Class notes are an excellent way for you to remain connected to your class officers and classmates. Here you can view and submit notes and photos that fall into several categories. To submit your class note, please click the “ADD MY NOTE” button on the right side of your screen. If you wish to submit an Obituary for a classmate or family member, please click “ADD MY NOTE” and use the In Memoriam category. Obituaries submitted after August 7, 2021, will be displayed on this page by clicking the “In Memoriam” category. To view a more complete list of deceased classmates, please click here. Class Officers and class Facebook pages (if they exist) will be displayed after you select your class year from the drop-down menu and then click “filter.” All class notes associated with the class year will be displayed after you select the specific class year. To view all class notes that have been submitted since August 7, 2021, select “Any” for the year. All the class notes and photos published in Wooster magazine are drawn from those shared online here; no further submission is required.
Add My Note
Diann Tierney
Diann Rust-Tierney Joins Georgetown Law as the Drinan Chair in Human Rights
SEPTEMBER 7, 2021
Diann Rust-Tierney
WASHINGTON – Longtime civil and human rights attorney and national advocate for ending capital punishment Diann Rust-Tierney is joining Georgetown Law as the 2021-2022 Robert F. Drinan, S.J., Chair in Human Rights.
“We are thrilled to welcome Diann Rust-Tierney as our Drinan Chair in Human Rights for this academic year,” said Georgetown Law Dean William M. Treanor. “Diann is a recognized and respected leader with decades of experience advocating for civil rights and human rights. She will be a tremendous asset to our students and to the Law Center community.”
Rust-Tierney has more than 30 years of experience in federal legislative and executive branch advocacy on civil and human rights and spent the last 16 years as executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. As Drinan Chair, she will participate in Human Rights Institute programming, serve as a resource for students and faculty, and deliver Georgetown Law’s annual Drinan Chair Lecture on Human Rights. She will also teach a human rights course in the Spring semester.
“I stand on the shoulders of so many who came before me in the struggle to end the death penalty,” Rust-Tierney said. “It is my privilege and honor to be able to share what I’ve learned with students at Georgetown Law. There is an urgent need right now for courageous, creative, and determined human rights lawyers with a deep understanding of the intersectionality between human rights struggles here domestically and human rights abroad.”
THE FIGHT TO END THE DEATH PENALTY
Rust-Tierney’s record on human rights advocacy includes facilitating the development and implementation of a national strategy against capital punishment in the United States using strategic communication and policy advocacy to change attitudes and shift public opinion. Rust-Tierney’s work reflects the imperative of engaging, equipping, and supporting citizen advocates in the struggle for human rights.
Rust-Tierney has served as an expert resource to members of Congress and their staffs on capital punishment. She has testified before Congress, been widely quoted in the press, and appeared extensively in the national media. She has spoken to audiences around the country; participated in legal training programs; and served as a keynote speaker, panelist and lecturer at universities, colleges, and law schools across the country.
The Drinan Chair was established in 2006 in honor of Professor Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Drinan, who served on the Georgetown Law faculty from 1981 until his death in 2007, and was also a priest, scholar, lawyer, politician, activist, ethicist and one of the nation’s leading advocates for international human rights. He dedicated his life to humanitarian causes and to improving the legal profession.
INSPIRED BY FATHER DRINAN
Rust-Tierney recalled Drinan’s work against the death penalty, including in 1973 when President Nixon called on Congress to reinstate the death penalty after the Supreme Court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional as applied.
“That same day, Father Drinan introduced a bill that would prohibit it,” Rust-Tierney said. “Father Drinan was among the first people I met when I began my work against the death penalty at the ACLU. I was struck by his wisdom and clarity. He taught us that capital punishment does more than harm the people ensnared in that dreadful system. It has an insidious and corrosive influence, corrupting our values and our democracy. It is a special honor to be named to the Human Rights Chair that bears his name.”
Rust-Tierney added that she was especially pleased to have the opportunity to work with Elisa Massimino, the new leader of the Human Rights Institute at Georgetown Law.
“I have long admired Elisa’s work and her passion for human rights,” she said. “I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to collaborate with her and support her vision for preparing the next generation of human rights lawyers to take up the challenges ahead.”
