Class Notes

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1940s

• Richard Alkema '49 announces that his son Richard’s son Dustin and wife Suzanne had their eighth great-grandson in July 2011.

1950s

• Raymond Thomas '52 recalls living in the Delta Sig, Beta Pi fraternity house from 1950 through 1952. "Sat on that front porch many times, bussed dishes in the basement dining room. Many parties. I had many memorable times with my frat brothers and good times at Tech, and I’m still around to appreciate it."

1960s

• Robert Farsky’s '65 first novel, This Way Madness Comes, written under the pen name Robert Alan, was selected by the 2011 National Indie Excellence Awards as winner in the fiction/adventure category and was also selected by the 2011 International Book Awards as winner in the best new fiction category.

• Virgil Sabin '68 (EME) retired after forty-three years of industry and private consulting in energy conversion technologies. He and his wife, Cindy, are now in central Virginia on their black Angus cattle farm and are enjoying retirement.

1970s

• Christopher Lenicheck '70 is the volunteer manager and head coach of the American Legion Post 74, Charlottesville, Virginia, Junior Shooting Sports Air Rifle Team, which was formed in 2010.

• Richard Newell '70 says, "Twice a week I wear my Tech jerseys to let folks know who I really am." On July 4, he celebrated by riding twenty miles in his ’08 jersey.

• Robert Harrington '73 is now district secretary for District 30 Toastmaster International, with Advanced Communicator Silver and Advanced Leader Bronze. "I still remember debating against the Vietnam War in 1968 and painting the football field with white crosses and ‘Paris is their only Hope’ at the start of the Paris Peace Talks as our prayer for the ROTC cadets."

• Frederick Jenness '75 of Golden Valley, Minnesota, has retired from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Prior to retirement Fred was named Minnesota Governmental Engineer of the Year. He received degrees from Michigan Tech in civil and environmental engineering and in engineering administration and a degree from Alfred State College in construction management. During his career, he worked for O’Brien & Gere Engineers in Syracuse, New York, the United States Navy Seabees, and the State of Minnesota. Fred is currently the commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Dresser, Wisconsin. He and his wife, Dr. Jeanne Mohler, MD, have four children, Andrea, Caitlin, Chris, and Jon, and three grandchildren, Ella, Breonna, and Brenden.

1980s

• Fred Sansom '80 says, "Well, I am a little behind schedule on my midlife crisis (Isn’t that supposed to happen in your forties?). After spending the last fourteen years in the Midwest working in the batch chemical industry, I have taken a job running a co-gen facility on the edge of the Mojave Desert. I have been at it four weeks and love it. Who knew how beautiful the desert could be? So my first week in this company of 1,000 people in a small town in the California desert and I meet another Tech grad. Go figure!"

• Sally (Pearson) Heidtke '81 (Chemical Engineering) is the new director of operational development for CCI Systems of Iron Mountain. She and her husband, Dean, live in Breitung Township.

• Cindy Richardson Unangst '83 (Forestry) received her AICP certification in August after taking the Comprehensive Planning Exam in May. She is the staff planner and zoning administrator for Middletown, Maryland. "I’m enjoying life in Frederick County, Maryland, but miss the wonderful fall colors in the UP," she says.

• Thomas George '85 has been named the director of surface transportation for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, responsible for all bus and rail public transit services for western New York.

• Michael Pretti '85 is now senior engineer in the Green Bay, Wisconsin, office of Conestoga-Rovers & Associates in the Agricultural Engineering Group.

• Sayuri and Scott Tarvainen '86 announce the birth of their daughter, Kaarina Norika, on February 17. "I also changed companies in May and now work for BAE Systems," says Scott. "We continue to live in Shin-Yokohama, Japan."

1990s

• Jenny and Christopher Felhauer '96 announce the birth of Chloe Vannee on June 30.

• Steven Cinelli '98 is pursuing a Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and anticipates graduating in December 2011.

• Ben '98 and Laura (Arlt) Gerold '00 are proud to announce the October 15, 2010, birth of their third child, Penelope Rose. Penelope joins big brothers Kile and Daniel.

2000s

• Genae '01 and Tim Meerstein '00 announce the birth of John William on June 8, 2011. "His big brother, Marcus, was very excited, too," said Genae.

• Jessica Elwell '02 announces the birth of their first daughter, Kailyn Jae, on June 20. "Big brother Alton (born September 30, 2009) is so proud!"

• Benjamin Almquist '04 MSE accepted a postdoctoral scholar position at MIT and is developing new biomaterials for chronic wound healing applications.

• Audrey and James Goetzinger '04 announce the birth of their second child, Martin Joseph, born May 26.

• Beth and Jeffrey Rudd '04 welcomed Jonathan Dennis into the world August 12.

• Matthew McCormick '05 and Cindy Ruotsi '07 were married August 13, after six years of dating.

• Jennifer Heglund '06 married Nicholas Fleming on June 4 at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in Copper Harbor. They reside in Hermantown, Minnesota.

• Dan and Katie (Price) Sterk '07 welcomed their first child, Walter, on October 23, 2010.

• Ryan and Ashley (Blomberg) Ploetz '08 welcomed a son, Maximus William, on January 27.

• Robert '09 and Melissa (Socks) Hambrock '09 were married on May 21 in De Pere, Wisconsin.

2010s

• Brandon Maurisak '10 has been appointed by the Duluth City Council to a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Duluth Transit Authority.

In Memoriam

The Michigan Tech family extends condolences to the relatives and friends of those who have passed away.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.