Class notes: Summer 2025

Keep up with what fellow alumni are doing in our class notes for the summer 2025 alumni magazine issue.

Appears In




Illinois State: Summer 2025

1960s

Robert Stern ’65 is retired; has two children; resides in Indian Trail, North Carolina.

Frances Jean (Tobias) O’Brien ’66 is retired from West Aurora Schools 129 after a 40-year career in education; earned a master’s degree at Northern Illinois University; supervised student teachers at Aurora University for 16 years; resides in Aurora.

Merlyn Hepperly ’67, M.S. ’74, worked in Illinois State’s internal audit department, eventually becoming its director; is the owner of a CPA firm; has had two generations of family attend Illinois State since he did; resides in Springfield.

Annette K. (Rutt) Lynch ’68 is the founder and CEO of AKL Connection, LLC; had a Special Olympics coaching award named after her; resides in Fairview, Texas.

Julianne Peterson ’68 celebrated her 80th birthday with several Illinois State classmates; is retired; resides in Sun City Center, Florida.

1970s

Bill Boostrom ’71 is a physician assistant at Christus Trinity Clinic and a permanent deacon at Holy Family Catholic Church; resides in Taft, Texas.

Laverne Hanes ’72 is enjoying life at 75 years old; enjoys pastel painting; resides in Rocky Ford, Colorado.

Patricia (Miragliotta) Hayes ’72 is retired from GROWMARK after 40 years of service; resides in Normal.

Karen (Crews) Kusek ’72 is retired; enjoys the mountains, the ocean, and time spent with her granddaughters; resides in Tigard, Oregon.

Carolyn Ronholm ’72 is retired after 50 years of nursing work; enjoys time with her eight grandchildren; resides in Pacific, Missouri.

Christine Albritton ’73, M.S. ’96, is retired from a 30-year career teaching in Bloomington District 87; resides in Normal.

Robert Reynolds ’73 is president and owner of Robert R. Reynolds & Associates, LLC; was recognized by the Florida Chapter of the National Kidney Foundation and the Florida Renal Association for passage of the Alonso Mourning Access to Health Care Act, which provides a pathway to health insurance for disabled persons under the age of 65; resides in Tallahassee, Florida.

Jim ’74 and Jacqueline (Connor) Bethmann ’74 have been married for more than 50 years; their daughter is the web accessibility coordinator at Illinois State; Jacqueline is retired from a career as an IMC specialist in McLean County Unit School District 5; they reside in Normal.

Wendy (Kasten) Bocock ’74 is retired; volunteers at Carle BroMenn Medical Center; resides in Bloomington.

Peggy Tambling ’74, M.S. ’79, was inducted into the Illinois High School Softball Coaches Hall of Fame; resides in Olympia Fields.

Brenda (Thomas) Washington ’74 was a founding member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Lambda Epsilon chapter; is retired from NEC America and U.S. Cellular; resides in Bellwood.

Steven Campbell ’75 is a retired process control engineer; resides in Bloomington.

Bonnie Kaye ’75, M.S. ’86, is retired after 33 years of teaching at Coal City Elementary School; resides in The Villages, Florida.

Renda (Griebel) Rabe ’75 is a pre-K teacher; resides in Coulterville.

Jacque (Reynolds) Schantz ’75 is retired; took graduate courses at Northern Illinois University and Grand Valley State University during a 29-year teaching career; resides in Rockford, Michigan.

Pam (Pawlak) Cavanaugh ’76 taught special education for 40 years; continues to serve as a substitute teacher; has three children, including twin daughters; has eight grandchildren, including 7-year-old triplets; resides in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Linda Moley ’76 is retired; enjoys hiking, rock-hounding, and photography; resides in Sun City, Arizona.

Alice (Priller) Morrissey ’76 is retired from the Social Security Administration; resides in Chicago.

Randy Kingdon ’77 is retired from State Farm Insurance; resides in Bloomington.