Rust-Tierney is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court and District of Columbia Bars. She holds a law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science from the College of Wooster.
Wende Patton
Wende Laker Patton
1960 – 2021
BORN
1960
DIED
2021
FUNERAL HOME
Bennett Funeral Homes – Richmond
3215 Cutshaw Ave
Richmond, VA
UPCOMING SERVICE
Graveside service
Oct, 9 2021
11:00a.m.
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Cemetery
PATTON, Wende Laker, passed peacefully at the age of 61 on September 22, 2021, in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and children, Bess and John, nearby. Wende was born on August 26, 1960, in Buffalo, New York. She moved to Erie, Pennsylvania with her mother, Amelia Smith Laker and father, James Laker and made lifelong friendships with Eddie and Sharon. There, she met her husband, John Patton Jr., and together they spent their time enjoying nature. Summers were filled with sailing and winters spent skiing. Upon graduating from The College of Wooster in 1982, Wende soon married John and moved to Virginia.
Wende was filled with light and possessed the most perceptible balance of confidence, courage and generosity which she instilled in her children John and Bess. Wende cherished her children. She and John had a special connection and bonded over their love of music, and he had a way of making her laugh in a way no one else could. Wende and Bess were best friends and shared so many life experiences together. They connected and confided in each other on daily walks in the woods with the beloved family dogs.
Wende pursued her career mightily and became an early childhood educator at the Washington Waldorf School. She blossomed into a dedicated and caring kindergarten teacher. She thrived in her friendships at the Waldorf School and Christian Community, which meant so much to her. Wende loved her family dearly and is survived by her children and husband; her sister, Amy Labie of North Carolina; her two brothers, James and Greg Laker, both of New York, and their growing families.
There will be a graveside at service at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 9, in St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Cemetery, 12291 River Road, Richmond, to honor Wende’s life.
Gifts may be made to the Wende Patton Fund for Childhood Development, P.O. Box 76495, Baltimore, Maryland 21275-6495.
Marigale Compton
Sept. 25, 2021. To make it easier to learn which of our classmates died since May of 2020, I would like to list them here since otherwise you have to read through the entire list of names by class year in the Obituary section of Wooster Magazine. Currently there are 134 names listed in our class. Not all of them are listed together. It’s always very sad to see who we have lost – I find that the list conjures up many fond memories.
Marian (Mary) Miller Kreithern 5/19/20
Nancy (Brownie) Tyburski 8/21/20
Tom Wiley 9/20/20
Gerald Smith 10/26/20
Bradley Stoddard 6/16/21
Elizabeth Gerig 7/22/21
Marigale Mohr Compton 8/10/21
An obituary of Marigale appears in the “In Memoriam” section of the Wooster Magazine.
If you know of any names I have missed or you learn of someone’s death, please be sure to let me or the Alumni Office know: vickyfritschi@gmail.com, 508-827-1340, or alumni@wooster.edu, or post it in our Class Notes section.
Marigale Compton
Marigale Mohr Compton, Class of 1960, passed away on August 10, 2021, in Tucson, AZ. She is survived by her three children, Christopher (Lori) Compton, Steven (Karen) Compton, and Cathleen (Frank) von Hippel, five grandchildren, and ex-husband, William Compton.
Marigale left Wooster after the first semester of her sophomore year to study in Vienna for a semester, then attend the University of Cincinnati and marry Dr. Willliam Compton. They lived in Kotzebue and Anchorage, AK, where they raised their family and lived a life of many adventures. During the long, isolating Arctic winters in Kotzebue, Marigale assembled a Heathkit electronic organ and taught herself to play.
To fulfill her desire for mental challenges and assure her financial independence, Marigale became a commercial real estate broker and a certified financial planner. Throughout her career she encouraged and helped women to pursue their own financial independence.
She became a world traveler, visited almost every country on every continent, and, per her son Steven, “developed a side hustle, smuggling jewelry in cold cream and other contraband in her luggage beneath her underwear. It seemed that customs agents were uninterested in rooting through a white-haired lady’s unmentionables.”
