Winter 2005 - Wayne State College

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Alumni Notes1979Mike and Janece Ann (Beck’81) KoKoruz reside in Omaha.He is the regional sales managerfor The Swanson Corp.,Omaha, and president of theInstitute of Packaging Professionals,Midlands. She is theHealth, Beauty and Cosmeticsmanager for Hy-Vee Foods,Omaha. They are parents oftwo children, Aaron, a senior atTCU in Texas and Kristina, asophomore at WSC.1985Jeri (Glesinger) Sherer,Wakefield, has changed hercareer path and has joined theemergency medical servicesfield. She serves as a volunteerEMT on the Wakefield RescueSquad. She has obtained EMT-Intermediate licenses in bothNeb. and Iowa as well as beinga National Registered EMT-Intermediate.1986Dean Jacobs spent May 2001to April 2003 traversing theglobe on a low-budget adventureto better understand andknow the world we all share.This journey is captured in hisbook: Wondrous Journey-theWorld is Waiting for You. Deanwandered from Australia andSoutheast Asia to the MiddleEast and Africa as he explored28 countries. His book capturesthe essence of the 22 ½-monthjourney with stories and 140color photographs.1987Michael L. Nissen and KathyMohlfeld announce the birth ofdaughter, Brianna Marie, bornJune 30. They reside in Wayne.Michael is the assistant warehousemanager at Producer’sHybrids, Battle Creek, andKathy is a counselor and academicadvisor at WSC.1989Mike Forsberg and his wife,Kim, announce the birth of son,Miles Eugene, born Nov. 19. Heis welcomed home by Mason(5), Makayla (3) and Megan (1).Mike farms near Laurel, wherethey reside.1991Randy Ronspies and his wife,Linda, announce the birth oftheir first child, Austin Trey,born March 5.Randy ismaterialsmanager atConnectivitySolutions,Omaha, andthey residein Gretna.Mike (MBA ’04) and Kim(Backstrom) Bentjen haverelocated to Omaha. Mike issecond VP at First National Bankand Kim is a pharmacist atSelect Specialties Hospital.They are the parents of Bailey(8), Adam (5) and Natalie (1).1993Gordon McGee and his wifeCarin, Arlington, announce thebirth of son, Ethan, born May 3and welcomed home by Macie(3). Gordon is the director ofproduct management atAmeritrade, Omaha.Teresa K. Hoffman, Columbus,accepted the position of citygovernment/general assignmentreporter for the Columbus Telegram.DaVarryl Williamson is anInternational Boxing Federationheavyweight contender andsigned a promotional agreementwith Don King Productions.King is enthusiastic aboutinking him and says thatDaVarryl has earned the right tofight for a world heavyweighttitle.1994Merrily (Kyander) Schmid andher husband, Jim, announce thebirth of son, Ethan Michael,born July 19. He is welcomedhome bysister Ivy (4)and brotherAndy (2).Merrilyenjoysbeing a stayat-homemom.Bill (MSE ’97, Eds ’04)Heimann received the 2004New Outstanding Principal ofthe Year Award for the state ofNeb. He serves as the secondaryprincipal at Wakefield CommunitySchools. He and his wife,Jenny (Brummer) reside inJoseph WallAlumni Mini-Feature: Joseph ‘Joe’ WallWSC Graduate Working for Majority Whip in U.S. CongressJoseph ‘Joe’ Wall, a 2004 Wayne State College graduate, has been appointed to the Office ofthe Majority Whip Roy Blunt’s (Mo.) staff in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington,D.C. Wall has been named Floor Assistant, acting as the Whip Office’s liaison to the rest of the GOPconference, as well as the public, for Floor-related activity. He began his new duties in earlyJanuary.Wall’s primary responsibilities are composing the Whip Notice (weekly), the Whipping Post(daily), and Floor Updates (play-by-play updates of floor action). In addition, he is the liaison tothe GOP Conference and the general public, keeping the GOP members and staff informed of theFloor schedule. “The best part of the job is being on the House floor during all votes,” he said.Originally from Omaha, Wall graduated from Wayne State with a bachelor of arts in politicalscience in May 2004. He was a four-year letter winner on the WSC baseball team.While a student at Wayne State, Wall worked as an intern at the National RepublicanCongressional Caucus (NRCC), the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the Energy andCommerce Committee, and the White House. He served as a staff assistant at the NRCC during lastfall’s election campaign.“This has been a great experience, and I’m really looking forward to working with the 109thCongress and the many challenges that my new position brings,” said Wall.18