Mary McNamee Bower ’78 retired from the Evansville Museum of Arts, History, and Science after 46 years of service; curated an exhibition of Seated Woman with Red Hat, an art glass mosaic from Pablo Picasso, as one of her final projects; resides with her husband in Evansville, Indiana.

Edward Lewandowski ’78 retired from District 204 as a teacher and administrator after 35 years of service; resides in Shorewood.

Brian ‘78 and Debra Schrader ’78 are retired; relocated from Burbank, California, to Lake Forest to be closer to their grandson.

Sally (Wilbom) Perez ’79 has been a classroom facilitator for 11 years at Rock Cut School; will retire at the end of this year; resides in Rockford.

1980s

Julie Becker O’Brien ’80, M.S. ’83, is retired after working for 40 years in education; resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Catherine (Swager) Davis ’80 is retired as comptroller for the City of Bloomington Township; resides in Elmwood.

Duane “Jeff” ’82 and Sue (Muehling) Amell ’82, M.S. ’83, enjoy traveling and visiting friends and family in their retirement; reside in Harmony, Florida.

Larry Seaborg ’82 is retired after 41 years working in production management; resides in Roselle.

Dr. Nickey Yates Sr. ’82 is a retired infantry officer from the United States Marine Corps; is a former member of the Kankakee County Board; is an active member of the City of Kankakee Board of Fire & Police Commissioners; is an active member of the Illinois Fire & Police Commissioners Association board of directors; resides in Kankakee.

Jeffrey Lord ’83 retired after 40 years in banking, the last 33 as a national bank examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Treasury; enjoys Redbird football and basketball; has many alumni in his family; resides with his wife in Normal.

Susan Pinneke ’83 is enjoying retirement; resides in West Des Moines, Iowa.

David Daucanski ’84 retired and relocated to Savannah, Georgia.

Sue Martin ’84 retired as a special education teacher from Joliet District 86; resides in Minooka.

Betsy (Murphy) Southerland ’84 is a retired educator enjoying retirement; resides in Greeneville, Tennessee.

Rebecca (Gurske) Steffen ’84 is vice president and president-elect of GFWC-Pleasant Prairie Woman’s Club; is retired; resides in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.

Ronald Bartlett, M.S. ’85, is retired from Advocate BroMenn and Eureka hospitals; is retired from the Army Reserve; winters in Florida and maintains a permanent residence in Heyworth.

Nancy (McMullen) Knapp, M.S. ’86, owns and operates Circa Vintage Gallery in St. Charles; resides in Wayne.

John Kinsey ’87 retired as senior manager of knowledge resource management at DLA Piper in Chicago after 38 years in the legal industry, including the past 25 at Piper; resides in Forest Park.

Dwight Lindhorst ’88 retired as chief financial officer of Ritenour School District in St. Louis; resides in Troy.

Missy (Helander), M.S. ’88, and Ray Smock ’74 are retired from Illinois State; reside in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Daphne Whitehead ’88 earned a doctorate in education specializing in curriculum and instruction; is a recent member of the Illinois State University Economics Alumni Board; resides in Las Vegas.

Kay (Nealis) Coulson ’89, M.S. ’97, is retired from a 35-year teaching career; resides in Mahomet.

Martha O’Sullivan ’89 released her fifth romance novel, Sierra Fall; writes contemporary romance novels set in Lake Tahoe; authored the Chances Trilogy and Christmas in Tahoe, available in print and digital formats at online retailers; is a native Chicagoan who now resides with her husband and daughters in Florida.

Dr. Pamela (Gorman) Sprigler ’89 received an educational doctorate in organizational leadership from St. Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania; resides in Upper Arlington, Ohio.

1990s

Michelle Scott ’90 has been a special education teacher in Palatine CCSD 15 for 32 years; plans to retire in 2027; resides in Hoffman Estates.

