Fall 2019
Dear Friend,
It promises to be an exciting year for Luther. In November, the college inaugurated its eleventh president, Dr. Jenifer K. Ward. In a message to the Luther community, President Ward said, “Our work together must be strategic, collaborative, creative, and—most importantly—must articulate what it means to be both grounded in Decorah, Iowa with a face to the world, and set goals for how we can adapt Luther’s past and present for a sustainable future.” A self-described extrovert and lover of art, film, and literature, President Ward started her duties at Luther July 1, and her official inauguration took place November 1–3.
Please keep your alumni information up to date (luther.edu/alumni/update) and feel free to use the alumni directory resource (luther.edu/alumni/directory/). Please contact Luther’s Technology Help Desk if you have questions about logging onto the website.
Be sure to use this checklist to up your Luther social media game:
❏ Follow Luther College on Twitter: @LutherCollege
❏ Follow Luther College on Instagram: @LutherCollege
❏ Follow the Luther College Alumni Facebook page: @facebook.com/luthercollegealumni
And, finally, keep in mind that Christmas at Luther takes place December 5–8. This year’s theme is Whom Angels Greet with Anthems Sweet. Luther would be happy to see you there!
Thank you always for your support and Go Norse!
Clara Bergan
2013 Class Agent
1301 Locust Street, Apt. 202
Des Moines, IA 50309-2927
563-379-7174
[email protected]
Jessica Zenchak
2013 Class Agent
629 Ridgewood Avenue
Lansing MI 48910-4651
708-837-6531
[email protected]
CLASS NOTES
Hannah (Glesne) Adelson is an assistant teacher at Play and Grow Learning Center in Greenville, Wis.
Joel Anderson is an implementation consultant at Fast Enterprises in Englewood, Colo.
Charlie Bruer is program advisor for the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C.
Daniel Cavero is assistant general manager at Cavero Coatings Company, LLC in Bensenville, Ill.
Laura Christensen teaches math at Overland High School in Aurora, Colo.
Nicole (Woodson) DeFauw is a resident physician at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, in Iowa City.
Nick Erickson is registrar at Grout Museum District in Waterloo, Iowa.
Brenna Gibbons earned a doctor of medicine degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She is a resident physician at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics in Madison, Wis.
Sarah (Stoltzmann) Giusto is a child development specialist at Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery.
Keller Grado earned a doctor of medicine degree from the University of Iowa. He is a resident pediatrician at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa.
Bill Haugen is associate development officer at Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis.
Trinda (Phelon) Jevne is an independent sales director at Mary Kay, Inc. in Minneapolis.
Kiki (Cavanagh) Keeney is elementary music specialist for the Davenport (Iowa) Community School District.
Ben Kerns works in operations at Trellis, Inc. in Norcross, Ga.
Alyssa Landin earned a PhD in chemical physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Hannah (Buehler) and Donald Lee-Brown II live in Long Island City, N.Y. She is manager, Pharmacy-Medicare at Healthfirst in New York City. He is program director and data scientist at Insight Data Science.
Matt Lind earned a juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School. He is an associate in the intellectual property practice of Paul Hastings in Chicago.
Heidi (Kistenmacher) Lindstad is a physician’s assistant at The Iowa Clinic in Des Moines, Iowa.
Kelsey (Moler) Pavlidis is a school based mental health therapist for SummitStone Health Partners in Fort Collins, Colo.
Tara (Laughlin) Priolo teaches voice at Spark School of Music in Osseo, Minn.
Justin Ratzlaff is vice president of business development at SkyRide Technology in St. Bonifacius, Minn.
Matt Rubins is an IT application analyst at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa.Jessica Ruth earned a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. She is a licensed associate marriage and family therapist at University of Minnesota Physicians.
Melani Schwartz teaches elementary music at the Minnetonka (Minn.) Public Schools.
Samantha Shimak is property manager at Accesso Services in Minneapolis.
Sheila Sinha is a social worker for Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Carl Sorenson is a PC-technician at Ecolab in Eagan, Minn., and an audio engineer at Minnehaha Recording Company.
Jana Sorensen earned a doctor of dental surgery degree from the University of Minnesota. She is a general dentist at the nonprofit Community Dental Care in Robbinsdale, Minn.
Sarah Stoltzmann is a child development specialist at Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery.
MARRIAGES
BEKAH CAMPBELL and ANDY ST. MARTIN, Dec. 13, 2017
MATT ENGELSON and HANNAH GRUNDHOEFER '12, Sept. 29, 2018
EMMA HELLMANN and Tommy McCormac, Feb. 17, 2018
JON LANG and EMILY RAUCH '14, Aug. 5, 2017
ERIKA LORD and Christopher Stola, April 14, 2018
KELSEY MOLER and Mark Pavlidis, Sept. 15, 2018
COURTNEY O’HARA and Christopher Garza, Oct. 14, 2017
SHANTEL SCHWARTING and BONGANI MASEKO '16, Dec. 5, 2018
ASHLEY WRIGHT and Kevin Shannon, Dec. 8, 2018
BIRTHS
KRISTINA (NIENHAUS) and Tim Mansheim welcomed a son, Damien Joseph, in October 2018.
EMMA (HELLMAN) and Tommy McCormac welcomed a son, Theo, in September 2018.
STEPHANIE (DREWES) '12 and JIM PENNING welcomed a daughter, Hazel Olivia, in March 2019.
COLBY (ENGEL) and Jeff Supernaw welcomed a son, Dean William on May 7, 2018.
ALLI (KEPHART) '15 and ANDREW TJOSSEM welcomed a son, Henrik Philip, in November 2018