Class notes for Winter 2004

1920s

Stanley W. Allgeier (’29 Elect. Engr., ’29 Hydro.), 96, Carmichael, California, has 47 years of service in the Masonic Lodge.

1930s

Bill Hooper (’34 Speech), “The Outlaw Cowboy” on KWSC radio, retired after 60 years as a Seattle optometrist. “I made friends of my patients, instead of making patients of my friends.”

Winnifred L. Olsen (’38 Sociology), Olympia, received the Olympia YWCA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 and the National Point of Light Daily Award March 16, 2004, with personal recognition from presidents George Bush and George W. Bush.

1940s

Roger J. Crosby (’41 Polit. Sci.), Deer Harbor, has been elected president for a fourth term of the Orcas Power and Light Cooperative that serves all of San Juan County. In 1982, he retired as vice president and general counsel of Burlington Northern Holding Co.

Norm Garlick (‘41 D.V.M.) and Helen, his wife of 66 years, live in a senior retirement village in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

After spending 32 years half time in their home in Maui, Rune Goranson (’41 Agri.) and his wife, Catharine, sold the place and moved to full-time living in Edmonds.

Mary Sutton McFarland (‘41 Music), Clark Fork, Idaho, has been managing her ranch’s timberland and Conservation Reserve Program projects. She had a bad accident on her Harley-Davidson motorcycle just prior to her 84th birthday, but is better now, she says. “We of WSC class of ’41 are a hardy bunch!”

Darline L. Kingman-Weigang (’42 Off. Adm.), Leavenworth, keeps busy in retirement with golf, bridge, swimming, family, and “a couple of trips a year to New York City.”

Dick Dodge (’43 Vet Med.) and Virginia Streets (’44 Vet. Med.) have “linked up once again, this time for the duration,” Virginia writes from Olympia. “Thanks to WSC for this connection. Life is great for us octogenarians.”

Retired teacher Dorothy J. Mynro Watson (’44 Home Ec.), Seattle, enjoys traveling⁠—U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe. She helps neighbors in need and is active in service organizations.

Mary Rieth Guske, Moscow, Idaho, and her 1947 home economics classmates Fern Overland Christensen and Johnora Capps Johnson traveled to Gold Beach, Oregon, in October 2003.

Jean Lancaster (’47 Educ.), Longview, continues to teach woodcarving. 

Last April Elwood “Woody” Shemwell (’47 Gen. St.) and Leland “Lee” Holmes Nelson (’47 Bus. Adm.) were reunited in Boise, where Nelson retired after spending 32 years in sales and management with the Burroughs Corp. Shemwell, Copperas Cove, Texas, spent 25 years as deputy chancellor at Central Texas College after retiring from the U.S. Army as a colonel. The Walla Walla High classmates enrolled at WSC together and were members of the ROTC Class of 1943. They spent 21 months overseas in the same company, and on returning to the U.S. were discharged together. Both re-enrolled at WSC, graduated in 1947, and returned to Pullman to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the ROTC class. Fourteen of the 18 former cadets returned to campus for the reunion.

1950s

Donald Newbold (’50 Bus. Adm.), Spokane, is involved with the Washington State World War II Memorial.

Delores Graham Doyle (’51 Gen. St.), Fresno, California, is president of the Diocese of San Joaquin Episcopal Church Women. The retired teacher sings soprano with the Holy Family Choir and renewed her season ski pass at age 74.

Donald Walter Meyers (’51 Fine Arts) lives on the water at Discover Bay near his hometown of Port Townsend. He spends winters at Thousand Palms, California.

Since retiring from federal service in May 2002, Lawrence Miller (’51 Civil Engr.) has visited all of the lower 48 states on two trips in his motor home. He completed the 207-day, 21,700-mile journey in June 2003. “There’s so much to see,” he writes from Yuma, where he and his wife, Beverly, live. 

Frederick W. Wefer (’53 Forestry), Bellingham, was elected a fellow of the Society of American Foresters last May. He worked for Georgia Pacific Corp. from 1962 until his retirement in 1991.

Joanna “Jodi” Diane Habel Watson (’55 Biol. Sci.) is a biostatistician for the Cooper Institute in Golden, Colorado. She earned a master’s degree in public health in epidemiology and maternal and child health at Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in May 2003. She married Timothy Watson June 21 in Las Vegas.

