December 2011 - Subiaco Academy

The Subiaco Monthly
December 1, 2011
Alumni News
Four panelists at the annual Career Day on November 1, 2011,
emphasized the importance of written and oral communication skills in all
careers. Students were encouraged to improve their writing and speaking
ability while in high school in order to be able to explain ideas, but also to
sell themselves and ideas. Each speaker also noted that background checks,
uncovering past bad decisions and even outrageous comments on Facebook,
frequently close the door on opportunities in many career paths.
Lt. Col. John McCurdy, 1981 Subiaco alumnus and presently director
of remotely piloted aircraft and unmanned aerial system at the United
States Air Force Academy, enthusiastically described the many benefits of
attendance at one of the military academies. Bill Hollenbeck, sheriff of Sebastian
County, related unusual experiences in law enforcement, especially as leader of a SWAT team. Subiaco 1973
alumnus Dennis Plafcan, IT director for a Memphis medical software company, explained his career path from rice
farming, to construction, and finally to information technology. David Lensing, a 1964 Subiaco alumnus, noted the
challenges and opportunities of a career in investment banking.
Ben Stuth ‘00 has accepted a new position with the Federal Aviation Administration San Francisco Airports
District Office as their Airports and Aviation Systems Planner where he will be overseeing over 70 airports in
Northern California, Nevada, and parts of Arizona. Ben wrote: “Hope all is well there and please give my regards
to everyone!!! I think of you all often!! You can go ahead and warn everyone that my son will be attending Subi in
about 16 years!!”
Dr. Gary Clark ’72 and Fritz Ruesewald ’78 attended Fall Parents Weekend.
Megan and Chris West ’05 announced the birth of their son Jackson Martin born
10-10-2011.
Dr. Jacqueline and Chris Strempek ’83 have a new addition to their family Caroline
Juliet.
Nick Strobel ’00 married Jarah Sutherland on November 5, 2011.
Denver Amerine ’03 will marry Margeaux Schoofs in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 14, 2012.
Seventh and eighth grade students of St. Joseph Catholic School in Paris learned some calligraphy techniques
in a November 10 class taught by Br. Ephrem O’Bryan, OSB ’60.
Tony Passarella ’65 and Gayle Mangum ’64 journeyed to Norfolk, AR, to do some trout fishing in mid-
November. His remark about fall colors “no greater Artist than our Almighty Creator” inspired us.
Charles ’53 and Brian Weisenfels ’86 were featured in a November 24, 2011 NY Times article.

Two 1978 Academy alumni, Jim Ranallo and Greg Krueger,
stopped at Subiaco on November 9 with their wives on the way to Eureka
Springs.
Gene Burdick ’53 reminisced: “Many of my class will remember
the food raids. When we found a package of cookies unopened, we
would bring them up to the 3rd floor open dorm then, and distribute
them. Most like chocolate chips, but we would settle for oatmeal cookies,
just something to eat. I used to find the large tins of peanut butter
and spread same on my cookies. Made them much better.
“Occasionally we would find some of the Scholastic students,
across the hall from our dorm area in the religious side, down in the
kitchen at the same time stealing food! Still feel some guilt about that
to this day--- one reason I contribute fairly regularly to our palace on
the hill to make up for the food we stole!!
We would tell the Scholastic students who wore those black robes, “ Shame on you for stealing, you guys are
suppose to be better than that. “ We liked to give them a hard time. I don’t remember if Benno was ever down
there in the kitchen.” (Editor’s note: Burdick granted permission to use the above notes.)
Dr. Urban Terbieten ’43 sent this month a brochure from the Sharon Milligan Sculpture Gallery in
Mexico. Urban noted that he had received a personal letter from a Chinese school girl expressing gratitude for
‘Merrill’s Marauders’ (U.S. Army) for stopping the invaders (Japan) during WWII.
As of November 16, 2011, he is now Lieutenant Colonel Paul Frederick ’86. The promotion ceremony
took place in Kansas, presently the home of the Frederick family.
Jeff Gray ’85 wrote: “We are relocating to California over Thanksgiving. I’m now working for Oakwood
Worldwide, the leader in temporary and corporate housing. The company is having some tough times due
to the housing crisis. With so many people moving out of homes and into apartments, and very few apartments
being built the last few years, there just aren’t enough apartments for temporary housing and relocations. I specialize
in guiding companies through transformational times, so this should be a match made in Heaven. And
with all the people praying for me to find a great job, it probably was just that. Unfortunately, the more national
and international data I see, the more I just don’t see a way out of our current economic mess anytime soon.
Housing isn’t stabilized yet, and lending is mired with the overhang of unreported and/or unrecognized liabilities.
There is still a couple trillion dollars of risk to work out of the system before things can improve. Then
there’s the national debt and loss of our manufacturing base. So what can we do? Stay true to our principles,
keep our friends and family well and resist the urge for witch hunts. It will take time, but it will pass.”
Ryan Cravens ’06 married Britne Kuykendall on November 26.
Alfred Adams ’49 died November 14, 2011. In the photo (taken at the
cemetery in Charleston) to the right are nephews and niece of Alfred, L. to R. Jim
‘59, Marilyn Rolniak, Al ‘65, and Steve ‘69.
A.F. Vogel ‘39 died November 6, 2011.
Ed Schneider ’44 died November 14, 2011
Eugene Hart III ’51 died August 31, 2011.
William Burdick ’56 died November 26, 2011.

