Winter 2005 - Wayne State College

and Tomis asalesmanforModernBankingSystems,Ralston.Wanda M. Wisnieski and GregBackuswereunited inmarriageJuly 31.ThecoupleAlumni Mini-FeatureVirgil C. SmithWhen Virgil C. Smithentered Wayne StateCollege in the fall of1938, he was the firstindividual in his familyto enter and graduatefrom college. While astudent at Allen (Neb.)High School, he letteredall four years in football,basketball and track. Hecame to Wayne State asa basketball recruit, butplayed football hisfreshman year to get inshape for basketball.“With the footballseason overlapping the start of basketball, I failed to make thebasketball team,” Virgil said. He continued to play on the Wildcatfootball team. “My only claim to fame was catching a passfrom Bud Best on the first play of the Homecoming game for atouchdown against Chadron in 1941.”Virgil hitchhiked to Kansas City, Mo. in the spring of 1942to enter the Navy’s officer training program, which allowed himto finish college before entering the service. He was called intoservice in December 1942, and reported to the naval officers’school at Northwestern University. In 90 days, he was made anofficer, and was then transferred to Miami, Fla. to begin shipboardtraining. After another 60 days, he was fully trained in operatinga ship known as the “sub chaser,” a ship whose crew members’20Alumni Notesresides in Pierce and she is anagent for Farm Bureau, Pierce.Shane and Krista (Lingenfelter)Palm reside in Missouri Valley,Iowa, with their children Kyra (4)and Nathaniel (2). Shane is abodily injury claims examinerfor National Indemnity, Omaha.Krista enjoys being a stay-athomemomwhileworkingas anindependenthealthinsuranceagent.1998Chris Sobczyk and Leigh AnneButterworth were united inmarriage on Oct. 9. Chris is aterritory sales representative forDart Container Corp and thecouple resides in Louisville,Ky.Trisha Kampschneider andAustin Buckett were marriedApril 8 in Basingstoke, Hampshire,England.Darin Corder is a student atPhillips Theological Seminary,Tulsa, Okla., with aspirations ofgraduating with a Master’s ofDivinity in May, 2005.Andrew and Stacy (McIntire’99) Brown have relocated toKearney, Mo., following hispromotion with Ford Motor Co.He is field service manager forKan., Mo., Neb., Iowa and S.D.Stacy is pursuing a master’sdegree in Community Counselingand is doing her internshipat Healthy Families Counselingand Support, Kansas City, Mo.1999Aubrey (Parson) Robinson andher husband, Mike, announcethe birth of son, Peyton Michael,born Oct. 2. They reside inMoravia, Iowa and Aubrey isemployed as a chemist atCargill, Inc., Eddyville.duty was to hunt down submarines, escort convoys, and patrolsensitive waters for any underwater activity.Throughout World War II, he saw service in the Mediterranean,where, among other things, he had the opportunity to climbthe 3,000-feet high Rock of Gibraltar. He also saw duty in Bizerte,North Africa, patrolled the Mediterranean, and he and his shipmateswere designated to lead the invasion forces onto Anziobeach. After some time, he was reassigned to another sub chasersomewhere in the Adriatic Sea, headed for the Dalmatian Islandsand special duty with Marshall “Tito” and his Yugoslavian forces.During this period of time, his crew received the unusual assignmentof having to attempt to recapture Winston Churchill’snephew who was reported to be on a ship headed back to Venice.After being in the war zone for one-and-one-half years, Virgilreturned to the United States. He was assigned to another subchaser in Honolulu as captain of a ship where, for the next sixmonths, his ship patrolled the big island to make sure no Japanesesubmarines penetrated the water surrounding the Hawaiian Islands.His final assignment during the war was to proceed to ColdBay, Alaska to help train Russian navy personnel in how to operatean American ship. Virgil was assigned the task of leading threeother sub chasers through the Inland Passage to Juneau, across theBay of Alaska, and then on to Cold Bay on the Peninsula, nearDutch Harbor.Following the war, Virgil was discharged from the service inApril 1946 and returned to Allen to continue his teaching andcoaching. He returned to San Diego and began working in aninsurance office as a telephone operator at $175 per month (“Whata low blow,” Virgil writes. “I had been making $450 per month as afull lieutenant in the Navy!”).Virgil was employed as an underwriter for the New HampshireInsurance Company from 1948 until 1985, when he retired as anofficer and secretary of the company, with headquarters in SanDiego and with responsibilities for production from four branchoffices in California. He lives in La Jolla, Calif.