Marigale’s last years were spent in Arizona to be close to her daughter and and son Chris, but she enjoyed returning to Anchorage to see her many friends “and beat them at bridge.” As all who knew her can attest,“she was loved by many for her caring spirit, sense of humor, and sense of adventure.”
Kayla Adkins
From left to right:
Business Office: Eileen Walker, Lynne Miller, and Terri Brigham. Registrar’s Office: Broede Armstrong ’07. Kayla ’21 & Michael Adkins. Business Office: Krista Way, Lisa Crawford, and Marlene Kanipe. Katie Walker ’17.
Nancy Kauffman
Nancy White Kauffman, (’51) passed away on Saturday, August 21st at Bristol Village in Waverly, Ohio at age 91. She was born August 24, 1929 in Wooster, Ohio, daughter of the late Percy and Celma (Beam) White (’21) and sister to the late Donn White. On June 8, 1951, she married the love of her life, Bruce Robert Kauffman (’51), and together they shared over 61 years of marriage before his passing on July 29, 2012.
Surviving are their two children, Greg (Sheri) Kauffman, and Linda (John) Anadale (’78); three grandchildren, Daniel (Heidi) Kauffman, Sarah (Corey) Johnson, and John Anadale; 5 great grandchildren, and numerous extended family members, as well as her beloved cat Tommy.
Nancy grew up on the family farm in Wooster, Ohio with her parents and brother. She graduated from Wooster High School, and then the College of Wooster, with a B.A. in Sociology before marrying her best friend. They got married the Friday before college graduation so that all their Wooster friends could be there. Nancy spent time teaching elementary school, but much of her life was devoted to raising her family. She was also a Cub Scout Leader and an Explorer Scout Leader. In November of 1956, she joined the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) and was a member nearly 65 years. She loved reading, sewing, and playing bridge in her free time. But most of all she loved to create new crafts. She taught craft classes at various places over the years, most recently teaching a class at Bristol Village in her spare time. Before moving back to Ohio, to be nearer to family (especially grandchildren and great-grandchildren!), Nancy and Bruce lived for 35 years in Boca Raton, Florida.
David Mahood
Author David C. Mahood’s latest nature and environment book includes ten years of Earth Day essays, original poems, and other thoughts related to ecology, biodiversity, nature, and the environment.
Book Synopsis
In his latest book, Kings of a Lonely Kingdom, author David C. Mahood shares his passion for preserving nature, biodiversity, and for combating climate change, through ten years of Earth Day essays, original poetry, and related sentiments. Throughout the book he shares compelling examples of a world in need of greater care in order to bring attention to the unfavorable, long-term consequences of climate change, and the loss of biodiversity. The plights of penguins and pachyderms, whales and wolves, minks and monarchs, and the struggle for clean energy and environmental justice are topics woven into Kings of a Lonely Kingdom. Mahood reflects on the origin and success of the first Earth Day as well as the status of its fiftieth anniversary, which also contains excerpts from a 1972 Earth Day booklet that the author wrote as a nine-year-old, fourth-grade student. The purpose of Earth Day is also expressed by members of today’s youth, from ages nine to thirty-two. Kings of a Lonely Kingdom is a combination of wit and concern and personal stories, a unique appeal for a healthy habitat for all species, and for all times.
Camryn Bragg
Education Arbitration is a tabletop game designed to simulate the journey of historically underrepresented and excluded students as they venture through higher education. The game was originally created in 2019, as a tool to educate and train faculty of higher educational institutions about the intersectionality of their students and different identity groups. The goal was to create an interactive tool that trains faculty, staff, administrators and even other students to identify existing policies, language and teaching styles, and hidden curriculums that are often harmful to many students of marginalized groups.
In May of 2021, I graduated from Wooster with a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and another in Spanish. I experienced what it was like first hand to be a Black, limited-income woman at a PWI, studying a field where people who looked like me and had similar identities as myself have been historically excluded. College campuses are filled with microaggressions, assumptions, and expectations that leave many students feeling alienated from their counterparts. Something we talked a lot about was how hidden factors such as family support, knowledge gaps, language barriers, citizenship, and more play a role in a student’s success.