Academy News
Hiking on Mt. Magazine proved to be an abbreviated November
8 Renaissance Day activity due to rain and tornado warnings. The
Lost Valley hike and a morning at the Lake Dardanelle cabin were
enjoyed despite the inclement weather. Indoor activities, e.g, baking
cookies, classic films, Cajun cooking, board games, ice skating at the
Jones Center in northwest Arkansas, Frisbee golf, touring the Clinton
Presidential Library, and calligraphy were welcome change-of-pace
educational experiences.
The Junior High Trojan basketballers had a convincing 44-29
win over the Ozark Hillbillies, led by Gary Clark’s 23. A tough defense
by the Trojans kept Ozark in check as Clark’s and Jon Vines’ scoring
was enough to allow Subi to pull away from the Hillbillies. A 36-33 win
at Trinity was the young Trojans second win.
The Subiaco Chapter of the National Honor Society held its
induction ceremony on Friday, November 11. The following were installed as officers: President Eli Sorey; Vice
President Greg Kelley; Secretary Toby Turney; Treasurer Nick Timmerman, Historian Jeyoung Yoo; and Public
Relations Officer Homer Brooks.
The following students were inducted into membership in the Honor Society: Riley Hurd, Abe Vierthaler,
Jun-Tae Ko, Ross Dies, Haneul Hong, Pengzi Zhou, Kun (Leon) Fang, Jody Chauvin, Josef Camacho, Daniel Mora,
Patrick Leavey, Seok Young Kim, A.J. Winterberg, Tae Han (Robert) Kim, Eric Siebenmorgen, Mason Goodson,
Tony Schniederjan, Daniel Heinrichs, and Daniel Dunham.
The Academy Junior High Quiz Bowl team took on Lavaca on November 17. Subiaco won the first match
255 to 180 and the second match 250 to 120. Lee Stuff was Subiaco’s high scorer with his teammates close behind.
Alex Sharum led in the bonus and in the lightning round as team captain.
Abbey News
The Abbey maintenance crew continues to work on the new annex fourth floor project. Exterior refrigeration
piping is being installed. Fabrication of the heating and air conditioning duct work is ongoing in the
Abbey sheet metal shop. Core drilling of the concrete floor and layout of the new plumbing continues.
In mid-November Fr. Elijah Owens, Subiaco Abbey’s newly professed Monk, directed his first retreat at
Subiaco, the annual Women’s Retreat, entitled, “Walking with the Saints.” The feedback from the retreatants
has been very positive and plans are already being made for next year.
A lecture on the Rule of St. Benedict by Fr. Hugh Assenmacher on a November retreat provided 18 John
Brown University Honors students with food for thought.
It took both Fr. Mark and Candidate Huy to land the 27” catfish in
a nearby pond on November 20. Their secret bait formula is available
upon request.
Over 50 employees and supporters joined the monks for their annual
All Souls cemetery walk and prayer on November 2. Each year
the monks remember all their brothers who precede them in death.
Every deceased monk is mentioned by name as Abbot Jerome blesses
and incenses all of the graves in the cemetery. The prayer is a way to
help us better understand the Catholic teaching of the Communion of
Saints as well as the importance of remembering those who have died
“marked with the sign of faith.”
The newly remodeled fitness center is in operation. It is open from 6 am to 10 pm each day. Subiaco
staff and their immediate family members over the age of 18 are encouraged to use this facility.