Michelle McClannahan ’91 has been teaching since her Illinois State graduation, except for six years when her children were young; is currently teaching children with autism in Cobb County, Georgia; resides in Mableton, Georgia.

Kristina (Hartwell) Williams ’92 is senior vice president of business development and clinical services at Ep!c, based in Peoria; resides in Chillicothe.

Rhonda Dugan ’93, M.A. ’96, was promoted to professor of sociology and is now chair of the Department of Sociology at California State University, Bakersfield; resides in Bakersfield, California.

Christopher Norem ’93 was named 2025-26 secretary/treasurer of the American Board of Trial Advocates Illinois chapter.

Kristen (Haas) Oliver ’93 is a realtor for Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate; has been a realtor in Bloomington-Normal for 25 years; resides in Bloomington.

Jennifer Russell ’93 is living her best life in Romney, West Virginia.

Dr. Rey E. de la Cruz, Ed.D. ’95, wrote and directed the 1975 play, Programang Putul-Putol (Fragmented Program), which appeared on a limited-edition postage stamp released by the Philippine Post Office as a 50-year anniversary celebration.

Brent ‘95 and Sarah (Silverton) Roberts ’95 are parents to an Illinois State senior; Brent is communications director for the Wisconsin Institute of CPAs; Sara is an equity partner at Strauss & Hoyt, LLC; they reside in Mundelein.

Arthur William ’95 and Sheila Scheck ’95 are parents to a son who graduated in May; reside in Morton.
Mark Quesenberry, M.S. ’96, is retired from James A. Rhodes State College in Lima, Ohio; resides in Lakeview, Ohio.

Jason Kuhl ’97 is CEO of the Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County; resides in Oklahoma City.

Andy Abner ’98 was named Douglas County (Colo.) School District Administrator of the Year; is a high school principal; has worked in education for 28 years.

Laura Nussle ’98 has been a physical education teacher for 26 years; resides in Sugar Grove.

2000s

Sean Thornton ’00, M.S. ’17 ’22, is a Master of Fine Arts candidate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; resides in Normal.
Irene Thraen-Borowski ’00 and Keith Thraen-Borowski ’02 met at Illinois State and have been married for 22 years; reside in Galena.

Becky (Northrup) Eggers ’01 is an athletic trainer; practices as an orthopedics practice operations supervisor; picks up per diem sports coverage on weekends; resides in Lockport.

Jennifer (Langellier) Shaw ’01 is a registered nurse at Memorial Care Lincoln; is mother to a child attending Illinois State; resides in Lincoln.

William Dwoinen ’04 is chief revenue officer at Mural; was previously vice president of sales at Salesforce; resides in Naperville.

Heather Marsala ’04 is teaching high school mathematics in Chicago; is in their 21st year teaching and plans to teach for 17 more years before retiring at age 60; resides in Chicago.

Jaymie (Willbarger) Gelino ’05 is global chief operating officer for project management at Jones Lang LaSalle; resides in Schaumburg.

Dr. Kristina Kaufman ’06 ’11, Ed.D. ’14, will publish a picture book in September inspired by a trip taken with Illinois State students for a school project; resides in Lombard.

Jeremy ’06 and Mary (Craft) Kobbeman ’03 work for nonprofit Marklund, in Geneva; Mary is the director of government relations; Jeremy is the controller; they reside with their two children in Geneva.

Sparkie (Coleman) Nicks ’06 is a residential therapist for Children’s Home; has a master’s degree in marriage, couple, and family counseling; resides in Peoria.

Miriam (Bonilla) Castro ’07 has earned two graduate degrees and a leadership endorsement; is the student services department chair, school counselor, and department chair at her school in District 211; resides in Roselle.

Ashley Underhill ’07 has been a nurse for 12 years at OSF HealthCare in Peoria; is mother to a 1-year-old son; resides in Hopedale.