This game is unlike any other training tool used in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s designed to mimic a traditional four year college or university. Players who choose to “enroll” in the game’s fictional university must work to earn their degree as the character they pick at the beginning of the game. Throughout the game they are hit with different chance cards; some of which will have scenarios that help them move towards their degree, and some that will delay their progress. Each scenario affects the characters differently depending on their race, socioeconomic status, citizenship, gender/sexuality, disabilities etc. I chose to base each character’s identity off of the demographics of my own college campus and are likely found at school’s nationwide. This way, we hope to eliminate the need to rely on individual students or student groups to share their experience with the college campus or administration in order to educate faculty, staff and administrators.
I’d appreciate any support while promoting and gaining interest in this project. Though there is not much time left to donate on our Kickstarter page, there is more information on the project there: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/educationarbitration/education-arbitration-the-board-game?ref=discovery&term=Education%20Arbitration
Russell Kohrs
Whilst sporting Wooster mascot hose and having removed my Wooster plaid mask and having set down my Wooster coffee mug, I welcomed the newest students to my high school, where I will once again talk Wooster up as an excellent option for college!
Joseph R. Durham
Joseph R. Durham has been recognized in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© (Environmental Law)
Jennifer Jones
Hi all, I am using this to test the new digital alumni system.
Yesterday, August 16, I drove the backroads of Ohio from Dayton to Pittsburgh ( I don’t like riding on interstates!) and it took me straight by Woo! I had to search for a safe spot to park and get the Bike and Woo picture which was a challenge. Lowry Center is fenced off with construction. The campus was very quiet, probably because of the rain.
I made it home at 6pm, having chased the rain the entire way. This morning (Tuesday, Aug 17) Jill Bogart shared a note from the Daily Record about the famous Black oak falling in the same weather system!
I hope all are well. We’ll see how this class note input works!!
Sarah Fenske
Mike Putnam ’99 is now a (full) Professor of German & Linguistics at Penn State University. Since July 2020 he has been serving as the Director of Penn State’s Linguistics program.
Class President Timeka Thomas Rashid ’99 started a new job on June 1 as vice president of student affairs at Baldwin-Wallace University. She was previously assistant vice president for inclusive student engagement at Cleveland State University.
Shelley Goodlander Price ’99 is now Dean of Health Sciences at Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, Washington. An ER nurse, she is also working on her PhD.
In May, Gretchen Maier Armstrong ’99 launched a new literary magazine, Tomorrow and Tomorrow. She is the designer and editor. Subscribe at www.tomorrowandtomorrow.net.
Gretchen Vaughn
Greetings Wooster Alumni!
Michael Hatton (Theatre & Dance Program Head, NKU) and I have organized this program with the support of CCSA (The Cooperative Center for Study Abroad). Michael, being a Board Member with CCSA, will serve as the Program Director for Scotland: Hearth and Home, while I will serve as Leader/Faculty.
I encourage you to post this more widely than just the 1969 class notes page. While this is not an academically credited program, we are open to any participant of a certain maturity! CCSA is extremely helpful and will answer any questions about the program specifics, as they arrange all accommodations, transportation, including international flights as desired.
For more information, please contact me at vaughng@nku.edu More information can be found at: https://ccsa.cc/programs/summer/2022/Scotland. The application deadline of October 1, 2021.
Please contact me with questions!
Gretchen
Gretchen Hill Vaughn ’69
Professor Emeritus
Theatre & Dance Program
Northern Kentucky University
Nancy Cylke
Our information comes from emails we received from classmates in 2021 and entries made by classmates to the Memory Book compiled for our 55/56th reunion in June, 2021. It focuses on classmates’ work and volunteer activities.
Jill Karatinos MD, was working 4 days a week during the pandemic as a neuropsychiatrist seeing patients by telehealth and in office. Her website, www.jillkaratinosmd.com, has information about her work and the video of the women’s presentation at the 50th reunion.
Frank Richeson, MD, was forced to practice outpatient cardiology and teach remotely and didn’t like it; so he retired from practicing medicine last September but continued to teach. He is now vaccinated and working weekly in person at a free clinic for the uninsured.
Barb Kurz works part-time as a Mission Consultant with Providence Presbytery in South Carolina.