William L. Garrison (’56 Gen. St.) has retired from the Social Security Administration and tutors English as a second language in Aberdeen. He also builds sets and designs posters for the Driftwood Theater group.

Bruce M. Johnson (’59 Civil Engr., ’62 M.S. Civil) and Carmen Johnson Johnson (’60 Hist.) live in Estes Park, Colorado. He is writing a book, Flexible Software Design Systems Development for Changing Requirements, due out in spring 2005.

Robert M. Lamborn (’59 Social St.) is semi-retired in Honolulu. For the past three years, he’s been a part-time tour guide on the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor.

1960s

Donald Edwin Ellison (’60 For. Lang.) and his wife took an 11-day Elderhostel tour of Cuba in March 2003. They live in San Francisco.

John Fabian (’62 Mech. Engr.) is in his fourth term as international co-president of the Association of Space Explorers⁠—300 astronauts and cosmonauts from 30 countries. He and his wife, Donna Buboltz Fabian ’63, live in Port Ludlow.

Before retiring in 1993, Burton A. McEachen (’62 Math, ’66 M.A.T. Math) taught high-school math for 31 years in the Highline School District. He and his wife live in Port Orchard.

Kirby Holte (’65 Elect. Engr., ’66 M.S. Elect. Engr., ’71 Ph.D. Engr. Sci.), Walnut, California, spends much of his free time cruising on Uff Da, his 32-foot Ericson sailboat, and enjoying two children and three grandchildren with his wife, Karen. His career includes 25 years in R & D for the Southern California Edison Co., 25 years as adjunct professor of electrical engineering at the University of Southern California, and eight years as president of Grid Technology Associates.

Bruce I. Werner (’65 M.S. Phys. Educ., ’74 Ed.D.), Rancho Murieta, California, retired after 38 years in California community college education. 

Barbara Jane McFarlane Barquist (’66 For. Lang.), Custer, Washington, retired in April 2004 after working 18 years at the Christian Health Care Center.

Charles A. Pearson (’67 Civil Engr.) celebrated his 35th anniversary with the City of Tacoma. In 2001 he received the Government Engineer of the Year Award from the Puget Sound Engineering Council.

John Edward Lund (’68 Ph.D. Vet. Med.), Mortage, Michigan, retired from Pfizer in 2003. “Lots of fishing on Lake Michigan, hunting in Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, not to mention golfing.”

Jim McKean (’68 English, ’74 M.A. English), professor of English at Mount Mercy College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is author of Home Stand: A Memoir of Growing Up in Sports. McKean played basketball for WSU, 1965-69.

1970s

Burgess Bauder (’70 D.V.M.) married Victoria Vosburg June 28, 2003, in Sitka, Alaska, where they live. He is a veterinarian with Sitka Veterinary Clinic.

Claus-Michael Naske (’70 Ph.D. History) completed his 12th book⁠—Ernest Gruening: Alaska’s Greatest Governor⁠—in June 2004. He lives in Fairbanks, where he is professor emeritus of history at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. From 1988 until June 30, 2004, he served as director of the University of Alaska Press.

In a snow-and-ice storm last March, Charles E. Russell (’70 Biochem. & Zool., ’74 M.S. Entomology), Tacoma, reached the summit of 19,400-foot Uhuru Peak on Mount Kilimanjaro with his 15-year-old son, Eli.

Thomas Lee Gamble (’71 Arch.), Livermore, California, is executive vice president of Shea Homes, a homebuilding firm.

John Heggers (’72 Ph.D. Bact.) is professor of surgery/microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and director of clinical microbiology at the Shrine Burns Hospital there. He received the 2004 American Burn Association Robert B. Lindberg Award for the best scientific paper presented by a non-physician scientist.

Thomas B. Williams (’72 M.A. Polit. Sci.), professor of government at American University’s School of Public Affairs, received the Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching in an Adjunct Appointment for the 2004-05 academic year. He is director of federal projects for the Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Virginia, dedicated to the conservation of land and water resources in the context of sustainable development.

Robert Dane Shaw (’75 M.A. Anthro., ’83 Ph.D. Anthro.), Anchorage, enjoys his many art projects along with archaeological opportunities in Alaska. 

