, “Hell’s Belles.”

Monk Rowe, ’72, (music ed.) has published the book, “Jazz Tales from Jazz Legends,” which is available at Couperpress.com and Amazon.

Robert Meegan, ’75, (bus. admin.) lives in Buffalo, N.Y., and just completed 35 years as an Employee Plans Specialist for the U.S. Treasury.

Barbara Messer, ’75, (music ed.) has retired from teaching school in Polk County, Fla., and is currently working as an insurance broker.

Denise Comeaux, ’76, (speech and hearing hand.) after almost 40 years in the field of education, including serving as a speech and language pathologist working for the New York State Education Department, as a central administrator, and as a school principal in Charlotte, N.C., has retired to Little River, S.C.

Suzanne (Bogerd) Stone, ’76, (elem. ed.) retired in July 2014 after 35 years of teaching kindergarten at Dolgeville Central School — and her daughter was just hired to take her place.

Nancy (Bean) Callahan, ’77, (psych.) received the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service at Jamestown Community College.

Alan Siebert, ’77, (music ed.) has just completed his two-year term as President of the International Trumpet Guild. He is currently in his 26th year as a professor of trumpet at the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music.

Linda (Edelman) Moxley, ’78, (music ed.) is currently Executive Director of Baltimore Choral Arts, President of Moxley Communications, and on the Arts Management faculty at Goucher College.

Dr. David Fountaine, ’79, (bus. admin.) was named by the federal Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology to the board of examiners for the 2015 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
 

1980s

Michael Anton, ’80, (special stds.) is the official photographer for the New York City Department of Sanitation.

Dave DiBetta, ’82, (psych.) published a new book, “Plain Old Agent,” which reflects on the siege at Waco and his career with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is available at www.acclaimpress.com.

Geoffrey Smagacz, ’83, (English) won the 2014 Independent Publisher gold medal for Mid-Atlantic Best Regional Fiction for his book, “A Waste of Shame and Other Sad Tales of the Appalachian Foothills.” The first chapter of the novella, “A Waste of Shame,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. The book is available at www.wisebloodbooks.com, www.amazon.com and other online venues.

Tim Grace, ’85, (industrial psych.) was named Executive Vice President, Global Chief Talent
Officer for Toys”R”Us, Inc.

Brenda Freedman, ’85,
(philosophy) was elected to a seat on the Erie County Family Court in Buffalo, N.Y.

Jeff Nelson, ‘85, (music perf. /sound rec. technology) was a member of the orchestra for the 69th annual TONY Awards show on CBS.

Kent Knappenberger, ’87, (music ed.) received the New York State School Music Association’s (NYSSMA) Distinguished Service award at the organization’s 2014 annual winter conference. He is the third teacher to receive the distinction from NYSSMA.

Jonathan O’Brian, ’87 (bus. admin.) received the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at Jamestown Community College.

Paul Scheeler, ’88, (pol. sci.) after going on to receive an M.P.A. degree from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School in 1989, spent a few years in Washington, D.C., and more than two decades in Chicago. He is now back in Buffalo, N.Y., as Vice President for Market Relations Communications for M&T Bank.
 

1990s

Marnie Kozielski, ’90, ’95, (special stds.) was named 2015 Teacher of Merit by Business First, which honors the top 25 teachers in Western New York. She teaches Spanish at Royalton-Hartland High School.

Michael Page, ’91, (sociology) was promoted to sergeant at Troop “E” headquarters and supervises 20 state troopers.

Pete Correale, ’92 (commun.) appeared on Showtime in a comedy special, “Pete Correale: Let Me Tell Ya,” which explored the absurdities of life, love and marriage and was filmed in The Vic Theater in Chicago.

Dr. Thomas Quatroche Jr., ’92, (bus. admin.) was recently appointed CEO of the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, N.Y.

Dr. Christopher Cahill, ’93, (geochem.) was recently named the American Institute of Physics’ State Department Science Fellow. He will be on sabbatical from his position as Professor of Chemistry and International Affairs at The George Washington University for the 2015-2016 academic year, and will be serving as a Foreign Affairs Officer in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation/Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism, where he will be working with the Nuclear Forensics group.

Mark Peters, ’94, (English) published a book called, “BULLSHIT: A Lexicon,” a collection of more than 200 words and phrases that signify bullshit which is available from Three Rivers Press.

Theresa Hartl, ’95, (psych.) was named the 2014 Palm Beach (Fla.) County School Counselor of the Year. She was also selected by the American School Counselor Association to represent Florida in January at a special ceremony honoring the country’s school counselors at the White House. She earned her master’s degree in school counseling from the University at Buffalo, and has worked at Boca Raton High School, John I. Leonard in Greenaces and Seminole Ridge.

Kenton Brown, ’96, (English/sec. ed.) received the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching at Jamestown Community College.