Alumni NotesAlumni Mini-Feature:Jean Lienemann HillyerJean Lienemann Hillyer‘76, graduated with degrees inlibrary science and history.Jean’s love for books and historycombined with her educationalexperience at WayneState College presented herwith opportunities that no onecould have anticipated in themid-1970s.Her first position aftergraduation was as a librarymedia specialist in the Sutton(Neb.) Public Schools, whereshe remained for seven-and-a-half years. Jean expanded herhorizons by joining IBM in 1984 as a sales specialist. Afterserving in various sales and marketing roles for IBM, Jeanrecently combined her library science and history training intotwo unique opportunities.Jean is currently using her library science skills within IBMto support software technical sales specialists to more easilylocate technical information within IBM’s world-wide intranet.Her focus is on organizing information, publishing content, anddeveloping the infrastructure that supports the business needs ofthe software technical sales specialists, enabling them to becomemore efficient and effective in their work. Her libraryscience coursework at Wayne State was a key to this opportunityto apply her skills as a technical sales cybrarian in IBM’s softwaregroup. She lives in Dallas, Texas.In mid-2002, Jean began caring for her father while workingfull-time for IBM, an opportunity that was made possible by herposition as a mobile (telecommuting) employee. During thistime, she began working with her father to take his World War IImemoir from 196 pages of typed, double-spaced manuscript intothe world of electronic publishing. The memoir was transformedinto a self-published story. Jean’s knowledge of history andeducational experience at WSC combined with her libraryscience background served as the cornerstone for this endeavor.Publication of “Miracles Do Happen” provided opportunitiesto personally engage in all phases of publication fromconversion of paper to electronic, editing, fact-checking, applicationfor copyright and trademark protection, creation of acover, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication, printingand marketing. Efforts since the publication include provisionof copies to museums and historical libraries dedicated topreserving World War II history and memorabilia, copies tomembers of the extended families of her father’s crew, family,friends and other interested parties.“Looking back,” Jean said, “education doesn’t end with adegree. It begins with completion of a degree program. Usingthe knowledge in new ways is both challenging and refreshing.”Wakefield and she is employedat Education Service Unit I inthe media department. They arethe parents of two children,Blake (3) and Abby (2).1995Greg and Joyce (Sjuts)Wemhoff announce the birth ofson, Jackson Gregory, born Oct.4 and welcomed home by sistersBaylee (5) and Allyson (3). Gregand Joyce are both employed asteachers at the Battle CreekPublic Schools, he in history andshe as a second-grade teacher.Benjamin and Stephenie(Sparr) McBride, Norfolk,announce the adoption ofCarson Benjamin Pintu, bornJune 1, 2003 in Kolkata, India.He joins a sister, CheyenneRaine Ballavi (4 ½). Ben is inhis ninth year of employmentwith the Norfolk Police Divisionwhere he is an officer and servesas a field training officer andnegotiator. He is also a memberof the Accident InvestigationTeam at NPD. Stephenie operatesTenderTimesChildCarein herhome.Scott and Jennifer (Jacobsen’97) Kneifl announce the birthof Brooks Scott, born Oct. 15.He joinsbrother,Jacob (2)at theirhome inWayne.Scottis the assistant volleyball coachat WSC and Jennifer is theaccounting manger at TysonFoods, Inc. Dakota Dunes, S.D.1996Jody (Mercer) Soll and herhusband, Bill, announce thebirth of daughter MadysenJewel, born Sept. 23 and welcomedhome by Aubrey (3).Sokol Kongoli (MBA ’98)resides in Astoria, N.Y. He wasunited in marriage to Arlindaand theirson EneaSokol wasborn July6, 2003.Sokol is afinancialconsultantin WallStreet,New YorkCity andArlindais a setdesignerfor NBCUniversal atRockefellerCenter.1997Valerie (Jenkins) Foster and herhusband, Sandy, announce thebirth of their first child,Alexander Rees, born March 30.They reside in West Des Moines,Iowa andValerie isa consumeraffairsconsultantat MidlandNationalLifeInsurance.Tom Thompson and his wife,Chontel, announce the birth ofdaughter, Grace Emma, bornOct. 14. They reside in OmahaWAYNE STATE MAGAZINE 19
Page 2 and 3: Table of ContentsMessage from Presi
Page 4 and 5: WSC School of Business and Technolo
Page 6: Adrian Minks ReceivesWSC AlumniAchi
Page 9 and 10: Villarreal EarnsTop Award atSymposi
Page 11 and 12: Hemenway Establishes Endowed Educat
Page 13 and 14: Wayne State College students, facul
Page 15 and 16: WildcatsReceivePost-SeasonHonorsAth
Page 17: Alumni Notes(Towns and cities liste
Page 21 and 22: Alumni NotesChristinaMcClanahanand
Page 23 and 24: Upcoming Events:March 12Southern Ca

Winter 2005 - Wayne State College

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