Class of 1968
April 2006
Greetings
’68 Classmates!
Spring is
upon us and it’s a glorious season as Mother Nature brings us out of the winter
doldrums with bright sunny days and temperatures that don’t require lots of
extra layers of clothes. Unfortunately,
with the bright signs of spring comes some sad class news.
Charles
“Chuck” Boline passed away on March 24, 2006 in Rochester, Minnesota. Chuck began his teaching career in Rochester
in 1968 teaching English and speech in the Rochester Junior Highs and ended his
teaching career at John Marshall High School.
Chuck retired in 2002 and is survived by his wife, Connie, sons Chad and
Eric ’01 and daughter Stacey. Our
thoughts and prayers go out to the family.
We ask Barb
Veker Elnes to contribute classmate notes for this spring letter and she
was wonderful enough to provide the following information:
Mary
Kaye Anderson -
Mary Kaye is retired. Her daughter Leah
had a bilateral lung transplant in 2005.
It’s miraculous that she is alive.
This was a life-saving transplant.
She is now doing well and is once again able to walk and breathe. Leah had cystic fibrosis at birth. Remember her and think of becoming a
donor. Mary Kaye and Gregg are doing
well and live in Dellwood, MN.
Nancy
Wettergren Hennen
- Nancy is a media specialist at Burroughs Community School. She has been there for 18 years. Nancy and her husband, Ed, just returned
from a trip to Nicaragua and they have enjoyed other travels. Nancy is also a grandmother of four
children.
Anne
Berg Carlson -
Anne works part-time as a parent educator in Early Child Development at the
Parent Education Family Center in Edina.
She also works part-time and spends as much time as possible with her
grandchildren. Dr. Paul Carlson ’66 is
still at Park Nicollet and has been practicing there for 30 years.
Jane
Augustson Hedin -
Jane lives on a lake in New London, MN and loves to cross-country ski and
hike. Jane loves staying home and is an
active grandmother of four.
Sue
Amundson Lennartson
- Sue works full-time at a non-denominational church in White Bear Lake and
Lino Lakes as a pastor of women’s ministries.
She is the author of four books and writes for Group Publishers in
Loveland, CO. She also works part-time
writing articles for Augsburg Publishers.
Sue speaks at retreats and loved dogsledding this winter. As Sue and I talked, her two three-year-old
twin grandsons decided they wanted grandma’s attention so we’ll have to pick up
the story another time.
Kathie
Flanery Peterson -
the highlight of Kathie’s life is her family and grandchildren. Her daughter is on complete bed-rest at her
home and her second grandchild is due in May.
Kathie spends weekend at her log cabin in Alexandria, MN. She has finished her Ph.D. in educational
policy.
Dana and Cherry Norberg Marcelius
- Cherry retired from teaching in Hopkins (elementary education) after 34
years. She is a stay at home mom to her
10-year-old daughter, Lily. Cherry
retired to begin violin lessons, tends to her gardens and is a commercial insurance
agent. In her spare time she is a ski
instructor and soccer coach.
Anne
Sullivan Cook -
Anne has officially changed her first name to:
Hannah. She lives in the
foothills of the north Cascades in western Washington state. Hannah divides her time between Bellingham
where she works as a nurse and Marblemount where she plays in the mountains
with her husband, Jerry, and she also teaches yoga.
Jerry
Okerman - Jerry is
a consultant to Rain Source Capital. He
serves on several boards of directors such as J. P. Morgan Investment
Management. Jerry is also an adjunct
professor at the University of St. Thomas teaching venture capital and finance.
Roni
Axelrod Thorkelson
- Roni is a senior recruiter at U.S. Bank corporate headquarters in
Minneapolis. Her daughter, Berit
Thorkelson has written a book “You Know Your In Minnesota When...” check it
out! (Roni and Barb, Kris and I have
had a chance to read the book and it’s lots of fun. Roni, we got it from Bonnie L.)
It’s just great; I (Barb Veker Elnes) gave a copy to my parents in
Florida.
Julie
Hilleren Edstrom -
Julie is working part-time at Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater as a campus
support specialist. She facilitates
support groups such as women with breast cancer. Julie authored a workbook called “Ready or Not” in 2006. Her website is: www.readyornot.biz. Every
woman 50 and over must read this book!
Fritchie ’66 and Julie are enjoying life in Stillwater and are
grandparents of a 7-year-old granddaughter born on Julie’s birthday. Julie received her masters in theology and
is certified as a spiritual director.