Julie (McIntyre) Shilling, ’96, (med. technology) has published her first book, “Key of Fate,” and just had a book signing at James Prendergast Library in Jamestown. The book is an action-packed romance about love, deceit and a chance at redemption.

Karen Soda, ’96, (elem. ed./English) was appointed to Director, Provider Services at BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York.

Scott Hazelton, ’98, (elem. ed.) won the seventh annual M & T Bank Touchdown for Teachers contest and was awarded $2,000 for
Forestville Central School where he is a second grade teacher.

Nick Keefe, ’98, (commun.) was appointed Director of Business Development at DFT Communications.

Alexsandra Lopez, ’99, (speech path. and audiology) was hired as a Coordinator and Bilingual Special Education Specialist with the Western Regional Special Education Technical Assistance Center at the Erie 1 Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) in West Seneca, N.Y.
 

2000s

Robert Egan, ’00, (commun.) was elected President of the board of directors of the Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus.

Rebecca (Glogowski) Sabin, ’00, (psych.) began teaching pre-kindergarten at St. Paul Lutheran School in Hilton, N.Y., in September.

Maria Dolce, ’01, (computer and info. sci.) was appointed senior GIS analyst at Bergmann Associates.

Natalie LaRusch, ’02, (elem. ed./English) received her Master of Education degree from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

Arien Rozelle, ’02, (commun.) represented President Virginia Horvath and Fredonia at the Inauguration of St. John Fisher College’s seventh president, Dr. Gerard R. Rooney, on Oct. 16, 2015. Arien is a Visiting Professor in the Communication Department at St. John Fisher.

Katherine (Cierlicki) Derrenbacher, ’03, (music ed.) and her husband, Cory Derrenbacher, ’02, (music educ.) have two sons, Ryan and Ethan.

Jason Foster, ’03, (English) has been appointed Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.

Adam Lindquist, ’03, (interdisc. stds.) was recognized as one of Baltimore Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” honorees. As manager of the Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative, Adam is responsible for carrying out the organization’s mission of making the Inner Harbor swimmable and fishable by 2020. He has implemented numerous programs that involve Baltimore’s business community in the restoration of the city’s most precious natural resource.

Christina Olson, ’03, (commun.) had her book of poems, “Terminal Human Velocity,” published by Stillhouse Press at www.stillhousepress.org.

James Allessi, ’05, (commun.-pub. rel.) is co-director of the Sunshine Camp in Rochester, N.Y.

Mary (Stark) Finger, ’07, (commun.-comm. studies) is the new academic advisor in the Civil Engineering Technology Environmental Management program at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Nicole Rosati, ’09, (English) recently released her first book on Amazon Kindle, “Just One More Day,” under her pseudonym, “nkr.”
 

2010s

Nathan Berry, ’10, (music ed.) is a kindergarten through sixth grade general music teacher in the Hilton (N.Y.) Central School District.

Juliana Curtis, ’11, (visual arts and new media) is an art teacher in the Buffalo Public Schools.
She invented a jumbo active game board for kids called jWAY. It will be on sale at Walmart, Toys “R” Us and Target.

Andrew Martis, ’11, (vis. arts and new media) was hired as a Graphic Designer at The Martin Group (TMG), an advertising, branding and public relations firm in Buffalo, N.Y.

Meagan Allers, ’13, (childhood ed./math) is the Student Engagement Manager at Campus Quad in San Carlos, Calif.

Lindsay (Sutherland) Dobos, ’13, (comm. disorders and sci.) recently married and is currently in the process of completing her clinical fellowship year as a Speech Pathologist at Diversified Rehabilitation Services, working in a skilled nursing facility.

Alex Jo, ’13, ’15, (curr. and inst./inclus. educ.) served as the Director of the Bristol Hills 4-H camp during the summer of 2015.

Alexandria Shanahan, ’13, (commun.-pub. rel.) was named Administrative Assistant at
Crowley Webb.

Tyler Stanley, ’13, (commun., audio/radio) was appointed Project Coordinator at Eric Mower & Associates.

Christina Stock, ’13, (English) is a photographer at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

Lisa Braun, ’14, (commun.-media mgmt.) was hired as an Account Service Coordinator for Gelia, a marketing communications agency in Williamsville, N.Y.

Lia Biscardi, ’15, (biology) received a job just four days after graduation as a high school science teacher at New Bern High School in North Carolina.

Katie Kleine, ’15, (English) joined the coaching staff for women’s soccer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Kate Rinko, ’15, (commun.-audio/radio) was hired by Infinity Visual and Performing Arts in Jamestown as a Site Coordinator.
 

Faculty/Staff

Michael Barone, director of Marketing and Communications, represented President Virginia Horvath and Fredonia at the Inauguration of Cornell University’s 13th President, Dr. Elizabeth Garrett, on Sept. 18, 2015.
 