Tina (Hitz) Lisowski ’08 ’11, M.S. ’16, works at a med spa as an aesthetic injector; helps veterans with disability exams; has an 11-year-old daughter; resides in Bloomington.

DeAnna Lynn ’08 has worked in education for 13 years, specializing in early childhood education; released her fourth book, The Cupcake Factor: A Bite-Sized Recipe for Emotionally Intelligent School Leadership; resides in Rockford.

Stephanie (Renner) Warner ’08 and her husband are the co-founders of Cover the Spectrum, donating 20% of all sales to the Autism Society of America; founded the company when her son was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old; resides in Arvada, Colorado.

Jennifer (Poduch) Albro ’09, M.S. ’11, is a speech-language pathologist in Schaumburg CCSD 54; resides with her husband and two children in Palatine.

Elizabeth Hauck ’09 got married; is an analyst in continuing education programming at Heartland Community College; resides in Bloomington.

2010s

Nicole (Mahlmann) Brauweiler ’10 has been teaching fifth grade for 12 years; is married and just welcomed her third child; earned a master’s degree; resides in Montgomery.

Eddie Kurpieski ’11 welcomed a son; is an account executive for Clutch Solutions; resides in Hoffman Estates.

Christine Loconti ’11 moved to Spain in 2012; is an ESL teacher and freelance content writer; resides in Barcelona, Spain.

Lawrence Guerrero ’12 teaches English and physical education at Respect Academy in Denver; earned a master’s degree from Texas State University; resides in Denver.

Joey Maman ’12 is the director of student involvement in the College of Business Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago; chairs the board of advisors for Tau Kappa Epsilon at Illinois State; resides in Wilmette.

Martina Brkljacic ’13 is an assistant principal at Horizon Science Academy working in tandem with another assistant principal who is also an Illinois State alum; resides in Chicago.

Allyson (Corona) Reese ’13 is the manager of special events for the City of Jacksonville; resides in Jacksonville, Florida.

Erin (Addante) Sandrin ’13 is mother to two sons; resides in San Antonio.

Michelle Wallace ’13 is a junior landscape designer at ECo Design Studio; earned a master’s degree in landscape architecture from Temple University; resides in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico.

Linda (Marino) LoPresti ’14 has been a teacher for 10 years; earned a master’s degree and an LBS1 endorsement; resides in Willowbrook.

Unai Zabella-Clares, M.A. ’14, works at the Royal Academy of the Basque Language; resides in Getxo, Bizkaia, Spain.

Yelyse Walls ’15, M.S. ’24, earned a master’s degree in college and student personnel administration from Illinois State; joined the University’s Multicultural Center as its assistant director of cultural and social justice programming; resides in Normal.

Julian Chavez ’16 has worked in corporate and commercial banking for eight years; is a vice president at BMO Capital Markets; purchased his first home with his wife, and together they welcomed their first child; resides in Downers Grove.

Molly (Schmidt) Ford ’16 earned an LBS1 endorsement and has been teaching special education for six years; resides in Aurora.

Chris Ruud ’16 became a dad; is a sales manager for Human Kinetics; resides in St. Joseph.

Tom Targosz ’16 is a principal software engineer at Clearcover; presented at Chain React 2024; resides in Chicago.

Matt Hermes ’17 is a sales operations manager at Delta Industries, Inc., in Bartonville; resides with his wife and child in Normal.

Mackenzie (Propheter) Hicks ’17 is a functional nutritionist for Nestle; got married and adopted a dog; resides in Clearwater, Florida.

Abigail Nieter ’17 is a process analyst and UX communications expert for Robert Bosch LLC; resides in Berwyn.

Erin O’Callaghan ’17 earned a master’s degree in occupational therapy from Lewis University; is a pediatric therapist in public schools; got married; resides in Warrenville.

Karl and Jessica (Piske) Beck ’18 have a 1-year-old daughter; reside in Aurora.

Samuel Bybee ’18 is a wildland firefighter for the United States Forest Service in Utah; resides in Vernal, Utah.