Barb
Veker Elnes -
Barbara became a grandma in January!
Son, Chris ’96 and Carrie (Swanson ’97) Enstad gave birth to a little
girl - Liv Eleanor. She continues to
substitute in elementary schools in Edina and Hopkins. She also works at a beautiful store: Nordic Homes in Minneapolis and Edina as a
part-time salesperson. Spends summer
weekends at Swan Lake in Pengilly, MN (I’m sure you all know that town
well...:) Continues to serve on the
Gustavus Library Associates board and encourages you all to join GLA. Go Gusties!
Barb
supplied all of the above news and notes and your class agents can’t thank you
enough!!!!! All of your calling and
reporting was just what we’d like to encourage from all of you! Contributions like these can make the class
letter really an important and interesting way to stay in touch with our
classmates. THANKS again Barb you’ve
made our jobs a lot easier!
Just a
couple of more notes that were passed on to us…
Ted
Schramm - after
one career in the Air Force and another with Fed X, Ted has finally retired for
good! Chances are he and his wife,
Carol, are traveling lots and playing lots of golf in and around Hot Springs,
AR.
Dale
Christoffer - is a
retail manager for the JC Penny in Greenville, MI.
Ken and Linda Johnson - are
owner/operators of the American’s Best Value Inn, in Sheridan, WY.
The spring
letter brings to a close to the 2005-06 school year and this year’s Alumni
Fund. As always we ask that you keep
Gustavus in mind when it comes to your financial support. To date, our class has had just 29% class
participation in this year’s fund drive and we’d certainly encourage those who
are still contemplating a donation to so by the end of May. Thank you.
Until this
fall we wish you all a save summer and keep those cards and letters coming or
if you prefer drop us an email at:
klmoorhead@yahoo.com or afton.alps@juno.com.
John and Kris (Lundberg) Moorhead
Paula
Navarro and
P.S.
Starting in the fall of 2006 we’ll be looking ahead to our 40th reunion
celebration in 2008. We’re going to
need your help in putting together all the activities so please give some
thought to being part of the planning committee...more details to follow!
Campus News
The Alumni Board met on campus in February and made the final selection for the Alumni Awards:
Greater Gustavus Award: Gustavus Library Associates, for providing financial resources for Folke Bernadotte Library, and engaging and introducing alumni and friends in the mission of the College.
Distinguished Alumni Citations: Karen Bossart Rusthoven ’66, St. Paul, MN, founder and principal of Community of Peace Academy, St. Paul; Susan Semple-Rowland ’77, Gainesville, FL, professor of neuroscience, University of Florida and director, Neuroscience IDP Graduate Program; and Magnus Ranstorp ’85, St. Andrews, Scotland, chief scientist at the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies, Swedish National Defense College; and a Senior Honorary Research Associate and former Director of Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.
First Decade Awards: Rebecca Konrad ’96, Washington, DC, investment officer, global transaction team, The World Bank International Finance Corporation; and Milo Martin ’96, Philadelphia, PA, assistant professor, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Pennsylvania.
The awards will be presented on Commencement Weekend or Homecoming Weekend depending on the recipient’s schedule.
Gustavus Alumni
Directory
The 2006 Gustavus Alumni Directory will be published soon and our goal is to represent your information as accurately as possible in the printed edition. PCI: the data company, is publishing our directory and a short phone call will update or verify your information. Call toll free: 1-800-982-1589, Monday-Saturday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. CST, and Sunday, 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. CST. International callers dial: 1-972-386-0100, Monday-Friday CST.
Gusties Gather!
Gusties around the world are called to gather on Sunday, August 6! The Alumni Board is designating this day as a way for Gusties to stay connected with each other. In research among alumni, we know that Gusties already stay in contact with many alumni, and we know that Gusties have a strong interest in staying connected with other Gusties and with the College. Ever think you want to do more to be connected with Gustavus? Now is your chance, signup to host a Gusties Gather! event. Complete event checklist, host kit, and details will be provided. Sign-up via e-mail at <alumni@gustavus.edu> or call 800/487-8437.
Upcoming Alumni
Events
Gustavus Library Associates Author Day with Robert Alexander – May 3
Reunion for Class of 1956 and 50-Year Club – May 26-27
Commencement – May 28
Gusties Gather! – August 6
Reunions for the classes of 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001 – October 6-8