Emeritus

Gary Eckhart, (theatre) owner of Moosewalk Studios, received the 2015 Arthur Williams Award for Meritorious Service to the Arts from the Vermont Arts Council. The award is named for longtime Valley resident Arthur Williams, who was the founding executive director of the council. Gary is President of the Valley Arts Foundation.
 

Births

A son, to Jennifer (Ambrose), ’96, (bus. admin./market.) and Michael Blume, ’97 (bus. admin./finance) .

A daughter, Sienna, to Dr. Eric, ’99, (biology) and Jenna Springer.
 

Deaths
 

Alumni

Mamie J. (Gugino) Ware,
Class of 1935

Doris E. (Bufton) Reil Harder,
Class of 1939

Eleanor (Duell) Sawyer,
Class of 1941

Margaret G. (Griswold) Green,
Class of 1942

Letha M. (Couchman) Koch,
Class of 1942

Mary M. (Abram) McNeight Marsh,
Class of 1944

William “Bill” Noyes,
Class of 1947

Patricia A. (Baumgartner) Luce,
Class of 1948

John Benuscak,
Class of 1951

Rev. Ed Montfort,
Class of 1951

Rhoda B. (Pritchard) Rexford, 
Class of 1952

Lois (Pizzolanti) Moose, 
Class of 1953

Emily (Aular) Near, 
Class of 1953

Richard F. Westcott, 
Class of 1954

Ronald “Ronnie” F. Rine, 
Class of 1955

Constance J. Salisbury, 
Class of 1955

Eric C. Kroon,
Class of 1959

Pauline (Gizzi) Sesnie,
Class of 1959

Vincent A. DeCosta,
Class of 1960

Terencia (McGarigle) Michaels,
Class of 1961

David P. Osika,
Class of 1961

Dr. Robert E. Goodwill,
Class of 1963

Lenora A. (Nunweiler) Brooks,
Class of 1964

Judith “Judy” R. (Rothenberger) Billard,
Class of 1965

Linda (Shilling) Mollnow,
Class of 1966

R. Richard Webb Jr.,
Class of 1966

Steven P. Foote,
Class of 1967

Jean C. Milano,
Class of 1968

Dale H. “Penny” (Haefner) Sweeny,
Class of 1969

James P. Coffman, Jr.,
Class of 1971

Marilyn (Dahlgren) Howard,
Class of 1971

Roger E. Ruckman,
Class of 1971

Carolann Woodard,
Class of 1972

Catherine A. (Clees) Mourer,
Class of 1973

Eileen E. Goerke,
Class of 1974

Paul Stebbins,
Class of 1974

Jeanne R. Gaudia,
Class of 1975

Barbara L. (Ring) Peters,
Class of 1975

Jane M. (Gleason) Ricotta,
Class of 1975

John McNeill,
Class of 1975

Bonnie Allesi-Barker,
Class of 1976

Irene E. (Webster) Coon,
Class of 1977

Joseph A. DeAngelo, Jr.,
Class of 1977

Brenda B. (Bradigan) Mlacker,
Class of 1977

Donna L. Ray,
Class of 1977

Jane A. Winter,
Class of 1980

Matthew N. Vere,
Class of 1983

Holli A. (Murphy) Rossi,
Class of 1984

The Honorable Eric E. Legters,
Class of 1985

Dean Yamamoto,
Class of 1986

Donald Robbins,
Class of 1989

Tammy Wood,
Class of 1989

Michael C. Mertel,
Class of 1990

Anthony M. Nunn,
Class of 1992

Mary Catherine (Manganiello) Tobola,
Class of 1997

Michael P. DiPalma,
Class of 2007

Tyler L. Hagan,
Class of 2014
 

Student

Russell Wijesiriwardena
 

Emeritus

Dr. Elizabeth Scarborough,
Professor/Chair, Psychology;
Assistant to the President,
1977-1991
 

Faculty/Staff

Gloria (Odegard) Garretson, School of Music, 1958-1965

Ida LaBarbera, Typist/Secretary I, Registrar’s Office, 1973-2008

Nancy A. Rowland, FSA-Cranston Marché

Marriages

Jennifer Ambrose, ’96 (bus. admin./market.) to Michael Blume, ’97 (bus. admin./finance).

Jill Dueringer, ’00, ’04, (music ed.) to Robert J. De Santis, ’02 (music ed.).

Cara Mancuso, ’09, (elem. ed.) to Michael Austin, ’07 (commun.).

Katarina Silvestri, ’10, (childhood ed.-music) to Daniel Caruso, ’09 (sound rec. tech.).

Clair Wisniewski, ’12, (bus. admin.-market.) to Alex Schneckenberger, ’11 (bus. admin.-finance). 

Amanda Rockwood, ’13, ’15, (child. inclus. educ.: English 7-9 ext.; literacy: birth-12) to Evan McGonagle, ’13 (childhood inclus. ed.).