Rebecca (Peeples) Liberatore ’18 developed a transitional English course approved by the Illinois Community College Board designed for college-bound high school seniors not yet prepared for English 101; is an English teacher at Seneca Township High School; resides in Oswego.

Madison Peddicord ’18 has taught elementary bilingual education for five years; resides in Plainfield.

Ryan Schultz ’18 is an operations analyst at Ategrity; appears in Happy Gilmore 2; resides in New York City.

Kiley (Walsh) Specht ’18 is a former Illinois State golfer still competing at the national level; finished fifth at the National Club Championship in Lake Oconee, Georgia; resides in Stoughton, Wisconsin.

Troy Carlson ’19 is a firefighter for the Joliet Fire Department; attends Illinois State basketball and football games; resides in Joliet.

Adam Guenther, M.S. ’19, is an athletic academic advisor at Indiana University; resides in Bloomington, Indiana.

Monica Mendoza ’19 is a classified department customer engagement professional with the Tribune Co.; resides in Chicago.

Daniela Riggi ’19 is a school counselor; has a master’s degree in school counseling; is engaged to a person met at Illinois State; resides in Frankfort.

2020s

Krista Dietz ’20 graduated from nursing school; resides in Dyer, Indiana.

Jade (Allen) Finch ’20 is a Rio Grande water resources professional for the state of New Mexico; resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Madison Ifft ’20, M.S. ’22, is the director of residence life at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; resides in Chicago.

Abby Langner ’20 and Caleb Pritts ’19 will be married in September; they reside in Spring Lake, Michigan.

Alexandra (Brandt) Lichota ’20 earned a master’s degree in research in evaluation methods from the University of Colorado, Denver; was awarded the School of Education and Human Development’s Outstanding Master’s Student Award; resides in Aurora, Colorado.

Molly Martin ’20, M.S. ’22, is a contract speech-language pathologist working with K-5 students; resides in Champaign.

Amanda Meiner ’20 is a safety consultant with Sheffield Safety and Loss Control; resides in Orland Park.

O’nea Payne ’20 plans to pursue a graduate degree; resides in Bridgeview.

Ana Karen Ramirez ’20 works at the same school where she completed her student teaching clinicals; resides in Crystal Lake.

Madeleine Renken ’20 is an instructional designer at Kaskaskia College; has worked in higher education for four years; resides in Troy.

Stacey (Funk) Scaminaci ’20 finished her first year of teaching kindergarten; got married; resides in Naperville.

Rachel Shangraw ’20, M.S. ’21, is an inpatient clinical dietitian at Alaska Regional Hospital; is working toward a doctorate in clinical nutrition from the University of North Florida; resides in Anchorage, Alaska.

Brooklyn Vogel ’20 is an academic advisor and clinical field instructor in Illinois State’s English teacher education program; resides in Bloomington.

Ajasia West ’20 is a crisis support specialist at The Thresholds; resides in Chicago.

Erik Zdansky, M.S. ’20, is a grants and quality assurance manager for Lifelong Access; served as primary writer of a grant that secured a $21.7 million grant from the State of Illinois; resides in Normal.

Kara Brummel, M.S. ’21, is a creative copywriter for a product development company; resides in Chicago.

Madison (Coletti) Burling ’21 is a high school biology teacher; resides in St. Anne.

Katie Fisher ’21 works in Illinois State’s Department of English as assistant to the chair and an undergraduate advisor; resides in Normal.

Delaney Goss ’21 is the marketing coordinator for Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano and Ancho & Agave; manages social media content and email and advertising campaigns; resides in Bloomington.

Maria Hidrogo ’21 is enrolled in a reading specialist master’s program; resides in Mundelein.

Caitlin (Massey) Ochs ’21 is a middle school band teacher at Richland County Middle School; resides in Oblong.