Robert Thayer (’75 Ag. Econ., ’76 M.A. Ag. Econ) and Vicki Wolfenbarger Thayer (’74 Vet., ’76 D.V.M.) celebrated their 30th anniversary with a trip to Scotland and a concert at Sterling Castle in August 2003. They live in Lebanon, Oregon, where she works part-time as a relief veterinarian. Bob is based in Eugene as a senior corporate pricing analyst with FedEx Freight, Inc.

Joseph Harari (’76 Vet. Sci., ’80 D.V.M.), Spokane, recently published a book on small-animal surgery.

Randal O. White (’76 Geol., ’81 M.S. Geol.), Oro Valley, Arizona, has been conducting exploration research on mineral deposits, primarily copper, in the southwestern U.S. as the senior consultant geologist for Phelps Dodge Exploration Corporation for the past 17 years.

Selah High School teacher Kathleen Hansell Hendrix (’77 Master’s Adult & Cont. Educ.) received national recognition as a Top Ten Teacher of the Year from the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in San Diego in June 2003. 

Michael Lee Davis (’78 Sociology), a 20-year veteran of the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department, was appointed June 1, 2004, as chief of the 14-officer Gig Harbor Police Department.

1980s

Ken Dart (’82 Hort.), Wenatchee, has been hired as the new packed product facilitator by Stemilt Growers, Inc.

Ralph Erdmann (’82 Econ.) is a customer information coordinator for the U.S. Department of Energy, Bonneville Power Administration in Vancouver.

Eric Lindquist (’82 Mech. Engr.), Menlo Park, California, was appointed senior vice president of marketing for Omnicell, a leading provider in patient safety solutions.

Jack Pacheco (’82 Bus. Adm.), San Ramon, California, has been named chief financial officer for SMART Modular Technologies, Inc.

Dan Fox (’84 Sociology) serves as a facilitator for Spokane’s Victims of Homicide or other Violent Death Group, operated by Lutheran Community Services.

Robert J. Ross (’84 Engr. Sci.) is project leader, condition assessment and rehabilitation of structures, for the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. He and Roy Pellerin (’59 Mech. Engr.) have published a technical book entitled, Nondestructive Evaluation of Wood.

Jeanette Thomason (’84 Comm.) is special projects editor, as well as acquisitions editor, at Baker Book House Co., Ada, Michigan. She has served as editor of two weekly newspapers and two magazines, Virtue and Aspire.

Michael D. Castle (’85 M.B.A.), Kirkland, is chief financial officer for Cold Heat™, an innovator of patented mobile heating technology.

Scott Jones (’85 Comm.), Tulsa, has been the co-anchor of the KJRH-TV morning and midday newscasts since March 2004.

Altina Wickstrom (’85 B.S. Vet. Med., ’88 D.V.M.) has purchased the 25-year-old Acadia Veterinary Clinic in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Mark Wilcomb (’85 Marketing) returned to the Lewis Alumni Centre July 1, 2004, as new operations director for the WSU Alumni Centre. He previously worked in the alumni center before taking a position at the University of Idaho.

Jake Gutzwiler (’88 Hort., ’02 M.S. Hort.), Rock Island, Washington, is the new raw products quality control manager for Stemilt Growers Inc.

Frank Chase, Jr. (’89 Comm.) had his first book, False Roads to Manhood, published in April 2004 in Huntsville, Alabama. He is a writer for the U.S. Army publication PS Magazine at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Information about his book can be found on his Web site at www.positivejourney.com.

Rena Carlson-Lammers (’89 D.V.M.), Pocatello, received the 2004 Idaho State University Professional Achievement Award for the College of Arts and Sciences, natural sciences and mathematics. Since 1990, she has been the animal welfare facility veterinarian for ISU. Her service has advanced the practices of the ISU Animal Care Facility, gaining accreditation for the lab from the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation for Lab Animal Care International. She is an owner of the Alpine Animal Hospital, Pocatello.

1990s

Sharon Clizer (’90 M.Ed.) is principal of Holy Family School in Clarkston. She was selected as the distinguished principal for the Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Montana district of the National Catholic Education Association.

John M. Keating (’91 B.S., ’00 M.B.A.), Richland, has started the Puttomatic Golf Co., after filing a patent application for Neck Putter™.

Don Kopczynski (’91 M.S. Engr. Mgmt.) has been elected vice president of Avista Corp. The 25-year employee will oversee the company’s electric and natural gas transmission and distribution operations.

