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MILESTONES

Your classmates are eager to hear about you! Please share births, adoptions, marriages, employment news, retirements and other joys of life with our readers. Send your news to JOURNEYS [at] CSM.edu.">JOURNEYS, College of Saint Mary, 7000 Mercy Road, Omaha, Nebraska, 68106.

New Beginnings — Marriages

Baylee Collins ’14 to Collin Mink.

Hannah Thompson ’13, M’14 to Michael Wieger. Hannah is an occupational therapist at Methodist Hospital in Omaha.

Ana Aguilar ’13 to Moises Carrillo. Ana works in the ICU at CHI Bergan Mercy in Omaha.

Allison Dostal M’13 to Brian Jeter.

Chelsea Karr ’11, M’12 to Jeffrey Tjarks. Chelsea is an occupational therapist at CHI Bergan Mercy in Omaha.

Amanda Tomka ’12, M’13 to Mitchell Kurtenbach. Amanda is an occupational therapist at Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk.

Amber Orender ’12, M’13 to Clinton Torczon.

Mollie Scheel ’12, M’13 to Mitchell Maire. Mollie is an occupational therapist for the Balance, Mobility and Aquatic Center in Grand Island.

Julianne Gass M’12 to Shawn Gray. Julianne is a seventh-grade math teacher at Central Middle School in Omaha.

Samantha Chmelka M’11 to Caleb Grummert.

Samantha is an occupational therapist at Tabitha Rehabilitation in Lincoln.

Stacie Cornwell ’08 to Travis Forbis. Stacie is a substitute teacher for Grand Island Public Schools.

 

Class Notes

Sofia Kock retirement party

1940s

Patricia McNamara ’45 is a member of the Los Padres Watercolor Society in Santa Barbara, California.

1960s

Sr. Marie Micheletto, RSM, ’62 received the 2014 University of Omaha Department of Gerontology Alumni Award.

Carolyn Bless Larsen ’63 received the 2014 Betty Soper Historical Award from the Platte County Historical and Genealogical Society of Platte County, Missouri.

Dr. K. Bridget Brosnihan Simmons ’65 received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the InterAmerican Society of Hypertension in Salvador, Brazil. Brosnihan Simmons is professor of surgical sciences/physiology and pharmacology in the Hypertension and Research Center at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Maureen Coufal Proksel ’66 received the 2014 Volunteer of the Year Award from the Bennington, Nebraska, Community Foundation for the many hours she volunteered with the Bennington Library, Festival of Trees and the Bennington Women’s Club.

Sr. Kay O’Brien, RSM, ’67, writer and historian for the West Midwest Sisters of Mercy, completed a three-volume book about the history of the Sisters of Mercy.

1970s

Sofia Grochala Kock ’71, principal of Holy Name School in Omaha, received the 2014 Servite Celebrating Partnership Program Award from the Servants of Mary.Alumnae dinner

Deborah Wright ’74 retired from the County of Los Angeles as treasurer and tax collector. She lives in Long Beach, California.

Beth Tacke Black ’75 and her husband, Philip, have moved their bookstore, The Bookworm, to a new location at the Loveland Centre in Omaha. They have owned the bookstore for 27 years.

Laura Oliver ’76 has been elected Monona County Treasurer in Mapleton, Iowa.

Kayleen Snyder Wallace ’79 was named 2014 Administrator of the Year by the Archdiocese of Omaha. She has been the principal of St. Joan of Arc since 2009 and served as principal at Mary Our Queen for 10 years.

1990s

Mary Vandenack ’90 is a founding member of Houghton Vandenack Williams law firm in Omaha.

Linda Johnston Cobb ’92 retired from her role as housing coordinator at Central Community College in Hastings.

Lisa Utterback ’93 was named executive director for the Omaha Public Schools. Utterback provides daily support and planning to principals at 20 area schools.

Jill Hefti-Breed ’93 and her family recently moved to Castle Rock, Colorado. She and her children wrote a new children’s book titled, Go Granny Go.

Barbara Clinkenbeard ’95 is a psychiatric nurse practitioner in private practice providing cancer counseling at Psycho-Oncology in Omaha.