Anthony Portera ’21 is a math teacher at Palatine High School; is a proud alum who wears his Redbird colors every Wednesday on “College Day” at his school; resides in Palatine.

Christopher Recendez ’21 is a teacher and pathway advisor; is enrolled in a graduate program at Illinois State; resides in Rolling Meadows.

Dr. Andrianna Smyrniotis, Ed.D. ’21, is retired; is writing a children’s book and consulting; resides in Normal.

Courtney Allen ’22 is a transfer admissions counselor at Illinois State; is enrolled in a graduate program at Illinois State; resides in Bloomington.

Dr. Nicole Arneson ’22 earned a doctorate in occupational therapy; resides in Fort Worth, Texas.

Karyn Cordes, M.S. ’22, is a supervisor of professional development and patient relations with OSF HealthCare; has a daughter who will enroll at Illinois State this fall; resides in Peoria.

Cassandra Greenwald ’22 is a paralegal at Jacob & Klein Law; resides in Colfax.

Precious Hankison ’22 is a human resources assistant at Switch Craft, working for a fellow alum; resides in Crete.

Abbey Helfand ’22 earned a second bachelor’s degree; resides in Vernon Hills.

Demetri Kladis ’22 is a high school social studies and history teacher; resides in Palos Hills.

Ruthie Lamb ’22 relocated and works in community health; resides in Chicago.

Bailey (Reiser) Lowe ’22 is a dance teacher, dancer, and part-time cashier; resides in Plainfield.

Hayley Matan ’22 earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Olivet Nazarene University; is a teacher in Deerfield District 109; resides in Buffalo Grove.

Jessica Torres ’22 earned an M.S.N. and became an advanced practice registered nurse; resides in Peru, Illinois.
Tiona Whittington ’22 is a kindergarten teacher; resides in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Anagha Arla ’23 earned a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Adler University in Chicago; resides in Bloomington.

Dr. Daniel Brown, Ed.D. ’23, is associate director of the STEM Education Research Center at Southern Illinois University; has worked in education for more than 25 years; resides in Assumption.

Stefanie Delatorre ’23 is a domestic violence probation officer for the Circuit Court of Cook County; resides in Bridgeview.

Jessica Gould ’23 is a registered dietitian for Nourish; resides in Seymour, Missouri.

Thomas Gray ’23 is a presales infrastructure architect at Siemens Digital Industries Software; resides in Chicago.

Hayden Janiszewski ’23 is a CFT at Aligned Data; resides in Algonquin.

Madison Mueller ’23 is in her second year teaching in Palatine CCSD 15; resides in Algonquin.

Aaron Watkins ’23 works in McLean County Unit School District 5 at Colene Hoose Elementary in a fifth grade self-contained classroom for behavioral and emotional support; resides in Normal.

Hassy Fashina-Bombata, M.S. ’24, is a child welfare specialist with a private company working for DCFS; works to reunite families, keep siblings together, and give caregivers a second chance; resides in Chicago.

Brian Hershey ’24 is a music teacher in a newly opened kindergarten center in Glen Ellyn School District 41; resides in Park Ridge.

Satoria Hughes ’24 is a primary school paraprofessional; resides in Chicago.

Taylor Irvin ’24 is an agriculture teacher at Sterling High School; resides in Dixon.

Grace Levin ’24 is a health and physical education teacher at Crystal Lake South High School; resides in Crystal Lake.

Alyssa Mathews ’24 is a kindergarten teacher at West Carroll Primary School; resides in Rock Falls.

Megan Mulligan ’24 is working at an ABA Clinic in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as she applies to graduate schools; resides in Saline, Michigan.

Riley Nebel ’24 is an account manager for a commercial landscaping firm; resides in Wadsworth.

Anna Roseland ’24 is enrolled in a doctoral occupational therapy program at the University of Indianapolis; resides in Indianapolis.

Riley Winburn ’24 finished her first year of teaching; resides in Sycamore.