Winter 2005 - Wayne State College

Alumni Notes(Towns and cities listed onthese pages are in Nebraskaunless noted or generallyunderstood. All events occurredin 2004 unless indicatedotherwise. Efforts are made tokeep our news current.)1941Dr. Archie McPherran haswritten and had published histhird book, The Last Good War.It presents situations in and outof combat. It opines that WWIIlikely is the last war to beuniversally supported by allAmericans, some of whom worea uniform, while other built theships, planes, and armaments,grew the food, and bore thesevere rationing of butter,coffee, meat, sugar, shoes,gasoline, cigarettes, and tireswith little complaint. Archieand his wife, Margaret, reside inSacramento, Calif. He is theretired vice chancellor of Calif.State Community Colleges.1946Marion (Kriege) Doss, YubaCity, Calif., is a credentialedteacher and enjoys tutoringchildren in northern Calif. Shealso does presentations inelementary school classrooms,fairs and festivals, where sheposes as Mother Goose with hergoose, Gertrude.1947Ione (Dirks) Werthman,Omaha, was elected to a threeyearterm on the NationalAudubon Society Board ofDirectors. She has been anactive volunteer in the Societyfor over 25years. Ionealso serves onseveral otherenvironmentalorganizationalboards in Neb.She presentsprograms on nature to childrenand to public social groups inthe area. Throughout the year,she holds six-week birding andnature classes at a local communitycollege.1950Richard and Joanne (Stevenson’ 52) Kirwan were recipients of2004 Neighborhood HeroAward for the city of Santa Ana,Calif. This annual award wasestablished to honor thoseindividuals who have showncommitment and enthusiasm inbettering the quality of life intheir neighborhoods. Theymoved from Neb. to Calif. in1959. Richard and Jo have eachretired from a career in education.He served as principal forOrange High School and shewas a kindergarten teacher for30 years.1959Vern Pinnt retired in May of ’04after 45 years in education. Hiscareer began in Iowa teachingand coaching boy’s basketball.While coaching in Iowa Falls,Iowa, he was named 1975 StateBasketball Coach of the Year.He spent the final 25 years of hiscareer teaching in Ariz. He andhis wife, Betty, reside in Yuma,Ariz.1962James Budde is on executivephased retirement. He foundedthe Research and TrainingCenter on Independent Livingat the University of Kansas in1980 and served as CenterDirector. He now serves assenior advisor for the Center ona 25% time basis until fullretirement. He and his wife,Jane, reside in Lawrence, Kan.1963Burt Echtenkamp has retiredfrom IBM after a 36-year careerwhere he held company positionsin Omaha; St. Louis, Mo.;and Dallas, Texas. Burt mostrecently was senior business areamanager of S&O e-business withIBM Global Services. Burt andhis wife, Linda, reside inRichardson, Texas.1966David Peterson, Lake View,Iowa, has retired from teachinghigh school social studies after39 years at Lake View Auburn,formerly known as Wall LakeView Auburn. He and his WSCsweetheart, Lorraine, will havebeen married 40 years in Aug.They have three children andseven grandchildren (includingtwo sets of twins).1969Galen Johnson (MSE ’70) hasbeen appointed as assistant vicepresident for the Midwest regionof ACT. This not-for-profitorganization serves people inschools, colleges, professionalassociations, businesses andgovernment agencies withprograms and services that helppeople achieve their educationand career goals. He will assumemanagement and leadershipduties for theentire Midwestregion.He and hiswife, Pamela(Seymour),reside inGrayslake, Ill.1970John Lippert, Columbus, retiredafter 30 years as a steel buyerand materials manager withLindsay Manufacturing Co.,Lindsay. He has turned to thefield of education and serves as asubstitute teacher in the Columbusarea schools.Gary L. Willett retired after 29years in education. He served asa band director for 13 years andspent 16 years as a middle andelementary school principal. Heand his wife, Barbara, reside inJefferson, Iowa.1975Bryan Stoltenberg and a longtimebusiness associate havelaunched Financial ResultsGroup, LLC, Omaha, a financialservices firm. They work withclients living in Calif., Iowa,Minn., Mont., Neb., S.D., Texasand Wis. Their specialty isretirement planning and wealthmanagement. Bryan and his wifereside in Omaha.1976Charles A. Cooper, Omaha, washired as the President and ChiefExecutive Officer of SpecialOlympics Nebraska (SONE).SONE provides year-roundtraining and competition forchildren and adults with intellectualdisabilities in over 80 communitiesthroughout Neb.1977Brian Elliott (MSE ’79) is anautomotive instructor at WillowBrook High School #88, VillaPark, Ill. Brian’s students representedIllinois at the NationalFord/AAA Contest and placed9 th in the nation.His Ford/AAA troubleshootingteam won the state championshipHands-On contest. Brian waselected into Who’s Who ofAmerica’s Teachers. He waschosen to receive his almamater’s (Lake Park HSl) 2004Wall of Honor DistinguishedAlumni Award. He and his wife,Cary, reside in Roselle, Ill.WAYNE STATE MAGAZINE 17