Jeff Lundstrom (’91 Civil Engr.) is director of Perteet Engineering’s new highway design division. He’s worked for the Washington State Department of Transportation for 12 years, managing up to 20 projects at one time.

John Wolsborn (’91 Polit. Sci.) returned from a year’s deployment with Operation Iraqi Freedom in February 2004. The major in the Army Reserve served with the 220th Military Police Brigade in both Kuwait and Iraq. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. During the deployment, he and his wife, Ashley, welcomed their second child, Annabelle, in June 2003. He has returned to his civilian job as a consulting manager in the Washington, D.C., office of Accenture.

Walt Bratton (’92 Rec. & Leisure St.), Burbank, California, has been named the director of Burbank’s Park, Recreation and Community Services Department.

Portland attorney Jesse Lyon (’92 Ag. Engr.) has been voted one of Portland’s Forty Under 40 up-and-coming community leaders. He was featured in the March 19, 2004 issue of The Business Journal, published in Portland. He has been a member of the Davis Wright Tremaine law firm since 1998.

Rueben Mayes (’92 Bus. Adm., ’00 M.B.A.) was named director of development for WSU’s Office of Undergraduate Education last August. 

Jeffrey Thane Moses (’92 Elem. & Sec. Educ.) is a service agent for Thrifty Car Rental in Spokane. From 2002 to 2003, he volunteered at Virginia Grainger Elementary School in his hometown of Okanogan, assisting first- and second-grade teachers.

Mieko Nakabayashi (’92 M.A. Polit. Sci.), Tokyo, Japan, is a fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade, and Industry in Washington, D.C.

Roberto Gutierrez (’93 Social Sci. & Educ.) began his new job as vice president of instruction at Clark College in Vancouver July 1, 2004. He previously held a similar position at Spokane Community College.

Yuan Zhao (’93 Ph.D. Plant Physics) has been working for Unigen Pharmaceuticals in Hawks Prairie, near Olympia, since March. 

Kristina Wilfore (’95 Comm.) is executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center and Foundation, an advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

Lynn Baker (’97 Ed.D.) became interim principal of Summit High School in Bend, Oregon, July 1, 2004. He is serving a one-year term. 

Michele Sanders Maassen (’97 Comm.) and husband Dan Maassen (’02 M.A. Civil Engr.) report the birth of a son, Aaron Daniel, on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2004. They live in Chandler, Arizona.

Kali Sakai (’97 Comm.) has been promoted to lead program manager of Mobile Services at RealNetworks, Inc., in Seattle. She’s earned the Program Management Institute certification for project management.

Keri Shoemaker (’98 Comm.) is an account manager in the media relations group of PRR. She has been promoted from the office in Seattle to Arlington, Virginia. 

Jason Gibbons (’99 Wildlife Mgmt.) took a promotion in January 2004 and moved to Guam, where he is a supervisory wildlife biologist with USDA Wildlife Sciences. He and his wife, Amy, have taken up scuba diving.

Julie Kjelland (’99 Hotel & Rest. Adm.) is recreation supervisor at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Huntington Beach, California.

Danial N. Moor (’99 Bus. Adm.) has joined the law firm of Donald C. Moor & Co., L.P.A. in Cincinnati. 

2000s

Shelley Ann Ajax (’01 Social St.) completed law school in two years. Now she’s employed by Allen Brecke Law Offices, Spokane.

Rob George (’02 Social Sci.) assumed his new position as director of guest services for the Atlanta Braves baseball team May 10, 2004. 

Angela Smeltz (’02 Spanish) has graduated from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

Holly Wysaske (’02 English) is a promotions producer for KHQ-TV in Spokane.

James Hammond (’03 Ed.D. Adm.) has been the superintendent of schools in Tukwila since July 2004. Previously he was principal at Bethel High School.

Steven Hanson (’03 Bus. Adm. Mgmt.) has received his commission as an ensign in the U.S. Navy. He has been assigned as a supply officer aboard the USS Shrike, a minesweeper, based in Ingleside, Texas.

Brian Hinton (’03 Acct.) is an assurance associate for BDO Seidman LLP in Spokane.

Lance Sinnema (’03 M.F.A.) taught sculpting and drawing at Whitworth College during the spring of 2004. He displayed his first solo art installation in Spokane, a human-sized diorama entitled, Busted, in Whitworth’s Koehler Gallery.