Judy McBurney Richards continues to work as a clinical therapist through the use of teletherapy. Her clients are high school and college students who are on the Autism Spectrum.
Mike Stott wrote and published a novel called Too Much Loft which consists of three novellas that “follow a young man’s journey as a caddie, grounds crew member, and golf shop attendant at a suburban Chicago country club in the early 1960s.” You can find it in print or on Kindle.
Betty Limkemann continued to teach piano lessons and play the organ at a Catholic Church with some differences. The lessons were on Zoom, and she played in an empty church where the services were being live streamed. She published a book entitled Surviving a Biblical Childhood: How I came to love God in spite of the Bible.
Dick Robertson volunteered as a Certified Mediator for Small Claims Court in San Diego via Zoom. When the vaccine became available, he volunteered at the Tri-City Medical Center Vaccine Clinic.
Elizabeth (Betsy Byers) Roghair completed a term as board chair of the School for Advanced Research and served as treasurer and board member of their local water district in New Mexico.
As soon as she was able, Peg Osburne went back to volunteering for Community Volunteers in Medicine, a free medical clinic for the working poor in Chester County, PA. and being a volunteer at the local library in Exton, PA.
Tom Welty and his wife, Edie, are heavily involved in various volunteer projects. Two are community efforts to preserve the environment and public access to state lands in his area of Idaho. In addition, they continue to support their Cameroonian colleagues and the work they are doing to improve health in Cameroon. See http;//ijgc.bmj.com/content/29/9/1446. Tom, Edie, and Ben Huffford are on the Board of the Cameroon Health and Education Fund which raises money to support the work in Cameroon. See http://cameroonhealthandeducationfund.com/chef/
Arlene (Dingilian) Hinkemeyer was actively involved in the League of Women Voters last year in setting up/publicizing Zoom library programs to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the League AND the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote as well as setting up/publicizing Zoom candidate debates for state and congressional offices in the primary/general elections. She is the publicist for the Hamptons documentary film festival, Hampton Doc Fest, writing news releases highlighting its many online film offerings, such as a 10 day film festival in December 2020 and its Earth Day films and forums in April of 2021.
Rocky Rockenstein is active in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area having served as Moderator for a year, Chair of its Leadership Team for a year, and as part of its pro bono legal counsel.
Bill Vodra is a member of the Board of the American Battlefield Trust and lives in Virginia where the controversy over Confederate monuments has persisted since the protest and violence in Charlottesville in 2017. After the death of George Floyd, he has been studying Reconstruction, the rise of Jim Crow segregation, the myth of the Lost Cause, and the role the Confederate Monuments played in that story.
Nick (Allen) Vaala and his wife worked at their church’s food cupboard. A major activity for him was finishing the development of a week-long lesson plan for Haitian high school seniors or recent grads. He is working with Junior Achievement America to see if they can come into Haiti to teach their program
Karelisa Voelker Hartigan, as a volunteer, offered two classes in improv at her Senior Center three times a week via Zoom.
Mary Jo Weaver MacCracken has spent time during the pandemic with volunteer work on FABU (Finding a Better U), a project funded by a 2 year demonstration grant from The Ohio Commission on Minority Health. Initially, the instructors met twice weekly with the participants, elderly underserved residents living in public housing in Akron, OH. During COVID, her University of Akron colleagues and she adapted the project by creating exercises and healthy menus for the participants to view online. The project ended in June.
Francesca Cistone
I wanted to share the following note about our Wooster wedding!:
Francesca Cistone ’15 and Daniel Alfonso-Diaz ’15 met at the end of their first year in Bissman Hall in 2012. On June 26th, 2021, they were married in Oak Grove. While originally many College of Wooster alumni were invited, few could ultimately attend due to COVID-19 restrictions. The bridal party included: Zach Diehl ’15, Diana Drushel ’15, Emily Watt ’15, and Zaria Brewer ’15. Other guests included the parents of the groom, Pedro J Alfonso Martin ’85 and Alicia Diaz Alfonso ’86, Byron Earley-Jones ’15, Phil Sizek ’15, Brian Hefele ’15, Mallory Kruper ’15, Jim Torpy ’15, Whitney Spaulding ’16, Levi Fawcett ’15, and Melanie Chin ’15.