Sarah Cheney Porto ’95 is a personal banker at Nebraska Bank of Commerce in Lincoln.

Jodi Polenz McQuillen ’96 is a visiting instructor in the social work department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Trish Kucirek Siedlik ’99 completed her ninth season of coaching volleyball at Bellevue University.

2000s

Sharon Lind ’00, chief executive officer of Banner Health’s Ogallala Community Hospital, will fill in as interim CEO of Sterling Regional MedCenter in Sterling, Colorado.

Kristie Korth Brezenski ’02 was inducted into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame. Brezenski played soccer, basketball and volleyball at Scotus Central Catholic High School in Columbus and soccer and basketball at CSM.

Brenda Campbell ’05 was named Face of the Day for the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Nebraska and Southwest Iowa. Campbell was diagnosed at the age of 22.

Anne Boatright ’06 is the program coordinator for Methodist Health System’s SANE/SART program for victims of sexual assault.

Jannette Taylor M’08 is the program director for the NorthStar Foundation, an after-school program for boys in Omaha.

Melissa Kandido M’09 received the 2014 Alice Buffett Outstanding Teacher Award. Kandido is a social studies teacher at Beveridge Middle School in Omaha.

Lisa Spencer M’09 was named principal of Farragut Elementary School and Nishnabotna High School in Hamburg, Iowa.

Faculty & Staff

Sr. Catherine Rupp, OSM, College of Saint Mary English professor and chair of the department for many years, celebrated her 75th Jubilee as a Servant of Mary. Sister lives at Immanuel Fontenelle Home in Omaha.

In Memoriam

If you know alumnae who have passed away and you want to share this news with our readers, please send a printed obituary to JOURNEYS, College of Saint Mary, 7000 Mercy Road, Omaha, Nebraska, 68106. Death announcements must be accompanied by a memorial service program or published newspaper obituary.Mary Mahoney

March 2015

Joan Turner Hamilton ’67

Kathy Mahoney ’84

 

February 2015

Loretta Scholl Breitnauer ’49

Sr. Mary Michelle Guida, RSM, ’55

Sr. Mary Clarita Costella, RSM, ’62

Sr. Mary Eileen Greger, RSM, ’61

Sr. Mary Evangeline Randolph, RSM, ’58

John Wisniski, Jr. ’73

Sr. Kathleen Zaner, RSM, ’65

 

January 2015

Rosmary C. Gaughan Daly, former member of the College of Saint Mary Board of Directors and honorary doctorate recipient.

Evelyn McArdle Bjornson ’52

Nadine Racek ’44

Betty Jean O’Leary Lee ’42

Ruth O’Keefe Willms ’40

Mary Joan Wogan ’58

Brittany Woods Collins ’08

 

December 2014

Sr. Mary Jude Graham, RSM, ’52, philosophy instructor at College of Saint Mary for more than 20 years.

Mary Agnes Kavanaugh Miller ’35 (Aunt of Mary Ellen Mulcahy ’62)

Barbara Sohler Murphy ’61

JoAnn Humphreys D’08

Ruth Ann Purdy ’73, ’91

 

November 2014

Wendy Ratkovec Kinney ’02 (Sister of Tina Ratkovec Barten ’02)

Sr. Mary Lucina Kozeny, RSM, ’61

 

October 2014

Sr. Maureena Bichler, RSM, ’60

Joan Preiner Circo ’47

Mary P. McAndrews ’60

 

September 2014

Madeline “Peg” McCaslin Dineen ’42

 

August 2014

Carolyn Mobley Kilgore Libby ’59

Sr. Agnes Maria Ostry, ND ’67

 

July 2014

Joanne Boyer, founding director of the College of Saint Mary occupational therapy program.

Noema Callahan O’Hair ’44

Matilda “Tillie” Black Bear ’69

 

June 2014

Ann Kerkman ’55

Barbara Bennett McDermott King ’70 (Sister of Brenda Bennett Clark ’71)

Mary Kay McGuire Uraga ’67

 

May 2014

Maurine Hinchey Nuschy ’86

 

April 2014

Donna Pattison Fishback ’93, ’96

Gwanetha Hamilton Metz ’60

Shirley Von Dorn ’93, ’96