Jerry Thompson
Since 2019, I have been a monk at Incarnation Monastery in Omaha. After 30 years as an Episcopal priest, and various life changes, I am now a vowed Benedictine. My daughter, Elizabeth, lives in Lincoln, NE, where I served 14 years as Rector of a parish before becoming a monastic.
Chuck Nusbaum
In May of 2021, I started a new position with Moog, Inc. as their Manager of Service Management Platforms in the Global IT Process & Quality team. I’m excited to work with a team representing the US, Germany, and India as we leverage the ServiceNow platform to improve business workflows and customer service. I’ll continue to reside in Cleveland and will be working remotely out of my home.
Dr. Donald Swegan
See newspaper clipping.
Gary Houston
I am managing editor of Chicago Quarterly Review whose current issue is a special one titled An Anthology of Black American Literature. It is guest edited by Charles Johnson, National Book Award-winning novelist for Middle Passage and prolific, wide-ranging author of works of philosophy, Buddhism, the craft of writing, cartooning, martial arts, short stories and other novels. In the course of many years he acquired a vast network of fellow African-American writers including Rita Dove, August Wilson, John McCluskey Jr. and others whose names appear below in boldface.
Because I would like my fellow Wooster alumni to know about this issue here are the contributors:
Jeffery Renard Allen * Steven Barnes * Arthur Burghardt * Cyrus Cassells * Louis Chude-Sokei * Aaron Coleman * celeste doaks * Rita Dove * Rachel Eliza Griffiths * Peter J. Harris * Le Van D. Hawkins * Tsehaye Geralyn Hébert * David Henderson * E. Hughes * Charles Johnson * Jamiel Law * Clarence Major * John McCluskey, Jr. * E. Ethelbert Miller * Yesenia Montilla * David Nicholson * Delia C. Pitts * Mona Lisa Saloy * Sharyn Skeeter * Clifford Thompson * Jerald Walker * Jan Willis
Allow me next to past links to two interviews with Johnson, one of which, for radio, includes me:
About our journal: http://www.chicagoquarterlyreview.com/and https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoQuarterlyReview/.
Chicago Quarterly Review was founded in 1994 by Chicago novelist Syed Haider (To Be With Her and Life of Ganesh) who remains senior editor along with Elizabeth McKenzie, also a novelist (The Portable Veblenand Stop That Girl) . I joined the magazine in 2014 and about a year later became managing editor. At Wooster I was editor of the literary magazine Thistle in my junior year and editor-in-chief of Voice as a senior. As a graduate student at the University of Chicago I was one of the editors of the national college publication, Chicago Literary Review, founded incidentally by Wooster graduates Ted Hearne and Bryan Dunlap. From there I joined the Chicago Sun-Times Sunday supplement Book Week/Show.
I met Charles Johnson decades later while portraying hisMiddle Passage villain, captain of the slave ship The Republic, in a 2016 stage adaptation titled Rutherford’s Travels. He flew that year twice to Chicago from his home in Seattle to see a reading and then the full production. Later when we decided to publish an edition of African-American writings we knew he would be the perfect guest editor. He immediately agreed.
I mention all of the above for context, nothing more. I am foremost interested in letting members of the Wooster community, past and present, know about our special issue. To that end I am writing you, and if you would like me to send you anything else please let me know.
I am attaching the digital version of the entire issue.
Best wishes,
Gary Houston
Class of 1968
Audrey Hudak
Hello Wooster! Wishing you a happy fourth of July from our Wooster brunch today!
Best,
Audrey Hudak ’11
Front left to right: Bridget Kraynik, 2011; Gillian Daniels 2010
Back left to right: Thomas Dwyer 2010; Nathan Comstock 2010; Jonah Comstock 2010; Mackenzie Brown 2011; Audrey Hudak 2011
Elizabeth R. "Betsy" Gumustop
Paul Seling
Class of 2009 dads, Mike Krivicich, Zack Belcher, and Paul Seling gathered with their families in Lakeside, OH and made sure to get an update of their 2015 photo with their future Wooster Scots.